Subterano (2003)

Eleven souls, trapped in an underground carpark, are attacked by deadly, remote controlled toys. Only a few will survive.

Director:

Esben Storm

Writer:

Esben Storm

Stars:

Alex Dimitriades, Tasma Walton, Alison Whyte

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alex Dimitriades	...	Conrad
Tasma Walton	...	Stone
Alison Whyte	...	JD
Kate Sherman	...	Angie
Jason Stojanovski	...	Slick
Chris Haywood	...	Cleary
John Clayton	...	Bruce
Anne Tenney	...	Elaine
Scott Swalwell	...	Max
Michael Saunders	...	Bickle
Veronica Segura	...	Monkey
Troy Planet	...	Attendant
Shane Briant	...	Cunningham
Christian Marchington	...	Jake
Alyssa-Jane Cook	...	Mary

Storyline

Killers, revolutionaries, big business, kids, family, God. Romantic subterfuge. Betrayal. Bounty hunters. People trapped in a subterranean world. Set upon by lethal, remote controlled toys. Scary as hell. Frenetic. Heroic. Funny. Tragic. Sci-fi horror. A game called Subterano.

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Plot Keywords:

electrocution | evil toy | decapitation | eye gouging

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Taglines:

Evil lurks on every level...

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

Australia Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 January 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

O kynigos

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Becker Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot in Sydney in 2000, this Australian Sci-fi film was shelved until January 2003, when it surfaced on DVD in the US. It was finally released in its home country (straight to DVD) in November 2003.

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Connections

References Hellraiser (1987)

User Reviews

Fun, action-packed sci-fi thriller

Eleven people are trapped in an underground parking lot, where they must battle their way through it against lethal toys in a real-life virtual-reality game. I rented "Subterano" for no reason in particular, having never read anything about it but passing it hundreds of times on the video store shelf (Lets just say I have a lot of free time on my hands), but upon checking IMDb after renting it I found predominately poor reviews. Perhaps it was because I didn't expect much, I thoroughly enjoyed "Subterano". It may owe one-too-many nods to 1997's brilliant "Cube", and the futuristic clothing may be pretty silly, but there's plenty to like here.

For a low-budget movie, writer/director Esben Storm has done a great job with the film visually. Despite being filmed almost exclusively in a parking lot, the lighting is interesting and attractive (Lots of filters are used in this film to good effect) and there's enough tense action that thing never get boring.

The acting is surprisingly good for the most part, John Clayton and Alex Dimitriades being the best here. Everyone else is good too, but some of the characters could be rather annoying at times (The baby-faced teen girl being a prime example).

The special effects are good. Most direct-to-video films resort to cartoony and unconvincing CG, but here the computer effects are actually quite good, and there are some fun, gruesome death scenes (I'm not going to give them away) here and there. Thankfully, the gore isn't CG.

It's not a perfect film by any means, the script can be thin in places and the music is terrible at times, but "Subterano" was a fun, fast-paced sci-fi thriller that's certainly a stones-throw ahead of the brainless, CGI-laden "sci-fi" films produced by Hollywood these days. Give it a chance and you might like it.

6.5/10.