Chicks with picks

Rating: 8/10 (7 December 2007)

A group of women go cave diving in the Appalachian Mountains, and after a cave in, they're forced to find their way out through caves which have never been mapped, and seemingly no one has ever been in before. The scenes of the women cave diving and having to traverse chasms of unknown depths after the cave in is where a lot of the suspense comes from, and the further they get into the caves, they realise that they're not alone down there. They begin hearing strange noises. They begin seeing shapes following them. Claustrophobia starts to get to them, and me. But what the hell is it that's down there with them? Is it animal or human? It's actually vampiric looking creatures that hunt by sound and rip their victims limb from limb, with these ladies next on their menu. The creature makeup effects are relatively restrained, but the climax is an absolute bloodbath, with people being torn limb from limb, pools of blood, the creatures getting their eyes gouged out and stabbed through their necks. It actually goes slightly overboard with some of the effects, drastically changing the tone of the movie from claustrophobic suspense to excessive gore. A terrible, inconclusive ending, which leaves the viewer hanging is most detrimental, but the suspense, good acting and pacing, and photography in the tight confines of the caves mostly make up for it.
*** out of ****