The Age of Commercialism

Sadly Over-hyped

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A good concept, not an original one but with a real potential to be both fun and scary, and a creepy-looking DVD cover were what drew me into seeing 'The Creature Below' in the first place. Also have gotten some entertainment out of low-budget creature films, though there are too many weak or less ones. 'The Creature Below' is not good, let alone great. It is also not terrible, let alone a complete shambles, and has good points that make it semi-watchable. There are certainly far worse films in the genre, of similar creature films and overall and it didn't leave me angry or cringing, just that it is very underwhelming that doesn't do a good job with its objectives of being fun or scary.Starting with the positives, the monster does have some creepiness. There are moments where 'The Creature Below' is moderately scary and fun, and it doesn't take things too seriously or go overboard on the camp factor. It's effectively lit and shot too sometimes. The soundtrack has eeriness when it isn't being intrusive or obvious. Michaela Longden tries.Conversely, a lot of things bring 'The Creature Below' down. The acting is generally not good, Anna Dawson being especially terrible in the lead and it does kill the film. The characters are dull and sometimes annoying, meaning there is never much of a reason to make one care for them. Some of the decision making as such bordered on silly.Although the creature was not bad in personality, the creature effects are very cheap-looking. Even for low-budget, 'The Creature Below' is pretty slapdash, especially in the editing. Excitement, thrills, creepiness and suspense are too far and between. The scares are generally not enough and suffer from predictability and lack of tension. The story is far too minimal, another thing that affects the pacing with the padding and over-stretching, bland and often ridiculous. Overall, semi-watchable at best and mostly mediocre. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Talking about The Creature Below, 2016 Directed by Stewart Sparke, who co wrote it with Paul Butler. Spoiler Alert, I will be talking about the plot and give spoiler details, so best advice, watch it, and then come back and see if I am on Target. Where to begin, Great Procuction values. The modest budget produced satisfactory effects, Lots of naked woman, and buckets of blood, Whats not to like? About the story, it starts with Anna Dawson, playing Olive Crown. A work obsessed explorer, virtually selling her soul to explore dark realms. She's going down, with some neat helmet effects, There she meets" it". What is it? the unnamed, but I suspect Cthulhu. Things go amok, and that's the first ten minutes. Next thing you know we see the same woman in a completely different light, Her loving boyfriend Matt Gardiner, played with charm by Daniel Thrace. She has a visit from her dear sister, Ellie, played by Michaela Longden. Her Pal shipmate who saved her life, and the Brutal Lead Wronged captain Dr Fletcher, ,played by Zachary lee. Fine acting all around, well and good, until, It turns out to be a Monster in the basement movie,, with violence murder and Madness above all. The film vexed me, It follows plot lines we have seen before, the "simple experiment goes awry". Throw in the "Morphing blood Sucking baby to grown up" monster. A bit of raped by a monster, and a touch of Rosemarys Baby. The poor actors had to make the best of sometimes inane plot turns, As it turns out, it ended better then I expected. About the monster, since that is what makes or breaks a film, Either for budget concerns, or plot points, we seldom get a glance of the monster, we see a inky egg, and after that, the terrible cliché of rubber tentacles pulled behind objects when spotted, all the while a cooing with baby monster sounds. Then there are the Feed Me scenes, I swear its true, that is exactly a tip of the hat to Mushnick. The Ten Little Indian plot device was wearing thin, when her sister, who heard all and saw all, saves the film. Entertaining, gore with discretion, over the top At the expense of some actors who gave it their all. Eight out of Ten black inky Stars.

"The Creature Below" is a movie that I had not heard about prior to finding it by sheer random luck. And with the prospect of not having anything else at hand to watch in the horror genre, I gave "The Creature Below" a go, without knowing what it was about. I was lured in by the title of the movie alone.The movie starts out quite nicely and does throw the audience straight into the storyline, and you are up to speed with the intention of director Stewart Sparke right away, which was quite nice.Almost from the very beginning there is a Lovecraftian influence permeating "The Creature Below". However that influence is cemented as something solid when you see Olive Crown (played by Anna Dawson) put her Miskatonic University diploma on the wall, so the movie apparently take place in the world as dictated by master writer H. P. Lovecraft.The story, briefly summarized is about a marine biologist who is fired from her job, but in her haste she decides to take away an egg of some unknown original from her workplace. As the egg hatch in her basement at home, Olive forms a symbiont bond with the creature.The music in the movie is quite fitting the genre, as it is subtle, yet noticeable in its own way, given the uniqueness and slightly odd placement it has. At times the music actually takes on an ethereal quality, not unlike that you find on the Nox Arcana CD "Necronomicon", which really bolsters the atmosphere of the movie.And the setting of the movie, being a very rural setting with a sort of reclusive feel to it, also emanates the alienation that H. P. Lovecraft had incorporated into his stories. So it is clear that the director or writer of this movie must have been heavily influenced by Lovecraft's work in some way.Olive's descent down the path that leads to madness and insanity is one well-fleshed out on the screen. And for that I must applaud the director on his accomplishment.As for the actors and actresses in the movie, then I can't claim to be familiar with their prior work, but they did quite good jobs with their given roles and characters.As for the mysterious tentacled creature, well it was believable and had functional effects to make it look fairly realistic. However, the movie could have fared much better with a bigger budget for special effects, no doubt about it. But still, taking the budget and the aspiration of the movie makers into account, they actually did quite well.Granted that "The Creature Below" is a low budget movie, then it is still a nice foray into the eldritch and cosmic horrors dreamed up by H. P. Lovecraft and this movie is actually sort of a hidden gem, that I fear many people will never even give a chance. Which is a shame, because it is entertaining. And if you enjoy the writing of H. P. Lovecraft, then you should definitely check out "The Creature Below".The movie is entertaining, but it just lacked that spice to make it remarkably unique and outstanding. But all in all a good movie. The ending of the movie, however, well I wasn't a fan of that particular way to round up the movie...

I actually enjoyed this low budget horror flick. The story line is great and was developed very well........as the little creature from the depths of the ocean is metamorphosing into a hideous creature, the smart biologist who found the creature is also struggling with her sanity as she bonds with the creatureThere is no established actor in the film. The quality of acting is not the best. But the main character (Anne Dawson) played her role very well. Over all, it is a nice film!