THE TANK

New Zealand, 2023, 95 minutes, Colour.

Lucianne Buchanan, Matt Whelan, Zara Nausbaum, Mark Minchinson, Jaya Beach Robertson, Holly Shervey.

Directed by Scott Walker.

No, not that kind of tank, not a military film. Rather, this is a modest but quite effective horror film from New Zealand. While the initial setting is Oakland, California, it moves to the rugged coast of Oregon. In fact, the whole film was produced in New Zealand, with a New Zealand cast and with its creature special effects from the Weta, Wellington, company. So, a local production passing itself off as American with an eye to the American market.

Fans of horror films will be familiar with the various conventions that it employs. There is a quietly sinister introduction, filmed in black and white, the setting 1946, the house on the Oregon coast, the rather large water tank of the title, subterranean, a man going down into it, then trying to escape, clutched and dragged down again. And then we are in 1978, at a pet shop, amusingly called Raining Cats and Dogs, run by a very nice family, Jules (Lucianne Buchanan) with her enterprising husband Ben (Matt Whelan) and their lively young daughter, Reia (Zara Nussbaum). Everything is going very well.

As may happen (sometimes?), a lawyer arrives to tell the couple that Ben’s recently deceased mother has left them a house and property in Oregon. Ben had no idea, acknowledges that his mother was rather secretive, especially about the death of his father, allegedly by drowning, and the death of his young sister. The film uses a number of flashbacks, filmed in black and white, scenes of the mother and daughter, at the house, at the beach, becoming more reclusive.

So, off they go, off we go with them, on the drive north, to remote parts, to forests, falling trees blocking the tracks for the car, tracking to the house, finding it boarded-up, pulling off the planks, letting in the light – and then the family going outside and discovering the amazing beauty of the coast. What could possibly go wrong! Well, the camera alerts them and us to the top of the tank. Our fears are allayed at first, Ben going down, nothing particularly startling except needing to get the engine going to get the water to the kitchen…

But, we know that there is something down there in the tank. And, on the first night, a certain number of bumps in the night.

The next morning, a real estate agent arrives with a firm offer for the property, very cheerful, urging them on, but reminiscing about the mysterious past and even mentioning the word curse!

So, we know what is in the offing. And it is. The mysterious creatures below gradually appear, sinister presences, then close-ups, water creatures but with sharp teeth, menacing, violent, abducting the daughter, injuring Ben, and challenging Jules, who is a sympathetically enterprising kind of woman, to rescue her daughter, ward off the creatures.

Slightly spoiler alert – the film does a happy ending. It seems that it is only the critics comfortable in their theatre seats who are really after an unhappy ending!

1. A New Zealand production, cast? Special effects from New Zealand? Passing as an American film – for the American audience?
2. The familiar horror film themes, the pleasant family, the mysterious house and the touch of haunting, the mystery from the past, intimations of horror, the emergence of the creatures, the siege, the confrontation with the creatures…? Audiences enjoying these themes?
3. The New Zealand locations passing for Oregon, the beautiful and rugged coast? The house, old, the isolation, the tank, the mysteries of its depths, the canals and water? The pet shop and its atmosphere? The forest locations around the house, the beach? The musical score?
4. The tone of the introduction, black-and-white photography, the father, the tank, going down, emerging, being dragged down? Intimation of creatures? Then the transition to 1978?
5. Jules and Ben, the happy marriage, the pet shop, the animals and the focus, the clients, Ray and her age, the family bonds?
6. The lawyer, coming to the shop, the information about the house, Ben and his memories of his mother, her being secretive, the story of his father drowning, the death of his sister? The surprise of the news about the bequest of the house?
7. The family decision to go, with their dog, the drive, the remoteness, the forest, the fallen tree across the path, walking to the house, the boarding up, pulling off the planks, the condition of the house, the kitchen, downstairs, upstairs in the bedrooms? Their wondering about the house? Taken with the beautiful coastline?
8. The finding of photos, documents, filling in the background, the mystery, the events of 1946, the disappearance of the husband, the daughter, the wife being pregnant? The story of the drowning? The wife under suspicion?
9. The effect of the flashbacks, the mother, pregnant, with her daughter, together? The sad consequences?
10. Settling in, the issue of the tank, then going down? The tank and its cover being removed? Wariness? Sounds in the night? Fears?
11. The gradual emergence of the creatures, suggested, menace, in the water, teeth?
12. The arrival of the estate agent, the conversations, the client to buy the place, her eagerness, yet mentioning the difficulties of the past, the curse…? Her walking back to the car, the car not starting, the attack of the creatures, the brutality of her death? Ben finding her?
13. The menace of men, going down into the tank, preparing the explosives? His being attacked, wounded, getting out? Going to the car, finding the dead woman, returning?
14. Jules, a strong character, devoted, wife, mother, practical, her fears? Saving her daughter? The daughter abducted by the creatures? Her preparing the fire, the spray, going down into the tank to rescue her daughter, the confrontation with the creatures, fighting them off? Saving her daughter?
15. Coming up to the house, warding off the creatures, the gun and the shooting? The escape, driving away?
16. The familiarity of the themes, yet a variation on the themes?