The Tank (2023) is a horror movie directed by Scott Walker. It deals with a family that inherits a house that has a creature trapped in a water tank. Below is my The Tank (2023) movie review
One of the biggest things that horror fans were excited about this movie was the promise of showing practical effects. In the days when CGI movies are constantly being released, this sets the movie apart. In the trailer we see some glimpses of the trailer but not the full version of it. This tease worked great and it garnered praise as well as excitement for the movie to be released.
Once the movie was released, that all changed. For over 40 min the creature was never shown. We hear scraping, low growling, and creaking in the house while the family slept. When they are awake they don’t do anything interesting. From cleaning the room to exploring around and finding family diaries, none of it is of any particular interest., They have some flashbacks that are boring and don’t reveal much. There is also a twist that is also quite unimaginative.
We can’t talk about the movie without talking about the tank. It is a water tank that houses the creature. The director makes sure to show it many times. From initial exploration, to 2nd exploration, to final confrontation with the creature. It is not only shown multiple times, but one of the bigger action scenes is shown in murky water. Not only is it boring, but the quick cuts and the water splashing prevents us from seeing much of it clearly. I’ll give you one guess on why that is.
Speaking of the creature, the look of it is OK at best. It moves slowly, growls a lot and looks like an overgrown tadpole. Creature looks cool for an 80s movie movie but not for today. It has no uniqueness to it. The arms look like human arms, the head looks smooth and the teeth look glued and painted silver. We don’t see it attack anybody. It drags people away and we see their screams and cries of pain. There are some bloody scenes but again, it is either offscreen or shown through cries of the characters. This was a perfect time to make it unique but the director chose to keep it as bland as he could, which is a shame.
There was not much action. The tadpole creature lurks in shadows or water and attacks people offscreen or under water. There was not much of a buildup for any kills as we know the creature is there. It was not really stalking people, but waiting for them to not be looking in the general direction of where the creature is hiding. The characters, while believable, made some really dumb mistakes. The family is nice and the two main characters seemed to have decent chemistry. However, as mentioned they are not really smart.
For example, on the first night at the new home they heard creepy sounds. The woman goes out and nearly wanders into the woods only to be jumpscared by her husband. Why would you go out and look for things in the dark? Why not brush it off and say the house is settling and investigate in the morning? That is one of the less dumb moments.
Anyway, the movie is way too long and there is nothing memorable in it. We don’t see the look of the creature until 60% into the movie. Thes rest of the movie is about flashbacks, family drama, cleaning, and other mundane things.The creature looks bland, the action is limited and forgettable. The characters, while decent, were not smart in their decisions. The setting is creepy but you might be wondering if we see the tank a lot. Don’t worry, we see a lot of HOT. TANK. ACTION.
Thanks for reading my The Tank (2023) movie review
