Something is going on in the tunnels under Sydney, and it’s terrifying. Found footage films for me, like most, can be hit or miss, but I’m willing to give a little leeway for something of them. The Tunnel definitely earned that grace from me. I enjoyed this one, it’s enjoyable, and was produced in an unusual way.

They shot as they were crowdfunded, and the film, while hinged on a simple precept, is executed very well, and has some great production value shooting on location in the actual tunnels beneath the city streets of Sydney.

A news team led by reporter, Natasha (Bel Delia), their producer, Peter (Andy Rodoreda), cameraman, Steve (Steve Davis) and sound man, Tangles (Luke Arnold) are conducting an investigation into the disappearance of a number of homeless people who have been living in the tunnels.

Something has been roused because of tunnel work, financed by the government to access water resources that have filled some of the lower tunnels. And that something isn’t keen on intruders. Natasha wants to investigate the disappearances and dig into the water tunnel story. She’s in need of a win, and consequently plays fast and loose with the rules.

Which of course, will set the group up for trouble when things start to go very wrong in the tunnels. Things begin to go very wrong, as they are hunted by what the film’s credits refer to only as the Stalker (Goran D. Kleut), a strange humanoid creature that is only glimpsed a couple of times, albeit frighteningly briefly.

You know going in who is going to make it through the film, because there are interviews with some of the news team. The production gets the most out of its locations, and out of it’s effects. As with most found footage films, there is the question of why one doesn’t just drop the camera and run, especially the smaller handheld one. But that’s one of the tropes of the genre and you just have to take it in stride, although for the most part, the film tries to work within the tropes and make them work for the narrative.

The characters are given general broad strokes and aren’t incredibly layered out, they only need to work within the context of the film, but it does attempt to fill out the character personalities with a bit of ‘archival’ material showing the characters interacting in and around the office, and socially.

It’s a fast-paced tale, fairly well executed for a found footage film, and just gives you hints of the scary thing that is hunting the reporters in the dark. Surprisingly fun.