The Grim Cellar

2007, UK, Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Colour, Running Time: 99 minutes

Cinema screening, Image: 1.85:1 HDV & Super 16/35, Audio: English language

Several months after the outbreak of a virus that has caused rabid madness in those contaminated on a mass scale, all but wiping out the population of Britain, smalls pockets of survivors have taken to living in adopted secure dwellings. A vicious attack on one such group forces a father, overwhelmed by terror, to leave his wife at the ferocious hands of the Infected. Eventually he discovers the huge US operation deployed to effectively contain the problem and repopulate safe areas and, within the safety of a military protected island, he is reunited with his son and daughter. Distraught at their father’s story about having to leave their mother to die, the two kids sneak off to the mainland to locate their old home and retrieve a photo of their believed-to-be-dead mother. The army manage to track them at the house but unexpectedly the mother is also found, still alive. Taking her back to the labs for examination they realise that she is technically contaminated but without displaying the acknowledged symptoms. Unwittingly they have brought back a time bomb into the safe zone and all hell is about to break loose. Suspecting a genetic anomaly that could hold the key to a cure one of the officers takes it on herself to protect the boy at all costs, for the possible sake of mankind.

I was a little dubious: a new director, a poster that claimed with unprecedented innovation, ‘There is no escape’, and a sequel to a successful film hinting at purely financial interest. Aside from one or two complaints (the usual contemporary over reliance on shaky camera work during action) I was pretty wrong: the opening set piece, utilising the score from the first film to devastating effect, starts off reasonably calm with the accepted melancholy of a group of secluded survivors, leading to an Infected attack which progressively builds with such intensity and terror that you’re gripped almost immediately. The escape of Robert Carlyle’s character is one of the most exciting and frightening sequences I’ve seen for years. Carlyle was a surprising addition to the lead cast that helps add a touch of value to what might otherwise have easily been misconceived as a quick knock-off. The presence of the US military in Britain for the purposes of situation quarantine is unnerving to say the least; I’m not sure if that was intended, but the eventual outcome of this - Code Red - is disturbing and horrific. It’s amazing to think that this particular sub-genre can be executed with such credibility.

Exhibiting a gritty, dirty look (I believe a certain amount of 16mm was used as well as DV) the violence and gore have been turned up to 11, some scenes so gruesome it’s quite surprising to witness them in what is essentially a mainstream film. Almost everything before it, cinematically, has been taken and multiplied for impact. The aforementioned opening is basically the core of Night of the Living Dead shot in a contemporary style and condensed into ten minutes. The brutality of 28 Days Later is enhanced to macabre excess. Even Dawn of the Dead’s cheesy helicopter-blades death is outdone here with the chopper massacre of a hundred or so Infected. The militaristic policies are frighteningly believable and only add to the terror - the result is a bloodbath. Being so close to the action (i.e. seated near the front at my cinema) and surrounded by the potency of a (probably slightly too loud) crushingly aggressive soundtrack (the score complements the onscreen action amazingly well), this proved an extremely immersing experience for me personally - it will probably be remembered as one of my favourite theatrical experiences. Oh, and the conclusion couldn’t be much better… Zombie Cinema just got much more terrifying, horrific, and nasty. Brilliant!