Easy to miss, hard to forget.

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2005)

There aren't that many British horror films, so it's not too much of a stretch to call this one of the best British horror movies i've seen. It has flaws, but i've only seen a few films in my life that don't. It's incredibly entertaining though.
The basic premise: Fun-loving, adventurous Sarah suffers a personal tragedy, a year later her friends rally round and they go on a caving trip in the Appalachian Mountains in the US. Things go awry.
It's a slow starter this film, the tension is palpable from the start but things don't properly kick off for nearly an hour. Don't get me wrong, it's never dull, but the pacing of the film is similar to that of a roller-coaster. There's an uphill wind-up that builds suspense, but when it goes over the edge it just doesn't let up until you come to a juddering halt. All the horror techniques are used here, there are enough jumps (both telegraphed and not) that every pause will have you ready to flinch, but there's also fantastic use of suspense and everything about the film oozes menace and foreboding. A special mention is needed for the music. Like all good scores, it goes mostly unnoticed. But it's intertwined beautifully with the film, it moves you and misleads you, it swells from background plinks and plonks to grand, blaring orchestral pieces. The lighting is also masterful. When the girls split up, Marshall uses different lighting to indicate which person or group you are looking at. Whether it's through infra-red camera, luminous green light-sticks or red flares and torches, you instantly know who you're looking at, and that cuts down on the confusion very effectively. Flaws? The dialogue is a little clunky at the start, there's a few moments of cgi as they first enter the cave that are pretty shoddy. Other than that it ticks all the right boxes. Great acting, great plot, excellent gore levels, perfect ending. Not everyones cup of tea, but definitely mine. Hell hath no fury