The Tunnel (2011)

Sydney’s complex array of tunnels is a talking point in Australia, websites and Youtube videos cover the tunnels in some detail, and one can only assume that its this subject that inspired film-makers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey to make their movie The Tunnel.

Set in a slightly mythological Sydney in which the tunnels under the city are about 100 times the size they actually are. The movie tells a story of disused tunnels that were constructed pre-war, and have had various uses over the passage of time. As the story begins Sydney is suffering from a water shortage, politicians state that there is copious amounts of water underneath the complex tunnel system. The media reports that homeless people live in the tunnels and that developing the tunnels to make a water supply factory, will give the homeless no place to live. The homeless it seems have nothing to fear however, as suddenly the whole subject is dropped. TV journalist Natasha (Bel Delia) is intrigued by the story, or rather the lack of it; and decides it needs further investigation. While googling the tunnels she stumbles upon a Youtube video of some kids encountering something unpleasant in the tunnels. Natasha figures the story surrounding the tunnels emanates from beneath the surface, and that something is down there that nobody wants to talk about.

The Tunnel is a unique concept in the world of movie making, it was funded by interested parties who visited thetunnelmovie.net; while that side is not so unique, and sites like kickstarter engage in this sort of activity frequently, The Tunnel having been made was available for screening free across the world, and still is come to that. The set up is not the most encouraging, I have to confess I felt fairly uneasy about watching the movie, I had low budget palpitations’ about it, these movies raised from money gathered on the Internet are often dire to say the least.

I wont tell you The Tunnel is amazing, but I wont tell you it’s a bad movie either, this is a very well managed movie, that has a high quality look about it despite its low budget roots. It’s also very well put together, with some nice features, and some great scares.

The Tunnel is in essence one of those stories told by film footage, except this time its not discovered footage, its footage that is bought home then told in a matter of fact documentary style.

The story is far from new, four people who form a television news team venture off into a tunnel in search of a story, some of them make it back some don’t. In the 90 minutes that fit in between the start and closing titles there is screaming, fumbling in the dark, a healthy dose of blood and adrenalin, and revelations. It’s a little bit Cannibal Holocaust, a little bit Blair Witch, with Rec and The Last Broadcast thrown in for good measure. It has some incredibly good scenes, and some scenes that are arduously dragged out to the extent that your wishing someone dead. Its is as I said nothing new, but its an incredible piece of film-making, crafted with love and given to the world audience completely free.

The movie opens with an incredibly well thought out telephone call, that really sucks the viewer into the film, the haunting cries of the emergency services operator calling out “Miss, miss!” as the other end of the phone is dead. It’s later followed up by another audio marvel, in which someone is obviously meeting a rather unpleasant fate. The Tunnel offers some good scares and it’s nearly always from what you hear rather than you see.

While you never really see what’s in the tunnels, or even understand how many bad guys there are in the tunnels, you understand that they need human flesh in order for them to survive, and rather more interestingly their eyes!

This is without a doubt a movie you need to see if you like horror movies, and lets face it; its not like you cant afford to watch it The Tunnel is free to download, so head on over to www.thetunnelmovie.net and watch it.