What Waits Below

1984 "Underground, no-one can hear you die!"
4.7| 1h28m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 19 November 1984 Released
Producted By: Adams Apple Film Company
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

The US military is running a test for a special type of radio transmitter, to be used to communicate with submarines, in a deep system of underground caves in Central America. When the signal from one of the transmitters suddenly disappears, a team of soldiers led by Major Elbert Stevens and cave specialists led by Rupert 'Wolf' Wolfsen including scientist Leslie Peterson are sent in to find out what happened. Exploring deep underground, they stumble upon a tribe of albino cave-dwellers who have apparently been isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years. The cave-dwellers are hurt by radio frequencies and are able to see in infra-red frequencies, tracking the explorers by their body heat.

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Director

Don Sharp

Production Companies

Adams Apple Film Company

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What Waits Below Audience Reviews

Linkshoch Wonderful Movie
Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.
Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
loza-1 I found the basic story incredible. However, when it comes to horror, stories generally are incredible; and I can think of many horror plots that are worse than this.The plot to begin with is a bit muddled. It is not clear why these soldiers are in the jungle, and who the enemy at the beginning is, and it might have been a better idea to have the two factions slugging it out in the caves as well as having to deal with the rockman.Nevertheless, the cast overcome the script, and Robert Powell shows that if you can play Jesus Christ you can play anything.I am glad that the rockmen never got to talk. It would have been too much if they started speaking American English like the extra-terrestrials do on Star Trek.All in all, this film is watchable.
arrival I have never really given much thought to underground civilizations and the like, but this movie definitely gets you thinking!It's a bit slow to getting off the ground, but stick with it, it's well worth the wait!I didn't think the movie would be so good from the beginning, in fact to be honest, there's quite a poor start to it, and I suspect many would switch off before it gets going. I remained open-minded. I think that the idea was very imaginative indeed, and my only complaint was the movie was over too quickly. Would have made a two and half hour movie, no problem. Still, the idea of any great movie, like any great book, is to leave you wanting more.However, it had a very satisfactory end.Don't miss this if you get the opportunity - a gem worth watching.
Al_Truist80 Contains some plot spoilers.I desperately tried to like this having first seen it aged eight, but what seemed exciting / scary back then, I find pretty lame now. It's in the style of Raiders of the Lost Ark or Romancing the Stone, but not half as good. Set in Central America (not in South America, where it claims Belize is ) the story follows the US Army setting up a low-frequency transmitter as a navigational aid to subs. As a precaution this 'beacon' is to be hidden deep underground and to help locate a suitable place is elite mercenary and caveman Rupert Wolfson. When men operating the transmitter mysteriously disappear, `Wolf' and some anthropologists help in the search which takes them deep into the mountain. Here they encounter unforeseen perils, including a race of temperamental albinos. Actually filmed in Alabama and Tennessee (Cathedral & Cumberland Caverns respectively) this suffers from dreadful acting and screenplay, plus lack of imagination as the 'mystery' unfolds (not to mention numerous continuity & editing errors) An atmosphere of intrigue and ambiguous wonder is created to (almost) good effect at the beginning, with the opening monologue discussing unexplored wonders of the Earth accompanied by eerie music. This ambience is lost after some badly directed action and almost ruins the following helicopter distorted lens sequence, meandering us through the unwelcoming landscape like a drunkard. `2001'-style wonder is paired with suspense as we enter the caverns, combining some good cave locations with matte artwork and photography. But the camera seems more interested in what our characters are doing. Before long the low budget is apparent and aside from some interesting monsters, we're treated to silly sets and costumes. Characterisation is based on racial stereotypes and the general level of stupidity of that person. Take our main character: he is suave Englishman Wolfson, acting as a consultant for the army; an expertfighter and all around good-guy. No personality flaws, only bad dresssense. Two ugly English (natch) play scientists who are specifically there to die. The female lead (obligatory love interest) is talkie (but not outspoken) Leslie. Working with the Anthropologists she helps extract long-dead remains but will scream when faced with a fresh one. Not too bright. The main American contingent play embarrassingly inept and unprofessional soldiers obsessed with working the transmitter as if their lives depended on it. Wolf's friend George's only importance to the plot is to tell Wolf about the mission. He is a lieutenant and an idiot. There are also several local Latin-Americans assisting the US, one is accident-prone Santos who acts as a plot device to attract the monsters. Acting is at best poor and veteran Robert Powell doesn't even try to get to grips with his (admittedly awful) script. Apparently the main script was being rewritten every day during the shoot and it shows! There are some good `Predator'-style effects as the humans are viewed as a pink glow through the Lemurians' eyes, but their rock-shattering scream was unconvincing. I did like the idea that the Lemurians are sensitive to ultra-sonic waves though. The plot badly loses its way. The buildup is painfully slow and when the 'mystery' is finally resolved, it's a real anti-climax (not giving anything away, let's say not exactly a Close Encounters moment) The idea of discovering creatures deep inside a tropical mountain landscape appealed to me, but `Secrets of the Phantom Caverns' is a letdown. Underground albinos!
veggeta The idea of making a film about the secrets and wonders of inside the Earth sounds like good idea for a movie but this movie just can't seem to deliver.The actors are bareable(well sort of)except for the main charecter who is just as way to smug.As far as special effects and set the crew did a okay job.And the plot would be better if there were more creatures and stuff and less of a boring,tedious buildup.