An overdone film that should've been better

Rating: 7/10 (20 January 2007)

As a rule, I tend to avoid horror movies. It's been my experience that those who make them spend too much time either trying to recycle previous successes, or don't know that, most often, the unseen is far more terrifying than the seen. Horror films don't seem to draw the most creative minds in the industry.
This film is better than the average horror flick, but that still doesn't make it a spectacular movie. Too much time is spent, in the beginning, showing that these women are "overall" fairly happy. Shots of them all sitting around a cabin smiling, laughing, and telling stories. None of the actors were good enough to make the stilted banter anything but awkward. I didn't believe these women were friends - in spite of the obvious "fun" they were having. Besides, do we really need to be told that these women lead relatively happy lives (other than one)? Isn't it an accepted fact that the events about to play out are going to be a nasty surprise to the characters? Don't try to build suspense by doing exactly what every other horror movie has done. It's hard to be in suspense when you know exactly what's going to happen (their idyllic adventure is going to go horribly wrong).
But the second act improves greatly. The women go down into a cave (which, inexplicably, is the wrong one - though only one of the women knows this), an unexplored labyrinth which emotes danger like nothing else. Of course, you've got the reckless woman of the group (who you know is going to cause trouble down the road), who is annoying, but she isn't given much screen time.
From here, the film is patiently structured to heighten the tension, and the darkness gives a nice sense of foreboding that terrorizes deliciously. This film is oppressive in the middle section, and you can't help but be claustrophobic. You know something bad is lurking just out of the range of the meager flashlights the women have, but you have no idea what it is, or when it'll make it's appearance.
And this is why the film is scary. Not because people are killed in gruesome ways (though they eventually are), and not because of the horrific countenance of the monsters (who resemble men in costumes, imagine that), but because the dark is frightening, and it's used to great effect.
Sadly, the latter third of the film is nothing more than a blood-fest, and the creatures are displayed in all their naked man glory. When you first see one of the creatures, off in the distance, briefly illuminated, you'll start to shake with the unbridled horror of it's "alienness". The unnerving sound it makes, and the unexpectedness of it's appearance will shake you to the core. Brief flashes of it over the next half-hour will make you question why you ever decided to watch this movie in the first place. Like the characters, you yearn for light again, and want to scream with what you imagine lies just beyond your sight.
But the feeling doesn't last. And that's why I give this movie a '7'. Instead of drawing the suspense out, and keeping the creatures hidden, writer/director Neil Marshall chose to reveal the monsters and then try to gross everyone out with blood and cannibalism. For this viewer, the effect was disappointing and broke the dark magic he'd created.
At the end of it all, this film is an improvement on typical horror dreck, and was a nice breath of fresh air from the Saw series and it's derivatives (Hostel). I recommend it, but don't look for this film to be the greatest thing since Ringu.