The Cave ()

Synopsis:
While it might give spelunkers a few helpful hints about using their equipment, The Cave is strictly routine as an Alien-styled monster show. The film's major achievement is its impressive setting -- not a real cave under the Carpathian mountains (where the ill-fated characters are exploring "the Amazon of underground rivers") but a lavishly convincing cave set built on a Romanian soundstage. This gives first-time director Brad Hunt (a second- and third-unit director on the Matrix trilogy) the movie's only claim to originality, as the cavernous interiors become a death trap for most of the nine-person team (led by Cole Hauser, and including Morris Chestnut, Daniel Dae Kim from TV's Lost, and Coyote Ugly's Piper Perabo) that's exploring the maze-like cave for reasons never fully explained (maybe they just wanted to test out their fancy gear). They're not alone down there, and creature-feature specialist Patrick Tatopoulos borrows from the H.R. Giger design-book with some gnarly critters that, in turn, borrow elements from The Thing to foment suspicion and anxiety among the dwindling crew of survivors.

Starring:
Piper Perabo
Morris Chestnut
Cole Hauser
Eddie Cibrian
Lena Headey

Directors: Bruce Hunt
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