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The Cave Miles below the Romanian portion of the Carpathian Mountains, in the tunnels, caves and subterranean rivers, lies a strange ecosystem of large eels, blind moles and... well, something far more sinister. Over the entrance to the cave system the locals built a church with bas-relief sculptures of knights fighting winged demons. Thirty years ago a group of people blasted their way through the floor of the church to find to caves (why, or what they expected to find, we are not told) but caused an avalanche that destroyed the church and blocked the entrance. Until now.
The entrance to the cave is rediscovered by scientist Dr Nicolai (Marcel Iures) who persuades a crack team of divers led by Jack (Cole Hauser) to help him explore the tunnels in search of unique biology. Also on the team is Jack's brother Tyler (Eddie Cibrian), sexy rock climber Charlie (Piper Perabo), Top Buchanan (Morris Chestnut), the permanently angry and uptight Phillip Briggs (Rick Ravanello), and unshaven boffin Strode (Kieran Darcy-Smith). Joining them on the trip are Dr Nicolai, sultry scientist Katherine (Lena Headey) and underwater cameraman Alex Kim (Daniel Dae Kim).
Things start off badly with an underwater rock fall that kills one of the crew and leaves the survivors trapped a mile underground. They won't be missed for nearly a fortnight, by which time their supplies will be starting to dwindle. Their only option is to find another way out of the tunnel system before they get attacked and killed by the creatures living in the darkness.
What with Neil Marshall's The Descent preceding this movie, it would seem that potholing is the new black as far as horror flicks are concerned. The Cave is a different kind of movie, despite similar themes, being more of an action adventure with a couple of cheap shocks and references to the quartet of Alien movies thrown in.
Bruce Hunt who has his name on the director's chair for the first time (he was second unit director on The Matrix trilogy and Dark City) has some nice visuals, but misfires on the tension, essentially bringing nothing new to the table. There is no real sense of claustrophobia, no creeping dread that something unseen is closing in, and the caves seem to be fairly well lit considering the team end up with nothing more than a few flares and torches to help them out.
Unusual location aside, it's pretty much staple action/horror stuff, and creatures scuttling along the walls and hiding in shadows are lifted shamelessly from Aliens. There are attempts to add tension to the group by having Jack and his brother compete with Briggs, including a pointless fist fight between Tyler and Briggs that feels fake and contrived. The dialogue, too, is barely adequate and often risible, full of testosterone-charged action movie clichés you hoped had died out when Arnie became governor of California. Another annoying quibble, while I'm in a picky kind of mood, is that the team were able to talk to each other quite normally over the radio whilst scuba diving, despite having their mouths obviously full of breathing equipment. Unless they were all talented ventriloquists, I find it hard to see how they managed that...
We could forgive all this if the creatures were something special, but they're not. Imagine a dull mix of The Creeper, the critters from Pitch Black (which creature designer Patrick Tatopoulos also designed) and the half-breed alien baby from Alien: Resurrection and you'll have a fairly good idea. However, the creatures themselves never appear for more than a few frames at a time, so it's difficult to get a proper fix on what they look like in detail. What is clear is that they show the legacy of HR Giger's design for Alien, from which it takes a supremely talented creature designer, such as Stan Winston, to distance himself.
It's difficult not to suggest waiting until The Cave comes out on DVD, because you're not going to lose too much by seeing it on the small screen, and when you factor in the cost of a couple of cokes and some popcorn, it'll definitely be cheaper, too. The bargain basement official website would appear to suggest that the studio agrees with me and are not pouring a fortune into promoting it. The Cave probably came this close to going straight to rental.
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