It’s kind of a tough situation with “The Dark Below” that I found myself in. Ultimately I appreciated its creativity, its twist on the stalker thriller, and how Douglas Schulze delivered his premise, but in the end “The Dark Below” is only a slightly serviceable thriller. Despite the film being genuinely creative in unfolding its narrative of a woman fighting to survive underwater in the arctic while evading a killer, the movie itself left me lukewarm and generally unengaged. Douglas Schulze banks a lot on audiences being either claustrophobic, terrified of drowning, and terrified of being alive, as the center of the films premise relies on our protagonist being stuck under a frozen lake while being hopelessly outmatched against a killer in the snow. Schulze does switch up the monotony of this kind of genre offering by creating a film that has absolutely no dialogue.
The music from Eric Bobo plays over about ninety eight percent of “The Dark Below” as all of our characters endure pain and terror with no dialogue or any kind of exchange. I think what hurts “The Dark Below” is the very aspect that there is no dialogue and no sound, thus the movie feels a lot like a gimmick in the end. I think sound design and crafty use of the score may have turned “The Dark Below” from a mediocre film in to a great film. Instead a lot of what plays on screen is to an endless dramatic score that becomes so overbearing it feels like director Schulze is trying to manipulate us in to feeling certain emotions of fear or sadness. The film itself is very well directed with solid performances all around, but the sub-par editing matched with the lack of clarity make the unfolding of events in the first twenty minutes of the movie absolutely confusing.
Once we finally see the premise set in motion involving our killer staging a death in a freezing lake with his female victim, “The Dark Below” becomes slightly more compelling. Schulze is able to convey the absolutely freezing conditions well, making our character Rachel’s fight for survival an uphill battle that will destroy her, even if she gains the upper hand on her attacker and wins. Veronica Cartwright is credited with a supporting role but only has about two scenes total, and doesn’t affect the movie much. It’s a shame since a movie of this caliber could benefit from Ms. Cartwright’s ace acting ability. Overall, “The Dark Below” is sub-par. It has a neat idea, and interesting method for telling its story, but lacks the intended terror and claustrophobia director Douglas Shchulze works so desperately to convey.
Opening Friday, March 17th in L.A., and Friday, March 24th in NYC; check local theater listings.