Netflix is once again delivering thriller supplies from Spain: “Unter Null” is brutal, ice cold and in the tradition of genre classics such as John Carpenter’s “Schlag bei Nacht” – but is it even remotely that good?
In “Unter Null”, policeman Martín (Javier Gutiérrez, “Your home is mine”) is assigned with a spontaneous transport of prisoners on an icy winter night. Spontaneous, because nobody – especially not the occupants – should get wind of it in advance in order to guarantee a smooth installation. But (of course) none of this helps …
The transport is attacked out of nowhere on a remote road. While his colleague is shot, Martín can hide in the cabin of the car. The only problem: While the unknown attacker tries to get into the vehicle from the outside, the inmates inside are already targeting the police …
Sounds like a thriller that should be on your watchlist? Then stop reading at this point. Because from now on it will be spoiled – and above all advised against doing “below zero” …
+++ opinion +++
An attack at night does not make an exciting film
With a story about a group of people who hide themselves against a threat from the outside, you don’t win an originality award per se. John Carpenter, whose masterpiece “Assault” also has obvious role models such as the Western classic “Rio Bravo” or the zombie milestone, showed that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel in order to make the whole thing exciting “The Night of the Living Dead” had.
Carpenter’s film was obviously the inspiration for “Unter Null” – mixed with the legendary action hit “Con Air”, only that the plane has just been replaced by a bus. What the film makes abundantly clear: Simply messing up set pieces from famous role models doesn’t make a good film.
Pointlessly brutal, uninspired and predictable
Director and screenwriter Lluis Quilez simply doesn’t seem to have understood that such a story can only work if the audience can accompany characters whose lives they actually fear for. The soundtrack can still throb and the blood splatter – and in some scenes it does a lot.
If a single splatter insert is enough to invest 100 minutes in a film, you will definitely get the one in “Unter Null”. One looks in vain for tension, however – and that is not only due to the stereotyped characters, but also to the completely uninspired script. In the meantime, in any case, I wasn’t quite sure whether one would simply openly refrain from twists and turns or other tension-inducing measures – or whether one actually wanted to sell the solution to the “riddle” behind the attack as a surprise. Because anyone who has ever seen a thriller knows where the hare is going by the first third at the latest.
These films are worthwhile instead
Anyone interested in Spanish thriller cinema will find some much better alternatives on Netflix – for example the mystery thriller “The Invisible Guest” or the end-of-time thriller “The Shaft”. In terms of prisoner transport, we can recommend the following films instead – because they are either simply good or at least iconic:
›› “Attack at night” on Amazon Prime Video*
›› “Assault On Precinct 13” bei Amazon Prime Video*
›› “Passenger 57” on Amazon Prime Video*
›› “Con Air” on Amazon Prime Video*
›› “The deadly wasp’s nest” on DVD at Amazon*
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In addition to Carpenter’s “attack at night”, which incidentally is included in the Filmtastic Channel on Amazon Prime Video, which you can test for free, the remake “Assault On Precinct 13” with Laurence Fishburne and Ethan Hawke also brings some show values.
The same applies to action-zippers like “Con Air” or “Passenger 57”, which after all offer entertaining entertainment even after all these years. And “The Deadly Wasp’s Nest” goes in a very similar direction – but comparatively falls into the insider tip category. The French action thriller, which was released on DVD over 15 years ago, is currently not available on any streaming platform.
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* The links to the Amazon offer are so-called affiliate links. If you buy via these links, we receive a commission.
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