Il nascondiglio del diavolo - The cave

A group of scientist/explorers are brought in to explore a cave in Romania. Legend claims a church was built to seal the cave as a display of God's protective power, and Templar Knights fought winged demons.

The acting is pretty good with some solid actors. The most recognizable actors are Lena Headey, Morris Chestnut, Daniel Dae Kim, Cole Hauser, Piper Perabo, and Eddie Cibrian. They're able to give serious performances without being campy.

It's not scary as a horror, but it works more as an action adventure. They could have laid out the cave system better as the movie goes along. A few seconds of screen time could save a whole lot of headaches. Seeing Piper Perabo swinging on the cliff is a lot of fun. However some of the other action scenes are too confused and chaotic.

The creatures are a bit of a disappointment. It's just yet another CG creature creation. Half lizard half dragon, it could have been so much better considering what the creatures are derived from. They could have made it much more original and unique.

I went into this movie expecting just your average creature feature akin to Pitch Black, and I wasn't let down. It is, indeed, just your average creature feature. It's not the next best thing to Aliens, but it's not the travesty most reviewers here are making it out to be either.

The Cave is a fun popcorn flick. There's no really deep plot or amazing acting talent. What this movie does have is a few very intense, suspenseful moments, which is only aided by the very dark and claustrophobic atmosphere of the cave. It also has your average thriller twist at the end which I did not see coming.

The cinematography and directing by first-timer Bruce Hunt is surprisingly well done. His background as assistance director for the Matrix films and Dark City is apparent here. While he's no Spielberg or Cameron, he keeps the camera angles interesting, and there are scenes within vast, tall rooms in the cave that are quite breathtaking. One complaint, however, is that he chose to follow other directors mistakes in jarring the camera in a very frenetic and sickening manner back and forth whenever one of the characters is being attacked by the creature. This is not only very annoying and disorienting, but is IMO just a trick to cover up the poor creature fx.

Speaking of the FX, I have to say I'm 50/50 here. Sometimes they looked good, and sometimes they looked like they were from a Sci-Fi Channel original movie. The creature effects that looked good were the closeups, which utilized real models. These looked quite realistic. But far away shots of the CGI creatures are not so impressive.

If you want to sit down on a Friday night and just have fun, then pick up The Cave.

I saw this movie yesterday night, after going through my other collections and its usually IMDb that provides me motivation of either to watch something or chuck it. So i went through the reviews at IMDb and found that it wasn't highly rated. Still i decided to give it a try as i did not have anything else to watch......and i must say this movie is well made right from the start be it the acting,the choreography,the locations....everything was perfect. The only thing i found wrong was that the characters details were shallow but even then i found this movie amazing.

All i want to say is that reviewers must not go along with the herd if some people criticize then they should as well. This movie deserves the recognition and the people who made it possible as well. Hence i would recommend people to watch this and not go according to the rating earlier shown.

What differentiates "The Cave" from other horror films is the setting. The plot takes place mostly in a large cave, some of which is underwater.

By far, the best element of this film is the underground scenery. The sets are realistic, with spaces and formations that one might see in certain large caverns. And, the film nicely conveys a sense of vertical scale, as we watch cavers climb rock walls, and explore huge rooms with towering ceilings.

The problem here is that the film's director is so committed to an action plot that the camera rarely stays in one scene long enough for the viewer to have a sense of place. We thus forgo the thrill that an underground environment could provide. There's no feeling of amazement, no claustrophobia from tight crawlways, no real fear of any kind. The film's fast pace, combined with characters we barely know and care nothing about, thus dilutes the intended suspense.

The cinematography is flashy and very technical. The lighting is appropriately subdued with interesting colors and unusual camera angles. The background music is somewhat intrusive. Dialogue is weak. And the actors, who appear to be in their twenties, are all photogenic, straight out of central casting. The monsters, what we see of them, seem slightly hokey.

Overall, "The Cave" will appeal to viewers who like horror films set in unusual environments, wherein the pace is super fast, and there is a ton of action. Viewers looking for a credible story will need to exit the cave ... quickly.

I give it an average "5" because it's an average movie. Not really bad, not really good. Just not really ANYTHING. It just sat there and didn't really do anything. As a "man against the elements" movie, it was at least interesting. As a "creature feature," it was completely dull and unoriginal. The characters were one-dimensional - you wouldn't care about any of them.

Rather than letting us spend the time with these characters to learn how and why they are so close-knit, the script writer simply had one of the characters say, "We're like a family." - OK, if you say so . . . then why does no one in the group shed a single tear when people start dying? Characters move from death scene to death scene as if they are just losing casual acquaintances - but wait, she said "they are like a family." OH, I get it - because most family members can't stand each other - OK, now it makes sense! Anyway - if they had lost the monsters, gotten some better actors and a better script, and simply made a movie about cave divers lost underground having to band together to get out, this might have been a decent movie. As it is, the "escape the cave" element is never really richly developed, and instead the focus seems to be on "scaring" you, which it never does, or "wowing" you with action and effects, which it CERTAINLY never does.

In the end, a wasted opportunity, with the only redeeming feature being the nice sets and photography. Wait till it comes to cable, dudes!