SNUB

Directed by: Jonathan Glendening

Starring: Gary Mavers, Jonathan Moore, Claire Spence, Harriet Thorpe

Synopsis:

Norman Chase MP, a junior cabinet minister, gets word of a nuclear terrorist threat in the heart of London. As an army bomb squad do their best to diffuse the device, the minister and an American attaché race to a Secret Nuclear Underground Bunker (SNUB) which has recently been recommissioned. Terrifyingly, the bomb explodes, destroying all of London. A handful of people had made it inside the bunker, but not all the life support systems are operational. In a few hours, they will run out of air. Meanwhile, a number of homicidal convicts, mutated by the radiation, have escaped from the nearby maximum security prison, and are trying to enter the bunker…

Review:

Shot on location at a real (decommissioned) Nuclear Bunker in Kelvedon, Essex, SNUB is something of a find for fans of old-school Dr Who and the kind of bleak, oppressive sci-fi that the BBC does well, such as Survivors.

Director Jonathan Glendening certainly gets the most out of his setting, giving us a tour of the low-tech equipment and miles and miles of corridors and blast doors, giving the viewer a good idea of the immensity of the bunker.

The set-up is well handled, although Jonathan Moore’s performance as the junior minister Norman Chase threatens to turn the whole thing into farce. His “I’m more important than thou” delivery of his lines is very grating and very out of touch with modern politics. Claire Spence fairs a bit better as a young American political advisor who acts as his foil for a lot of the film.

The rest of the cast aren’t bad either. Gary Mavers stars as Flight Lieutenant Sweeney, the man in charge of bringing the bunker back into service. There are a number of squaddies on hand as well as some civilians – a couple of people working in the bunker and the family of another MP who doesn’t make it to the bunker. In addition there is a woman who is rumoured to be the mistress of a number of MPs.

Once the bunker is sealed the plot gets bogged down with the various personal dramas between the new occupants – best of which is the barbed repartee between the wife and mistress. SNUB suffers from a lack of momentum and some judicious editing at times, and the external threat takes an age to materialise.

Once it does however, things become much more interesting, with characters dying left and right and a real sense of danger and race against time develops. SNUB ’s script takes rather large liberties with the ending of Aliens in fact, complete with Norman Chase acting out the role of Burke, his sense of self-preservation leading to some horrific decisions.

Verdict:

Pacing is an issue, as is Jonathan Moore’s performance which is a very old-fashioned take on a politician. Other than that, this is a pretty good monster movie with a rather unique setting.

6 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

New! Comments