Below

2002 Horror

Reflecting studio executives' taste for material that crosses genres, this film from director David Twohy and co-screenwriter Darren Aronofsky mixes the war movie and supernatural thriller genres. After they rescue a trio of survivors that includes a nurse, Claire Page (Olivia Williams), from a British hospital ship sunk by the Nazis, the crew of the American submarine U.S.S. Tiger Shark comes to believe that their vessel is haunted. The unexpected death of their commander forces first officer Lt. Brice (Bruce Greenwood) to take command, trying to avoid a German destroyer on the hunt for his ship, while investigating the series of mysterious incidents that are terrifying his crew. Is the Tiger Shark haunted, or is there something otherworldly inhabiting the waters where the sailors are currently trapped? Originally entitled "Proteus," this project was slated to be Aronofsky's follow-up to Pi (1998), but the writer/director opted to helm Requiem for a Dream (2000) instead. Below co-stars Scott Foley, Zach Galifianakis, Dexter Fletcher, and Holt McCallany. more..

Director: David Twohy

Starring: Matt Davis, Bruce Greenwood, Olivia Williams, Scott Foley, Holt McCallany

Reviews

  • In the handsome, haunting submarine thriller Below, the usual perils of deep-sea maneuvers are heightened by psychic unraveling.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    26 April 2013

  • Twohy pulls all the strings to create an inventive genre piece.

    Robert K. Elder - The Chicago Tribune

    26 April 2013

  • A movie where the story, like the sub, sometimes seems to be running blind. In its best moments it can evoke fear, and it does a good job of evoking the claustrophobic terror of a little World War II boat.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    26 April 2013

  • With more character development this might have been an eerie thriller; with better payoffs, it could have been a thinking man's monster movie.

    Janice Page - The Boston Globe

    26 April 2013

  • The dialogue, heavy on sarcasm and puncturing insults, never captures the World War II period but sounds ridiculously anachronistic.

    Edward Guthmann - The San Francisco Chronicle

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Best Score

    Fangoria Chainsaw Awards (2003)

     
  • Best Film

    Fantasporto (2003)