Caveat Emptor: "Let The Buyer Beware."

As the DVD shelves become more and more populated, companies who push the lesser-known films will go to drastic measures in order to get you to pick up their film that they have invested their time and money in. Cover art is becoming more lurid, yet less related to the films they were created to promote. Shriek Show crafted a reversible cover for their release of the 80's slasher The Majorettes that featured a very modern, blood-soaked model striking a seductive pose. MTI is no stranger to this practice either, pulling the old bait-and-switch with the unrelated cover to their monster crapper Vicious.

So MTI has created a cover sure to get the attention of all those scouring the racks of their local video shop: a quintet of Nazi zombies (not aquatic Nazi Zombies, sadly. Guess Zombie Lake and Shock Waves won't be facing any competition) in full uniform (including a "Das Reich" armband) lurching towards the onlooker, looking very fascist and very dead. It looks, honestly, like the box for a video game, and not a good one either. I can certainly imagine people either picking it up for sheer cheese value, or scoffing at its sheer cheese value. Caveat emptor, as those looking for bad movie night fodder should look elsewhere.

It's truly sad, because MTI is not pushing this genuinely good film properly. Instead of showing the consumer point-blank what they're getting into, they're sensationalizing it by wrapping it in a veil of skulls and swastikas. Those expecting The Keep-style WWII monster-mashing will be confused by this very cerebral thriller which takes the haunted-house cliche and takes a goose-step (sorry) in a new direction that, surprisingly, offers up a compelling watch for those who are looking for something a little different.

The Bunker begins in June 1944. A group of soldiers are frantically boarding up the entrance of a tunnel in order to keep an unseen, murmuring something on the other side. Four months later, another squad of soldiers on the run from the Allies (in a bullet-riddled scene that showed some great sound design) seeks refuge in the bunker. These new soldiers, including the intensely devoted Schenke (Andrew Tiernan), and the reluctant Cpl. Baumann (Bruiser's Jason Flemyng) are all decorated with the Iron Cross (a German military medal), although not all of them are proud of it. They are upset to learn that the bunker, and those secured within, have essentially been cut off from the rest of the Reich to fend for themselves with little ammunition to stave off the approaching Allied forces. However, the bunker is attached to an incomplete series of tunnels, which may house extra ammo to help them hold their ground, or at least a means to escape. However, the original tenants of the bunker warn against venturing into the forbidden maze. Allegedly, these tunnels are haunted by the spirits of the Jewish workers killed for refusing to finish their work. Slowly, the soldiers begin to lose their grip on reality, seeing blindfolded phantoms, hearing strange noises, and being haunted by ghosts of the past. Are they being terrorized by the Allies, encountering the restless dead, or simply going mad?

The Bunker struck me as a prime example of how to make a genuinely frightening film on a meager effects budget. Instead of giving obvious scares, the viewer is drawn into a slightly off-kilter audiovisual landscape where what isn't seen is what's the most frightening. It's a less-is-more attitude that approaches genuine greatness (almost smacking of the original Haunting) without leaving the viewer feeling cheated by a lack of sensory attacks. When things begin to go sour, subtle sound design or slick camera work takes the place of more obvious whiz bang to great effect.

Even better, the cast simply turns in a phenomenal job. While it's difficult to keep track of all of the characters (often a problem in these big "ensemble" war pieces), you never forget who's important, and you genuinely care for them. It seems odd to say that, but you can feel sympathy for them, because they're not all "evil" Nazis. Whereas Schenke is a lunatic denied admission into the SS due to the "impurity" of his bloodline, Baumann is a confused soldier torn between loyalty to his country and his own morality. It's this guilt and inner turmoil that raises The Bunker into higher-class territory. That coupled with Rob Green's inspired direction (I loved his film-concluding sink into the earth) made this a movie that's greatly entertaining, very classy, and an overall good time.

Unfortunately, from the looks of the screener disc I got from MTI, things don't fare as well on the presentation front. While colors were decently bold, the shadowy parts of the film (and there's plenty of 'em) were positively riddled with artifact pixels. It became very distracting, which is never a good thing when you're trying to immerse the viewer into a story. Audio was a decent stereo mix, well separated, with little hiss or distortion, and sometimes proving to be breathtaking (the piercing whine of the bullets followed by the sharp thud as they hit their mark were some of the most effective sound effects I've heard in a while). Promised extras (MTI sent a bare-bones screener) include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, trailers, a photo gallery, and Rob Green's two previous short films. I certainly hope MTI will have the good sense to make this release dual-layer to store all of these (theoretically) great extras while still leaving ample room to keep the film in a less-compressed state. Hopefully, this screener's disappointing picture quality is not indicative of the final product.

While I wholeheartedly recommend The Bunker as a film, I feel that MTI needs to put a little more care into their authoring so as to enhance the viewer’s enjoyment of their movies. If you don’t give a shit about presentation, go right ahead and pick it up with my blessing. If you like your movies to look a little sharper...caveat emptor.