Deathwatch is a 2002 horror war film written and directed by M. J. Bassett, and starring Jamie Bell, Laurence Fox, Kris Marshall, Matthew Rhys and Andy Serkis.
A lost squad of British soldiers in World War I take shelter in an abandoned enemy trench, but it proves to be no refuge as the men find themselves hunted by unseen evils.
There they find three terrified Germans, who ignore Private Willie McNess's cries for surrender in apparent fear of something further down the trenches.
They explore and find ominous signs: rotting bodies with protruding barbed wire and German bayonets litter the ground.
Attempts to contact command via radio reveal White Company was thought to have been obliterated during the assault before communications are lost.
Barry secludes himself but is distracted by strange sounds and finds three German corpses wrapped in barbed wire in a standing position.
Suspecting that hidden German troops are responsible, the men violently interrogate Friedrich (who can also speak French, which Charlie understands).
Phantom sounds of incoming artillery and charging infantry cause Jennings to crack under the pressure, mistakenly shooting and killing Jack.
In the morning, Thomas crucifies Friedrich alive on a wooden beam in no man's land and savagely beats him with a club.
The soil under the German corpse pile starts to cave in, while barbed wire blocks every passage, and Charlie is sucked down into the pit.
Alan Jones of The Radio Times rated the film one out of five stars, writing, "There's little to set the pulse racing, apart from some ghostly noises and a few gory effects, and Bassett's lumbering direction blasts any artistry, horror or suspense clean out of the target area.
"[4] Allmovie gave the film a positive review calling it "a highly crafted atmospheric creep-out that knows when to go for the jugular and when to slather on the paranoia".
[5] TV Guide awarded the film 2.5/4 stars stating: "Bassett deserves half a salute for Twilight Zone-ish wallow in WWI misery, which works up some creepy atmosphere between scenes of dehumanizing combat.
But the spook show element ultimately seems simultaneously ghoulish and hokey, and the pacifist moral is hammered home with blunt obviousness".