The found footage genre of cinema has been a godsend for low-budget filmmaking – particularly when it comes to horror films, where a restricted point of view and limited visuals are more often than not conducive to developing senses of fear, uncertainty, or dread. While there were obvious antecedents, Myrick and Sanchez’s 1999 film The Blair Witch Project kicked off the modern film movement. In the following half-century there has been all manner of similarly constructed horror films, all using the cost-effective format to both good and not-so-good effect.

Carlo Ledesma’s 2011 film The Tunnel holds a certain reputation among Australian horror enthusiasts. It was an early successful example of crowd-sourcing an independent film budget, and very much stands as the local contribution to the found footage genre. It details an attempt by a Sydney new camera crew to shoot a story in the abandoned tunnels underneath the city, and the terrifying ordeal that ensues.

When the state government proposes tapping into unexploited reservoirs of water beneath Sydney’s streets to alleviate a drought – but then promptly goes cold on the proposal – television journalist Natasha (Bel Deliá) is quick to investigate. When reports start to spread of homeless people going missing in the tunnels, she assembles a camera crew to explore the site for herself: segment producer Pete (Andy Roderoda) camera operator Steve (Steve Davis), and sound recorder Tangles (Luke Arnold).

There is often an awkward phase at the beginning of a found footage film, in which characters and situations are introduced and the subsequent horror narrative is set up. In The Tunnel it feels slightly more awkward than usual, due to a combination of weak performances and some ungainly writing. Once the main storyline kicks in things improve enormously, but by that time the film has already stretched its audience’s patience a little. Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey’s screenplay is intent on grounding the film in its Sydney setting, which unfortunately means a lot of characters calling each other ‘mate’ and a few Australian slang terms not heard in real life since the 1970s. This may well a selling point to international viewers seeking a specifically non-American horror film, but for the locals it feels rather too on the nose and artificial.

The second half benefits enormously from its creepy and evocative locations, which successfully amp up the tension and creeping claustrophobia as the news crew explore, get a little lost, and then start losing members without a trace. Luke Arnold is particularly solid during the film’s mid-section as the upbeat and likeable Tangles, while his co-stars do some strong work as the threat builds and they are required to perform increasing states of fear and hysteria. The climax is effective, but there is unfortunately a period between middle and end that runs a little too long without much beyond scenes of people running in a panic accompanied by incoherent shaky camera work. (Cleverly Steve Davis not only plays a camera operator, but is one in real life and shoots much of the film from his namesake’s point of view.)

Is there anything beyond the setting to allow The Tunnel to stand out from the crowd? Sadly not, and with that crowd building year on year it leaves Ledesna’s film as a broadly competent contribution to the genre with many other more interesting examples of the form to watch instead. Is it good? The answer is a qualified ‘yes’, and really depends on a second question: how much do you already enjoy found footage horror?