"The Tank" (2023) + Win a Copy of This Film!

by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden

In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s The Tank, a New Zealand creature feature horror movie from writer/director Scott Walker and distributor Well Go USA.

Synopsis

After unexpectedly inheriting a mysteriously abandoned coastal property, Ben (Matt Whelan) packs up his wife Jules (Luciane Buchanan) and their young daughter Reia (Zara Nausbaum) and travels to explore the place, bewildered about why his mother had never mentioned its existence. However, her reason for secrecy soon becomes clear when the family accidentally frees the ancient, long-dormant creature that had terrorized the entire region for generations — including Ben’s own parents.

The Good

Joseph: Walker has crafted an entertaining monster movie that boasts great-looking creatures courtesy of the renowned WETA along with solid acting and suspenseful direction. This film isn’t “fun” in the sense of monster movies that try to amuse; rather, it takes a dread-drenched approach and offers a good time in that way.

Mike: Right off the bat I’ve gotta heap some praise on The Tank for its WETA designed practical creatures which look pretty cool. There’s also some pretty decent acting here as Buchanan and Whelan do a good job of playing a believable couple. Walker also knows how to ratchet up the tension when it’s needed and successfully layers the first act of the film with adequate foreshadowing (Chekhov’s Peat Moss, anyone?).

The Bad

Joseph: People who inherit homes that no other relatives knew existed and quickly move in sight unseen have obviously never watched a horror movie, as this is the second feature this week that I have seen using this angle (the other being an upcoming film still under embargo for reviews, but there are plenty of examples from the past, too). And that brings us to the only criticism I have for The Tank: it serves up a lot of creature-feature tropes. This is a difficult thing to escape in the genre, though, and since the film delivers the fang-and-claw–bearing goods, I didn’t dwell on this much.

Mike: There’s a fair amount of lazy writing in here with plot devices that force people into some pretty stupid situations. Of course, it’s often said “if they didn’t make those dumb decisions there wouldn’t be much of a movie”, but some contrivances can always be offset by cleverly twisting tropes and using some smoke and mirrors. There’s also what feels like some padding by adding flashbacks that filled in the explanation of what happened in the past. This info could have been revealed in one scene in, say, the tail end of the second act.

The Verdict

Joseph: Dive into The Tank for a creature feature that follows the time-honored tradition of hinting at what lurks in the darkness before delivering a good deal of monster mayhem in the third act. Stick around during the credits for a Cracker Jack scene!

Mike: The Tank isn’t a bad movie, but it probably could have been a better movie if a little more creativity had been used in setting up its various situations. However, Walker’s directing and successful use of tension, good turns by Buchanan and Whelan, and some effective practical effect monsters do a good job at offsetting the more eye-rolling plot contrivances.

The Tank, from Well Go USA, is available on Digital, Blu-ray & DVD June 27 and we have three (3) copies on Blu-ray to give away! All you need to do is comment down below and we’ll randomly pick three winners — it’s that easy.

The Tank