The Cave

Bruce Hunt

BY Cam LindsayPublished Dec 1, 2005

Who knew back in 1979 what hellish torture Ridley Scott would unleash with his masterpiece, Alien. But as they say, "with great power comes great responsibility," and no matter how awesome that film, Scott will forever be accountable for the copious Alien knock-offs. Whether they're in space, on land or underwater, a dark setting where a crew of vulnerable people are preyed upon by an alien-like monster never seems to introduce anything new. The Cave is no different. Like Supernova, Leviathan, Deep Star Six — the list goes on — Hunt's film suffers from following the tired template of establishing some kind of astonishing, unexplored territory that harbours an unknown, monstrous demon. This time it's set miles below the earth (not an original idea, of course), where scientists have discovered ancient ruins that lead to an enormous cave. Yadda, yadda, yadda, scary creatures attack the crew, but there is a twist: ooh, the demon injects a parasite into the human so he/she will sneak out into the modern world and spread the evil strain. Throw in some C-list actors you've seen in measly supporting roles and you've got a film to avoid for life. Oddly enough, the featurette "Into the Cave" is far more interesting than the film. Bypassing the typical nonsense where the actors explain the complexities of their one-dimensional characters, the featurette takes you on a tour of real-life caves with professional divers, who share tips, stories and precautions when it comes to cave diving. The second featurette, "Designing Evolution," shows how Patrick Tatpoulos conceived the idea of the creatures. But considering his creation relies heavily on CGI, it's hardly worth struggling through its preposterous 49-minute running time, ditto with the two gratuitously exhausting commentaries. (Sony)

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