David Twohy is one of Hollywood's most enduring writers, that like his fellow peer David Koepp, occasionally ventures into directing, always with interesting results (see Pitch Black, The Arrival and A Perfect Getaway for more Twohy). With Below he teams up on the screenplay with Darren Aronofsky to produce a supernatural tinged World War II submarine thriller that is every bit as tightly scripted and professionally directed as you'd expect from the big cheese.
Below has a strong ensemble led by Olivia Williams who assumes the audiences perspective as a survivor of a U-boat attack on her medical frigate who takes refuge on a US attack sub which holds its own secrets. The great Bruce Greenwood predictably but dependably plays the skipper with the likes of Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Chinlund, Zack Galifinakis, Christopher Fairbank and Holt McCallany.
Suspense is laid on thick and fast with the script delivering ever increasing perils for the dwindling crew to endure, the supernatural elements are downplayed allowing the tension to be generated by the deteriorating inter-personal relationships and there's some strong effects work to support the parallel story of the sub being hunted by a predatory German surface vessel.
It's a shame the big revelation at the end is signposted a half an hour before the climax but this is still strong work from Twohy an company and a welcome diversion from clones of The Sixth Sense which were doing the rounds at the time of its release.
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