by JD Gillam
For most of us, Neil Marshall created two of the best British horror films of the last 20 years or so in Dog Soldiers and The Descent. The fact remains that fans of the werewolf classic are still waiting on a sequel. Well, wait no more.
Kind of…
In spirit, The Lair is a sibling production in that it shares quite a lot in common with the 2002 film. A small group of wisecracking soldiers? Check. A female character that becomes part of the group? Check. An uber-vicious pack of monsters that are hunting the group down and ripping them to shreds? Check.
When Royal Air Force pilot, Lt. Kate Sinclair (Charlotte Kirk), is shot down over enemy territory in Afghanistan, she’s pretty sure her only concern is staying alive when the insurgents who took her plane out start chasing her down. Fortunately, she stumbles across an abandoned bunker hidden away and slips inside. Climbing down a ladder into the darkness, she finds an old Russian experimental lab that’s full of pods that appear to be holding humanoid creatures in stasis. Just when she is about to be captured by the insurgents, one creature is accidentally released and goes on a rampage. Barely escaping with her life yet again, Kate is rescued by the wash-outs and deadbeats of a rag-tag army outpost. Although they initially ignore her warnings, when the camp is set upon at night, they soon change their tune. Knowing that evacuation is not an option, they travel back to the bunker to put an end to the experimental monsters once and for all.
Sure, it hits all the cliches you’d expect, but Marshall always manages to get you rooting for the main characters. The lead actress is sometimes difficult to believe as a pilot in the RAF, but everyone is pretty likeable. There are some nice kills, too – special gore effects are liberally littered around, and there are enough bullets spent to keep the NRA in business for a while yet.
For fans of Marshall’s past genre releases or anyone that enjoys a good monster action film, then this is worth seeing. It may not offer a large amount of originality, but it’s got enough pep to help you enjoy what’s going on. The Blu-ray is a poor release, however, with only a sub-seven-minute making-of featurette to be found.
THE LAIR is released on Blu-ray and DVD July 17th
