CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

gavin6942 Strange happenings occur on a WW II submarine. "Below" was filmed on location in Lake Michigan for exteriors (using the World War II-era U.S. Navy submarine USS Silversides).Although I was not particularly a fan of this one, I do appreciate it was filmed not too far from me. Relatively speaking. And those involved are worthy of note: directed by David Twohy (the director of the "Riddick" films). It was written by Darren Aronofsky of all people, though it does not compare to "Requiem for a Dream" or "Pi" in its complexity.Perhaps most interesting, the character of "Weird" Wally (Zach Galifianakis). This was not Galifianakis' first role, but it is always interesting to see people before you recognized them. Today (215) he is probably the biggest name in the movie.

bowmanblue The crew of an American World War II submarine, pick up three survivors of a sunken British navel vessel. As soon as they do, strange - and by 'strange' I mean ghostly - things start to happen.With a plot like that 'Below' could well simply fall into that seemingly bottomless abyss of horror films that are pretty forgettable - it has no major stars in it and would probably never get a mainstream release in the cinema. However, the fact that the submarine looks extremely authentic and the external shots of the vessel at sea are also very realistic, means that the film makes itself look more like a straight war film with a decent budget.The cast all do a good job with the script and the claustrophobic setting of the submarine adds to the tension. Soon, things become pretty tense as the crew's bodies start to pile up.If you like horror/ghost stories, this one is a slight cut above the masses of others on DVD.http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Nitzan Havoc Well, to be honest, I was going to qualify this film as a combination of U-571 and Ghost Ship. Then I saw the cover picture bearing a review stating "U-571 meets Poltergeist" and realized that wouldn't be too original...It's WWII, and the US Sub is lively and excited due to 3 survivors picked up for a shipwreck, one of whom is a female British doctor. Some of the crew is thrilled and edgy about seeing a woman for the first time in weeks, maybe months. Others are aware of sea folklore and believe a woman on a boat is bad luck.The story was absolutely brilliant in my opinion, the thrill and suspense were of the highest level, and the twist was surprising and well presented. The acting was persuasive and honest, and during the entire film I found myself at the edge of my seat, fearing for the lives of the Sub's crew as mechanical problems stacked up.And then they had to destroy what might have been a great film by forcibly, bluntly and stupidly shoving a ghost into it. I mean... why? Honestly, why? In order for DVD libraries to be able to tag this film as horror? What was so important about that?! This could have been an excellent war/psychological thriller film, with an excellent story, a surprising twist, and good acting. Adding the whole ghost part was like taking that kids' puzzle with the shapes, putting the square peg in the triangle hole, and hammering it till the entire thing broke. That simply ruined the film for me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.In summary - an excellent war thriller. Forcing it into the horror genre ruined it. I'd still recommend it, if you could be forgiving. I wouldn't blame you if you weren't.

Spikeopath Below is directed by David Twohy and C0-written by Lucas Sussman, Twohy and Darren Aronofsky. It stars Bruce Greenwood, Olivia Williams, Matthew Davis, Holt McCallany, Scott Foley, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Flemyng, Nick Chinlund & Dexter Fletcher.1943 and The USS Tiger Shark submarine is patrolling the Atlantic Ocean. After taking on board three survivors of a wreckage and a battle with a German warship, mysterious things start to happen on board the sub....It wouldn't be the first or last time that they did it, but Dimension Films failed to support a rather good horror film in their care. Coming a few months after Harrison Ford submarine thriller K-19: The Widowmaker sank without grace, Below was barely given a release or publicity junket to give it a chance. Which considering that $40 million was given to produce it comes off as mighty strange. More so when one looks at the credentials on offer. A cast featuring fine character actors from Britain & America, directed by the man who was hot from the popular Pitch Black and a certain Darren Aronofsky involved in the writing. OK, so admittedly a haunted submarine premise on the surface doesn't sound too demanding on the cerebral front, but this is much more than an underwater spooker.Below gets all the key ingredients right for such a genre production. It's intensively tight in claustrophobic atmosphere, creepy in narrative, adroit with the kill dispatches and crucially pays off with the big reveal. It also has some great underwater sequences to sample as the cast do justice to the smart script. True it's a little derivative of similar themed film's like The Keep, The Bunker et all, but what it lacks in freshness it more than makes up for in slick story telling. Also of note is that Twohy and his co-writers are aware enough to know that their story has to be a bit more than just another Rod Serlingesque tale. At the hour mark the characters even bring this into play with a wonderful discussion that richly subverts our expectations of where we are going with this movie.With its metallic blue tints (Ian Wilson on cinematography) aiding the feel of submarine life, we the audience are thrust into the confines of sub life as well. This really is a film that asks us to turn off the lights, switch the phone off and invest your very being into the story. Be part of this crew and the rewards are there to be had for the ghostly movie seeker. Cast wise Greenwood is classy as usual, and Williams refuses to let her character be the token it could have been. In support it's always good to see Chinlund & Flemyng performing, while Galifianakis delivers the goods in the colourful part.With visual smarts and a knowing sense of dread, Twohy's film is on the money. It may not be breaking new ground in the genre it sits in, but it's certainly one of the better told, and produced, of said genre stories. 7.5/10