Bunker Review: Horror Lurks Underground

World War I soldiers encounter madness and more in an abandoned German bunker.

A seemingly easy victory turns to bloody horror, madness, and more for a company of Allied soldiers during World War I. Bunker opens with young American recruits getting a friendly ribbing from hardened British officers in their dismal trench. A hasty German retreat leads to a dangerous trek across no-mans-land to claim their adversaries’ position. What happens next combines psychological breakdowns and tension fueled by something sinister lurking among them. The problem is that the mystery aspect crawls at a snail’s pace. The film takes way too long to deliver a fairly obvious ending. A thundering score also comes across as heavy-handed and overdramatic.

British Lieutenant Turner (Patrick Moltane) orders his men into the German bunker. They are surprised to find it completely abandoned. The enemy also barricaded the entrance from the outside. Turner unseals the door as everyone enters with caution. The brash Corporal Walker (Adriano Gatto) continues to chide his green American compatriots. Private Segura (Eddie Ramos) is a medic who doesn’t carry a gun. Private Baker (Julian Feder) shakes from the shock of his first kill.

Poison Gas

The descent below uncovers something else truly unexpected. An injured German soldier (Luke Baines) has been brutally restrained by his own men before absconding. Was he a coward or a traitor? Turner has Segura patch him up. They’ll take him above for questioning. Mortars and poison gas rain down on their position. The entrance collapses as they scramble for masks. The trapped men must find a way out. Segura notices the writing on a smoldering shell casing. Why were the Germans bombing their own bunker?

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Bunker gets credit for character development. The arrogant and supercilious Turner commands with unswerving authority. He browbeats underlings. Segura, the primary protagonist, particularly arouses his ire. The others try to grapple with their predicament when the situation takes a deadly turn. Cabin fever devolves into terror once they realize there’s something else present.

Psychosis Clouds Rationality

A tight first act unravels once the plot takes shape. The characters react unbelievably to crazy developments. The filmmakers want psychosis to cloud rationality. This might have worked if everyone was equally affected. But the narrative depends on the valiant and level-headed Segura to solve their menacing riddle. He doesn’t have to be a detective to realize their lives are in danger. Segura’s actions forego self-preservation without common sense. Standard horror tropes accompanied by the exaggerated music doesn’t make your skin crawl.

Bunker misses the mark on claustrophobia. The soldiers’ underground prison feels quite spacious. They meander through tunnels but always end up in well-lit, large areas. This allows greater sightlines for action to a fault. I’m no WWI expert but am pretty sure front line bunkers weren’t this cavernous. It’s implausible to think they could all interact so freely in this setting. Size does matter here. The arduous strain of confinement becomes a non-factor that saps a key horror element.

Space Between Frights

Bunker benefits from a leaner edit. Trimming the long second act would have significantly raised the scare factor. The actors are fine. There’s just too much space between frights. A bolder climax was also needed. The big reveal leaves a lot to be desired.

Bunker is a production of Buffalo Filmworks and Crossroad Productions. It will have a theatrical release on February 24th from Blue Fox Entertainment.