Nine Miles Down (2009)

Security expert Thomas 'Jack' Jackman (Adrian Paul) sets out into the Sahara to investigate loss of contact with an experimental drilling site. He finds the complex deserted, and signs of strange and disturbing events - including Arabic writing in blood on the walls, a jackal sacrificed inside a magic circle, and a flock of carrion birds circling a pit. Not surprisingly, he calls in an emergency. But personnel are stretched thin searching for the scientists involved in the project, so he'll have to wait a while. Then he encounters a young woman who claims to be the sole survivor - of what was officially a male-only project...





Nine Miles Down is based on the Well to Hell hoax, when a Soviet team were supposed to have literally drilled down to Hades beneath Siberia. At first this film is rather like an extended X-Files episode, but without the charm of Mulder and Scully. Instead Adrian Paul and Kate Nauta as Jennie 'JC' Christianson (signiciant name, there) do a reasonable job of conveying sexual tension, suspicion, and increasing lunacy - but who is going insane? And is it possible that the drill really did reach Hell, and release demonic entities?

Suffice to say that this is not a cheesy, lousy film. Instead it tries very hard - on a limited budget - to give its two main protagonists a lot to do, while not wearying the viewer. At first I thought we were going to get a conventional twist ending - stressed out guy with traumatic past believes woman is the devil. Everyone else says she isn't (it turns out she is part of the scientific team, but they avoided putting a female name on the roster to avoid offending local sentiments). Surprise! She was the devil all along. Throw half-finished sandwich at screen.

Well, that's not exactly what happens. Dramatically, the story - the final script by experienced writer Everett De Rocha - works well. Visually, it all looks rather good if you like deserts, which I do. However, I have had it with heroes who have had terrible, scarring experiences. Isn't there a single man out there doing a difficult job who hasn't seen too much, suffered too deeply? The bloke with PTSD is now as big a movie cliche as the vampire in a cloak, but not nearly so much fun.

In brief, while Nine Miles Down is far from  perfect, it's entertaining enough to keep you watching. It veers too close to conventional horror at times, given its interesting premise, but that's showbiz. Worth catching if it looms into view.