Russ B. (lostoasis13) from RED BANK, NJ Reviewed on 12/6/2010...
I'm glad to read review's that understand that this movie is
just more complete utter crap... I would feel ashamed to admit to
taking out a mortgage on my house (if I had one) to make this film...
if my first attempt at a film was turning out this bad... without redeeming quality...
I would stop it and just start over with fresh ideas or just can it all together.
seems film school only teaches the technical basics of how to use a camera,
edit, and follow through with any unwanted watered down rubbish one can steal and sell.
no original ideas... no art form here...
Though not unlike so many of the films today, that just strive to be like each other....
the shotty jumpy and spinning upside down camera work.. the camera shaking for no apparent reason... just seems like attempts at covering up the lack of quality...
the acting was completely unbearable...
I'm not an overly violent person...
yet everyone in this movie I wanted to repeatedly punch in the face.
these are supposed to be experienced cave divers, yet they come accross as
whinning little juveniles 100% of the time....
not for a minute could any of them shut up and listen....
I attribute this to the limited range of acting abilities overall....
maybe the director's attempt at keeping balance... thus tilting the scales anyway.
I thought the actor with most potenial was the character with no
real cave experience.... (I could be wrong)... but he died off early on anyway....
I thought it odd when they laughed at him for claiming to have only 7 years caving
experience... and no one really seemed past college age....
what did they start jumping into dark holes when they were 10?
they dwelled way too much on the back story as they were right smack in the middle of being justifiably hunted and killed off..... I give the warped cave dweller killer
credit for being patient enough to wait around the corner as they repeatedly returned to the back story.. when he could have just killed them off and been done with it.
the only thing that would have made this movie better for me is if all the characters
could have been killed off that much quicker.... sparingly cutting the running time down to about 30 mins. or less. I could have used that extra time to run out for another coffee and some non inteligent yet more interesting conversation.
the set design looked fine... except they seemed overall quite a bit too roomy to have been happining in a natural cave... alot of the shots had the feel of running and stumbling down a cluttered hallway. I assume this could only be the directors fault.
Not one minute in this film could I stop thinking "cheap rip off"...
The Descent being only worlds apart from this rubbish.
There are worse attempts at imitation... and there are better... all of them shite.
2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Movie Reviews
The only horror here is that the movie got produced
Freeman | Ranger, Georgia, USA | 07/23/2006
(1 out of 5 stars)
"If you like a terrible script, bad acting, cliches galore and the worst cinematography ever, then this is the movie for you.
This movie is dimly lit and the camera goes upside down and sideways for no reason throughout. The ending is perhaps one of the worst I have ever seen unless of course you enjoy a gratuitous and completely unnecessary rape scene to wrap up your crappy film.
If you're dumb enough to view this film, make sure you watch the special "making of" footage. It's better than the film. You get to see an actual car on fire and everything.
They explain to you how they ruined the movie by using fog in every shot and inventing a new and irritating camera technique called "hypershake" - it will make you not want to watch any further, especially in the scene where one idiot is drilling into a wall with a normal size power drill and they use "hypershake" to make the whole room quiver for two minutes.
The making of section also covers the director's daughter building a foam cave and repeatedly tells you what sort of HD cameras were used to produce this masterpiece. They managed to use an irritating effect in the making of mini-film too - they use a technique called hyperfastforward to cut from scene to scene.
Avoid this flick. Watch your plants grow instead. I already suffered through it on your behalf."
Save your money
new yorker | NYC | 07/19/2006
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Should be 0 stars. Written in Crayola. This cheap attempt to ride the publicity of The Cave and The Descent offers nothing but dimly lite jump cuts shot on a sound stage cave set, lots of red herrings that go nowhere, and no payoff.This one will make even the lovers of the average "Sci-Fi Channel" fare cringe."
Whatta piece of junk - avoid this one !!
T. H Martin | 07/24/2006
(1 out of 5 stars)
"DON'T see this movie. It is, by far the worst piece of junk I have ever viewed. It starts off fair and goes down hill from there. The photography is awful and it is very hard to to even see what goes on, especially with their new "hypershake" technique which ruins many of the shots. They use fog in many shots which obsures what is happening. Then there is the ever-present dust being raised in every shot which further obscures what is happening and also the headlights which shine into the camera ALL THE TIME. I got a headache from trying to watch through it.
Who ever did the photography knew nothing of shadow detail. The shadows had NO DETAIL, but rather turned purple so you either saw things with light on them or purple.
While the story is a little plausible, many things that happen are not. Take the movement of a massive boulder by the guy that appears at the end. Then there is the scene in the water where the attacker is shot and is lying in the water, only to raise up and stab one of the folks, then proceeds merrily on his way.
And then there is the ending which makes no sense whatsoever and we as viewers are given 15 seconds to put it all together based on about three scenes.
This one was evidently a movie with a less-than-zero budget and should be avoided at all costs. I am tempted to ask for my money back."
Beware....beware
Andre Villemaire | Canada | 08/04/2006
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Beware this movie will insult your intelligence and your eyes will never be the same after watching this horror wannabe that should be rated a big fat 0. Avoid like the plague."