The Cave (2005) Dir: Bruce Hunt
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This 2005 creature feature from Bruce Hunt was one I put on specifically because it didn't look like I'd need to think too much while watching it.
And lo and behold, I really didn't. Half survival horror and half sci-fi thriller, this film kind of feels like 'Pitch Black' if it was underground and a bit worse.
It had clumsy dialogue that made me crease a little at how poor it was, but I could put that aside for the sake of the horror. A lot of the suspense was really well built, but it was mostly ruined by the awfully filmed action scenes that completely sucked any real fear out of the film.
The story was relatively simple, but had a few nice little creases that added a little depth, pardon the wordplay, to it. That said, I have to say this, both the climax and final scene were hilariously goofy, and quite literally had me laughing aloud.
Cole Hauser came across like someone told him to pretend he was Matthew McConaughey for the whole film, although credit where credit is due, I actually enjoyed him in this, for the most part anyways.
Eddie Cibrian provided a reasonable co-star to Hauser, although he seemed to overplay the serious side of his character a bit. I found myself hoping he would relax just once in the film.
Morris Chestnut and Lena Headey were the other most notable names, although both had moments in which they felt noticeably absent. This especially applies to Headey.
In fact, both Headey and Piper Perabo, the other woman in the cast, basically did not exist until their key scenes. I genuinely didn't realise there were two women until half way through the film, which ecposed just how empty a lot of the characters were - they weren't memorable. And not just the two I've mentioned here either.
There were a few other names worth mentioning, if only for their relatively sizable roles; Rick Ravanello, Piper Perabo, Daniel Dae Kim and Vlad Rădescu.
Overall, I actually quite enjoyed this, despite its vast array of weaknesses. It has a functional concept, some genuinely good suspenseful moments and a lot of silliness which actually kind of works in a "so bad it's good" kind of way.
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