Released in May 2011 and directed by Carlo Ledesma, “The Tunnel” is set in Sydney, Australia, where public officials are dealing with a water shortage crisis. Some propose to recycle the large volume of water trapped in tunnels beneath the city. However, for unexplained reasons, they mysteriously shut down this project after a short while. There are rumors of homeless people going missing in the tunnels, and no one will say why the government’s abandoned the project.
A team of journalists smells a cover-up and begins to investigate. In a classic case of curiosity getting the better of the cats, they run into something very unexpected in the tunnels. Four of them sneak in one night to shoot a news story, and only two of them make it out alive after encountering a murderous creature who knows the mazelike tunnels like the back of its claw-tipped hands.
This movie was effective for a number of reasons. The tunnels in the movie were a combination of utility tunnels, underground train tunnels and WWII air-raid shelters. The way the tunnels were portrayed in the movie made them seem like a totally disorienting, claustrophobic labyrinth and the low light conditions made it seem even worse. Portions of the movie made me think of the scariest parts of the “Blair Witch Project” and “The Descent.”
I have to admit that I don’t know a lot about Sydney, Australia and the fact that it was set in this city made it seem less creepy to me. I just don’t think of Sydney being an old city (even through it was founded in 1788) with tunnels old enough to house something dark and scary. Now, if it had been set in New York City, Paris, New Orleans, London or Boston that would have been a different story altogether. Interestingly, most of the movie was shot in the Sydney area, including the St. James Railway Station in Sydney.
I’m not going to lie either. This movie did give me the itch to do a little urban exploring. It’s probably a good thing that there’s not a vast network of tunnels beneath Evergreen and Monroeville because they’d be too tempting for me not to venture into at least once or twice.
For those of you who saw and enjoyed this movie, you’ll be interested to hear that a sequel is being planned. The tentative title is “The Tunnel: Dead-End” and the story is about a sibling of one of the characters in the first movie who doesn’t make it out of the tunnels. They head into the tunnels to find their missing brother, and I suspect they find more than they bargained for.
In the end, how many of you have seen “The Tunnel”? What did you think about it? Did you like it or not? Why? Let us know in the comments section below.
For more information about “The Tunnel” and its sequel, visit its official Web site at http://www.thetunnelmovie.net/.
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