re:mote voices

Title: The Cave
Cast: Cole Hauser, Lena Headey, Piper Perabo
Director:Bruce Hunt

A group of explorers go into an unexplored cave, full of enthusiasm and hope. Quickly they get into trouble. Something happens, closing the route behind them. They then find old bodies, which show that they are in fact not the first people to come down here. With no way back, the group must find another exit. But in the process, it becomes clear that they are not alone down here.

That is the plot for the British horror film Descent and for this American German production. The former having been released in the UK first, though the two must have overlapped in development to some degree. The most obvious difference between the two that will be initially clear is in the certificates of the films. Descent was an 18 certificate film, versus The Cave's 12A rating. Straight away this means that The Cave is going to be less explicit and toned down by comparison. Which doesn't automatically make it a better film. No, the better production values, cinematography, performances and the more explicit content make Descent a better film.

One would have thought that with American funding The Cave would have had a better production level. To a degree it does, but most of this is wasted on lavish underwater scenes, giving the film a more over the top and open feel than it should have. Descent works better because it was claustrophobic - even where there weren't things in the darkness, the confined spaces of the caves had a strong effect.

Plot wise The Cave tries to add twists, add a potential for a sequel. But again it falls down here, creature effects and complications make it derivative of Alien or Species, while keeping it simple would have made for better pacing and more believability. Though there is certainly a crowd to sell to when you have creature effects involved.

Cast wise the lead is provided by Cole Hauser as the main explorer, who has appeared in 2 Fast 2 Furious, Tigerland and Pitch Black. The rest of the cast is less familiar, with the two women in the film being the only other familiar names, and both receiving something of a separate billing. British actress Lena Headey appears as a biologist studying the ecosystem of the cave, and has been seen in Ripley's Game, Gossip, and a variety of UK TV programmes. Then there is Piper Perabo as the only woman amongst the team of explorers, probably most well known for Coyote Ugly, though her performance in The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle is what comes to my mind when I think of her.

On the whole The Cave isn't a particularly bad film, it is watchable enough, though Descent is undoubtedly the better film, if you have the stomach for it.