The trailer for director Neil Marshall’s latest film, an action-horror hybrid called The Lair, just landed, and it spares no time reminding you that, yes, this is the same Neil Marshall who directed the very-awesome The Descent. It’s right there in the very first title card! And, hey, if you happened to blink and miss that nod, don’t worry: the rest of the trailer also showcases some very similar vibes from that 2005 banger … as well as Marshall’s Dog Soldiers.
But don’t just take my word for it. Here’s Marshall saying as much, via Bloody Disgusting:
“I’m thrilled to be back in the world of full-blooded action horror for the first time since The Descent and Dog Soldiers, and this film certainly holds some kinship with those two movies. Originally conceived as a small and contained indie film to shoot during lockdown, my ambitions for the movie grew into something much more action-packed and monster-fuelled, with a sci-fi twist. It’s packed full of cool characters, scares, laughs, and of course some grizzly death scenes.”
Let’s take a look…
Underground claustrophobia. Lots and lots of darkness. Slimy, deadly creatures slithering around in the shadows. The characters in The Lair certainly seem to have a lot more firepower at their disposal than the doomed explorers from The Descent (lucky them!), but I suppose that’s where the Dog Soldiers DNA comes in. If The Lair really ends up feeling like the perfect marriage between these two films, we’ll be in very good hands, indeed.
Here’s an official plot synopsis, for your records:
Royal Air Force pilot Lt. Kate Sinclair (Charlotte Kirk) is shot down over Afghanistan and finds refuge in an abandoned underground bunker where deadly man-made biological weapons – half human, half alien – are awakened.
The Lair, which stars (and was co-written by) frequent Marshall collaborator Charlotte Kirk, Thor: The Dark World‘s Jonathan Howard and Battlestar Galactica‘s Jamie Bamber, has been acquired by RLJE Films, and will hit Digital and VOD later this month, on October 28th, before landing on Shudder sometime early next year. Stay tuned for more on The Lair as further updates become available.
