‘Bunker’ Is A Paranoid And Claustrophobic War Time Thriller [FilmQuest 2022 Review]
Sharai Bohannon
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Bunker is a claustrophobic thriller that feels like a forgotten, and way too long, episode of The Twilight Zone. In the film, a group of soldiers find themselves trapped in a bunker during World War I. They soon discover they are also faced with an ungodly presence that slowly turns them against each other. As paranoia and fear grow between them the men experience the true hell of war.
Bunker has moments that make it impossible to not see the DNA of earlier films like The Thing in it. Director Adrian Langley captures the growing paranoia, mistrust, and misdirection of who is safe well. The pacing of some scenes was a bit of an issue, but I think that’s just this film’s aesthetic. We also get a lot of pretty lighting moments for a movie that takes place in a bunker. There are a lot of cool camera angles, and tight shots as things are revealed, which lets us know this film was technically understood.
The cast seems lovely, but not everyone was in the same movie. There is also some sketchy dialect work at play that is sometimes distracting. Because of the nature of the film, we don’t get enough time with some characters which leaves them feeling a little too one-dimensional. For the most part, all of this could be forgiven, but the Bunker’s hour and forty-nine-minute run-time really makes you sit with these minor annoyances for so long that you also start to feel that you are losing it.
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Along the way, we do get some gross imagery. We watch a guy vomit something nasty that sparks one of the moments of mayhem. We also see what looks like a brain inside of a radio. The final battle also is a moment to lean forward for, but even that is drawn out for what feels way too long. I was left underwhelmed with how we find out who the creature is and how it is taken out. It comes across like checking boxes on the way out.
Bunker is definitely for people who are into slow burns and wartime horror. It’s not as engaging as other movies in this genre, like Overlord. However, it’s not as tense or creepy as other claustrophobic movies set during a war like Under the Shadow. The film walks that line of being fine, but that’s okay.
Let me know if you have gotten a chance to watch Bunker at @misssharai.
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Bunker
Summary
This movie has asome really cool design elements and directing choices. It also captures the claustrophobic paranoid feeling well. There is just not a whole lot to hold onto outside of those offerings.
