Talking apes play second fiddle to bomb-worshipping mutants in this shockingly nihilistic fever dream of a sequel. Heston is back as his Planet of the Apes protagonist Taylor, but takes a backseat to Franciscus, as an astronaut sent on a mission to discover what may have happened to Taylor and his crew. He finds the answer in one of the darkest and most disturbing visions of the future that Hollywood ever imagined. With a screenplay by Apes series mastermind Paul Dehn, Beneath is a bracing reminder of a time before film franchise rules were etched in stone. (BR)
