- Directed by Scott Walker
- Written by Scott Walker
- Stars Luciane Buchanan, Matt Whelan, Zara Nausbaum, Regina Hegemann
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23GmhsmrCIo
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s low on surprises, but it’s got everything going for it that makes that forgivable. The story moves steadily without dragging; the effects are practical and realistic, and there’s some creepiness and suspense and characters to root for. It’s a good one.
Synopsis
It’s May 1946; a man opens up a tank in the backyard and climbs down inside. He screams, and something pulls down into the hole. Credits roll.
Now it’s 1978, and two girls look at lizards in the pet store. Jules runs the pet shop, but she can’t control all the children in there who keep letting the pets out. She tells her daughter about amphibians and how territorial some of them are. A man comes to see Jules’s husband, Ben. Ben has just inherited a house from his recently dead mother’s estate. It’s in Oregon, and it’s originally in Ben’s father’s name. Ben’s father and sister disappeared somewhere near there.
Ben, Jules, and their daughter pack up the car and go to Oregon. They soon arrive at the isolated house in the woods. The house is all grown over, forgotten for decades. It does, however, have an amazing view of the ocean. Ben soon finds a big manhole in the backyard for a huge water tank. He immediately crawls in, with no flashlight or anything, and starts exploring. All he finds is a rusty lantern.
We get a cleaning montage as the family gets settled in. There are various old reports of people going missing in the area beyond just Ben’s father and sister; Ben’s mother was actually a suspect in causing their deaths. Why didn’t Ben’s mother ever mention the existence of this house?
They read in Grandma’s diary about the construction of the water tank. Her husband, Alec, was the man we saw dragged into the tank in 1946, and she never knew where he went. Their daughter, Rosie, went missing a few days later. That night, everyone hears something growling outside the house.
The next morning, Ben finds a bunch of explosive fertilizer in the barn, and Jules says she’s uncomfortable in the ancient, unmaintained house. Ben goes back down into the tank to see why they aren’t getting water, and he finds tunnels way down under the house. He turns a valve, and the water comes out of the pipe. He also finds a whole big cave system down there. In the cave he finds some large amphibian, dead. Jules is fascinated by the teeth on the thing.
Later, the little girl looks down into the tank and screams. There’s something big and slimy down there. Suddenly, a woman comes in; she’s Merial, a realtor, here to talk about selling the house. Ben’s mother always refused to sell the huge property. Merial, however, has offer letters in-hand from people who are ready to buy. She walks back to her car, parked out in the woods, and something watches her leave. No, her car gets stuck and something gets her when she gets out to investigate. Late at night, Jules sees something monstrous looking in one of the kitchen windows. Also, the dog goes missing.
In the morning, the water isn’t working again, so Ben goes down into the tank once more. The tank is mostly full of water, so he can’t see what’s in there now. He finds a dead raccoon and his dead, missing sister’s necklace.
Ben goes to town, and Jules notices that that darn tank lid won’t stay shut! Ben finds Merial’s abandoned car on the road. Then he finds what’s left of her. Jules finds Ben’s mother’s diary; her husband and daughter didn’t drown; the monster took them. Jules also finds wet footprints and hears animal noises inside the house.
Ben calls the sheriff, who soon arrives and becomes the monster’s dinner. We finally get a good look at the big lizard. Ben comes out to meet the cop and sees the whole thing; he runs all the way back to the house. Ben thinks they can use the explosive fertilizer to blow up the tank and caves.
Ben mixes up his explosives and carries it down into the tank. He finds the dead cop down there, so he knows he’s in the right place. He sees the monster near the ladder, so he goes down into the cave instead. He sets the explosive down and lights a fuse, but it goes off before he gets out of the tank. The monster attacks him.
In the house, the dog comes home alive and well. Jules and Reia figure out that there must be more than one of the creatures. They break in and attack the two women. Ben crawls out of the tank and passes out, but the monster drags Reia into the tank.
Jules goes down into the tank armed with a mop torch, a pitchfork, and a bottle of Clorox. Yes, really. She spots at least three monsters, but she drives them off by pouring Clorox into the water. She manages to kill one with the pitchfork handle. She finds her daughter, and they get out of the tank and run straight to the car. Ben has the keys back at the house, so Jules goes after him.
Jules goes back inside for Ben and sees the creature crawl out of the tank. Another creature menaces Reia in the car. Everyone gets into the car and drives away.
In a mid-credit scene, we jump to 1993, where some construction workers open up the tank. There’s a whole housing subdivision going in there now…
Commentary
The ending is just “The Descent” meets “Aliens.”
It’s… pretty good! The pacing is good, and it never slows down or gets too talky. There’s not a huge body count, but enough to keep it interesting. The sets and locations are excellent, and everyone’s motivations more or less seem believable. Mostly. Except for Ben, who goes down into that tank knowing what’s down there, when the family could have either just hidden in the house or ran to the car. Also, everyone can see really clearly in that dark cave when the flashlights all go out.
OK, so it’s good if you don’t think about it too hard.