Horror Movie Review: The Creature Below (2016)
The premise behind The Creature Below is unfortunately far better than the end product. Directed by Stewart Sparke & starring Anna Dawson, the plot surrounds a marine biologist discovering a strange creature in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
After being fired from the exploration team she sneaks the creature home with her & watches as it grows. As the film goes on she begins to develop an almost maternal bond with it, defending it from would be attackers & eventually feeding it. The relationship between the two begins to slowly drive her paranoid & to the brink of insanity.
All while the creature continues to grow…
Clearly inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, The Creature Below is just 70+ minutes of disappointment. The story is so boring, so lacklustre that the movies low-budget nature is highlighted even more. You’re desperately hoping to see an awesome looking monster at least but even that is incredibly disappointing. Kept in the shadows for most of the film, when it is properly seen it looks really rubbery & fake.
Add this to the bland characters, sub-par acting & disappointing ending & what you’re left with is a movie that looks great on paper but that’s about it. It has ambition & that can’t be faulted for that but it can’t deliver on its promises.
There are so many problems with it, the most obvious being the marine biologist Olive (Anna Dawson). As the lead, she is difficult to watch. She spends most of the movie looking like she wished she was somewhere else. The movie expects you to care about her & her relationship with her boyfriend but does nothing to earn that. Some brief moments of them together at the start is all you’re going to get before all the focus is put on Anna & the creature.
You might wonder why I’m moaning about the human side of this movie’s relationships. I mean it’s called The Creature Below, right? Here’s the thing, the human relationships are integral to the finale. The issues between Olive, her boyfriend & her sister set the final moments up but there is no reason to care because the movie didn’t try to make you care.
With a bigger budget, we might have got something really great here. Lovecraft is always a fascinating well to explore & the premise here is solid. It just doesn’t live up to it unfortunately.
The Creature Below
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The Final Score - 2/10
2/10