Summary
- Amnesia: The Bunker takes the Amnesia games in a new direction with combat elements and a twist of horror during World War I.
- The Bunker, a film from 2001, shares similarities with Amnesia: The Bunker in terms of plot, storytelling, and psychological elements.
- The Bunker explores the horrifying effects of war and PTSD through a supernatural lens, leaving the fate of the characters up to the interpretation of the audience.
The Amnesia games have been around for a long time however the latest entry Amensia: The Bunker took the series in an entirely new direction by adding combat elements in the game. Set during the First World War, the game follows the main protagonist who ends up in a bunker in search of his friend. To his surprise, the bunker has a twisted past and is home to a creature that will kill anyone it encounters and the only thing Henri Clement can do is keep him away through a light.
Amnesia: The Bunker is praised for how scary the game can get and already has a formula for a perfect live-action interpretation. While a movie of the game currently doesn't exist, 2001's The Bunker may be the closest thing to the game in terms of plot, storytelling, and even psychological elements.
What is The Bunker about?
2001's The Bunker is a film about a group of German Soldiers in World War II led by Lieutenant Kutschera who are retreating from the frontlines and going through the Black Forest. They find an abandoned bunker and find refuge there hoping for the war to end.
As the soldiers explore the bunker, they discover its gruesome past and the events that occurred there before it was abandoned. The bunker was actually a medical facility that was used to experiment on wounded soldiers and had scattered remnants of the fallen soldiers and journals all around. Over time, the soldiers became paranoid and started experiencing visions and distortions that made them turn on each other. The burden of war and the PTSD from the battlefield combined with the twisted past of the bunker made them lose it all.
What Makes The Bunker A Solid Horror Movie?
The Bunker isn't an average horror movie but actually has a much deeper context to it. The main thing about the movie is that its interpretation is actually based on the viewers watching the film. The supernatural forces shown in the film could well be real or could just exist psychologically due to all the trauma from the front lines. Facing guilt and fear from their past actions adds to the reality of war and what effect it had on all the soldiers which itself is quite scary to think about. Adding to the perfect pacing of the movie and its sense of suspense, The Bunker is a solid horror thriller movie.
However, the best part about the movie can be attributed to it exploring each and every one of the characters deeply. Everything is brought up up front which makes the viewers resonate with the characters and ultimately invest in them. Despite being released over two decades ago and being on a smaller scale, The Bunker was the result of amazing filmmaking.
How Does The Bunker End?
The Bunker doesn't exactly have a good ending. Halfway through the film, many of the soldiers have died, either by suicide or at the hands of their fellow comrades. Captain Baumann, sometime later in the film, descends into madness driven by his ideology and goes rogue, turning against the other soldiers. By the end of the movie, only a few people are alive, including the nurse Eva and Lieutenant Kutschera. However, to exit the bunker, they have to go even deeper into the tunnels, where they encounter another supernatural creature, a manifestation of the fallen soldiers. The creature then attacks Lieutenant Kutschera, killing him and ultimately leaving Eva as the sole survivor. The film ends with her emerging into the sunlight, being the only survivor, leaving the fate of the rest of the soldiers up to the audience.
Whether all the creatures were just in the head of the soldiers due to them descending into madness or they were real is entirely up to the viewers to decide. The Bunker does quite an amazing job of capturing the horror of the war and the effect it has on the soldiers even after it ends up staining them with PTSD. The Bunker will leave its audience pondering the movie for quite some time.