Four students in a hugely expensive boarding school in Southern England are desperate to skip a weekend geography field trip but also none want to have to spend the time with their parents either. Fortunately Martin, the school�s fix-it man, knows of an old bomb shelter in the grounds which he is happy to show them for a small fee. Unfortunately, somehow the door gets locked shut and when Martin fails to turn up and let them out things start to go wrong.
The main character is hard to figure out. Played well by Thora Birch (American Beauty), complete with top English accent, the only thing certain about her is how strongly she feels for Mike, son of a famous American rock star. Most of the story is shown in flashbacks from her police interviews after she staggers free from the hole and is obviously extremely biased, but police psychologist Embeth Davitz tries to uncover the truth and find who, if anyone, is guilty of locking the kids in.
I expected the progressive disintegration of the group to play a much more prominent part in the story. While there are the expected accusations, arguments and paranoia it�s never as intensely claustrophobic as it should be, with the constant flitting to the police investigation topside breaking up the mood. In fact, what emerges is frighteningly similar to the plots of many two-part UK crime serials on TV � I kept expecting Wexford to pull up in the old car and start dragging Kevin Whately around the countryside, glancing over his shoulder for an imminent interruption by an episode of London's Burning. Further problems arise from the feeling that there is quite a lot of padding, not least in showing an alternative view of events only briefly before everyone gets very honest and pretty much just confesses all for no real reason. Add to this an entirely unfeasible ending and it�s completely beyond me how this script escaped Sunday evening television and found its way onto the big screen. |
