With Dog Soldiers and The Descent, Neil Marshall showcased a flair for onscreen camaraderie and depictions of realistic, plausible relationships. The rookie squaddies of Dog Soldiers and the sporty pals of The Descent couldn’t be further apart, but the interplay of both groups rang true in a way that most screenwriters can ever dream of.
Marshall returns to that well, following a foray into high-profile TV work and his much-maligned superhero reboot. The Lair reunites Marshall with present muse Charlotte Kirk, after 2020’s The Reckoning. Where The Reckoning was a slow and serious work of Satanic horror, The Lair harks back to previous crowd-pleasers like Dog Soldiers, Doomsday, and even The Descent.
When pilot and military Lieutenant Sinclair (Kirk) is shot down over Afghanistan, she takes refuge in an underground bunker. What she finds down there – the offspring of horrific DNA experimentation, a bit like Resident Evil’s lickers – follows her back above ground, where she meets a ragtag band of military men and women. A ‘dirty half-dozen,’ if you will.
Marshall is clearly having great fun with the interplay between his tough guys and even tougher women, in a script chock full of one-liners and snappy retorts. More fun for the audience is the action, which recalls his big battle sequences back in Westeros. Heads explode, faces are ripped off and limbs are scattered asunder. The budget may not support Marshall’s ambition (reportedly only having one monster suit to go around), but its bigger moments do raise the roof.
The weak link, as with The Reckoning, is the film’s lead. Thankfully, The Lair’s ensemble cast takes some of the pressure off of Kirk, whose performance brings the whole thing crashing down around her. While the snarky dialogue veers into overkill, Hadi Khanjanpour and Mark Strepan provide some relief from the smarm.
The Lair is not quite a return to form for Marshall, but it is a shot in the arm of sorts, steeped high with explosive action, puerile laughs, and queasy goremaking.
The Lair is on Shudder from January 26th
