IN TENEBRAS: INTO THE DARKNESS (2024)

2 stars

Miracle Media. Digital. 17th February

This is one of those films supposedly inspired by actual events. The opening titles inform us that a German U boat was captured off the coast of Gibraltar during the WWII. Surviving crew members were imprisoned and it’s mystery cargo buried inside the rock of Gibraltar where it was meant to stay hidden. The mission was called Tenebras. This is the part of the story that may be true…

Present day Gibraltar. A military crew boards a vessel in order to free some hostages. Sergeant Samantha Cummings (Takahashi Kansik) wrangles with one of the criminal types who has sped away in a motor boat. The music desperately tries to make it sound more exciting than it is, as several craft speed around the harbour and gunfire ensues. This opener establishes the military presence on ‘the rock’. They will come into play later. The unit is lead by Captain Shaw (Michael Paré, the only recognisable name in the cast, not that he’s given much to do).

Hank (Anthony Loddo) is with his younger brother Josh (John Wickholm) – they have a map, made by their grandad in the war, showing the location of the treasure described in the opening blurb – the drawing looks like a maze with a great big X marks the spot on it. They hope to be rich, as the buried booty is supposed to be gold, though Josh fears there might be some kind of curse. Joining them as they enter the caves is Chelsie, their sister. 

Off they set to try and find it. As they do they film their escapades to keep a record, as Hank is (of course) a podcaster. As they enter one of the tunnels they don’t realise they trigger a sensor alerting the military to their presence. Travelling deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of tunnels, they start to hear odd noises. Is it the curse? Will they find the fortune they seek? Or will they discover more than they bargained for?

When you check out the reviews on the IMDb before the film is released and they are all breathlessly ecstatic with 10/10 scores you just know they are cast and crew write ups. Unfortunately this is not the “masterpiece” that one of them describes it as!

The dialogue is clunky and most of the acting is wobbly at best. There is talk of ‘family’, between the three main characters, which comes across as cheesy and often laughable. There is lots (and lots) of wandering around in the subterranean passages.

About half way through it turns into some kind of monster movie and our soldiers from the beginning get pulled back into the story! Things get more nonsensical and silly as things progress and more and more ‘plot’ dumps are achieved via dialogue. Still, some of the locations shown are attractive … so maybe all involved had a nice holiday whilst they were there. 

Written produced and directed by Martin Nuza… so we know who to blame for this mess

A mid credits sequence infers a potential sequel – which I see is in production as we speak. I can hardly wait!

Steve Kirkham