THE UNDERTOW

THE UNDERTOW

Six friends (the most notable being Emily Haack, SCRAPBOOK) set off on a weekend vacation, heading to the backwoods town of Old Mines in the hope of enjoying a spot of river rafting. Along the way, a local cop stops them, forces them to get of their car and sit on the road as he empties all of their beer cans in front of them (heart-breaking in itself, but … how small are beer cans in the US?!).

Later, the group stop for petrol and, still fuming from the unorthodox bullying inflicted by the cop, they behave obnoxiously - much to the disdain of the clerk. Upon their exit from the gas station, a young lady - Billy (Trudy Bequette) - approaches them and asks where they're headed. "Maybe me and my brother will see you guys later" … maybe indeed!

Despite then running into the town loony, the group persist with their trip undeterred and are soon rowing downstream into deepest DELIVERANCE territory (the script even makes humorous references to Boorman's film along the way).

Once on the river and away from the hostile locals, the group have a relaxing time … for a while.

Unbeknownst to them, the town mayor has been made aware of their presence and has released "The Boy" (Doc Brown) - a huge, hooded brute - to hunt down and rid Old Mines of these unwelcome 'outsiders' …

An unexpected ally is found, though, when Billy - who happens to be the mayor's daughter - turns up in the woods to offer a warning and reveal a few secrets to the trespassing fun seekers.

At this point, what started as a well-paced thriller seems to be in serious danger of becoming terminally slow - but then the plot develops briskly from hereon in, dividing screen time between the relationships and eventual fates of the group of six, and the mayor, townsfolk, etc.

… And offering ridiculous amounts of well-conceived gore FX, of course!

Suffice it to say, the premise of THE UNDERTOW is a very basic, simple one. But while the story itself is not particularly interesting (or in the slightest bit original) it does at least allow the action to propel itself from one hugely enjoyable set-piece to the next in the riveting third, and final, act.

You want gore? Look no further! This film delivers the goods by the bucket-load. Head-crushing, throat-ripping, eye-gouging … and more. Fantastic. Although towards the end I'll admit there were a couple of scenes I found unpleasantly brutal. Am I going soft?!

Eric (SCRAPBOOK) Stanze's cinematography and editing contribute largely to the look and feel of the film. The exterior locale is used expertly (very cinematic, especially in the earlier, quieter scenes). There are even a couple of hugely impressive underwater shots!

The acting is above par for a film of this budget. Everyone involved comes across convincingly, from the local crazies to the increasingly frantic holidaymakers. Haack is as reliable as ever, while in the lead role of Eli you have Jason Christ. Best of all though is Julie Farrar, whose fear and pain can almost be smelt at times.

Hey, this film is written and directed by Jeremy Wallace too - is it just me, or is this starting to read like a Who's Who of modern day US extreme independent cinema?!

Wallace also masterminded the score, which is itself a cut above the industrial dirge I've come to expect from modern day low budget affairs such as this. It helps the film tremendously, and actually creates an eerie tone for the movie from the offset. Intelligent and apt - kudos to Mr Wallace!

Shot on Super 8mm video by the look of it, THE UNDERTOW actually looks like low budget film - mildly grainy and very reminiscent in it's appearance of the low budget horrors of the 70s. Which, of course, is a major compliment!

Sticking with the 70s, the film strives to recreate the 'dangerous' aura that swathed movies of that era - you know, when horror was taken seriously and was loathe to compromising itself with any sell-out tomfoolery such as self-parodying humour or apologetic 'winks' to the audience? The most obvious influence would be THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (original version) - THE UNDERTOW opens with shots of graves, and a car carrying six teens in the background; it's final minutes owe a lot to it's forefather - but are infinitely grimmer …

What we have here is a horror movie that makes great efforts to be treated as such. So it has a threadbare plot? So what? It has attitude, gore, a brain, and that other mainstay of 70s horror cinema … the downbeat ending.

I enjoyed THE UNDERTOW a lot.

Good film then (beats the crap out of tame stuff like WRONG TURN, and comedies like DOG SOLDIERS or CABIN FEVER). But is the disc any good?

This is Sub Rosa. Of course the disc is good!

The full-frame picture is solid and bright, offering nice definition of colour and contrast with no artefacting whatsoever. For a video production, it holds up extremely well with no flaws worth commenting upon. It looks good, and generally matches the quality (and visual ambience) of early 70s shockers.

Audio is 2.0 stereo and is OK. Competent but unremarkable. Menu screens are pretty dull (as if it matters to anyone) and the scene selection menu offers 12 chapters.

As ever, Sub Rosa graces their film with an array of interesting extras.

The fun kicks off with an illuminating 22 minute making-of featurette. Interesting, fun and informative, this video production offers insight into how the gruesome gore FX were achieved, Wallace's interaction with his cast and crew, and the preparation required for even the most seemingly straightforward scenes. It's great to see how tightly the crew worked together, too, and how many of the cast members (Christ etc) double up as behind the scenes technicians.

A blooper reel is brief at 4 minutes long, but a nice addition - illustrating how much fun was obviously had by all involved.

Next up is 7 minutes worth of deleted scenes. Some of these have sound, some don't. None of them would have offered anything more to the film to be honest, so it's utterly understandable how they found their way to the cutting room floor.

The stills gallery offers over 50 photographs. These range from behind the scenes stills, to posed photos of cast members smiling into the camera while caked in blood! It's like flicking through the Manson family's photo album …

There are numerous trailers on the disc (including two for the main feature). These include ICE FROM THE SUN, SCRAPBOOK and THE CHRISTMAS SEASON MASSACRE … all are well worth checking out.

A three page text history of Sub Rosa studios is pretty vague, and has become a stock 'feature' of their discs.

Last but not least, when you first slip the disc in you are treated to a great montage of clips from various Sub Rosa Extreme movies. Prepare to have your senses battered with quickly edited explosions of gore and nudity, set to some agreeable Dayglo Abortions-type punk metal!

The main feature is 79 minutes long, which feels just about right. Sub Rosa's disc is Region 0 NTSC encoded (single layer) and comes in a keepcase packaging.

Definitely one to check out, and Wallace has a very promising career as a horror filmmaker ahead of him …

For ordering details visit the Sub Rosa site by clicking here.

Review by Stu Willis


 
Released by Sub Rosa
Region All NTSC
Not Rated
Extras : see main review
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