Crew
Director – J.D. Chua, Screenplay – Allan Ho, Ngin Chiang Meng & Siew Pek Chye, Story – J.C. Chua, Juan Foo, Ngin Chiang Meng & Tang Chi Sim, Producers – Kent Chan, Juan Foo & Toong Soon Wei, Photography – James Hia Wen Xiang, Music – Teo Yei Wong, Visual Effects/Concept Design – Omens Studios (Visual Effects Supervisor – Barry Lim), Creature Design – Invictus Designs (Supervisor – Victor Marin), Makeup Effects Supervisor – Karen Tan Kah Wei, Production Design – Lim Keng Boon. Production Company – Taipan Films/MM2 Entertainment/Singapore Film Commission/Iskandar Malaysia Film Studios.
Cast
Jessica Liu (Yi Ling), Ashley Seow (Janice), Peter Yu (Bo Seng), Andie Chen (Calvin), Nathaniel Ng (Lucas), Patrick Lee (Nam), Johnny Ng (Choo), Alan Tan (Heng), Grace Teo (Alice), Kaydash Tony (Pete), Danny Li (Tong)
Plot
Yi Ling is riding home on the subway with her young son Lucas. The carriage suddenly begins to speed up and go out of control. Back in central command, the controllers are puzzled that all trace of the train has vanished. The train crashes down a disused tunnel that was part of an extension that was abandoned. As the various passengers search for a way out, they are attacked by a monster lurking in the tunnels.
Circle Line was a Singaporean production, made in collaboration with nearby Malaysia and shot in Malaysian studios. It gained a reasonable profile on Netflix. The film was a directorial debut for Singaporean director J.D. Chua who had previously worked in television.
J.D. Chua does quite a good job in the build-up. The film is well edited, particularly in the way that Chua builds up excitement and drama in the crosscut between the characters on the runaway train and their venture out into the tunnels contrasted with the controllers back in the command centre trying to get a grip on the situation. With the exception of Jessica Lin’s mother, we are given nothing about the rest of the characters other than their names. Despite this, everyone does a fine job in portraying them as individuals with distinct personalities.
Circle Line comes down to being a Monster Movie. There are a host of films about horrors in the underground from spelunking horrors like The Cave (2005) and The Descent (2005). Circle Line is less a work of underground horrors as horror films that take place in the underground ie. the subway such as Death Line (19720, Mimic (1997) and The Midnight Meat Train (2008) with the closest of these probably being Creep (2004) set in the London Underground. Although if there is a film that Circle Line resembles the most it is probably The Relic (1997) with people hunting a giant monster in the catacombs beneath a New York museum.
The monster effects are solid and the creature design top notch, on a par with Hollywood work. Chua keeps the creature to the shadows, although we do eventually see its form in the climactic scenes. There is quite a degree of tension with its appearances – none the more so than when the businessman goes down into the tunnel as the monster appears behind him and then a couple of minutes later he is abruptly snatched through the window of the train. The film is thin on the bone in terms of explaining much about the creature but when it comes to the climax with Jessica Lin going head-to-head with it to save her son, the film has you cheering her on. All in all it is a modest and quite decent example of the genre.
Trailer here