Simple and effective

Rating: 9/10 (26 November 2005)

Was brought to this movie along with a group of friend, and none of us knew anything about the movie... well, we figured as much as that it was about cave-crawling, but at least I had no clue about the plot.
First third of the movie really creeped me out. It was the most claustrophobia-inducing piece of film I've seen since... well, I don't know. I was on the edge of my seat, getting into the quirks of the characters, and waiting for the inevitable breakdown of moral, leading the group to start killing each other - a la Lord of the Flies. Imagine my surprise when we are suddenly shown a silhouette of a gaping maw... A collective "What?" sounds through the audience.
Paranoia sets in. Who - or what - is in the cave with the group? More claustrophobia, and still no explanation. Something primal starts gnawing in the back of my head. Then, suddenly, we see it, and along with the rest of the packed auditorium, I scream. I'm not a screamer, hell I may flinch, but I never scream. I laugh at my own reaction together with my friend sitting next to me. Surely it can't happen again. A few minutes later it does.
The resulting chase through the cave system in search of a possible exit is as suspenseful as Alien, something no other film has been able to be, and when the end finally comes, it all makes sense. Why bother with scientific explanations? Why have everything spelled out for you? The true horror lies in what you cannot understand, cannot put your finger on. This is it. Combined, the truly unnerving setting, the strange creatures (what were they, and how did they come to be? We'll never know) the dynamics of the groups, ably set up during the first few minutes of the film, and most adequate acting, makes this one of the top horror films I've seen.
If you want a Hollywood ending, pseudo-scientific explanations, bad CGI and big explosions, you're better of renting something like AvP, or if not "horror" (pah!), perhaps Day After Tomorrow (How perfectly awful that movie is). On the other hand, if you want a good movie with a terrific (horrific) atmosphere and well timed moments of terror, then I suggest this one.