THE CAVE

Starring:
Cole Hauser, Morris Chestnut, Eddie Cibrian, Rick Ravanello, Marcel Iures, Lena Headey, Daniel Dae Kim and Piper Perabo

Director:
Bruce Hunt

Running Time:
97 mins

Out to buy on 28/11/05

"There's something down here"

The discovery of the world's largest cave system in Romania leads Jack (Hauser) and his cave diving team to explore were no person has ever gone before. When they enter the system via an old, abandoned church, the team soon realise that this is no ordinary cave and could hold an ecosystem all of its own. As they head down deeper, they discover that they are not alone and now have to fight to make it back to the surface alive.

The idea of unique creatures evolving inside an isolated ecosystem is nothing new in movies but can 'The Cave' bring something new to the survival horror genre?

Monster movies were nature has ran amok creating a creature that becomes the top predator in the food chain have made the survival horror genre a firm favourite but for every 'Alien' there is a 'Creep'. This major hit and miss ratio means that you never know what to expect that went you start to watch a film like this. Unfortunately 'The Cave' is a real let down.

The setting and premise for the movie is very similar to the far superior British movie 'The Descent', the movie sees a team of experienced cave divers become the latest menu to an almost demonic monster from darkness. After entering the cave, the movie soon progresses into a 'who is going to die next' scenario, accidents and the creatures soon make short work of the team. This is all very familiar stuff but because the movie hasn't got a very high certificate (only a 12A in the UK and a PG-13 in the US), the killings are not very gory. This fact is a major problem because this is what this genre really thrives upon.

The creatures themselves are very average indeed. Basically a giant flying humanoid bat, the creatures take far too long to actually make a full appearance and when they finally do you only get to see them very briefly, with no long establishing shots. There are also some mutated eels and moles but nothing that will win any prizes for visual effects.

The cast don't fair any better either. Cole Hauser returns to the monster movie genre as cave diving leader Jack but even the 'Pitch Black' star can't make his role anymore interesting. Morris Chestnut and Eddie Cibrian don't fair much better with either of their underdeveloped characters. Lena Headey and Piper Perabo are just part of the cast for eye candy and nothing more, but Piper does get to do more than just be the damsel in distress.

With only a few decent death scenes and an atmospheric setting, 'The Cave' finds it difficult to standout in an already flooded market. With a decidingly average cast and story, this is a movie that you will watch once but it wouldn't be long before is disappears into the dark recesses of your mind.

'Into The Cave': a featurette about the cave divers hired for the underwater photography require for the film
'Designing Evolution: Tatopoulos Studios': a featurette about the creation of the creature for the film

The Descent


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2005