Urban Explorers

Welcome to Berlin’s underworld, only that perversion is taken to a new level in this winner of ‘Best Picture’ at LA’s prestigious Screamfest Horror Film Festival 2011!

Looking for a thrill-ride of a different kind, four spelunkers decide to explore metropolitan Berlin off the beaten track. Couple Denis (Nick Eversman) and Lucia (Nathalie Kelley), plus Marie (Catherine de Lean) and Juna (Brenda Koo) hire local guide Kris (Max Riemelt) to take them on a tour leading them into the city’s dark and dank subterranean maze of wartime escape tunnels and underground fortifications. Suffice to say, it’s illegal to explore the now walled-up former Nazi war rooms, a fact that only adds to the excitement of the forbidden.

However, the trip soon takes a turn for the worse when the group has an unexpected run-in with neo-Nazis, but that’s nothing compared to the horrors that lurk around the corner. While an unfortunate accident leaves tour leader Kris immobile and in urgent need of medical attention, Marie and Juna set off to find help – leaving Denis and Lucia in charge. The sudden appearance of scruffy looking Armin (Klaus Stiglmeier, who won ‘Best Actor’ for his performance) promises help, for this former East German border guard and now self-appointed guardian of the tunnels turns out to be completely familiar with each and every corner. When Denis and Lucia accept his offer to take them to his base, they soon find out that Armin is not what he seems and that they made one hell of a fatal mistake.

Urban Explorers not only takes the viewer on a journey that reveals parts of a terrible history, but the plot holds the attention because we can never be sure whether Armin is simply a deranged maniac or whether his job as a former East German border guard sent him over the edge.

Riemelt is utterly believable in his part, without having to act ‘over the top’. The problem lies in the four young spelunkers, who play tourists from different countries (US, South America, Asia and France). While only Denis and Lucia remain the main players (Armin aside), they rarely manage to elevate themselves above the status of being tragic victims and thus exchangeable actors.
Clever is the handling of the dialogue. While all the young characters communicate in English, albeit spoken with their ‘native’ accents (American, Spanish, French, German), Armin’s dialogue (his character has obviously no command of the English language) is mainly spoken in German and has English subtitles.
Fans of the genre will find that Urban Explorers is a film above the usual horror fare.