Review: Despite the realization that this movie was hard to believe, I still managed to find myself held in suspense. This is a typical horror movie in that people do dumb things and get killed for it, and yet I never actually got upset with it. In short, GUARD FROM UNDERGROUND made me think twice about trusting that security guard that protects my beloved building.

The truly great thing about this film is that I knew what was going to happen, I knew which characters would live or die, and I knew how the movie was going to progress all within about 30 minutes of the film, and yet, I still eagerly watched. If a movie can do all that and still keep me watching it, well bravo to you director because that has never happened before. I won’t lie, this movie held my interest DESPITE its flaws.

Here’s why it held my interest though: its settings were perfect. I mean eerily perfect. Everything (from the strangely empty building, to the dark basement, to even the stairwells and offices) worked well to create a strong sense of suspense. No joke, there were times where I was terrified about the possibilities of what was to come. Luckily for me, I knew my roommate was only a yelp away from coming in and rescuing me from the horror.

My personal favorite is watching a guy make coffee in a dimly lit kitchen where the room is separated by a plastic sheet. While watching in otherwise mundane activity for several minutes, my nerves kept building in anticipation of a giant murderer about to wreak havoc on the coffee-boy. Call me a scared little boy, but I have never been more frightened by people walking around hallways. This is what the film did best: it made the ordinary things in life seems terrifying.

Of course, anticipation was the only good thing about this film. When the actual murders or scares occurred all the terror that was built up inside of me was released like air from a punctured balloon. In short, I felt cheated at times. If that much terror is being built up, DO SOMETHING WITH IT!

Now I could go into other problems with the film (like a lack of true character development, the stupidity of the characters, or even the obvious plotline of the film), but frankly, all that didn’t bother me because I don’t expect that from horror films. All I expect is suspense and then a true scare that will follow through. Alas, as already mentioned, it only delivered well in one area.

So for all you people expecting a gory horror film, you might wanna pass on this one, because you can do much better. Although, I will admit that watching someone get smashed to death while in a locker is kind of cool.

Actually, I take that back. While the film isn’t that gory, it did invent probably the single worse way to be killed: having your chest (rib cage) stepped on so that it is crushed and tears up your inner organs. While the scene wasn’t visually explicit, the sound and the knowledge of what happened forced me to stop the film, run to my roommate and explain to him the shock I had just experienced.

Ok, as I was saying earlier, this movie really isn’t for those looking for an extremely gory film, or one that will scare the living poo out of you, but it is perfect for those who love horror films that draw out scenes in order to build up suspense. It’s also a good film if you want to find a reason to be frightened of your local security guard.