Director: Dan Allen
Year: 2021
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
After her father’s death, a woman’s friends decide to take her on a trip to a local cave system to check out a rumored discovery he made in the area, but after getting lost in the vast underground caverns they learn his warnings about mysterious beings living in the caves are real and try to get out alive.
Review:
There was a lot to like about this one. One of the stronger features here is the film’s rather enjoyable setup that brings the couples together and sends them into the caves system. Starting off with the group getting together under her father’s death and try to lift her spirits despite the obsession with the journal detailing the monsters in the pages, everything here starts off well enough with the inadvertent tension between everyone and how it all plays out. The early adventures hiking into the woods on their way to get there is quite fun as well, featuring enough general eeriness with the unearthly growls and whispers in the wind that none of them can hear or the fumbling of the directions that finally provides a way into the underground tunnels that serve the film quite well.
This early set up out in the forest works well at setting the stage for the claustrophobic and genuinely unnerving experience in the caves where this one really gets a lot to like. With the team venturing through mostly unknown and unexplored terrain save for the cryptic clues left behind in the notebook, the scenes of them wandering around lost trying to find their way in the darkness which is truly creepy and chilling when added together with the freak-outs and hysteria that carries throughout the group. With the eerieness punctuated with the lack of noise and trickling water from nearby streams, the moments when it’s punctuated by the grotesque growling and slurping sounds of the creatures give the film an immensely creepy experience.
That leads into the stellar final half where they discover the race of creatures living there and are then picked off one-by-one. The film has a lot to like with these scenes playing off the darkness of the setting and the confusion of everything rather nicely by having the creatures perform unearthly actions on the group while they’re separated from each other. The first attack on the deserter who’s trying to leave or the confrontation in the pit where they store victims has a lot to like, while the finale involving her and the rescue squad coming into contact with the creatures has their own fun as the series of brawls and encounters in the darkness comes off pretty well and exciting. As well as the great creature design, these here are what hold this up.
This one doesn’t have much wrong with it. Among the main drawbacks on display is the low-budget limitations that end up affecting the film, mostly in the use of shaking-camera effects or near-total lack of light to see what’s happening. Far too much of this one is spend with the action scenes shot by a camera rattling around the frame, making it quite easy to lose track of what’s happening as people go out-of-focus frequently, while the darkness of the caves hides the gore so well it’s hard to see any of it. The other factor here is a rather confusing attachment to the killer creatures at the end, where it offers some unexplained details involving how they psychically control prisoners to do their bidding which is never explained how or why it happens leading to some confusing scenes. These are what hold this one back.
Overview: ***.5/5
While it has some issues here with its budget showing at times and some minor storylines quibbles, for the most part, this is an enjoyable and fun British creature feature despite those issues. Those who enjoy this brand of indie creature feature, find the approach intriguing, or fans of the creative crew will enjoy this one while viewers turned off by either the style or approach should heed caution.
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