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Since I’m not much of a winter guy, any horror movie involving copious amounts of ice and freezing temperatures sounds like a terrifying time, and that’s before any crazed Yetis or other murderous demons threaten to turn the pure, white snow a deeper shade of red. Add into that scenario the thought of being trapped underwater, which happens to be my biggest fear, and you’ve stumbled into one of my recurring nightmares – a nightmare that director Doug Schulze is bringing to life in his next film, The Dark Below.

According to the very first press release, The Dark Below is a chilly, submerged “survival thriller set mostly beneath a frozen lake as a diver tries to stay alive while a killer lurks above.” Starring Veronica Cartwright (Alien, Witches of Eastwick) and Lauren Shafer (Mimesis), the film was shot in the dead of winter at Michigan’s Great Lakes, where the temperatures sometimes reached below twenty degrees. In addition, Schulze ambitiously confirmed that there are only three spoken words of dialogue in the whole film, which makes sense since chattering teeth probably made it impossible for actors to speak at all.

Here’s our first look at The Dark Below:

There’s no scheduled release date for The Dark Below just yet, because Schulze has decided to unleash his claustrophobic thriller on the festival circuit first. After testing the waters of horror festivals and genre celebrations, the film will then seek domestic and international distribution.

Schulze is no stranger to the horror scene, since he already established a cult following through his first film, Mimesis. I was able to catch the pseudo-slasher-zombie film at New York City’s Horror Film Festival back in 2012, a not-so-distant memory that’s conjuring nostalgic emotions since it was my first film festival experience. I can only hope that Schulze finds the same success through his latest bit of suffocating horror.

We’ll bring you more information on The Dark Below as it’s announced, so stay tuned!