Something Beneath

_Decent creature feature with Kevin Sorbo, similar to “Phantoms”_ An Episcopalian priest (Kevin Sorbo) leads an ecological conference at a new mountain resort, but some kind of mysterious black oil infects the people, causing hallucinations and death. What’s the source of this substance and will any of them survive? Natalie Brown plays the event coordinator, Brendan Beiser a nutty scientist and Peter MacNeill the head of security. "Something Beneath" (2007) is a creature feature that combines elements of Star Trek’s “The Naked Time” (1966), “Phantoms” (1998) and the black oil episodes of The X-Files that started with "Piper Maru" (1996), which played a pivotal role in the series, including the first X-Files movie “Fight the Future” (1998). Although this had a direct-to-video budget, and it’s obvious, it has defined characters, an inventive plot and a relatively entertaining story. Sorbo has his usual charisma as the amiable minister and the subplot of his relationship with Khali (Brown) is well done. Brittany Scobie is on hand as an amusingly haughty “celebrity” while Paige Bannister plays Khali’s cute assistant. The film runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was filmed in Winnipeg with the mountain exterior shots obviously done in the Canadian Rockies. GRADE: B-/C+