The Lair (2022)

Oh, what happened to you Neil Marshall? Following The Descent and Dog Soldiers, there was unwavering faith in your horror prowess and skills as a director capable of delivering on a shoestring budget. But aside from a handful of stunning Game of Thrones episodes, the quality of your films has been on a steady downward trend.While this is a slightly superior film to your last (The Reckoning), the nepotistical indulgence of your girlfriend Charlotte Kirk is rather abrasively on display. Imagine the dungeon master who invites his girlfriend to the gaming table, then proceeds to fudge every die roll, slant every encounter and justify every nonsensical action with bonus xp. There should be much to love playing to your specific strengths as an action-horror director: sinister creature designs, elite military units, a cast of competent and capable actors, effective use of an extremely low budget. Instead, this is unwaveringly dull and unengaging, it looks cheap and feels cheap, and the relative rules of engagement are inconsistent. Avoid this, watch the film Overlord instead. 

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