A commando infiltrates an isolated SS bunker on the eve of D-Day, only to find the threat from within is even more demonic than expected.
Well, I had high hopes for this. It opens very well - really atmospheric seascape, then a tense mine-field scene, a fateful choice by the hero to divert from the mission, a creepy labyrinth to smother all hope, and a promising two-handed drama that switches hunter and prey.
But it swoons into Hammer-style cheesiness. There were some really sharp points to be made here about war as the ultimate horror, and this story failed to make a connection, instead collapsing into goodies v baddies. Also it always amazes me how Anglo-Saxon horror is so coy about sexual images. So the story ends up really stunted, visually and dramatically. What a pity. I wonder if the funding system is effectively censoring films like this.
It is well shot, the actors are good - although delivery of lines was often a bit hard to make out - and the music and dialogue start with good restraint but fail to break out.
Overall, bright start but becomes dull.
Well, I had high hopes for this. It opens very well - really atmospheric seascape, then a tense mine-field scene, a fateful choice by the hero to divert from the mission, a creepy labyrinth to smother all hope, and a promising two-handed drama that switches hunter and prey.
But it swoons into Hammer-style cheesiness. There were some really sharp points to be made here about war as the ultimate horror, and this story failed to make a connection, instead collapsing into goodies v baddies. Also it always amazes me how Anglo-Saxon horror is so coy about sexual images. So the story ends up really stunted, visually and dramatically. What a pity. I wonder if the funding system is effectively censoring films like this.
It is well shot, the actors are good - although delivery of lines was often a bit hard to make out - and the music and dialogue start with good restraint but fail to break out.
Overall, bright start but becomes dull.