Who? Why? What Waits Below?

I was racking my brains for a while about what to call this blog/film event. Cheesy names, long names, obvious names, BORING names. They all ran through my head, but I couldn’t settle on any one.

Then I asked a friend of mine, Sir Kyle Titterton, Laird O’Inverkeithing and the Principality of Dulwich, what he thought about it all.

Me: “I can’t think of a decent name for the event apart from Ed’s Shit Film Night, and that really doesn’t have the desired ring to it. All I can come up with right now is What Waits Below. It’s the aka name of one of my all-time favourite B Movies.”

Kyle: “I think you might already have your name there.”

And he didn’t mean Ed’s Shit Film Night. Although that may be another venture for another time…

So yep. What Waits Below is the alternative title for one of my all-time most enjoyed, underdog B-movies in the world ever. It stars Robert Powell, who, in my opinion, instantly adds quality to any film he’s in. If the film is a dodgy 6 without him, once Powell rocks up, it’s hitting a good 9 without flinching (I prefer his version of the 39 Steps MUCH more than Robert Donat’s – my Mum’s going to kill me). Dark Forces (aka Harlequin), an Ozzie sci-fi/thriller/horror hybrid starring Powell AND David Hemmings (another instant shot of neat vodka into any average film) is a classic case in point.

And here’s an awesome picture of Hemmings the Hellraiser for good measure.

But What Waits Below is a different beast entirely. I saw it as an impressionable youngster on TV one afternoon (it must have been cut to be shown at that time. It’s not that it’s massively violent, but there is one surprisingly gruesome shot that pops up out of nowhere which must have been chopped by the good folks at the BBC. You’ll know it when you see it).

It was shown under its alternative title “Secrets of the Phantom Caverns“. Now how cool a title is THAT! Imagine being a teen at home alone and hearing the plummy voiced announcer saying that that film was coming on next. “Secrets of the Phantom what?! COUNT ME IN!”.

A few years later I happened upon a VHS copy in my trusty local 2nd-hand video shop and the distant memories of the film all came shooting to the surface to the point that I looked like the geezer on the front of the video cover.

 NEEAAAAAARRRG.

The film has a definite Nigel Kneale / Quatermass vibe to it. Powell plays Rupert “Wolf” Wolfson, a caving expert and mercenary who must track down a vaguely described, yet highly important bit of Army kit that has mysteriously gone missing, along with several soldiers, within a huge, uncharted South American cave system. Accompanied by a crack team including Richard Johnson (Zombie Flesh Eaters / The Haunting), Lisa “love interest” Blount (Prince of Darkness) and Timothy Bottoms (The Last Picture Show) Powell needs to keep his wits about him as it soon becomes obvious that…THEY ARE NOT ALONE DOWN THERE…

I don’t like writing spoilers, so I’ll let this identity challenged trailer do that for me. Oh and I’m DEFINITELY screening this at a future event.

Enjoy!