Subterano (2003)

User Rating:

4.1/10   

Director:

Esben Storm

Writer:

Esben Storm (written by)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Evil lurks on every level...

Plot:

Eleven souls, trapped in an underground carpark, are attacked by deadly, remote controlled toys. Only a few will survive.

Plot Keywords:

Eye Gouging | Electrocution | Decapitation | Evil Toy | Video Game

Cast

Alex Dimitriades	...	Conrad
Tasma Walton	...	Stone
Alison Whyte	...	JD
Kate Sherman	...	Angie
Jason Stojanovski	...	Slick
Chris Haywood	...	Cleary
John Clayton	...	Bruce
Anne Tenney	...	Elaine
Scott Swalwell	...	Max
Michael Saunders	...	Bickle
Veronica Segura	...	Monkey
Troy Planet	...	Attendant
Shane Briant	...	Cunningham
Christian Marchington	...	Jake
Alyssa-Jane Cook	...	Mary

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

USA:96 min | Australia:91 min

Country:

Australia | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Germany:16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Becker Entertainment

Trivia:

Shot in Sydney in 2000, this Australian Sci-fi film was shelved until January 2003, when it surfaced on DVD in the US. It was finally released in its home country (straight to DVD) in November 2003.

Movie Connections:

References eXistenZ (1999)

Too Ambitious

SUBTERANO is one of those low-budget movies that is, unfortunately, too ambitious for its own good. The idea is there, along with a good premise, but the resources to carry it out isn't. So as a result we get a movie that uses the same color scheme and repetitive nature of the highly creative CUBE, which managed to sell its low-budget nature because the story dictates repetitiveness. With SUBETERANO, the repeating of garage levels is just, well, repeating garage levels.

Also, the screenplay is much too elaborate. There is a whole back story about revolution and the movie itself is supposed to take place in the future. I've always advised low-budget filmmakers to veer away from futuristic storylines for the simple reason that they don't have the resources to carry out the premise. And, as a result, their "future world" always ends up looking incredibly laughable.

SUBTERANO is not an entirely bad film. It has some good actors, but also some very irritating characters that, unfortunately, don't die off fast enough. There really is no surprise who will live or who will die, and who will end up being really irritating. In this respect, the screenplay fails.

5 out of 5

(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this movie, including reviews of other films in this genre)