Jaden Jordan
- Aug 21, 2019
- 2 min read

The Tunnel (2011)

Updated: Aug 2, 2021

The Breakdown: A news crew investigating a potential government coverup goes to explore the water tunnels beneath the city, only to find something worse than they ever expected.

Watch If: You like good, creepy found footage.

Not If: Annoying characters ruin films for you.

SECONDARY FACTS

Overall Rating: 3.4

Length: 1:30

Country: Australia

Language: English

Scare Factor: 4/5

Gore Factor: 4/5

REVIEW

THE QUICK AND DIRTY

The Tunnel is a spooky mockumentary style found footage that deserves a spot on every found footage watch list. It's creepy, atmospheric, and visually interesting.

PREMISE:4

These days I find it's pretty rare to come across anything even remotely original. Monsters are all copies of copies of other monsters, stories and plots are all regurgitated renditions of the same cookie-cutter arcs jumbled into jigsaw plot lines. But there's something here, in The Tunnel, that manages to meet all the criteria of an existing monster flick while simultaneously subverting them. The monster is a skewed version of a relatable frightening monster, both in aesthetic as well as in modus operandi. It manages to be wholly recognizable as a nightmarish entity that is not wholly foreign, but is still nonconforming.

ACTING:3

There are a couple of points where it feels like actors playing their characters, and that takes away from the film as a whole just a bit. If I'm being honest though, I'm not entirely sure if these are lapses in acting or moments when the writing looses itself, and these points are few and far between, growing less frequent as the film progresses. The more chaos and panic is introduced to the film, the more the actors seem to thrive.

AUDIO AND VISUALS:3

I'm a sucker for a spooky monster. And there's something about the creature in this one that makes me watch the background of the film with baited breath, because after you've seen it once, everything might be the monster, and that is something that is delightful to come across.

The way the film switches between "professional style" filming and the shaky-cam shots gives the entire film a depth and poignancy in the contrast and offers a visceral sense of a loss of control, while, for the most part, keeping motion sickness at a minimum.

ATMOSPHERE: 3

While is takes The Tunnel a little while to really get going, once it's off, it's off and there's no stopping it. The rapid unraveling and chaotic turmoil throwing the protagonists into worse and worse situations really manages to propel the film, leaving those moments of stillness coated in a hesitant dread that prevents you from really being able to relax.

DELIVERY:4

The Tunnel is an underrated hidden gem of a horror film that deserves far more attention than it has. It is one of my all time favorite found footage films, though it doesn't have the highest re-watch value. It's a tense, spooky ride with a cool monster an absolutely deserves a chance.