DEATHWATCH

'''Deathwatch''' is a 2002 film directed by Michael J. Bassett.
Tagline: "Deliver them from evil."

Contents

Plot

Theories

Cast

Films of similar theme

External links

Plot

The story is set during World War I. In the chaos of a trench war battle, a small group of British soldiers gets lost, surrounded by a thick mysterious fog. As they emerge from it, they come across a complex network of deserted German trenches. Convinced they have broken through the enemy lines, they decide to secure the trench and begin to explore it only to find mutilated German corpses everywhere. When one of them is found horribly murdered and wrapped in barbed wire, they realise they are not alone.
One of the men has been paralysed due to a spinal injury and is laid under a blanket. The group capture a German soldier who is abused by all but one of the men named Charlie. Capt Bramwell Jennings, who appears to lose his head early on gets lost and staggers around the trench looking for one of his men. The strange noises he hears make him more and more nervous until, when he finds the man he is looking for, is shocked and shoots him in the head. Even after this, the men follow his command and stay a night in the trench (most opt to leave, but the sergeant follows rules fiercely and says they must obey their commanding officer with the threat of a gunshot to the head in the case of leaving.
In the night strange noises are heard and one possible explanation to what is going on is put forward when Quinn, whose sanity is slowly disappearing, says "You stupid little Hun, what've you been doing here?" implying that the Germans had been running strange experiments there. Later, Pvt Willie McNess loses his nerve and runs off, but is gunned down by an unseen enemy who turns out to be Anthony Bradford. A rescue attempt is made by Doc Fairweather, but McNess is dragged under the ground by a mysterious moving mound. Meanwhile, Bradford is convinced that death is inside him and that insists that Charlie kill him. In the morning, Quinn decides that he has had enough and ties up the German prisoner outside the trench and starts beating him, tempting any Germans there might be to shoot him and save their comrade. In the trench, Jennings suddenly decides he wants a company inspection, but the Sergeant tells him there is barely any of the company left. The two get into a fight and Jennings is about to shoot him when two of the men humour him to save Sgt David Tate ' life and line up for inspection.
Jennings demands that Quinn also line up but is told that he is outside the trench, so he goes after him. Quinn kills the captain and then the sergeant (who had tried to rescue Jennings) but, when held at gunpoint by Charlie, savaged by barbed wire that reaches out of the ground before Charlie decides to end his torture by shooting him. Charlie unties the German, who he gives a rifle in a moment of trust. Charlie runs off looking for the three remaining men. He finds the soldier who was paralysed who appears to be able to move his legs again. However, when Charlie lifts up the blanket, he his horrified to see that Rats have been eating the soldier's legs who then begins to scream uncontrollably, forcing Charlie to shoot him in the head to put him out of his misery. Charlie runs off again and finds the two remaining soldiers, Bradford and Doc Fairweather. Bradford has tied Doc up in wire and shoots him in the head before Charlie can stop him. Charlie finally gives Bradford what he wanted and stabs in the stomach with his Bayonet and then fires.
A hole appears in the ground and starts sucking everything into it, including Charlie. He wakes up in a dark cave filled with living versions of the whole company. He shouts that he isn't dead and runs off, reaching the surface of the trenches. The German soldier appears and points his rifle at him. Charlie is exasperated, and tells the German that he helped him. The German acknowledges that only Charlie helped him and tells him he is free to go. Charlie asks what's out there, but the German has already disappeared. Charlie climbs out and leaves. Later, another team of soldiers marches up to the trench (possibly the same team, it is never revealed if it is the same team which would imply that the trench was the soldiers' own personal hell). They spot the German in the trench and shout at him to put his hands up. The German gives the audience a knowing look and the film ends.

Theories

There are many theories about the movie circulating on the internet. Among them are:

★ The soldiers died in the raid against the Germans on the Western Front when the enemy gunned them down and the gas was dropped on them. The trench that they come across is a form of purgatory for their sins in their previous lives. The men that escape or are murdered by their own comrades are free to start a new life and the men either killed or attacked by the trench have to repeat the whole process all over again under the eye of Friedrich (Torben Liebrecht), who resembles a type of judge.

★ The whole film is an allegory of the Bible. Such events suggest this as a scene where one of the men is crucified, a biblical tagline, quotes from the Bible itself, a DVD case with the picture of a man wearing a crown of barbed wire, blood on a bible, and the cross.

★ The soldiers are going crazy like the German soldiers before them under the influence of the gas the night before. In their insanity they kill each other, hear things that aren't real, see strange things like barbed wire growing out of the ground and see dug-outs that they recently exploded come back to their original formation.

★ Friedrich is an evil entity. While the soldiers were wandering through the fog, Friedrich leads them to the trench. Here he tests them; those who fail are killed, and those who pass survive and are free to leave the trench. The ending scene in the movie could represent either the original soldiers coming to the trench, or a new group. The new perspective, from which we can see Friedrich's face, is meant to show a sense of knowing, suggesting that he planned for the soldiers to arrive so that he could kill the unworthy.
Whichever of these theories is right, Director Michael J. Bassett is keeping a secret saying that it is important that people decide the correct answer themselves.

Cast

★ Jamie Bell - Pte Charlie Shakespeare

★ Mike Downey - Martin Plummer

★ Laurence Fox - Capt Bramwell Jennings

★ Hugo Speer - Sgt David Tate

★ Matthew Rhys - 'Diving' Doc Fairweather

★ Hugh O'Conor - Anthony Bradford

★ Andy Serkis - Pte Thomas Quinn

★ Hans Matheson - Pte Jack Hawkestone

★ Dean Lennox Kelly - Pte Willie McNess

★ Rúaidhrí Conroy - Pte Colin Chevasse

★ Kris Marshall - Pte Barry Starinski

★ Torben Liebrecht - Friedrich

Films of similar theme

Some films that possess the same war/horror genre are listed below:

★ ''The Bunker'' (2001) by Rob Green, about a group of German soldiers hiding in a bunker from the American enemy.

★ ''Dog Soldiers'' (2002) by Neil Marshall, about a group of soldiers fighting werewolves.

★ '' The Keep'' is a 1983 horror film directed by Michael Mann, set during World War II.

External links

★