The Tank - Film Review

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The Tank is written and directed by Scott Walker and stars Luciane Buchanan, Matt Whelan, Mark Mitchinson and Jaya Beach-Robertson. With a run time of 100 minutes this horror genre is for MA 15plus viewing. The film will be available to rent or buy from 28 June 2023 on Apple, Amazon, Google/YouTube, Microsoft, Foxtel, Fetch and Telstra.

Set in Oregon, 1978, Ben Adams and his wife Jules are in for a surprise when they inherit his mother's abandoned coastal property she never told them about. Along with their 7 year old daughter Reia and Archie the dog they enter a house untouched for 40 years, looming like an eerie relic over land that includes a stunning private cove and beach. The beauty and tranquillity of the place leave the family wondering why this property was kept a secret for so long.


Ben and Jules are a loved-up family but strapped for cash. When the opportunity arises, they leave the pet shop they work at and head out on a long drive to check out their inheritance.
Surrounded by a dense and overgrown forest, they finally arrive at the two-storey wooden cottage that has been boarded up and very neglected. The shrubbery has begun to reclaim its ground. Rummaging through the house, Ben and Jules find newspaper clippings and his mother's diary, giving them clues about his family who once lived at this coastal abode.

Needing much maintenance, Ben heads down under to repair a buried water tank that supplies the house with fresh water from an underground reservoir. Unplugging a blockage, they try to figure out what this slimy thing with sharp teeth they have found, is. Unbeknownst to Ben, he has just unleashed a terror that soon has them in its sight.


Unsettled being at the house, when an eye-popping offer to buy the property comes from the real estate agent, Ben and Jules can't wait to settle in a couple of days and leave. Until Ben heads out and finds the mauled body of the agent. He calls the police, but this evil is not about to let anyone out of its sight.

The performances, story, cinematography, and every element of this film easily lend itself to the possibility that this really could have happened. It certainly feels very natural, like you could easily be experiencing a real event. This is no fright night that relies on theatrics to scare you, but easily does that in a believable manner. It also displays the strength of a mother who steps up when push comes to shove and her family is in danger - thus the story shifts from being about Ben the father, to a hero not bound by gender. The performances of the lead actors from New Zealand are faultless with good chemistry between them as a family. They build up a slow and steady atmosphere of tension, fear and suspense that'll have you wondering if anyone is going to make it out.



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