THE TUNNEL MOVIE

Director: Carlo Ledesma

Screenplay: Enzo Tedeschi, Julian Harvey
Starring: Bel Delia, Andy Rodoreda
The light runs out

It seems there has been something of a backlash against found-footage films of late. Format over content has been the criticism and to be fair the claim is not totally unfounded. The last few years have seen a plethora of shaky, hand-held style films and an awful lot of them have been disappointing. However The Tunnel is not one of them. 



Released last year, The Tunnel has a rather interesting back story. Writers and producers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey created the 135k project - an effort to fund the film through selling frames of the movie to  members of the public (for $1 each). In addition to this, the movie was available to download on BitTorrent upon its release - meaning that it was essentially free to watch.



As interesting as these facts are, they ultimately mean very little if the movie is not worth watching. Fortunately, The Tunnel is anything but a gimmicky rip-off.



Set during a water shortage in Australia, The Government suddenly go cold on plans to recycle millions of litres of water trapped in a network of old train tunnels underneath the city of Sydney. Rumours begin to emerge of homeless people living in the tunnels going missing.  Local journalist Natasha sees a chance for a big story and gathers her small team to investigate what is happening beneath their feet. Although they are denied entry to the tunnel network by a security guard, they find their own way in.



The Tunnel is shot as part found-footage, part documentary. The found footage element is the investigation of the tunnels and it's broken up with present day interviews with some of the team. It's an original and interesting format but it automatically removes a level of tension from proceedings because we know that certain characters survive their underground ordeal. It also breaks the flow of the film a little.



The film takes a little bit of time to really get going. The first thirty minutes or so are dominated by squabbling journalists and lots of talking heads. It's far from dull but more impatient viewers may start to get restless. It's a shame that film-makers need to hook an audience so quickly nowadays but it's just a sign of the times I guess. We have very short attention spans.



However, when The Tunnel does begin to turn the screw, it does it with consummate professionalism. The ultra-realism of the first act almost leaves us unprepared for what is to follow and as soon as we become aware that something is down there with them in the tunnels, it's nerve-racking stuff.  Some of it will make your hairs stand on end.



There are three key reasons why the film works. Firstly, the actors involved here, and there aren't many, are very good. Low budget affairs sometimes result in inadequate actors being hired but this is not the case.

Bel Delia and co are both watchable, likeable and believable. A list of traits that are vital for making us care about their fates.



Secondly, the location is disorientating and unsettling. Part of this is has to be attributed to Carlo Ledesma's direction but sometimes a location can act as an antagonist all by itself and the network of tunnels under Sydney (although shot at several different locations) are a match for any other horror setting.



And thirdly and possibly most importantly, The Tunnel  deserves credit for the way it handles it's bogeyman. The notion that what we don't see scares us more than what we do, is something that is not lost on Tedeschi and Harvey. A lot of the horror derives from the mystery surrounding what is actually roaming the tunnels, tracking our team of investigators. And when we do eventually catch glimpses of what/who it is, it's anything but disappointing. 



If you thought that found-footage has run it's course. Think again

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