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The Tunnel (2011) / Ghostkeeper (1981)




This first flick in my double feature was an Australian found footage style horror film about a journalist and her small crew who go exploring abandoned subway tunnels in order to unmask what she believes to be a potential cover up.











The premise is about a journalist, Natasha, who decides to investigate a story about an abandoned project of the government. There had been a lot of buzz about the New South Wales Government's plans to recycle water that was trapped in a network of abandoned tunnels beneath Sydney, in an effort to solve the drought and water shortage problem. Then suddenly, all talk about the plan suddenly stopped. After hearing rumors that there were homeless people down there who had allegedly gone missing, and seeing a YouTube video posted by an urban explorer who claims to have encountered something odd, she and her small team decided to investigate. First, they interview a homeless man who claimed to have lived in the tunnels, and he suddenly freaks out when asked what happened to his friends who also lived down there. Then the team decide to sneak into the subway tunnels, hoping to uncover the reason for the government's sudden silence regarding the dropping of their plan. Things take a turn for the worse when their audio engineer, Tangles, suddenly picks up strange noises through his headphones, and then goes missing. When the team goes looking for him, they encounter something living down there that begins to hunt them.











The film does a decent job of setting up the mystery, slowly revealing things, such as the homeless guy who has a panic attack, and the footage from the YouTube video. It also utilizes the less-is-more approach, as you never get a clear shot of the thing that's stalking them. Everyone gives decent performances, and the film jumps back and forth between the footage of them in the tunnels, and 2 of the teammates talking interview style about their experience. The one issue with this, however, is that this reveals to the audience who ends up surviving to tell the story, as well as clips of the interviews being put in the middle of footage of the characters being chased, ruining the tense momentum. It would have been more effective if they saved the interviews for the end. Still, it’s worth a watch if you enjoy the found footage horror genre. I streamed this one on Tubi.







The next flick was a 1981 Canadian supernatural slasher called Ghostkeeper.




The story takes place at a mountain ski resort, where 3 friends are spending New Year’s Eve. Mark, Jenny and Chrissy decide to venture out into the wilderness on their jet skis. Chrissy crashes on hers, and when they can’t get it started, they decide to go into what appears to be an abandoned lodge. A blizzard starts up, so they decide to stay there for the night. Soon enough, they encounter an old woman who says she’s the groundskeeper there. She warns them not to stay, but due to the storm, they are stuck there. Eventually, things turn weird and dangerous, as they come to realize that something else is lurking in the building. 













The movie does a decent job of building an eerie atmosphere with its slow burn approach and creepy music. It also utilizes the abandoned lodge in the woods to good effect. Things get a bit cheesy here and there, but for being an older 80’s film, I found it’s desolate, slow build scares to be well done. This is one of those movies you’ll need to be in the mood for. If you enjoy horror movies that take their time, like 1984’s Sole Survivor or 2001’s Session 9, then you just might enjoy Ghostkeeper. I streamed it on YouTube.











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