The Underground is our recurring feature, resurrected from an all-time great CHUD column, the aim of which is to get the word out on projects outside the Hollywood studio system. Studio films have big promotion engines behind them. The Underground caters to everything else: from indie films, to cult films in the making, pet projects, guerrilla films, internet shorts, etc.
He Who Dares is the just the kind of indie film I’m eager to promote in The Underground. It looks chock full o’ action and – in the trailer at least – has tentpole film aspirations on what I’m betting was a less-than-tentpole-film budget. A bit of research shows that director Paul Tanter has been cutting his teeth in the British indie scene and has written or co-written most of his dozen or so films to date.
Several of his cast, including Tom Benedict Knight, Simon Phillips and Ewan Ross, have similar backgrounds and have worked with Tanter before. On a side note, looks like Ross was a legit badass before he decided to become an actor. And if you were wondering who that female is in the throwdown shots, that’s Zara Phythian. I ran a background check on her (i.e. I scoped her resume and Googled her image) for uh…purely research purposes. She looks like she can hang with the big boys just fine.
Anyway, here’s the official synopsis:
On Christmas Eve a group of ruthless masked terrorists kidnap the Prime Minister’s daughter, fortifying themselves in an underground car park rigged with explosives. A crack SAS team are sent in and must take the building one level at a time. He Who Dares stars Tom Benedict Knight (Kick Ass 2), Simon Phillips (The Rise & Fall of a White Collar Hooligan), Ewan Ross (The Fall of the Essex Boys), Ben Loyd-Holmes (Torchwood), Lorraine Stanley (London to Brighton) and Zara Phythian (Alien Uprising). It is directed by Paul Tanter (Jack Falls, White Collar Hooligan) and scripted by Tanter and James Crow (G.B.H.). Tanter and Alain Wildberger produce for Runaway Features.
And the requisite movie links:
http://twitter.com/hewhodaresmovie
http://www.facebook.com/hewhodaresmovie
He Who Dares is from Runaway Features and Templeheart Films. The poster says Christmas, but look for a 2014 release.
If you’ve got a film or project somewhere in the fringes that belongs in The Underground and needs some attention, hit me up at davidoliver64@netscape.net