the tunnel movie review 2011

• Become a Critical Movie Critic
• Movie Review Archives

Movie Review: The Tunnel (2011)

• Movie Reviews
• One response
• --> June 13, 2011

Filmmakers Carlo Ledesma, Enzo Tedeschi & Julian Harvey clearly took heed of the philosophies and techniques of renowned scare-meister Alfred Hitchcock for 2011’s The Tunnel , namely his mantra that less is more: It is not always what you see that scares you, but what you imagine. A low-budget horror pic filmed in 14 days and made for peanuts, The Tunnel is an Australian member of the notorious “found footage” genre. While it does not offer anything overly new or novel in terms of narrative (in fact the story closely resembles the 2001 film Mole ), it does offer an inherently eerie location, a bunch of strong performances from the little-known cast members, and plenty of atmospheric thrills & chills. It is essentially The Descent mixed with The Blair Witch Project and [Rec] .

The Tunnel is the story of an investigative news team: Reporter Natasha (Delià¡), cameraman Steve (Davis), producer Pete (Rodoreda) and soundman Tangles (Arnold). In 2007, in order to deal with Sydney’s ongoing water shortage problem, government officials planned to use the vast collection of abandoned railway tunnels below the city to build a water recycling facility, though the plan was controversial because it would disrupt the homeless population residing down there. However, the closely-guarded project is quietly abandoned by the Australia government, prompting Natasha to aggressively seek more information. Making the story more tantalizing is the fact that reports begin to surface of homeless people disappearing, and that the government refuses to recognize this — they even refuse to admit that homeless people live down there in the first place. Even though Natasha is unable to obtain a filming permit, she drags along her loyal team to explore the pitch-black tunnel systems. Unfortunately, it isn’t long before they get lost and discover that something is living down there which may or may not be human, and seems to have a taste for human flesh.

Interestingly, The Tunnel is played as a straight-up documentary like an episode of I Shouldn’t Be Alive , with the footage taken underground being interspersed with survivor interviews filmed after-the-fact. It’s an altogether unique and less frustrating take on the found footage concept which for the most part worked seamlessly for this reviewer. The fact that the movie was designed to seem like a slickly-produced television documentary is bolstered by the meticulously researched introduction, wherein Natasha talks about the in-depth investigation she undertook prior to heading into the tunnels. The attention to detail is astonishing as the history of the tunnels is discussed (bear in mind these tunnels actually exist and filming took place in them); deftly weaving truth, fiction and speculation into an altogether engaging horror/thriller tapestry. There is enough factual detail within the film to keep you on the fence regarding the material’s veracity.

Most contemporary horror/thriller pictures are more concerned with getting into the nitty-gritty as quickly as possible; brushing off character development as an unnecessary hindrance. Smartly, a solid portion of The Tunnel is dedicated to the build-up, with the makers providing an appreciable dose of worthwhile character development before the news crew head underground. Not to mention, the post-event interview footage allows for a more complete picture of the main players. And things rapidly escalate once the film heads into the tunnels, with plenty of nail-biting tension and an unshakable sense of dead. The true star of the picture is the tunnels themselves, which are dark, grimy, eerie, and filled with graffiti. The atmosphere is accentuated by the ambiance that’s generated by the creepy surroundings, and said ambiance is only interrupted by the occasional piece of interview footage or effectively moody music. Given the lack of budget, director Carlo Ledesma and his writers focused predominantly on lighting and atmospherics, and were up to the task. Thankfully, the stalker is never fully glimpsed — it is only seen in blurry, under-lit footage, and each fleeting sighting is petrifying under these conditions.

As effective as the filmmaking is, the picture does have its faults in the scripting department — it is stupid at times. For instance, in one scene the stalker picks up a video camera and plays with it, and even knows how to zoom. Huh? And towards the end, Natasha gets a mobile phone from a bystander to call emergency services, but does not ask the surrounding people which train station they’re in! The crew also fall for a number of classic horror movie eye-rollers: They never look for weapons, there are a few instances of poor planning, and Natasha screams and acts hysterical when she should be quiet. Christ, is it too much to ask for a level-headed female protagonist who doesn’t scream her head off at the first sign of danger? Despite all of this, though, the main characters are not complete idiots, and most of their decisions feel like the logical actions of a terrified, trapped group of explorers faced with horrifying unforeseen events. Heck, they even decide to stick together when the shit hits the fan, which is astonishing. The performances are also excellent, with the actors seeming very natural in both the “documentary” footage and interviews. Steve Davis as the cameraman is a particular standout.

There is also a fascinating story behind the creation and release of The Tunnel . Writer-producers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey raised the film’s budget by selling individual digital frames of the film for $1 apiece. To make things even more unusual, the film was released online and could be legally downloaded online on top of being available in stores on DVD. It’s interesting that the makers chose such an unconventional release method, since The Tunnel is a high quality horror offering which deserved a fully-fledged theatrical run. While the story breaks no new ground and while the script is not exactly solid (not to mention this is a picture you admire more than you conventionally enjoy), the film was managed so creatively that it makes for an engaging, scary viewing exercise in horror.

I'm a true blue fair dinkum Aussie larrakin from Down Under (or Australia, if you're not a fan of slang). Yep, I wrestle crocs and I throw shrimps on the barbie. Movies are my passion. I also post my reviews on Flixster, Listal and MovieFilmReview. I've been writing reviews as a hobby since 2003, and since then my technique has increased big time. I'm also studying Media at University, which helps me develop my writing skills. I am continually commended for my writing from both tutors and peers. On top of reviewing movies, I voluntarily contribute to the local newspaper in the area of music journalism. And I'm a through-and-through gym junkie. Yep, my life thus revolves around peers, studies, movies and exercise. I'm more than happy.

Movie Review: Sinister (2012) Movie Review: Bait 3D (2012) Movie Review: Dredd 3D (2012) Movie Review: Killing Them Softly (2012) Movie Review: Get the Gringo (2012) Movie Review: Outpost: Black Sun (2012) Movie Review: The Eye of the Storm (2011)

'Movie Review: The Tunnel (2011)' has 1 comment

January 19, 2012 @ 9:44 am Albertagirl

I agree with the writer about the stupid parts, those mentioned were times I did in fact, roll my eyes. I also agree that the days of ladies screaming their heads off have to end, come on, its as bad as tripping EVERY time someone runs away or a perfectly good car not starting EVERY time someone needs to flee an axe murderer! Apart from the couple eye rolls, this movie managed to scare the bejeezus out of me. Less was more, my imagination went into overtime and when they did show the evil one, it was REALLY SPOOKY. I won’t soon visit a tunnel when I don’t think of this movie, it WAS scary and I am a seasoned horror buff. Worth the watch for sure.

Log in to Reply

Privacy Policy | About Us

 |  Log in

Philosophy in Film

A Philosophical Approach to Cinema

Review: The Tunnel (2011) ★★½

Australia has produced a number of horror films throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s that far exceeded expectations. The Babadook (2014) , The Loved Ones (2009), and The Reef (2010) are all very different kinds of horror films that set the bar pretty high for the genre as a whole. While The Babadook doesn’t put its Australian setting to great use (and it didn’t need to), many other Australian horror films cash in on people’s fear of untamed wilderness, backwoods lunatics, and desperate isolation in many parts of the country. Carlo Ledesma’s found-footage horror film, The Tunnel (2011) , is no exception.

The Tunnel is a documentary-style horror film (full disclosure: this is not my favorite subgenre). The plot follows Natasha (Bel Deliá), a journalist determined to investigate a government project that was suddenly halted without explanation. According to the New South Wales government, the abandoned train tunnels beneath Sydney contain millions of liters of freshwater — water that could help solve the state’s water shortages. 

We come to find out that, in addition to the project reaching an inexplicable standstill, dozens of vagrants living in the abandoned tunnels have reportedly gone missing. So, Natasha takes a film crew consisting of her producer, Peter (Andy Rodoreda), cameraman, Steven (Steve Davis), and sound engineer, Tangles (Luke Arnold), down into the old train tunnels to get to the bottom of the mystery.

As you can imagine, things don’t go so well for Natasha and her crew. Lighting is limited in the web of empty tunnels, so the crew must use their night-vision camera to look around (a narrative technique that has been used in a wide range of horror films, from 28 Weeks Later to REC ). They soon come to find out exactly why the project was halted, as well as the whereabouts of the ill-fated vagrants.

If The Tunnel sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because it borrows heavily from dozens of other horror films produced in the mid-2000s. The Descent (2005), The Descent: Part 2 (2009), Creep (2004) , and The Cave (2005) all contain similar stories about a group trapped underground with an entity that wishes them harm. However, The Tunnel is the only one of these films to take the “found-footage” approach, which makes it stand out to a certain degree. 

Nonetheless, The Tunnel is a pretty standard, by-the-books monster movie. The characters get chased down and picked off by a conveniently illusive beast lurking somewhere in the labyrinth of tunnels. It takes a while for us to get a few glimpses of the monster, and each is brief and annoyingly distorted. I’m of the opinion that horror filmmakers should either show a monster or they shouldn’t; I’m not a fan of the frustrating middle ground of many found-footage films.

That said, there are some advantages to this approach. Tension builds as the crew struggles to find their way out of the tunnels, all while being terrorized by an unseen, seemingly unstoppable force. Limited lighting and inconvenient POVs leave us guessing and staring intensely at every passing shadow. This allows The Tunnel to be genuinely creepy at times.

Despite the scares, the narrative is still painfully familiar; and the derivative story is not the film’s only shortcoming. All of the performances are mediocre at best, which is mostly the fault of subpar writing. The dialogue simply isn’t believable, so the more the characters talk and over-explain their frightening predicament, the less frightening it becomes.

While I’m certainly showing my own biases, I’ve just never been a fan of found-footage films, horror or otherwise. Quality cinematography is one of the best parts of film as a distinct medium, so taking this out of the equation entirely for the sake of realism feels wrong. Instead of trying to make the film look real, the filmmakers should have spent more time making the characters feel three-dimensional and the dialogue more natural.

While our brief view of the monster is legitimately frightening, the scares don’t last very long. If you’re a fan of found-footage horror films, Australian horrors, or B-grade monster movies in general, you’ll likely find something of value in The Tunnel ; if not, this is probably not the horror movie for you. Either way, just keep your eyes open for the monster and try to ignore the dialogue.

Rating: ★★½ out of 5

If you’d to watch The Tunnel (2011), it is currently available to purchase via Amazon here .

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Arrival (2016): Will We Understand Aliens When (If) They Arrive?
• Review: Nancy (2018) ★★★★

Matthew Jones

Matthew Jones is a freelance writer who has written for dozens of local and international businesses, in addition to his publications on film and philosophy. To see more of his writing, check out his Medium page or personal website . If you like Philosophy in Film, be sure to contribute on Patreon !

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Aussie mock doc "The Tunnel" delivers a pretty good spook show in the abandoned subway tunnels beneath downtown Sydney.

By Richard Kuipers

Richard Kuipers

• ‘Invisible Nation’ Review: Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen Fights For Her Country’s Survival in Vanessa Hope’s Compelling Documentary 4 months ago
• ‘Godzilla Minus One’ Review: The Kaiju Superstar Delivers Everything You Could Want From a Monster Movie 6 months ago
• ‘Furies’ Review: A Furious Tale of Female Revenge Set in a Hell-on-Earth Vision of Ho Chi Minh City 1 year ago

Taking a chapter from “The Blair Witch Project” and a page from 1973 cult item “Raw Meat,” Aussie mock doc “The Tunnel” delivers a pretty good spook show in the abandoned subway tunnels beneath downtown Sydney. The brainchild of writer-producer-editor team Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey, pic was partly funded by Internet-sourced investment and seeded by the duo via BitTorrent on May 18. With same-day DVD release and presentation on Oz cable channel Showtime, this intriguing test case for alternative production and distribution strategies will further defy convention when it commences a limited domestic theatrical run June 9.

Tedeschi and Harvey have broken new and provocative ground by openly supplying their pic for free download on the same peer-to-peer websites used to illegally distribute copyrighted content. By first raising funds online and now inviting downloaders to pay a voluntary viewing fee of however much they wish, Tedeschi and Harvey’s approach in some respects bears comparison with the online marketing of Radiohead’s 2007 album “In Rainbows.” With approximately half a million downloads of “The Tunnel” to date, it will be interesting to see how its various revenue streams perform. What’s certain is that it will be seen by far more auds than could ever have been anticipated using traditional distribution methods.

Popular on Variety

The movie itself has a tasty hook. Purporting to be based on “true events and police evidence” from 2007, the story centers on a TV news crew investigating links between a controversially aborted government project involving disused subway tunnels and rumors of homeless people disappearing without trace in the subterranean warren.

A tad slow at first, the pace picks up when interviews with traumatized ex-journalist Natasha Warner (Bel Delia) and straight-talking cameraman Steve Miller (Steve Davis) are intercut with material filmed during their unauthorized journey beneath the city. Though many viewers will instantly mark accompanying reporter/second cameraman Peter Ferguson (Andy Rodoreda) and sound recordist Tangles (Luke Arnold) as victims, that does not prevent the film from generating and sustaining suspense once the party starts hearing strange sounds and catching almost subliminal glimpses of “something” in the labyrinth.

Making the most of super-atmospheric locations never previously seen in an Aussie feature, debut helmer Carlo Ledesma is well served by his convincing quartet of thesps. Special kudos goes to Steve Davis, a real-life cameraman who performs impressively while also filming a sizable portion of the finished product.

Only real downside is a failure to reveal anything about the malevolent presence. The less-is-more approach is visually effective, but the screenplay could easily have produced extra intrigue and sent a few more shivers up auds’ spines by supplying some speculation on the source of what’s lurking in the darkness.

Ace lensing on a multitude of formats contributes significantly to the film’s believability as a found-footage item. All other technical aspects are excellent.

• Production: A Distracted Media release of a Distracted Media production, in association with Zapruder's Other Films, Dlshs Film. (International sales: Distracted Media, Sydney.) Produced by Enzo Tedeschi, Julian Harvey. Executive producers, Tedeschi, Harvey, Peter Thompson, Ahmed Salama, Valeria Petrenko. Directed by Carlo Ledesma. Screenplay, Enzo Tedeschi, Julian Harvey.
• Crew: Camera (color/B&W, HD, DigiBeta, Betacam SX, XDCAM-to-HD), Steve Davis, Shing Fung Cheung; editors, Tedeschi, Harvey; music, Paul Dawkins; production designer, Katie Newton; art director, Sam Boffa; sound (stereo), Sasha Zastavnikovic; visual effects supervisor, David Sander; visual effects, Surfaces Rendered; assistant director, Paul Brenner; second unit camera, Sam Clark. Reviewed on DVD, Sydney, May 30, 2011. Running time: 90 MIN.
• With: With: Bel Delia, Andy Rodoreda, Steve Davis, Luke Arnold.

More From Our Brands

2024 acm awards: the complete winners list, how the world’s oldest fabric mill is helping modern men suit up, nfl schedule release: the super bowl for ticket sales, social media, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, biden, trump agree to first presidential debate of 2024 election season — find out when & where, verify it's you, please log in.

Where to Watch

Bel Deliá (Natasha Warner) Andy Rodoreda (Peter Ferguson) Steve Davis (Steve Miller) Luke Arnold (Jim 'Tangles' Williams) Goran D. Kleut (Stalker) James Caitlin (Trevor Jones) Ben Maclaine (Security Guard) Peter McAllum (Government Minister) Rebecca Clay (Emergency Operator) Shannon Harvey (Jane Schmidt)

Carlo Ledesma

An investigation into a government cover-up leads to a network of abandoned train tunnels deep beneath the heart of Sydney. As a journalist and her crew hunt for the story it quickly becomes clear the story is hunting them.

Recommendations

Advertisement

The Tunnel [2011] Review: Undone By Its Weak Ending

A competently crafted found-footage horror narrated in faux-documentary style, The Tunnel utilizes its narrow spaces, dark alleys & underground setting effectively and manages to be legitimately tense, thrilling & terrifying at times yet is undone by an ending that fails to conclude the entire journey on a fulfilling note.

The story concerns a journalist & her crew whose investigation into a government cover-up leads them to the underground networks of abandoned railway tunnels in Sydney. But what began as their search for the truth soon turns into a fight for survival when they discover that something sinister is lurking in those dark corners.

Directed by Carlos Ledesma, the film employs the less is more approach and lets our imagination run wild by tapping into our fear of the unknown. Its attack on the viewers’ psyche is unrelenting once the shit hits the fan even though the initial setup & conclusion don’t pack the desired punch when compared to the strong bits it features in the middle.

Similar to The Tunnel –   Empathy Inc. [2019] Review – An elegant metaphor for the sordid underbelly of mindless materialism

Another aspect that benefits the film is its excellent camerawork, something that’s often a hit or miss in this subgenre. Although there are moments of pitch black darkness, shaky cam & disorienting footage, all resulting in lack of clarity, much of it is handled with flair and elevates the mystery, suspense & our heart rate with surprising ease.

Even the jump scares are aptly timed in this found-footage horror, and the chaos & terror that erupts from it further amplifies its frightening aura. What works against the film however are shortcomings of its own makings, for it gives away the characters’ fates during the first act. Also, the malevolent presence we briefly get a glimpse of remains a mystery as no explanation is provided.

On an overall scale, The Tunnel makes smart use of its underground locations & claustrophobic atmosphere to instill a disquieting chill into its frames and is amongst the better examples of found-footage horror. Had it provided a resolution as good as its best bits, this Aussie chiller would’ve attained an even higher position than where it stands now. Made available for free on BitTorrent by the filmmakers themselves, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t give it a go.

The Tunnel Trailer

The Tunnel Links – IMDb , Rotten Tomatoes 

Trending right now.

Cinema is my life capsule. Horror is my refuge. Jurassic Park is first love. Lord of the Rings is perfection. Spielberg is GOAT. Cameron is King. In Nolan I trust. Pixar makes my heart sing. Reviewing films is a force of habit. Letterboxd is home. Blog is where I'm currently inactive. HoF just happened to came along.

Similar Posts

Becoming Cousteau [2021] Review – A brilliant reminder on the transformational legacy of Jacques-Yves Cousteau

The Last Duel (2021) Review: Ridley Scott’s Foray into Revisionist Filmmaking

Vindicta (2023) Movie Ending Explained: Did David Kill Lou? Or was it the other way around?

Salaam Venky (2022) Review: A Tearjerking Melodrama that is too Gimmicky to sit through

Foe (2023) Movie Review: A Pretentious Sci-Fi Mess 

Reacher (Season 2) Series Review – Like the action movies of the 90s or 2000s, the sequel is bigger and badder, not necessarily better

Horror Movie Review

The tunnel (2011) movie review – 31 days of halloween.

• Director: Carlo Ledesma
• Actors: Bel Deliá, Andy Rodoreda, Steve Davis, Luke Arnold, Goran D. Kleut, James Caitlin, Russell Jeffrey, Jessica Fallico
• Writers: Julian Harvey, Enzo Tedeschi
• Producers: Julian Harvey, Enzo Tedeschi
• Country: Australia
• Language: English
• Parental: Peril, Language, Violence

In 2007 in the midst of the drought and water shortages the NSW State government has unveiled plans to tap into and recycle millions of litres of water trapped in a network of abandoned train tunnels just beneath the heart of Sydney. However the government suddenly goes cold on the plan and it is not made public why. There is talk of homeless people who use the tunnel as shelter going missing even though the government states that there are no homeless people in there. This and the silence from the officials and ministers leads a journalist Natasha to begin an investigation into a government cover-up. She and her crew Pete (Producer) Steve (Cameraman) and Tangles (Sound Technichian) decide to investigate the story in the tunnel.

It’s day 15 of our 31 Days of Halloween feature and it’s time for more found footage horror. I often talk about how great Australian horror is and today’s movie is no exception. Coming hot on the heels of the 2010’s found footage wave sparked by the release of world wide mega hit Paranormal Activity . The Tunnel takes the same Mockumentary approach used in the brilliant Lake Mungo and tells its own story of a tunnel network that hides a dark secret. 

After the government abandons a plan to supply cold water through a network of abandoned tunnels without giving an explanation. A group of reporters begin to investigate the reasons why. Rumours of homeless people disappearing in the tunnels prompts Natasha ( Bel Deliá ) to take her crew into the very tunnels themselves. The movie plays out like a documentary featuring interviews with the team of reporters and footage of what took place. Again, think Lake Mungo but with a little more focus on the news investigation itself rather than the interviews etc.

A Marketing Hit

It goes without saying that if you dislike found footage horror and mockumentaries, The Tunnel won’t change your mind. In fact, I can’t think of a single movie that will. But if you are a fan of the genre or are just not that picky, this is a great option. Found footage is much maligned but I also feel like it is the home of some serious horror movie making innovation and this film is no exception.

The Tunnel was the subject of a rather bespoke marketing campaign that consisted of frames from the movie being sold for $1 each. This won the movie an AIMIA award for Best Use of Social Media. And also propelled the movie to popularity around the world via the medium of Bittorrent. With a copy of the movie being seeded on the platform and shared to millions of people. This is one of those movies that had a legion of fans before it even hit mainstream release. This is the type of innovation that is so common in Found Footage and so easy to appreciate.

Effective Found Footage Horror

Outside of interesting marketing campaigns and viral popularity. The Tunnel is simply a movie that does a lot of things right. There is a strong focus on build up here and setting the scene. Nothing is rushed here with plenty of focus given to the potential government cover up that is hiding something sinister. And the investigation that takes place into this. For the majority of the running length, this is an almost investigate mystery movie. With characters digging deeper and more information slowly coming to light.

A chance encounter with a homeless person who is seriously disturbed by what he has seen in the tunnels pushes the crew forward even further. Eventually they find themselves investigating the actual tunnels themselves and this where the horror ramps up. All of a sudden the investigation is pushed to one side and we have ourselves a movie that could best be described as The Descent lite. The dark, claustrophobic, tunnels become hell on earth for our cast. And it’s these tunnels that are actually the real star of the show here.

• Tubi 31 Days of Halloween
• 20 Awesome Australian Horror Movies RANKED
• 25 Found Footage Movies You May Have Missed
• A Halloween Horror Movie a Day
• Lake Mungo - Review
• The Lurking Fear (2023) Ending Explained - Explaining The Worst Horror of 2023!

A Brilliant Location

Found Footage lacks in a lot of areas that other horror movies don’t. Special effects, story and scope being a few of those. Carlo Ledesma manages to make up for many of these shortcomings by setting much of the action here in a legitimately creepy and claustrophobic underground maze of tunnels. Whereas the earlier parts of the movie that focus on the investigation and interviews feel both effective and very authentic. It’s the tunnels themselves that really stand out.

They are suitably dark and intimidating while also having a somewhat endless feel. The constant changes of direction and consistently narrow passages that feel like they are closing in on the cast members. Afford the movie a sort of vagueness that has you questioning time and continuity. It’s a nice touch and works extremely well.

We spend an awful lot of time beneath the ground, as well. With the movie not hanging around to get to the exploring. Numerous different rooms litter the tunnels. With toilets, bunk beds and shelters hinting at a history buried inside these subterranean caverns that has been long hidden. The sound production adds to the fear. With characters capturing unheard voices and screams on their recording equipment. Playing it back and presenting it to the viewer as just another horrifying part of the mystery. It is legitimately tense stuff and extremely effective.

Surprisingly Realistic

Where The Tunnel really excels, however, is in its unrelenting desire to present the movie as fact. Nothing here is done with any hint of irony. The story is written in such a way as to make it almost believable. The mystery at the heart of it is one that only people who had been deep into the tunnels would know anything about. And anyone connected to the event is portrayed as being either horrified by what they have seen or simply unable to talk about it. Lending the movie a sense of realism that many other horror films would be envious of.

A lot of what we see is mundane and inconsequential. But as time goes on and the characters get deeper into the tunnel network. Things only become more and more foreboding. And the movie never once lets up on the realistic presentation and the reactions of the characters. All great found footage horror does this. Lake Mungo and Exhibit A stand out for their dedication to the very same way of telling a story. And the shaky camera style and rough method of filming only make it even easier to buy in to what is taking place. The commitment to a realistic presentation adds to the vulnerability of our cast and adds tremendously to the scares.

Decent Acting and Direction

Acting is fantastic, pretty much, throughout. With everyone being extremely believable and giving it their all when the movie calls for it. Bel Deliá and Andy Rodoreda , as Natasha and Peter, are particularly noteworthy for their tense and believable relationship. Direction is decent with both the latter parts of the movie and the earlier documentary style stuff feeling equally as well done. Despite being such radically different approaches to film making. There is a lot of shaky cam towards the end and it is going to annoy a few people.

Some may dislike the significant change of pace that comes along in the last 15 minutes or so. And the movie deserves a fair bit of criticism for producing a story that isn’t entirely fleshed out. There is a bunch of stuff that goes unexplained here and this is one of those movies that will leave you with significant questions. It feels like there was supposed to be a sequel to this and it is somewhat disappointing that there isn’t. There are a bunch of loose ends and the story isn’t wrapped up properly at all.

Final Thoughts and Score

The Tunnel is simply a very effective found footage horror. One of the better mockumentary style movies and another great example of brilliant Australian horror. It’s not going to change the mind of any who dislikes these types of movies. But its relentless commitment to presenting a realistic story and its fantastically imposing, claustrophobic, location make The Tunnel stand out in a crowd of similar found footage horror movies.

Support Us:

Why not check out.

• Release Date: 19 May, 2011

The Tunnel (2011)

Stream & Watch The Tunnel

Cast & Crew

Movie details, similar movies.

Movie Reviews

Follow Moviefone

Latest trailers.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Link to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• The Fall Guy Link to The Fall Guy
• The Last Stop in Yuma County Link to The Last Stop in Yuma County

New TV Tonight

• Interview With the Vampire: Season 2
• Spacey Unmasked: Season 1
• After the Flood: Season 1
• Bridgerton: Season 3
• Outer Range: Season 2
• The Big Cigar: Season 1
• Harry Wild: Season 3
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Season 11.1
• RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars: Season 9
• The Killing Kind: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• Dark Matter: Season 1
• Bodkin: Season 1
• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• Doctor Who: Season 1
• Fallout: Season 1
• A Man in Full: Season 1
• Blood of Zeus: Season 2
• The Sympathizer: Season 1
• Thank You, Next: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Interview With the Vampire: Season 2 Link to Interview With the Vampire: Season 2
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

300 Best Movies of All Time

25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming

Asian-American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2024

TV Premiere Dates 2024

• Trending on RT
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• The Last Stop in Yuma County
• TV Premiere Dates

Where to Watch

Watch The Tunnel with a subscription on Prime Video, rent on Fandango at Home, or buy on Fandango at Home.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Thorbjørn Harr

Ylva Fuglerud

Lisa Carlehed

Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes

Mikkel Bratt Silset

More Like This

Letterboxd — Your life in film

Forgotten username or password ?

• Start a new list…
• Add all films to a list…
• Add all films to watchlist

Add to your films…

Press Tab to complete, Enter to create

A moderator has locked this field.

Add to lists

Where to watch

Directed by Carlo Ledesma

The light runs out

In 2007, in the midst of the drought and water shortages, the NSW State government has unveiled plans to tap into and recycle millions of litres of water trapped in a network of abandoned train tunnels just beneath the heart of Sydney. However the government suddenly goes cold on the plan and it is not made public why. There is talk of homeless people who use the tunnel as shelter going missing, even though the government states that there are no homeless people in there. This, and the silence from the officials and ministers, leads a journalist, Natasha to begin an investigation into a government cover-up. She and her crew Pete (Producer), Steve (Cameraman) and Tangles (Sound Technichian) decide to investigate the story in the tunnel.

Bel Deliá Luke Arnold Andy Rodoreda James Caitlin Goran D. Kleut Arianna Gusi Peter McAllum Shannon Jones Ben Maclaine Steve Davis Renee Lim

Director Director

Carlo Ledesma

Producers Producers

Enzo Tedeschi Julian Harvey

Writers Writers

Editors editors, cinematography cinematography.

Steve Davis

Assistant Director Asst. Director

Paul Brenner

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Andrew Denton Peter Thompson Anita Jacoby Enzo Tedeschi Julian Harvey Ahmed Salama Valeria Petrenko

Production Design Production Design

Katie Newton

Art Direction Art Direction

Visual effects visual effects.

David Sander

Composer Composer

Paul Dawkins

Sound Sound

Sasha Zastavnikovic Shaun Cefai Shannon Harvey Martin Pashley Scott Viles

Makeup Makeup

Nicolle Adrichem

Distracted Media Zapruder's Other Films DLSHS

Australia USA

Releases by Date

19 may 2011, 06 aug 2012, releases by country.

• Theatrical M
• Theatrical 15
• Theatrical NR

90 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Matt ★★

As Above, So Down Under

Review by Tony the Terror ★★★½ 5

I thought the ratings for this would be higher! I had a good time myself. It’s the first movie I’ve had time to watch in a few days so maybe that skewed my opinion a bit.

It’s not really anything groundbreaking and you pretty much know where things are going to go from the beginning, but the underground tunnels are fun and the atmosphere worked really well for me.

The biggest issue is that when you’re doing found footage with survivors of something looking back on what happened, you know who lives and who doesn’t so the kills weren’t quite as shocking as they were meant to be, but I’m ok with it. I do love a good cat and mouse style horror movie!

Review by Matt LaFemina ★★ 3

Found footage is my jam but this did not cut it. Took nearly a half hour for us to even arrive at “the tunnel” and about 50 minutes until things started to go bad for our journalists. The build is slow and boring and ultimately what it leads to is a lack of scares and a lot of darkness. The characters are all hard to root for and the camera “glitches” are incredibly annoying. I did watch this off YouTube and it wasn’t the greatest quality but I don’t think it would’ve really improved my enjoyment. 

Watch instead : As Above So Below

Review by Ryan Preston ★★★★½ 2

To say I wasn’t expecting much from The Tunnel is an understatement. After all, the film is available to download completely free via BitTorrent, with the full support of its creators. This documentary styled “found footage” film tells the story of a news crew that illegally gain access to abandoned train tunnels beneath Sydney in an attempt to uncover answers to a mysterious government cover-up.

The acting is surprisingly solid. There were times I got lost in the movie, forgetting that what I was watching wasn’t real, which is always a good sign. The cinematography and sound are both outstanding and manipulated to build tension incredibly well. One minor flaw I noticed though, was that the film shows interviews with…

Review by Nalligood ★★

They should be lucky they didn't find Raatma down there.

Review by quinni ✨ ★★½ 1

it’s a good thing australian ppl aren’t real

Review by DeathBolt ★★½

This is not the worst found footage movie I've seen but it may be the most bland and forgettable. Follows the standard formula/template beat for beat with basically nothing to distinguish itself from other movies in the subgenre. There's just nothing interesting to grab your attention.

Also you can barely see shit so that doesn't help anything.

Review by Megan 🌻 ½

TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES TANGLES

Review by Travis Simpson ★★★½ 2

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

RIP my boy Tangles, you were too pure for this world.

Review by fapm ★ 2

Found footage horror that doesn't do anything new to the sub genre. Nothing more than screams, black screen, and some flickery camera work. Turned the brightness all the way up in my screen and still didn't see nothing. Can't recommend this one unfortunately.

Review by 13beersl8r ★★½

About as exciting as when Geraldo decided to open Al Capone's vault on live television. Tabloid tv investigative docudrama combined with found footage. Lots of running and screaming and night vision judder. A glimpse of something creepy then rinse and repeat. If you're going to give away the whole mystery at the outset you should probably make sure that the rest of the film can carry the weight of the reveal. Or even better, like maybe have an actual reveal. The scariest part was discovering that the blind buy I made a month ago is now streaming free.

Review by horrorandgamer ★★★

This Australian horror found footage flick is actually quite decent the acting is good the writing is actually brilliant but the way it’s pulled off is the weakness of it. 6/10

Similar Films

Select your preferred poster

Upgrade to remove ads.

Letterboxd is an independent service created by a small team, and we rely mostly on the support of our members to maintain our site and apps. Please consider upgrading to a Pro account —for less than a couple bucks a month, you’ll get cool additional features like all-time and annual stats pages ( example ), the ability to select (and filter by) your favorite streaming services, and no ads!

Advertisement

Supported by

‘The Tunnel’ Review: Fire in the Hole

Painfully cliché but sufficiently diverting, this is the latest in a string of disaster movies from Norway.

• Share full article

By Beatrice Loayza

Filled with breathtaking fjords and steep, snow-capped mountains, Norway relies on hundreds of tunnels to connect its hinterland communities to the rest of the country. Essential as they are, these tunnels — per “The Tunnel’s” foreboding opening titles — are also sites of potential devastation. A collision within these cavernous pathways could trigger a domino effect of raging fires, chaos and survivalist panic as blinding black smoke threatens to asphyxiate those struggling to find a way out.

Surprise, surprise. This is precisely what happens in the director Pal Oie’s formulaic, but sufficiently diverting thriller, the unofficial third in a string of popular disaster movies from Norway with self-explanatory titles (i.e. “The Wave” and its sequel, “The Quake”).

The crisis unfolds via multiple perspectives — a family of four trapped inside the tunnel; an obnoxious businessman who, by chance, avoids the accident; a traffic controller remotely guiding rescue efforts. The bulk of the film, however, follows a burly firefighter, Stein (Thorbjorn Harr), whose feisty teenage daughter, Elise (Ylva Fuglerud), finds herself in peril after defiantly hopping on an Oslo-bound charter bus for the holidays. Stein and his crew of rescuers are out of their depth against the miles-long hellhole. Nevertheless, news of Elise’s whereabouts sends her intrepid father to the rescue.

The human dimension is painfully cliché, and Oie’s clunky orchestration of intersecting individual stories flattens the film’s overall momentum. It does, however, manage to eke out moments of genuine suspense and harrowing claustrophobia with its straightforward premise and contained, small-scale action. “The Tunnel” isn’t a bad time, but it’s also not terribly memorable — a shame given the familiar jitters of driving down those long, dark passages.

The Tunnel Not rated. In Norwegian, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters and on Apple TV , FandangoNow and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

Andy Serkis, the star of the earlier “Planet of the Apes” movies, and Owen Teague, the new lead, discuss the latest film in the franchise , “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.”

The HBO series “The Sympathizer” is not just a good story, it’s a sharp piece of criticism on Vietnam war movies, our critic writes .

In “Dark Matter,” the new Apple TV+ techno-thriller, a portal to parallel realities allows people to visit new worlds and revisit their own past decisions .

The tennis movie “Challengers” comes to an abrupt stop midmatch, so we don’t know who won. Does that matter? Our critics have thoughts .

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter  to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' review: Simian, begin again

S trange thing: The recent 2011-17 films in the “Planet of the Apes” franchise, now joined by the chapter opening this week, follow a similar narrative cycle of peril, punishment, survival. And yet these these movies, spaced out in ways Marvel never learned to respect, feel just fresh enough to matter — as long as you don’t mind the adverb “grimly” in front of a word like “compelling.”

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” leaps roughly 300 years into the future, after the death of the great Caesar, rough-hewn, tender-hearted warrior leader. In the 2011-17 trilogy, Andy Serkis made this motion-captured ape king wholly his own, emotionally as well as physically. He’s gone now. But building on those films’ technology, the amalgam of motion-capture techniques and astonishingly subtle digital artistry in “Kingdom” represent the visual gold standard in big-budget screen fantasy. Shooting largely in real locations (as opposed to virtual, video-wall sets a la “The Mandalorian”) lends the texture, well, real texture. I appreciate it, especially having never fully recovered from the canned, lemme-outta-here quantum realm in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”

“Kingdom,” directed by Wes Ball of the “Maze Runner” trilogy, works quite well as a stand-alone, no intimate knowledge required of where things stood in 2017 at the close of “War for the Planet of the Apes.” Our central figure this time is the chimpanzee Noa (Owen Teague), whose eagle-trainer father is the king of the peaceable but ever-vigilant tribe. In the “Valley Beyond,” and beyond, lurks a vicious rival clan, armed with deadly cattle-prod-like weaponry and a penchant for tense if repetitive scenes of village decimation and rampant slaughter that go on a bit. (The new film runs two hours and 25 minutes, making it the longest in the series.)

Grieving and determined to avenge some highly personal losses, Noa heads out in search of survivors and his destiny. He’s accompanied by the feral human woman Mae (Freya Allan), who serves as the audience’s reminder that while apes are running the show, others wait in the wings, and if we don’t learn to coexist we’re doomed to repeat the harsh lessons of previous “Planet of the Apes” movies.

Noa’s cherished ape friends include Anaya (Travis Jeffery) and Soona (Lydia Peckham), and there’s a lovely orange orangutan Noa and Mae meet along their perpetually dangerous trek. His scenes are the balm the on-screen ordeals need.

Screenwriter Josh Friedman varies the rhythms and the threats satisfyingly for a good long time, a little past the halfway mark. Once Noa and the film arrive at the tyrannical oceanfront compound of the bonobo heir to Caesar, aka Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), “Kingdom” settles for a heavier beat and some excess baggage. William H. Macy plays the other key human on screen, a raggedy Shakespearean fool in thrall to Proximus Caesar.

They’re consistently impressive, for lots of reasons. Now: Are these movies fun? I’m not sure we ever go to a “Planet of the Apes” movie for easygoing escapism. The going is rarely, if ever, easy, for the apes we care about. “Kingdom” lays on the cruelty, braking right at the edge of manipulative gall. For all that, though, these films actually seem to care about the fate of the planet, and the possibility of human and simian progress. Noa is a genuinely touching creation, no little thanks to the expressive pain and fear and pathos finessed, artfully, by Teague in the motion-capture stage.

What I wrote a decade ago about Serkis and Caesar in “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” applies anew to “Kingdom.” In close-up, “we believe there is an actor, a real actor, in there, behind the eyes of the digital creation. And this is why the film, despite its bloat and its overfondness for scenes of massacre, feels as if it were made by actual humans.”