Cult Labs recently put together a timeline of peoples choices of best British Horror films and I eagerly threw mine straight in. These were The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy 1973) Blood On Satan’s Claw (Piers Haggard 1971) Psychomania (Don Sharp 1973) and Witchfinder General (Michael Reeves 1974). I think this says what era I favoured as far as classic British horror is concerned. Of course some other great films were mentioned including Don’t Look Now, Frightmare, Company Of Wolves, and Hellraiser and another which wasn’t that really should have been there was Revenge Of Billy The Kid for sheer barmy (or should that be barny) ness. One thing that has to be asked is when you think about it, how many decent horror films came out of Britain in the 90’s onwards? It’s a pretty poor show really. Sure there were some exceptions such as 28 Days Later and Sean Of The Dead, Alex Chandon was causing a stir in the underground but yet to break through as was Jake West with Cradle Of Fear and Razorblade Smile but it was pretty poor all round. Suddenly in 2008 two British films appeared from nowhere both by first time directors and they really caused an impact making me sit up and think we could be in for a resurgence and even a ‘New Wave of British Horror Movie’ (NWOBHM nope sorry that acronym has already been taken). These films were of course Eden Lake (James Watkins) and Mum And Dad (Steven Shiel).
Both of these films were incredibly hard hitting and both dealt with the family unit, out of control and running amok. I remember first viewings of these with jaw dropping open and thinking the BBFC had gone slightly barmy not cutting anything out of these. They were violent and visceral and more importantly they were both tales that we being British could affiliate with in the, “this could be happening next door or it could happen to me sense.” My highly anticipated new wave of British horror resurgence of course did not happen and again the occasional gem such as comedy horror films like Cockney’s Vs Zombies, the aforementioned Alex Chandon’s Inbred emerge and Ben Wheatley has found his voice but on the whole it is more a whimper than a scream.
So, and the point of this is that I had huge hopes for the second feature by Steven Shiel of Mum And Dad infamy and sat down to watch ‘Dead Mine’ with great anticipation. The irony here is that, well although directed by a Brit that is as far as it goes. There is no return to the mean suburban streets of Harmondsworth, it is not even an abandoned Welsh mine but we find ourselves pitched up on an Indonesian Island for a very different type of feature. It’s a tried and tested formula, a group of people are looking for something, there is something they do not know about wanting to stop them finding it and they are picked off one by one. The group are quite a clichéd bunch too. We have soldiers who are from the area paid to guard the explorers which they do with determined grit. We have the leader who is the rich boy, son of the company CEO and his equally brattish girlfriend. It is obvious that they know more than they are letting on. In the middle we have two people aiding them, a scientist helping with research and a rough and rugged engineer, ex-army type Cockney through and through (cor blimey bless him) whose task is to ask the questions and provide the meat in the sandwich. The cast do a perfectly acceptable job of trying to survive down the labyrinthine mine setting which is full of different rooms and oddities and our Britflick Cockney rebel Stanley played by Sam Hazeldine (I guess Sean Pertwee was not available) is particularly good.
History purists will be chewing at the bit as this Indiana Jones excursion goes tits up and we discover that we are on the search for Yamashita’s gold. If that is not enough the old mine setting, surviving from WWII is no less than a connected part of infamous Unit 731. You do not need to be a history buff to realise the significance of this if you are an out and out gore-hound due to the harrowing likes of TF Mou’s Men Behind The Sun (1988) and Andrey Iskanov’s remarkable Philosophy Of A Knife (2008). Don’t go into this expecting that level of gore though, in fact I thought this could have got away with a 15 certificate and indeed that seems to be what the BBFC have rated it despite my boxed copy stating it is an 18. Essentially things move into one of those “what do you mean the war is over” monster movies and the effects although nothing to get excited about do the job and the thrills and spills keep the second half moving adequately.
Everything aside it has to be said that Dead Mine is a lot of fun even if it is quite daft fun. As a horror fan you will be instantly comfortable watching it. Seasoned veterans may look at the setting and remember My Bloody Valentine, The Boogens (both 1981) and even Neon Maniacs (1986). There are also parts that remind of everything from Shock Waves (1971) through to Outpost (2007) and also another very good British Film Neil Marshall’s The Descent (2005) is owed rather a large debt of gratitude.
Dead Mine really is a leave your brain at the door, have a few beers and quite a few laughs as you watch the bodies hit the floor and watch them die slowly. It’s that sort of film but I have to say, as far as putting it up there as a worthy successor to Mum And Dad, it is on the whole inconsequential, which is a great shame. It also annoys with not quite tying up everything at the end leaving you scratching your head or more to the point thinking “surely they have not left this open for a possible sequel?”
Extras include a few deleted scenes thrown on and they really would have made absolutely zero impact if they had been added. There is a Q & A session with practically each member of the cast but unfortunately it is incredibly repetitive and some of the questions “describe the film in three words” ouch! Finally there’s lots of footage of people wandering around ‘behind the scenes’ which is in all honesty rather dull viewing.
So not the greatest but worth a watch and as for Shiel himself it would appear that he has in production a film called Gozo (nothing to do with the similarly entitled Takashii Miike Gozu) which is a thriller set on a small island off Malta. Looks like the sunshine is keeping his work well away from the grey rainy streets of London and who can blame him, especially when there is no funding ever available for British genre movies!
(Pete Woods)
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