Intensity 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Directed by Brian Hanson
Written by Charles L. Bunce and Brian Hanson
In The Bunker, an alien fleet has arrived on Earth. Dr. Michelle Riley has been assigned to work in a deep underground bunker to find a bio-weapon that will kill the invaders and save Earth’s human population. Isolation madness, alien schemes, and team dysfunction threaten to ruin the project’s success. Some nifty effects and visuals offset a script that sometimes drifts into melodrama. The Bunker had its world premiere at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival.
As the opening scene unfurls, massive spaceships have descended upon Earth, occupying each continent. The scene immediately conjures up imagery from Independence Day and District 9, movies thematically rooted in the grand-daddy of all science fiction invasion stories, The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. In that classic story, the Martians were undone by an Earth virus that the visitors could not metabolize. The Bunker concentrates all its efforts in the race to find a bio-weapon before those aliens get any crazy ideas.
So far, the invaders have not launched a full-on assault, but though they are humanoid and carrying similar DNA, they have not tried to contact humanity yet. Friendly? Evil? We don’t know yet. They’re just… waiting. That allows humanity to develop a first-strike capability in this silent cold war between interstellar strangers.
The Cast of the Bunker:
- Chelsea Edmundson plays Dr. Michelle Riley, a New Mexico State University professor, and a micro-pathogen specialist. Her father and brother
- Tony Todd plays project lead Frank Lawrence, the army liaison to the White House.
- Chad Michael Collins plays Dr. Sam Ellis, a Johns Hopkins molecular biologist, and the leader of the bio-weapon team.
- Debbie Fan plays Dr. Denise Cooper, an M.I.T. professor working on the nanotech delivery pods.
- Sharif Ibrahim plays Dr. Jaques Bisset, a nano-engineer from the French National Centre for Scientific Research and a bit of a free spirit.
- Cullen Douglas plays Dr. Finley Barlowe, a Harvard-trained bacteriologist and second-in-command of the bio-weapons team. He’s also a jerk who has no trust in Dr. Riley.
- Tobin Bell plays Michelle Riley’s dad.
- Christopher Matthew Cook plays The Handler, Dr. Riley’s military field contact.
- Spencer Langston plays Ben Riley, Michelle’s bitter younger brother.
A SHORT SYNOPSIS OF THE BUNKER:
As the world reacts to the appearance of a massive alien fleet parking their ships at major cities, Dr. Michelle Riley is assigned to work solo in a deep underground laboratory. Four other researchers are also in separate bunkers, isolated for their protection. They communicate via closed-circuit television and video conferencing sessions. Though the aliens have not yet made a full global assault, they have been scanning military bases and facilities, which drives those scanned to suicide. The government provided special chairs in their bunkers that block the alien scans. Ominously, there are no emergency exits.
Project Hatchet identifies a weakness in the aliens. They may be vulnerable to an attack on their respiratory systems, as they have lungs just like us, but they require breathing devices on Earth. Dr. Riley works under the supervision of Drs. Ellis and Barlowe, analyzing solution reactions on biological test samples, and watching the results. Barlowe is openly hostile to Dr. Riley’s presence on the team, denigrating both her credentials and her skills. Dr. Ellis, on the other hand, wants to go on a date with Riley when the apocalypse is over.
Ellis holds out hope that the aliens have arrived in peace, but is willing to advance the bio-weapon as a precaution. The rest of the team cynically (and probably justifiably) believe the travelers are out to kill humanity. Weeks of research prove frustratingly unproductive, as the best solution they have come up with also kills humans. The time in isolation preys on the research team’s psyches. The travelers eventually locate the bunkers, sending the researchers racing to their scan chairs in a panic. Sadly, not all the crew has properly maintained the surprisingly janky equipment, and a grisly fate awaits them.
With the alien threat closing in on her, Dr. Riley struggles to complete her mission to save the world.
EVALUATION OF THE BUNKER:
The Bunker surprises in its earnestness. It feels like a horror segment cut out of a Star Trek episode. The faux science is played straight and doesn’t feature obviously trashy science. It does highlight rudimentary genetics, but, for a horror show, it succeeds in advancing the story. What are the ethics behind creating a bio-weapon? The movie ruminates on that for a hot second. However, when you finally see the aliens, their imagery shouts “WE’RE BAD GUYS!” Their gaping maws full of sharp teeth signal their ill intent. Peaceful aliens don’t have fangs, do they?
Visually, they utilize the minimal sets and cast well. In a way, this feels like science fiction horror in the post-covid world. This is research by way of a ZOOM call. The FX team executed some well-conceived visuals using the scan chairs. It’s a welcome digital light show, that is both showy and powerful. Sadly, the chairs malfunction at the most inopportune times. Particularly after losing one of their team to a botched chair function in the second act, you would assume that the team would be more on top of maintenance. No pressure! It’s only the survival of the human race at stake!
The acting struggles at times. Or, perhaps, the writing struggles. The dialogue appears staged at times. It felt like the actors performed their lines in front of a camera without being live on a video conference. Dialogue timing was occasionally awkwardly off. That said, Chelsea Edmundson is a very appealing heroine. She provided an underdog/overachiever vibe that is a winning combination. Collins impressed me with his performance here too, a more nuanced take than in any of the films I’ve seen from him previously.
Sadly, the more prominent genre actors Tobin Bell and Tony Todd are not given much to do. Many of their lines emphasize the same themes. Yes, we get it. Riley’s dad is proud of her and wants her to be tough. There is no need to make this a recurring vision, we get it. Tobin Bell’s screen time could have been better used. Todd mumbles through a good portion of his dialogue, and his role is ambiguous.
Visually, Brian Hanson delivers a clean-looking production, with crisp focus, and compelling close-ups, and manipulation of the depth of field. It helps that much of this is shot in bright light. They manage to make even the ZOOM sessions look interesting. I would bet that they used the same set for all the labs, for set efficiency, and it was effective in conveying separate but similar working conditions.
CONCLUSION
The Bunker entertains, and I enjoyed watching Edmundsun try and save the world. The overall arching theme of focusing on the science part of the battle versus the aliens was a good one. The ambiguous story conclusion is in the proud tradition of dark science fiction/horror. We aren’t entirely sure if the world is saved or not. Fortunately, nobody in this movie punches an alien in the face and pronounces “Welcome to Earth!” Science is portrayed here as serious stuff. The scientific efforts are a noble sacrifice for humanity.
At 92 minutes, the movie could have afforded a few more minutes to resolve some minor themes. Were the startling images that Riley sees the result of the alien scan, or of the chair? Or is she going mad from isolation? What’s up with the occasional weird scarring of the other scientists that come and go? Is that a hallucination, or are they alien agents? Some resolution would have been nice.
I enjoyed this production, flawed as it is. It feels like a top-end Sci-Fi channel movie. Perhaps that’s damning it with faint praise, but I do think it deserves a watch. This film just began its festival run, having its World Premiere at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival in Fort Lauderdale. It will be going to FrightFest in the United Kingdom next. The film has a few gory moments, and some body horror, but should be fine for viewing by mature teenagers.
NOTE: Don’t confuse this with the WWI trench horror movie Bunker that came out last year!
Review by Eric Li
