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By Dan Leone

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TWO UNAVOIDABLE STRIKES against the new thriller Below: First, nobody's heard of it, and if they think they have, they're probably confusing it with the more prominently advertised Ghost Ship. Second, its plot crosses two played-out genres, in a kind of submarine-meets-haunted-house-movie amalgam. Thank goodness low expectations can sometimes garner high rewards; now that Halloween is approaching and the box office is crowded with seasonally appropriate fare, scary-movie fans are hereby advised to make a special note of Below. Directed by David Twohy (Pitch Black) and cowritten by Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream), the well-pedigreed Below is an expertly crafted, tightly wound undersea chiller. A World War II sub, heading back to America after a grueling tour of duty, scoops up the only three survivors of a torpedoed British hospital ship, including Claire (Olivia Williams of Rushmore), a nurse whose female presence – supposedly a bad-luck omen – ignites a flurry. The inquisitive Claire soon uncovers some shady goings-on among the men in charge, with chain-of-command head Lt. Brice (Bruce Greenwood) seemingly covering up the untimely death of the sub's rightful commanding officer. Before long, however, intrigue among the passengers turns to paranoia and shadowy double takes when a series of increasingly spooky incidents – whispering corpses, ghoulish reflections, record players that turn on by themselves – raises the hackles of all aboard. Sure, trapped-with-something-evil movies are a dime a dozen, whether you stick the characters on a space ship, a deserted planet, a remote cabin in the woods, or a leaky submarine. Fortunately, though, Twohy's expert hand ensures that Below travels a jumpy, depth-charged path, one that's worth taking though it leads to an ultimately predictable ending. (Cheryl Eddy)