Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageDeathwatch (2002)
Director: Michael J Bassett
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The haunted house structure - unseen forces and trapped folk picked off in baroque ways - is transposed to a trench on the Western Front. This adds new ingredients to the mix, self-satisfied rats and rank mud. Moreover, when the bedraggled band of British soldiers (including Bell, Rhys and Serkis) stumbles upon it, the trench is full of mangled bodies which they take to be the remains of German soldiers. This scene highlights a problem: combine a conventional horror movie with 'the horrors of war', and it's hard for supernatural unpleasantness to hold its own against man-made evils. The setting is also limiting on a visual level, the action adrift in mile upon mile of muddy ditches. Writer/director Bassett makes the most of a tight budget with a few nasty surprises, but the film chiefly relies on an overworked smoke machine permanently set at 'spooky evil mist'.Author: WI
Cast & crew
Director: Michael J Bassett
Producer: Sam Taylor, Mike Downey, Frank Hübner
Cast: Jamie Bell, Ruaidhrí Conroy, Laurence Fox, Torben Liebrecht, Dean Lennox Kelly, Kris Marshall, Hans Matheson, Hugh O'Conor, Matthew Rhys, Andy Serkis full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Duration: 95 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has Michael Mann lost it?
Adam Lee Davies mourns the passing of a major Hollywood talent as Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies' sees the great director running on empty
Why 'Ice Age 3' is really for adults
Tom Huddleston takes a look at a selection of films which bring adult problems to a pre-teen audience
Is this Summer 2009's best film?
The French filmmaker Claire Denis speaks to Dave Calhoun about her new film, '35 Shots of Rum', a tender portrait of a father-daughter relationship in Paris
The Informant: trailer preview
Steven Soderbergh is at it again, this time with a screwball corporate caper starring Matt Damon called 'The Informant'. View the trailer here...
Rudo y Cursi: interview
Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna talk to Time Out about their highly entertaining new comedy, 'Rudo y Cursi'
An open letter to Peter Morgan
Tom Huddleston penned an open letter to Peter Morgan offering some friendly dos and don'ts for the new Bond movie
Outdoor film screenings in London 2009
Derek Adams offers a guide to the best places to see films outside in London this summer
50 essential sci-fi films
With 'Star Trek' making serious waves, we thought it would be a perfect time to select 50 must-see sci-fi films
What do you think?
Post your review now