Film
Horror in the Caves: Deathwatch
- Director
- Michael J Bassett
- Certificate
- 15
- Running Time
- 95 mins
Think William Boyd’s The Trench set in a much soggier and more rat-infested hell-hole, with all the same ‘toff officers vs working class soldiers’ tensions, plus an agreeable supernatural twist to distract from its low-budget and somewhat stagy nature, and you’ll be in the right, er, trench.
1914, somewhere on the Western Front. On a muddy, barbed wire and body-strewn battlefield, a bunch of bullet-dodging stereotypes from Y company – the posh officer (Laurence Fox), the underage volunteer (Jamie Bell), the resentful prole (Andy Serkis), etc – succumb to a German gas attack. When they awake, they find themselves wandering through thick fog towards a virtually empty enemy trench piled high with corpses in various states of decomposition. Only a couple of terrified Germans survive, babbling something about how they’re all going to die. As night falls, it becomes apparent that there’s something evil down here in the mud and it’s fucking with their heads. What’s more, closer inspection of the dead Germans reveals that they appear to have killed one another. So what’s going on? Have they died and gone to Hell? Is there a monster lurking in the labyrinthine trench? Or could there be another explanation?
Actually, the twist, when it comes, is easily predicted and rather obvious. The best thing about 2002’s Deathwatch is its authentically unpleasant set and terrific corpse make-up. Clearly, no punishment can be too great for anyone involved in perpetrating Billy Elliot, but that film’s star Jamie Bell really does appear to be suffering in the trench, which was purpose built on location in Czechoslovakia and saturated with artificial rain throughout the shoot. In keeping with the low-budget Brit horror boom, director Michael J. Bassett makes the most of spooky sound effects and barely glimpsed nastiness, saving his meagre budget for a handful of gory money shots. The acting isn’t much to write home about, with Bell miscast and Andy Sirkis going over the top in more ways than one. But if anyone deserves an award for their contribution, it has to be the film’s rat wrangler.
is needed now More than ever
It’s back on screen as part of Bristol Film Festival’s ever-popular Halloween Horror in the Caves season down below in spooky ol’ Redcliffe Caves. Go here for more info and to book tickets.
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
