I Feel Cheated

Rating: 5/10 (27 March 2012)

I was completely with this movie up until the ending, which really was terrible.
Spoilers:
Okay, the premise of being trapped underground has been done a few times in the last half decade, but this one was pretty good.
Essentially, there are a close group of women who are thrill-seekers. There is a not-so-fleshed out love triangle with one of the women and another woman's husband (who is quickly killed in a car wreck, as is the daughter of the same woman).
A year later, the women are in North Carolina to do some cave-exploring. More women are involved. A total of 6 women head off to explore the cave without any male supervision, so you know it won't end well (I'm joking). We soon learn that the leader of the group (and the one having the affair with the other's deceased husband) did not take them to the cave they all thought they were going to, meaning the Park Service won't know where to look for them. Plus, no one has ever explored the cave. Great setup, actually, even if they are stupid decisions.
After exploring a while, the group become trapped after a small cave-in. The further on in the caves they go, the more creepy it gets. Finally, we see the creatures, which are very scary. Eventually, the group are attacked and a couple are killed, while the others scatter and the rest of the film is them eventually getting picked off.
The ending was fine, until we see it was a trick ending. The real end apparently is Sarah waking up after dreaming she had escaped. She wakes up and sees her daughter with a birthday cake in front of her. The camera pans out to reveal that no, her daughter is not actually in the cave and we hear the screams of the crawlers.
I still don't get the dreams or how they played into the plot and why the ending was supposed to be satisfying. Apparently, originally, this ending was only released outside the U.S.
I would have given this movie a better rating if the U.S. ending had been the one I watched. I think the ending that leaves you hanging only works sometimes and we went through so much in this movie that we deserved a better ending.
The acting is good The creatures are well-done the setting is perfect Only the ending totally ruined it for me.