THE LAIR (2022)
Label: Acorn Media International
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: 15 Cert.
Duration: 97 Minutes 2 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: Kate Sinclair, Jonathan Howard, Leon Ockenden, Tanji Kibong, Mark Strepan, Troy Alexander, Jamie Bamber
Director Neil Marshall (Doomsday) returns to his claustrophobic horror roots with The Lair (2022), a Shudder Original that features a group of misfit soldiers in Afghanistan facing off against flesh-feeding monsters that have emerged from a long forgotten Soviet era underground facility. It wastes no time getting to the action, starting off with Flight Lieutenant Kate Sinclair (Charlotte Kirk, The Reckoning) being is shot down by insurgent forces, her co-pilot is KIA on the ground protecting her, but she evades capture by taking refuge in an underground bunker, which turns out to be a long forgotten Soviet era bunker, it's here that a fire-fight ensues with the enemy and she encounters a terrifying creature that lays waste to the insurgents. She manages to escape by the skin of her teeth and is picked up by a military patrol lead by Sgt. Hook (Jonathan Howard, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) and his team which include Welsh soldier Sgt. Jones (Leon Ockenden, The Reckoning), klepto grunt Corp. Lafayette (Tanji Kibong), former drug-addicted medic Corp. Wilks (Mark Strepan), and big-guy Trooper Bromhead (Troy Alexander). They return to base and Sinclair relays her terrifying encounter to Major Roy Finch (Jamie Bamber, Syfy's Battlestar Galactica) who not surprisingly dismisses her claims, but as soon as he's alone he makes a call to a higher up, so we know there's more to it, and it's not long before the fearsome monstrosities lay siege to the base. The creatures are bulked up like steroided footballers with a fearsome row of teeth, grizzly-sized claws, and a pair of retractable tentacles that look to be used for grasping and brain-sucking, it sort of reminded me a bit of Marvel's brain-devouring Venom with flesh rot, also not dissimilar to something you'd see in a Resident Evil game/movie. .
Action packed and pretty dang gory this is an entertaining throwback to Marshall's Dog Soldiers by way of The Descent, which is actually a pretty decent one-line description, though in my opinion it doesn't measure up to either of those, but it is still a fun action packed horror flick. The Army guys are fun, we get a fun bunch of misfits who Lt. Sinclair early on dubs the "Dirty Half-Dozen", and there's just enough superficial character development or perhaps more accurately familiar archetypes, for us to give a rat's ass right before they get gutted or munched on by what turn out to be alien-human hybrids. The flick manages to rewrite history by offering that the Russian invasion of Afghanistan was just a smokescreen to allow them to get their hands on some alien lifeforms, I love it.
There's very few original or surprising ideas on display here, including a pretty direct homage to the autopsy scene from John Carpenter's The Thing. This war-set creature-feature is just big-dumb-fun, it's got some cool locations that nicely double for Afghanistan, the characters are just interesting enough that you to care, and the creatures and carnage are top-notch - that's all I need mate, I was never bored, it flew by, and I was happy camper.
Audio/Video: The Lair (2023) arrives in Blu-ray from Acorn Media International in 1080p HD widescreen, and it looks solid. Set in Afghanistan it's sort of ugly by design, desaturated earth tones dominate, though we do get some gel-colored lighting of the green and red variety down inside the Soviet era bunker. There's a tad bit of compression in the b lack and some banding, but it's pretty minor. Depth and clarity are quite nice, and the creature and gore effects looks pretty fantastic. Audio comes by way of a capable if not overly impressive English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles. It's a solid low-budget sound design with some use of the surrounds during the more action-oriented moments. Dialogue was always clear and the explosions, gunfire, screams and shrieks are handled well without distortion, as it does the modest Christopher Drake (Shudeer Original Creepshow) score.
The sole extras is a decent EPK style Making of The Lair featurette with the cast and crew taking about the making of the film, who are all enthusiastic about it, I was a bit bummed there was no behind-the-scenes footage of the making of it it the creature design process. The single-disc release arrives in an standard oversized 15mm UK-style keepcase with a single sided sleeve of artwork featuring the familiar key art for the film and the UK ratings logo on the spine and front of the wrap.
Special Features:
- Making of The Lair (6:58)
Screenshots from the Acorn Media Blu-ray:
Extras:
