How NOT to Light a Movie

Rating: 3/10 (3 January 2007)

Good actors + Creepy Horror Creatures + an Entire Movie Not being able to see anything = LOUSY MOVIE The acting was good and the idea that a group of women would go out an do some adventure caving is wonderful. But when every camera angle is showing the lights on the helmets instead of showing what the lights illuminates, its too much work.
What could have really made this movie great would have been a period of time (like the beginning of the cave scenes) where we got some really tight light play in those small passages that each girl passed through one at a time. Then the rest of the caves could be illuminated partially citing light bouncing off all the light sources of the girls. Then I wouldn't have had to ask every time, "What is she doing?" The other thing, depending on which ending you saw, is our MC gets stuck down in the cave after waking up from "dreaming" her escape. The problem is that I was more excited to think that this girl was about to reveal to the world that there was another "humanish" species living in this cave. Instead,to the rest of the world, they are just a case of disappearing women.
The intentions were good for this movie--better than most horror flicks, but I lost my patience with the lighting thing. I can only look at a screen that is mostly black for so long, and it is as equally frustrating when what is illuminated is barely comprehensible for minutes at a time.