Cave In!

After the enormous success of his 2 blockbuster disaster films "Poseidon Adventure" and "Towering Inferno," Irwin Allen had switched studios from 20th Century Fox to Warner Bros., and the TV-movies and theatrical movies he produced with his new home did not match the scope of those two, and you could say they are filled with his repetitive clichés, but are still good, solid, suspenseful disaster movies, and CAVE IN! is no exception.

Filmed in 1979 but not broadcast until 1983, this lesser-known Irwin Allen disaster movie delivers the goods. However, the flashbacks kind of drag it through the mud a little and you lose the momentum, and that's why it gets an "8" rating. But if you could tolerate the flashbacks, you got a good, suspenseful disaster movie.

A handful of tourists visiting a cave experiences a cave-in and are trapped, and have to trudge through obstacles to make it to safety. And if that wasn't bad enough, they have to deal with an escaped criminal traveling with them. It's a shame that Warner Bros. doesn't release this movie commercially.

I bought a VHS copy of this movie off eBay from someone who taped it off the Family Channel sometime during the 1980s, and I hope he'll have more copies available. So, if you're a fan of disaster movies, and Irwin Allen in particular, DON'T MISS THIS ONE!!

First, I have a suggestion for anyone tempted to watch this tepid disaster film. Since every one of the numerous flashbacks is nothing more than a time filler, whenever the screen blurs for a flashback immediately hit the fast forward button. This is how bad it gets, the caverns look fake, the "disasters" are about as scary as a basket of bunnies, and the caverns are miraculously lighted by who knows what, even though they should be in total darkness. The only redeeming factor is a typical smarmy performance from Ray Milland, and Susan Sullivan is effective "eye candy" in tight slacks. One other thing, caves do not cave in, mines cave in. Perhaps this should be called "Mine Cave-In"? - MERK

I'm mad about old-school 70s/early 80s disaster movies. In fact, I've seen so many of them that they are all starting to look alike, and even developed a sort of five points rating scale to determine exactly how cliched but entertaining they are. Make no mistake, though, as the scale doesn't reflect film quality, and is only an indicator of how film in question qualifies as fantastic entertainment with all the joyous clichés and stereotypes.

Condition #1: without producer Irwin Allen, there wasn't a budget for special effects and thus no movie. It's a genuine Allen flick, all right. However, "Cave-In!" is a TV-production, so obviously it's less spectacular and less fierce than the legendary producer's big-screen hits. The collapsing caverns aren't very convincing, and the body count is quite low, so I'll give it half a point simply for the "Irwin Allen presents..." label. Condition #2: all disaster movies star one major star (Charlton Heston and Paul Newman were prime choices) and a long list of "secondary" stars (like Ernest Borgnine, Leslie Nielsen...). Again, for reasons linked to the TV-movie status, there isn't a major star, but Leslie Nielsen is present and, especially near the end, rises to the top as a genuine hero. Besides him, the only impressive name in the cast is Ray Milland. The lesser known actors and actresses (Dennis Cole, Susan Sullivan, James Olson...) still do their best, so I'll be very generous and hand out a score of 0.75 for this aspect. Condition #3: The characters are usually split into two camps with completely opposite ideals and/or initiatives. This condition isn't applicable here. The group trapped in the underground caverns is too small to be split in two, and their situation doesn't allow for anyone to deny the danger or to minimalize the impact. There is a fugitive criminal in the group, though, and he causes some additional trouble. 0.25 points. Condition #4: Regardless what type of disaster we're dealing with, variants of the exact same perilous situations are always applicable. Pass, for sure! In order to escape from the caves, the group must swim through mazes, cross ramshackle bridges and walk through hot-water geysers. Full point! Condition #5: always remember that, when the situation appears to be at its worst, it can and will still get even worse! Well, yes, but I don't want to grant the point here, since none of the complicating factors have anything to do with the collapsing caverns. All the lead characters struggle with personal issues that get illustrated via dull flashbacks. The tour guide and the senator have a romantic history together, Leslie Nielsen is a suspended cop who allegedly didn't do enough to save the life of his partner and Ray Milland is a tyrannical father who sabotages all the potential relationships of his daughter. Nice try, but not nearly disastrous enough.

If we sum it up, "Cave-In!" scores 2.5 out of 5 on rating scale for disaster movies. I'll round it up to 3, because there's an exclamation mark in the title, which always helps to emphasize the seriousness of a disaster even more. What does the rating mean? Absolutely nothing, expect that "Cave-In!" is worth seeing even though there are far better disaster movies available out there.

Another late-in-the-game made-for-TV disaster movie from ever-reliable Irwin Allen, 'Cave In!' tells a decent if unspectacular story, largely constrained by the nature of network TV. Written by Norman Katkov, it shows us what happens when people touring the popular Five Mile Caverns are trapped in there when the caves (weakened by recent excess amounts of rain) start collapsing. Added into the mix: a criminal on the run (played by James Olson, cast against type but doing a solid job), who somehow ends up in there with the others and who is intent on acquiring a hostage.

Directed by Georg Fenady, a longtime TV veteran whose credits include 33 episodes of 'Emergency!' and 29 episodes of 'Quincy M. E.', this goes through its paces reasonably efficiently. It features two major set pieces: the characters having to cross a geothermal pit on slippery rocks, and having to also traverse a chasm on a rickety bridge. It's not surprising that the plotting & dialogue can get cheesy at times, with *numerous* silly flashbacks to the characters' previous lives. But the cast does an admirable job of treating their material with gravitas. Dennis Cole ('The Felony Squad') is the beefcake hero, Leslie Nielsen a detective who's lost his partner and been suspended, Susan Sullivan ('Dharma & Greg') the luminous leading lady, Julie Sommars ('Matlock') is Nielsens' supportive wife, Lonny Chapman ("The Birds") plays Coles' colleague, special guest star Ray Milland (in fine cranky form) a pompous professor, and Sheila Larken ('The X Files') is his overworked and under-appreciated daughter.

Although you never truly believe the actors are inside actual caves, the sets are still pretty fun, and the music by Richard LaSalle is very good. This story *does* play it awfully safe, however, in terms of the body count, which is next to nothing.

Although more for diehard lovers of disaster movies than truly discerning viewers, 'Cave In!' does show the former group a good time.

Although filmed in 1979, it didn't air until 1983.

Seven out of 10.