“When they rise, the fight begins” is the tagline for “The Lair,” a forthcoming horror film from director Neil Marshall. Starring Charlotte Kirk, “The Lair” centers on Royal Air Force pilot Lt. Kate Sinclair (Kirk), who is shot down over Afghanistan. She finds refuge in an abandoned underground bunker where deadly man-made biological weapons, and inside, she discovers something half human, half alien that is reawakened. Of course, as silly as this all sounds, there are two things to keep in mind. The first is that Marshall is responsible for bringing audiences “The Descent” in 2005, with the cave-set nightmare, remembered as one of the better horror films from the first decade of this century.
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Secondly, what could make for an interesting read of the forthcoming film, “The Lair,” could lend itself to an analogy for blowback from the complicated and seemingly endless war on terror. The keyword in the synopsis states that these “biological weapons” have been “reawakened.” Could it be the U.S. and its allies have already wreaked havoc on their enemies (or civilians) using these top-secret weapons, leaving lower-ranking officers to repent for their sins? Silly as this trailer might appear, Marshall isn’t to be slept on.
The script for “The Lair” was co-written by Charlotte Kirk, who also stars in the film. It is the second time she has co-written and starred in a Neil Marshall film, with the first being “The Reckoning” back in 2020. Co-starring alongside Kirk will be Jonathan Howard (“Thor: The Dark World”) and Jamie Bamber (“Battlestar Galactica”).
“The Lair” will be available in theaters, on-demand, and digital on October 28 via RLJE Films and Shudder. Watch the new trailer below.