The Lair is the next film from acclaimed horror filmmaker Neil Marshall, and a new teaser promises a horrific battle against subterranean animals. Lt. Kate Sinclair (Charlotte Kirk) is a Royal Air Force pilot who gets shot down over Afghanistan and must seek refuge in a desert bunker. However, after she descends into the eponymous lair, she discovers horrible hybrid human/alien biological weapons awoken and out for blood, forcing her and the other troops to slaughter them. On October 28th, RLJE Films will release the film theatrically, digitally, and via video on demand. There are early scenes in the teaser where Kate is navigating the dark, narrow corridors of the bunker with the help of a glowstick, and the atmosphere is reminiscent of Marshall’s other famous horror film, The Descent.
She tries to run away from the troops that chased her in, but the film’s monsters attack them. All of this is part of the story she tells her other officers about what transpired after she was blasted out of the sky, despite their considerable scepticism. Even though no one knows anything about the bunker, she is so sure of its location that they decide to check it out out of sheer panic. When they go back to the bunker, Finch (Jamie Bamber) orders them to “kill everything that shrieks,” and the trailer turns into an action horror masterpiece. Red warning lights flash in the backdrop as the army shot down, stabs, and tramples the animals in a montage of wonderfully suitable action catchphrases.
However, their foes aren’t simple to hold back just by looking at them. They are quick, nimble, and armed with tentacles that may entangle and cling to victims to drain or infect them, making this a difficult battle for the troops. They won’t be able to keep them below long, though, as the teaser ends with a shot of one beast killing a soldier above ground.
Marshall cast Kirk in the lead and co-wrote with her for The Reckoning; they will work together again for The Lair. Once again collaborating with Marshall, she wrote the film’s screenplay.
She is joined in the cast by such notables as Bamber, Jonathan Howard, Mark Arends, Hadi Khanjanpour, Tanji Kibong, Leon Ockenden, Mark Strepan, Harry Taurasi, Alex Morgan, Adam Bond, Sarah Lambie, Kibong Tanji, and Troy Alexander. Daniel-Konrad Cooper produced alongside Kwesi Dickson, Jonathan Halperyn, and Daniel Kresmery as co-producers, and executive producers included Samantha Allwinton, Reinhard Besser, Phil Rymer, Joe Simpson, and Simon Williams. In August, Marshall’s newest film had its world debut at London’s FightFest, and the filmmaker was ecstatic to finally get his work in front of an audience where the audience could appreciate the bloody monster action on the big screen.
In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, he said: “That was fantastic, I tell you. It was an honour to return after such a long absence and to kick off the festival with this performance. This film was conceived as a big bloody action extravaganza to delight festival audiences, and it fulfilled that vision admirably.” On October 28, cinemas, internet platforms, and video on-demand will all have access to The Lair. Shudder also bought the film, and it will be available to watch online in 2023.