Watch this in the dark

Rating: 9/10 (10 July 2008)

I probably wouldn't have bought this but when I saw it in the bargain section I recalled it getting a good review on the radio. I'm glad I did get it as it was thoroughly entertaining throughout.
In the introductory scene we see the group of women white water rafting in Scotland, then as one of them going home with her husband and child they have a head on collision which leaves her in hospital and her family dead.
The next time we see them they are meeting up in America for a caving expedition under the Appalachian mountains. After a night in the cabin where we get to know the characters a bit they head into the caves and we are plunged in to a claustrophobic underworld. Soon after arriving they are cut off from the way they entered by a rockfall and they learn that the one who organised the trip decided to go into an unexplored cave system rather than the one in the guide book. As they go deeper into the caves the tension continues to mount. After going for some time they realise they aren't alone but the caves are inhabited by fierce humanoid creatures which rather reminded me of the subterranean Morlocks from H. G. Well's "Time Machine"; creatures that were once human but have long since adapted to a life underground. It is then a fight for survival against the crawlers and in some cases against each other.
To full appreciate this film one really has to watch it in the dark and preferably alone. I was scared as soon as things went wrong in the caves, long before we learnt that they weren't alone, that feeling didn't go away till the end credits were rolling. There is a fair bit of gore but I don't think it was over done nor was it sadistic. Over all I think this film is just the thing to watch if you want a good scare, just don't watch this if you plan to go caving any time soon.