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The Tunnel
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Umbrella Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (26th June 2023). |
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The Film
 "The Tunnel" (2011) Due to a water shortage through climate change and drought affecting the country, the Australian government announces plans to recycle water from the abandoned network of subway tunnels under the city of Sydney. But when the government suddenly scraps the plans without reason, journalist Natasha Warner (played by Bel Deliá) is ready to investigate the story. They uncover stories of graffiti artists going missing in the tunnels, as well as traumatized homeless people who used to live underground, but without definitive answers as to what was going on underground. She enlists news producer Peter (played by Andy Rodoreda), cameraman Steve (played by Steve Davis), and audio engineer Jim, nicknamed "Tangles" (played by Luke Arnold) with a plan to go into the tunnels directly and document their finds, but what they encounter is a bigger and more horrifying mystery... Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey worked as producers and editors on a few Australian television and other projects before they decided to take on the task of writing a horror feature film script which would become "The Tunnel", a found footage horror film that has quite a fascinating story behind the scenes in addition to the film itself. Though they took the script around to various producers and production companies, there was little interest from anyone in producing the film, so they decided to go through the route of crowdfunding the movie themselves. Long before sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo had major film projects being funded, Tedeschi, Harvey, and director Carlo Ledesma set up their official website and social media channels to appeal to horror fans for their project. The reward for backers was also ahead of its time. Long before NFTs graced the digital world, the filmmakers established the "135K Project", to make a film that was 135,000 frames at 24fps, or approximately 94 minutes, with each dollar paid by backers to be exchanged for one film frame. As it would be shot digitally, the exchange would be a digital transaction. Hype was built through the site which included the basic premise and a teaser trailer, but there was another major difference between this production and anything else at the time: the film would be made officially available through BitTorrent and other file sharing sites for free. After the crowdfunding money was collected, the filmmakers had to get to work with producing the film itself. Sydney has a number of abandoned subway tunnels under its city, with a number of them in recent times opening to the public for tours as well as art installations, such as the Wynyard Tunnels in early 2023. But for many years, these long forgotten areas under the city provided urban legends as "The Tunnel" would showcase. The existing locations would provide the film with many of its locations without having to spend money on set construction or set design, and a perfect way to utilize space within the found footage genre of features. Not all of the film is set within the tunnels, though there are a significant of scenes that are underground and they can be quite claustrophobic and intense. This is also thanks to the camera operator character of Steve, who is played by real life camera operator Steve Davis. Rather than casting an actor and teaching him how to use a camera, they opted for the route of having a camera operator being cast for the part and surprisingly Davis is fairly good with his acting chops as well. This was due to the actors being able to freely improvise lines based on their surroundings rather than having to rely on word for word dialogue laid out in the script. The banter between Natasha, Peter, Steve, and Tangles seem more natural than stilted, with moments showcasing relationships, their past, and their disagreements fairly well when necessary. They are also able to perform like a real news crew, as Davis who had experience with the work gave each character notes on how a journalism team would be, from where the sound engineer would stand and how the producer would interact. They may have not been real professionals, but the fake crew were able to sneak some interesting documentary shots into the film with actual attended events. Another difference between this and other found footage movies was that this would play as a fully edited journalistic piece with footage before and after the events interspersed, as it looks like a documentary that was to be aired for broadcast but was withheld to avoid mass panic. (The packaging also reflects this and more information is down below.) The journey of the group of four investigating the mystery of why the government stops their proposed plans is intercut with interview sessions from the news crew at a much later date, as they reflect back on the ordeals they faced, their thoughts at the time and their regrets like a newsmagazine program, and these interview sessions were actually shot after the main found footage underground material was filmed for a real retrospective feel with each speaking separately. Again the interview segments were mostly improvised which gives the segments a natural atmosphere. With the camaraderie between the characters, the memorable set underground, and the underlying tension that follows the characters with creepy and unexpected happenings surely give the film a unique feel, even if it does fall into some of the traps set by the found footage genre. The reveal of what is causing the commotion underground is never fully explained and it does feel slightly underwhelming due to the additional questions raised, but it certainly delivers on the intense nature with the pacing and the performances. The filmmakers made their promise to distribute the film freely via file sharing, but this caused a number of problems with a number of distributors who became interested in the production. Paramount Australia was willing to help with the film with screenings in theaters and for broadcast, though there was skepticism about associating themselves with a production that was dealing with file sharing websites. By the late 2000s, DVD sales were plummeting due to mass online piracy from sites like BitTorrent. The industry looked to combat it one way through the advent of high definition home media, but due to the format war brewing between Blu-ray and HD DVD, the public were not convinced into buying something that was not definitively stable. This was years before straight to streaming / download films were standard and "The Tunnel" was ahead by its method of production and distribution by a decade. Distributors and even much of the movie going public did not quite understand it at the time, but as promised, the film was made available online for free in 2011, which exposed the film to tens of millions of users immediately across the world. But the filmmakers were able to have traditional screenings as well, with some film festival screenings around the world and also at limited theatrical screenings in Australia. The film was a surprise critical hit and it received some awards. "The Tunnel" may not be the found footage film to top every found footage film, but it does a good job with its storytelling, character situations, and scares on a limited scale. There was an announcement of a sequel in 2012 though it seems to have been abandoned like an old Sydney tunnel. In either a coincidence or a rip-off, Universal's "As Above, So Below" from 2014 treaded on the same trail with abandoned underground tunnels in Paris, but less effectively. "The Tunnel" did have a self released DVD and Blu-ray release at the time, but now over a decade later, Umbrella Entertainment gives the film a new special edition Blu-ray release here. Note this is a region ALL Blu-ray
Video
Umbrella Entertainment presents the film in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio in 1080p AVC MPEG-4. The film was shot on a multiple cameras on different formats: a DigiBeta camera for most of the underground segments shot by Steve, the RED camera for studio interview segments, GoPros for security and surveillance footage, a Canon 5D for the opening sequence around the city, and an HD camcorder for night vision sequences. The different cameras have a distinct look to each, with the RED and 5D looking especially sharp with detail and colors, while the camcorder and GoPros have their limitations. For people used to documentaries using mixed and matched footage it should not come as a surprise to see, and the transfer looks excellent here, giving clarity to the scenes when necessary, and having pixelation and errors in appropriate places as intended. Colors look excellent throughout and there is little to anything to fault with the transfer here. An excellent job with the transfer. The film's runtime is 94:11.
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo The audio is presented in lossless 5.1 and 2.0 stereo options. Like many other found footage films, it is logically strange to have an immersive surround sound experience and it's no different here. Surrounds are used for scares and atmosphere very well in addition to the various music cues effectively, and they are well balanced against the dialogue which is usually centered but sometimes echoes into the other channels in the underground segments. There are no issues of dropout or errors except when there are deliberate camera and microphone problems. A solid experience to be had here. There are optional English HoH subtitles for the film in a yellow font. The opening scene has the transcript of the emergency phone call that have text appear on the screen, and strangely the English subtitles caption this, so the text doubles on screen at this time, as does when the title of the film appears. In addition, there are some instances of spelling ("Exactly" spelled as "Exaclty"), some missing words and sound effects sometimes not having [brackets] around them. They are infrequent, though.
Extras
Audio commentary with director Carlo Ledesma, producer/writer/editor Enzo Tedeschi and producer/writer/editor Julian Harvey This vintage group commentary has the filmmakers discussing the film and its making in scene specific form. From the various cameras they used, the fortunate situations such as being able to film the country's prime minister in guerilla form, the chronology of the filming, the improvisation and much more. It is very lively and a lot of topics are covered, though there is quite a bit of information that is covered in some of the other extras. in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness" documentary (90:31) This 2021 documentary directed by Adrian Nugent is a retrospective look at the film a decade later with newly produced interviews and vintage footage. Discussed about are the lack of genre films being produced in Australia at the time, the resurgence of found footage films, the crowdfunding and the pressure to produce a film that would live up to the hype, the unusual marketing and backlash from distributors, the production and behind the scenes, the reception and reaction, and much more. It is very well produced and edited and is an absolute highlight of this set. The first three minutes has been embedded below. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "The Tunnel: Beneath the Surface" documentary (76:55) This all encompassing production documentary has quite a lot of material, from the genesis of the project and the crowdfunding campaign, interviews with various cast and crew, the casting sessions, location scouting footage, the marketing campaign, the post production process, the difficulty of getting the film itself listed on IMDB, the music composition, and much more. Rather than random footage slapped together, this is also a very well edited documentary from start to finish and is another essential making-of to be seen. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Popcorn Taxi World Premiere Post Screening Q&A (56:27) Moderated by Chris Murray, this Q&A session has Julian Harvey, Enzo Tedeschi, Carlo Ledesma, and Andrew Denton on stage to discuss the film after its premiere screening. From the crowdfunding, the marketing, the unusual release as well as taking audience questions, the lengthy Q&A might have some information found elsewhere, though it is still fascinating to see and hear. A clip from the Q&A has been embedded below. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Alternate Ending (9:25) Tedeschi and Harvey introduce what was the original ending to the film. It will come as a spoiler here, but it shows an extended ending with a tease of what happened to Tangles. It is in an unfinished state so there are issues with audio levels and color correction though it is not too distracting. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Meet the Cast" featurette (7:22) Presented here are short interview clips with Bel Deliá, Steve Davis, Luke Arnold, and Andy Rodoreda done during the filming in which they discuss their roles along with clips from the film and behind the scenes footage. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Timelapse Videos (3:25) Presented here are some behind the scenes footage such as make-up, set decoration, and post-production in timelapse views. There is no audio or narration for the first few clips, though the last, which is an interview session has some background music added. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in various ratios, in Dolby Digital 2.0 Production Videos (11:23) Presented here are a series of vlogs by Ledesma, Tedeschi and Harvey from day one of production onward, with their successes and difficulties on a day to day basis. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "The Tunnel at Screamfest LA" featurette (2:18) This featurette has footage from the cast and crew at the US premiere at Screamfest in 2011, along with a few audience comments. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Press Sneak Peek Hype Reel (1:43) Here is a trailer for the film that mixes footage from the film, real news reports about the feature and some behind the scenes comments from the cast and crew. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.39:1 / 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "TV Crew Boot Camp" featurette (4:40) As Steve Davis was the only person in the cast that had actual experience as part of a news crewmember, this featurette shows him guiding the rest of the cast to play their news crew parts with realism. It’s a fascinating look into something that seems quite simple but has a number of intricate portions such as positioning and banter. Ledesma plays the “student” that gets interviewed in the fake report. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Music Videos (6:14) - Motion Fused - "Reflection of Madness" - Split Dogs - "The Underground" Two music videos of instrumental tracks featured in the film are presented here. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in Dolby Digital 2.0 Trailer (1:50) Presented here is the original trailer for the film. The trailer has been embedded below. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.39:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles The film was originally released on DVD and Blu-ray independently through Deadhouse.tv, which included the commentary, the "Beneath the Surface" documentary, and the Popcorn Taxi Q&A as extras. In 2013, Germany's Turbine released the film on Blu-ray which had those extras plus additional interviews, featurettes, music videos, short films, and the entire soundtrack album as downloadable MP3s via DVD-ROM. This Umbrella Entertainment Blu-ray is stacked with all the extras from the initial Blu-ray, a number of extras from the German Blu-ray plus the retrospective documentary. Note that a few extras are still exclusive to the German release. Other notable clips: A clip from the film, courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment A number of production diary videos and cast interviews found on the disc are also available on The Tunnel's official YouTube channel.
Packaging
The disc is packaged in a keep case with reversible artwork. In a clever design, the opposite artwork looks like it is a file with some hand written notes like "Do Not Air". The rear of the inlay states that the disc is region B only but it is in fact region ALL. In addition, there is a Collector's Edition that was limited to 200 copies and exclusively available at the Umbrella Web Shop which also includes: - Hard slipbox - Custom artwork slipcase - "Notes on The Tunnel" a 48 page perfect bound book - 8 evidence artcards - A3 reversible poster 
The slipbox looks like a thick classified file from a television station with the top and bottom of the box looking like a bunch of filed papers plus stamped wording with "Do Not Air". The slipcase for the keep case has two variations of the poster art, one with the names of the backers overlayed on the image of Natascha screaming, while the other side has Natasha standing like the keep case artwork but with the names of the backers being slightly visible over her. The eight "evidence" artcards are production stills with some spoilers. The reversible poster has the screaming Natasha artwork on one side while the other is the art for the documentary "The Other Side of Darkness". The booklet has some writing from the staff, with a statement on the making-of by Ledesma, an interview with Tedeschi, quotes from the actors, plus many stills of the production, make-up art, and a poster gallery. The poster is folded in the keep case and this along with the artcards and booklet fit perfectly in the slipbox. Another well designed and well packaged collector's edition from Umbrella here.
Overall
"The Tunnel" is an effective found footage film with its tense moments and journalistic approach, though it's not quite one that will change the genre itself. What was original is the making and its release that was ahead of its time and the extras found on this Umbrella Entertainment release is excellent covering all aspects of the production. Great scores on image and sound plus extras make this release highly recommended.
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