‘TRENCH 11’ Review

Towards the end of World War I, a deeply hidden series of tunnels are discovered beneath the trenches, one that is believed to be where biological warfare is being developed. Dangerous, deadly viruses and strains of mass contagions have been discovered in the past, and whatever is down here, along with developer Dr. Mueller (Shaun Benson), needs to be found and contained. A small group of Canadian soldiers are led by British officers Dr. Priest (Charlie Carrick) and Jennings (Ted Atherton), along with Berton (Rossif Sutherland), an American soldier with a great deal of experience in tunneling (and an awful case of PTSD) necessary to help them get in and out. Once they reach the depths, dimly lit and muddy hallways, it’s discovered that something has gone incredibly wrong down here. An agitating parasite has gone rampant, infecting everyone who’s been down there, and even with Burton’s help it’s going to be a tough ordeal to get out of here alive.

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This movie is kinda awesome, plain and simple. The cast is predominantly solid, with an especially strong performance from Sutherland (Keifer’s half-brother). I discovered his greatness with a tense little yarn called River in 2015, and his presence is even more impressive now. This character’s stoic, hardened, damaged persona is often personified without speaking. Other characters are decent, but none as defined and easy to understand as Sutherland’s.

Director Leo Scherman has a few film credits under his belt, but he’s mostly directed a lot of TV. He also trained under Paul Schrader and, most noticeably, fellow Canadian David Cronenberg, whose body horror bend is obviously a big influence. There’s a huge emphasis on practical effects, and they’re extremely well done; there are at least two shots that I was completely unsure exactly how it was accomplished. The look in the tunnels is dark and grim, making it all seem a bit dull and one tone…but what else are you going to do? Keep the movie lively, moving, thrilling, and intense to try to make up for the flat appearance.

I think this is a nice companion to this fall’s Overlord, as a low budget variation on the rarely visited war horror sub-genre (see also 2002’s M.J. Bassett gem Deathwatch). It’s tense and claustrophobic along the lines of The Descent, with a relatively realistic contagion and a different take on “zombies” that I don’t think I’ve seen before. Trench 11 is a lean 90 minutes, it’s nasty, and it’s pretty great.