The Tank

One of the most important things in this world that we need to be careful about, is that we have water to survive on. Not only do we as humans need clean water to survive but our plants need it as well as our pets and energy to work as well. I live in Sweden and here we have clean water to drink every day, no matter if you live in a house or an apartment we are able to drink clean water every day. Unfortunately in some parts of the world they can´t have clean water because of many different reasons. This is why it is important to try and help people in poverty, by making sure that we find ways to make sure that there are locations where clean water can be found. Just look at different parts of Africa and see how many people can not drink water. I hope we can find ways to help more people worldwide with clean water, because we have to try and save more human lives. Speaking of water there are actually quite a lot of horror films that included the subject of water. Not entirely about water of course but a detail that is very importantly connected to the story. One of the films that comes to my mind especially when i think of horror films with water, is the 2002 Japanese horror film Dark Water from director Hideo Nakata. A very fascinating horror film that for the most part takes place in an apartment building, where mother Yoshimi Matsubara ( Hitomi Kuroki ) moves in to a new apartment with her 6 year old daughter Ikuko Matsubara ( Rio Kanno ).  Yoshimi notice that their apartment is plagued by mysterious water leaks and it seems to be coming from the apartment above them. Dark Water is a very atmospheric horror film that´s actually connected to a water tank. If you love creepy foreign films you have to see Dark Water on streaming or on a physical copy. Speaking of water tanks, i have been hearing about a creature feature horror film simply called The Tank for a while. Not only have i been a big fan of this genre for many years, but i also love practical effects. Is this one of the horror highlights to check out this summer or should The Tank have stayed in the bottom of the water tank, never to be seen again?

Family father Ben ( Matt Whelan ) finds out he have inherited a coastal property by his deceased mother that lies in Hobbit´s Bay. Since Ben have never heard about this property, he decides to go there with his wife Jules ( Luciane Buchanan ) and their daughter Reia ( Zara Nausbaum ) to check it out. It turns out that his father and sister mysteriously disappeared, and did not die in a car accident as he have been told all of his life. Ben discover an old water tank in the mountain, next to their property. As he begin to look inside the water tank, little does he know that these is actually another lifeform living beneath the water.

I have always been a big fan of creature feature horror films, especially if the creatures are hand made with costumes and not CGI effects. The good news is that in this film The Tank you actually get to see these creatures made from practical make up effects, and that is exactly what we want in a film such as this. In fact these are the best practical creatures i have seen in many years, here done by WETA. The details of these creatures are quite impressive if im being honest. The idea that these creatures lives deep inside a water tank in the mountain may not sound very original, but the concept works for the plot of this film. There are some other details that i appreciate about the film The Tank, so let us begin with one of the most important details that´s not about the practical make up effects. And that is the time period where this film takes place in 1978, and how well they managed to capture it on screen with the right hair styles, clothes and character development as well. If you make a film that is supposed to take place in the late 70´s and pull it off in 2023, it shows that they actually made an effort to make this work. I also like the old house that this family travels to out in the middle of nowhere, where no one seems to have lived for a very long time. It is a perfect old house to use in a creature feature horror film such as this, because you want to capture some kind of creepy atmosphere knowing these creatures are out there. The water tank is actually a detail that especially make the story more interesting, knowing that this is where these creatures have lived for a long time. We do find out some background story to when the water tank was built and why it may have helped these creatures find their way into the water tank, so this is also some details i appreciate about the plot. The acting is in general ok, i wouldn´t say any performances are strong or make any impact. But for the most part lead actors Luciane Buchanan ( who can be seen in the Netflix TV series The Night Agent ) and Matt Whelan ( who played Hugh Hefner in the biographical TV mini series of American Playboy: A Hugh Hefner Story ) give performances that is ok. Anything negative to say? A few smaller details but nothing i feel like complaining about, because overall i enjoy The Tank. It is a nice throwback to creature feauture horror films, and that´s definetely something we need in the future and i can feel that director Scott Walker felt inspired making this film. If you are a fan of this genre i think you should check this film out, because it´s not often we get something that looks similar to The Tank. Get your DVD or Blu Ray copy of The Tank today, and show your support for creature feature horror films.

Rating: DDD