WHO MADE IT? | Director: Bruce Hunt Cast: Cole Hauser, Morris Chestnut, Eddie Cibrian, Rick Ravanello, Marcel Iures, Lena Headey and Piper Perabo | WHAT'S IT ABOUT? | A team of scientists discover the ruins of a 13th century Abbey deep in the Romanian forest. On closer examination they uncover that it's built over the entrance to a giant underground cave system. Believing the cave could house a brand new eco-system, local scientists hire a group of American cave explorers to help them investigate their theory. Unfortunately they unearth more than they bargained for in the form of an entirely new species. | WHAT'S IT LIKE? | If you have already seen Neil Marshall's The Descent then this could be a case of deja vu. A crack team of cave explorers/divers get stranded in an underground cave system; and become prey to inhuman looking creatures, an albino winged version of the monster from Alien which is blind but has developed acute hearing and sense of smell. One of the group breaks his leg in his bid to flee the deadly flooded caverns becoming a hindrance. Shot in Romania and Mexico, The Cave is a big budget picture though, with lavish sets including an underground water fall and an array of different caves and rock faces. Except for Piper Perabo (Cayote Ugly), it's a fairly unknown cast who do what they can with a fairly predictable and mundane script. Perabo, ending up scantily clad (clearly for the boys), climbs her way to a spectacular death. There are huge underwater bangs and explosions but this film lacks the tension, the fear, the panic and claustrophobia of being trapped underground, pursued by deadly creatures, of The Descent, which gives it to you for a fraction of the budget. There are no major surprises in The Cave either, including the ending. | THE CAVE opens on 26 August 2005
