Unfortunately, the saddening downhill slope of Neil Marshall, author of such cool flicks as The Descent, Dog Soldiers and Centurion, continues, with the last three being lackluster Hellboy remake (5/10), disappointing historical horror The Reckoning (5/10) and now this, a flat, murky B creature feature with more cliché's than one can count.
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The set-up, story and conclusion, or pretty much everything, is by-the-numbers, run-down-the-mill B actioneer that also can't decide if it wants to be a horror movie or action comedy. We have an army base, a secret soviet (not nazi?!) bunker, cardboard soldiers throwing an overwhelming amount of weak one-liners, and a depthless, tired protagonist, and, of course, some monsters craving a fight with humans. About the only really decent factor of "The Lair" are the special effects, although used in abundance and leaving a taste for more. Acting wise I can only commend Hadi Khanjanpour, the Afghan prisoner on the road to being a badass, and having the only character with any sort of arc. Rest of the cast are having a lazy sunday stroll. There's a grain of an interesting horror movie idea in "The Lair", but it's all lost in a weak script and flat direction. "The Lair" gets dull and mindless already 10 minutes into it, and struggles to build any tension during the next 80, and whatever tension there might've been, is destroyed by frequent tiresome comedy.
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There really isn't much to say about this forgettable suBpar action horror film, the most fun you'll have is if you crack t least a couple beers and have some company, other than that, pass on this one, even if you love creature features. My rating: 4/10.
