The Reel Review
A British military pilot shot down over Afghanistan must battle more than just local insurgents after she seeks refuge in a long abandoned, top secret, Soviet-era underground bunker. During her brief stay, she unknowingly unleashes a legion of bio-engineered monsters, in this military-themed action/horror.
Charlotte Kirk stars in this creature feature that she co-wrote with her fiancé Neil Marshall (The Descent), who also directs. The silly story itself is very cliché, with inane dialogue and really bad American accents from actors playing one-dimensional, throwaway stock characters who serve as little more than dinner for the marauding half-human/half-alien monsters. No matter – this film is not about character development or even a story – it is about Resident Evil-styled, shoot-’em-up action with Kirk as the Milla Jovovich stand-in.
As relatively low budget creature features go, The Lair is actually decent, slightly above average entertainment. Practical effects run the gamut from hokey rubber suited knockoffs of Marvel‘s toothy anti-hero Venom, to some surprisingly impressive, gnarly kills. While the film itself isn’t all that memorable, The Lair at least ticks the box for those looking to waste a mindless hour and a half.
REEL FACTS
• Former Warner Bros Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara and former NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Ronald Meyer both resigned (in March 2019 and August 2020 respectively) after lurid details of their respective sexual relationships with Charlotte Kirk and collusions to keep those relationships quiet went public. Kirk has accused Tsujihara of nonconsensual sex and sex trafficking brokered by Australian billionaire film mogul James Packer in exchange for acting jobs, including 2018’s Ocean’s 8. The men have denied the claims, calling the sex consensual.
• Although set in Afghanistan, The Lair was filmed in and around Budapest, Hungary.
• Now 30, Charlotte Kirk, who was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome as a young girl, became engaged to director Neil Marshall in 2019.
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