Thursday, October 26, 2017

Beneath

Beneath


Production Year: 2013
Release Date: 10/28/2014
Studio: IFC
Director: Ben Ketai



Beneath is the tragic story of a group of miners who are forced to fight for their lives after a catastrophic collapse traps them 600 feet underground.  George Marsh (Jeff Fahey) has one last day of work before his official retirement.  His daughter (Samantha; Kelly Noonan) stops in to give her father a proper send off.  Kelly agrees to head down into the Mine to spend the day with her father after getting into it with a few of her fathers hardheaded employees.  While the day starts off normal enough, things take a drastic turn when an issue with a drill causes the entire mine to collapse.


While the miners have tanks of oxygen and a plan set in place for this sort of disaster, things are not as they seem.  The drill that caused the collapse also opened closed off section of the mine where the group of survivors discover the rotted remains of miners that had died years earlier.  If that wasnt enough of a hit on the morale of the group, it seems the survivors are slowly slipping into a strange psychosis and eventually miners start dyin one by one.  Could it be your everyday cold blooded murder, or is something more macabre at play?


Beneath is a very solid suspense film with a horror twist.  Samantha begins to see some extremely graphic visions of her fellow miners and while it could be hallucinations, there seems to be something a little more paranormal at work.  Jeff Fahey is perfect in his role of a man whos clearly not ready to retire and feels as if hes being "forced" into an early retirement.  Ben Ketais direction is tight, the cinematography and set design are also great giving the film a very closed off and claustrophobic look and feel.  Beneath takes the viewer on a very creepy ride that doesnt let up until the credits roll.


Im extremely impressed with the selection of special features!  Nearly every aspect of this film is covered from interviews with the cast, crew, and director, to short behind the scenes featurettes!

Commentary with Director Ben Ketai, Writers Patrick Doody and Chris Valenziano, and Producers Nick Phillips and Kelly Wagner

Ben Ketai interview (08:44)

Kelly Noonan interview (04:38)

Jeff Fahey interview (06:20)

Joey Kern interview (08:37)

David Shackelford interview (04:41)

Eric Etebari interview (07:20)

Kurt Caceres interview (07:00)

Mark L. Young interview (05:13)

Rene Rivera interview (06:27)

Kelly Wagner and Nick Phillips interview (17:19)

From Script to Screen featurette (03:04)

Lessons from Below: Miner Education featurette (03:40)

Behind the Scenes (01:53)

Breaking News Reports (02:13)

Newsreel (01:04)

Trailer (02:12)


A quality film thats loaded with extras, IFC Midnights latest releases is definitely worth checking out.  Beneath is a very eerie film that will linger with you for days after its initial viewing.

Available link for download