Stalker (The Tunnel)

The Stalker (referred in the film as the Stalker) is a highly aggressive, subterranean humanoid creature from the 2011 Australian horror film The Tunnel. The creature is tall, gaunt, and pale, with stringy black hair and large eyes. It is primarily carnivorous and while not necessarily predisposed to only hunting humans they have become a staple of its diet and feeding habits.

Background
Nothing is known on the mysterious and deadly being known simply as The Stalker, who lurks in the dark maze of underground tunnels, and railways beneath the heart of Sydney, Australia.

Within these dark, dank places near an underground lake it dwelled, hunting and killing whatever entered its domain, its lust for blood never satisfied. Many of the city’s homeless who sometimes ventured into these tunnels were never heard from again, those who escaped were forever traumatized by the horrors they experienced.

The Tunnel (2011)
For years, The Stalker’s existence was thought to be an urban legend, with tales of people who ventured down into the tunnels never to be seen again. In 2007, in the midst of drought and water shortages, the New South Wales State government sanctioned a plan to utilize the accumulated water within the tunnels beneath Sydney, the same tunnels where The Stalker resided. However, the government inexplicably scrapped the project, possibly due to the discovery of The Stalker’s existence within these tunnels. Even though security guards were patrolled the entrance to the tunnels, people still managed to enter through means of a secondary entrance, those who did were never heard from again.

The Watcher in the Shadows
In 2008, one year after the water project scandal, News Journalist Natasha Warner and her crew Peter Ferguson, Steve Miller, and Jim “Tangles” Williams enter the tunnels through the secondary entrance with the hopes of making a documentary on the controversy and scandal surrounding the government’s unexplained cancellation of its water irrigation project. As the group explored the long abandoned underground tunnels, homeless squats, and air raid shelters The Stalker followed them in the darkness. When the group arrived at the massive underground lake, mysterious sounds could be heard in the distance as the group shot a scene for their documentary. However, only the crew’s sound expert Tangles could hear these sounds who brushed it off as a joke by the other crew members.

The Nightmare Begins
As the group move deeper into the tunnels, they come across an old air raid bell left behind from WWII. After the initial ringing of the bell distorted the film’s audio, Tangles decided to record the audio in one of the adjoining rooms. Only when the bell was rung a second time did The Stalker launch its assault, attacking Tangles while he was separated from the group before dragging him away. Sounds of the horrific attack were all recorded in Tangles’ boom mike. After carrying its victim off, The Stalker then brutally murdered him, splattering his blood all over the walls. Taking advantage of the group’s distraction, The Stalker proceeded to remove all of the crew’s equipment from their storage site to an unknown location before continuing to hunt the crew.

When the crew managed to find the room where Tangles was murdered, which it had blocked off with a large piece of metal. It grabbed Nat’s camera while she helped the crew move it, filming their reactions as they entered the room before discarding it once the group began to leave.

Only when the group encountered the security guard, who was patrolling the entrance to the tunnel, did the Stalker finally make its presence known, attacking the security guard when he was ahead of the group before dragging him away with lightning quick speed. As the rest of the crew fled in terror it ripped out the security guard’s eyes while he was still alive, throwing the severely wounded man into the lake. Unbeknown to it, Natasha and her crew had arrived at the edge of the lake, discovering its most recent victim. The Stalker then emerged from the shadows behind the security guard and proceeded to brutally murder him by slowly twisting his head around until his neck broke. As it was leaving with the security guard’s body, Natasha let out a scream, notifying it of the crew’s presence. Realizing that they were there, the Stalker slowly emerged from the lake as the crew fled in terror. The Stalker instantly started to chase after them.

As the group attempted to escape through a small passageway, it managed to grab Peter and attempted to drag him away but retreated when Steve shined his flashlight at it, making the group realize its vulnerability to light. Determined yet wary of the lights, it continued its pursuit of the group, attempting to abduct Steve but was again forced to retreat when confronted with the lights. After this failed second attempt, the Stalker chose to silently pursue the group from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. That opportunity came when the battery for the flashlight died out, temporarily leaving the them in utter darkness as they frantically tried to replace the flashlight's batteries. Just as they managed to restore power, the Stalker began its assault on the group. Lunging out of the shadows with a force that knocked the entire group to the ground. Natasha was the first to recover and fled in a panic as the creature followed in pursuit.

Following her back to its lair, Natasha attempted to hide from the creature as it searched for her. Natasha nearly managed to escape but accidentally knocked over one of the many glass bottles that were scattered throughout the creature's lair, drawing the Stalker's attention who immediately launched its attach upon the terrified woman, knocking her unconscious and cracking the lens of her camera. The Stalker began dragging Natasha back to the lake, mumbling excitedly in an unnervingly human-like manner as it threw her into the lake, causing her to regain consciousness. Jumping in after her, it attempted to drown her by repeatedly forcing her underwater, making sounds chillingly resembling demonic laughter. Before it could finish, it was stopped by Steve and Peter who had followed Natasha's screams back to the lake. Again confronted with the bright lights, it was forced to abandon its would be victim. Natasha fled with Steve while Peter stayed behind to hold it at bay. Soon after they escaped, the Stalker viciously attacked Peter, severely wounding him before letting him escape. Peter would soon die from his injuries soon after he was rescued by Natasha and Peter. The fate of the Stalker remains unknown after this encounter. Tangle's whereabouts are also still unknown, and his family searching for answers. It is likely that the creature's existence was quickly covered up by the government to avoid a panic and that the documentary itself was made to shed light on this issue. Another theory is that Peter managed to wound it enough to kill it when he was attacked, but this is unlikely.

Description
The Stalker is barely seen on camera in the film. When it does appear, it's often very brief and not highly detailed making it difficult to discover its full anatomy. Based on the brief glimpses of the creature seen in the film, it appears to be a very tall, emaciated humanoid standing approximately seven to eight feet tall. It has very human-like features, with human-shaped ears and hands. It's limbs are long and gangly, giving it an unnerving appearance. The creature's head is very human-like with long stringy black hair, a pointed nose, and large eyes adapted to its underground environment, which appear to glow when seen in a night-vision camera. It also seems to have an abnormally large set of lungs as is evident when it grabs Natasha's video camera, it's loud breathing is heard off camera. The Stalker also appears to be wearing the tattered remnants of clothing, making it even more unsettling. If one looks very closely, that clothing appears to be a dark coat and long pants. This has given rise to the belief that the creature was once human, and is either a mutant created by a unknown source(possibly a man-made virus or even a supernatural affliction), or a secret government human experiment that went wrong.

Abilities
During the course of the film, the Stalker displays the following abilities listed below:


 * Superhuman Speed and Stamina - During it's attacks on the group, and abduction of both Tangles and the Security Guard; the Stalker displayed an ability to move at superhuman speeds. Once it's running, its movements are so fast that they are barely captured on a video camera. When it abducted the Security Guard, it was able to snatch and disappear with the guard in a matter of a few seconds.
 * Superhuman Strength - The Stalker is capable of moving heavy objects with relative ease. In one case it managed to move all the heavy filming equipment with a matter of a few minutes. It's also able to pick up and run off with a fully grown man with seemingly no effort, and twist the same man's head fully around until it broke. During one of its attacks on the group, it was capable of knocking down three people in a single hit.
 * Adapted Night Vision - The Stalker is well adapted to its dark, subterranean environment and is capable of seeing in complete darkness due to its large eyes. However, due to this, the Stalker is sensitive to bright lights and will flee when confronted with them. This is shown a few times throughout the film. It instantly fled after Steve shined his flashlight at it when it tried to abduct Peter. Another time this happened was when the creature tried to drown Natasha and it was scared off by Peter and Steve.
 * Expanded Lungs - The Stalker appears to have an abnormally large set of lungs which it uses to hold its breath for extended amounts of time while it's underwater.

Behavior/Hunting Strategy
Throughout the course of the film, the Stalker is regluarly shown to be extraordinarily cunning and intelligent, almost human-like. Early in the film, it's mentioned that the tunnels contain a surprising amount of homeless and squatters, and the Stalker has preyed upon them and anyone who enters the tunnels for an untold amount of time. During one such interview with a former resident of the tunnels, the mere question of what happened in the tunnels was enough to send the man into a state of severe panic, implying that the Stalker might have done more than just prey on them.

It is extremely patient, often waiting until it's prey is separated from the main group before attacking. Steve Miller, one of the survivors in the film, later recalled that the creature displayed a level of cunning similar to that of a lion. Miller noted that when the creature attempted to separate the group multiple times, making it easier for it to attack. It also displays a degree of intelligence regarding the use of sound to cover up its attacks as evident when it snatches Tangles. It was likely attracted by the sound of the alarm bell being rung, then saw a perfect opportunity when Tangles left the room to get a better recording of the sound. Then waited for the bell to be rung a second time before attacking so as not to alert the rest of the group. Once it has captured its prey, the Stalker removes the eyes of its still living victims, and possibly breaking their limbs to prevent them from escaping. It's unknown if it regularly uses this strategy while hunting, but seems to during its murders of both Tangles and the Security Guard. During the murder of the Security Guard, the Stalker broke the man's neck by slowly twisting his head around(seemingly in a pleased manner). It's also implied during this murder that the creature stores its victims in the underground lake that exists deep in the tunnels.

The Stalker is shown to be incredibly sadistic, preferring to physically torture and terrify its victims before finally killing them in a slow and brutal manner. The Stalker's sadistic tenancies are also evident as it attempted to slowly drown Natasha in the underground lake, all the while it excitedly made sounds like unintelligible gibberish and demented laughter. It's also implied that it left Tangles alive for a little while after his abduction. During the groups search of Tangles, they seem to hear what sounds like someone being dragged away before briefly crying out in pain. Once the group enters the room where the sounds originated, they find a massive amount of blood and Tangles flashlight near the corner of the room where a small opening exists. Also during this period, it picked up Natasha's discarded camera and filmed them as they stood in the room before leaving the camera and fleeing once the group started to leave the room.

Habits
The Stalker displays several gruesome habits in the film. One such habit was the removal and collecting of its victims eyes which it stored within its lair as seen when the group accidentally stumbles upon its lair. It also seems to store some of the eyes that it's collected in jars that it has found in the tunnels as well. This habit/behavior actually mirrors that of many different species in the animal kingdom such as birds, spiders, and other animals. Other real life animals use parts of their prey as decorations for their homes/lairs very similar to the Tunnel Stalker. It's not know whether or not this is actually the creature's intention or it's a twisted form of "trophy collecting". The Tunnel Stalker also appears to be collecting other items from its victims such as bottles, clothing, and in one out of focus shot, it also appears to sometimes collect the intestines as well.

Intelligence
Multiple times in the film, the Stalker displays an unnervingly form of human-like intelligence. The previously mentioned scenes where it films the group as they investigate a room points to a knowledge and understanding of the equipment that shows that the creature is in fact extremely sentient. During this scene it manages to manipulate the camera just like a normal person would do so, zooming in and out to reveal each individual's faces before it is forced to abandon the camera once the group starts to exit the room. It also seems to grasp the basic understanding of clothing as it wears the tattered remnants of a jacket and pants over its thin form. This might also point to an origin where the creature was once a normal human that somehow mutated or turned into what it is now. When it attempts to drown Natasha in the lake, the Stalker seems to mutter unintelligible gibberish that is unnervingly close to resembling chanting in some human language.