The Cavern

WIthIN, released in Australia as "The Cavern", is for all intents and purposes a very cheap remake of "The Cave". The film borrows elements from a number of genre films; most noticeably "Blair Witch" and "Aliens", yet the similarities with "The Cave" remain overwhelming. WIthIN really should be a complete waste of time. However, despite its many failings, the film is surprisingly entertaining and possesses one of the better "shock" endings in recent memory.

I'm not sure which film came first, "The Cave" or "The Cavern", but they are ridiculously similar. In the former a caving expedition explores an ancient cave in Romania, while in the latter, cavers explore an old cave in Kazakhstan. In both films, the cavers are picked off, one at a time, by evil creatures. I enjoyed "The Cave" as stupid entertainment, mainly due to the stunning photography and impressive stunt work. And yet strangely, it is the absence of these qualities that gives WIthIN its sense of menace. The glossy stunt work in "The Cave", while spectacular to watch, has the effect of distancing the viewer. The caving action in WIthIN is less impressive but, as a result, more realistic.

"The Cavern" gains momentum as the film progresses. At first, I feared I was not only watching a zero budget re-imagining of "The Cave" but also the work of rabid "Blair Witch" fan. The first person perspective camera work, the resulting blurred images and the emphasis on strange noises all seemed very familiar. Thankfully, these annoying devices give way to an emphasis on more traditional gore. The violence is mostly implied but it is effective. If the script was less ridiculous and the actors somewhat more competent, the film could have been quite disturbing as the director definitely has a gift for creating a sense of suspense and claustrophobia.

The main reason to watch "The Cavern" is the ending, which is far more sinister and interesting that the main body of the film. The brutality of the finale took me by surprise, given the rather meek nature of the violence that pervades the rest of the film. The final revelation actually makes no sense at all given the circumstances surrounding the cavers' deaths earlier in the film. However, I was willing to overlook that small detail due to the gloriously exploitative turn of events. If the entire movie had been similar in tone, it would have packed a far heftier punch. As it is, WIthIN is a curious low budget horror film that shows glimpses of a director with some potential.

The movie goes something like this: Run around, run around, someone killed, lots of freaking out and then one of the group yells to "Pull it together" or "Just calm down!" Repeat this as many times as their are characters left. In between these things, you get to enjoy blank, black screen. These are not quick but rather several seconds long. I kept thinking what a waste of film every time it happened - yes, it does happen more than once if you can believe it.

I notice other mentioned "Blair Witch: and it did remind me of that in the way the camera was bouncy. However, this movie takes that to the extreme. Every single time the characters move the camera is bouncing. Sometimes so much that you can't make heads or tales as to what you are looking at. That brings us to lighting. Way too dark in some areas. I get that they are trying to make us feel like we are in a cave, but Helllloo... I'm watching a movie here, it would be nice to be able to see.

Then there is the ending. I actually blurted out loud, "Are you kidding me?!" (I was watching alone too). Dumb, dumb. I think the ending was purely the effort of the people who made this disaster to shock us after so much time of boredom with a so called "twist". At this point of the movie you could have seen the "monster" picking his nose and it would be considered a "twist". Truly horrible. You have been warned.

My first post at the IMDb has to (unfortunately) be to warn others not to waste their time with The Cavern! There is no story, no character development, no scares, and no good lighting. It doesn't make any sense. If you enjoy bad acting, people running through small portions of caves, bouncing cameras posed at bad angles, and people screaming while the screen is in complete darkness, you'll love this movie. I could shut the lights off in my house and scream too, and I wouldn't have to pay for the rental. The only thing that scared me was that someone actually made a movie this awful.

... one of the worst movies I've ever rented.

The Cavern: 2 out of 10: Blair Witch meets The Cave and gives me a headache.

I have something to ask all film schools, could you please teach future directors how to hold a camera steady. Flailing the camera around like Aunt Betty with 12 drinks is headache inducing.

Also film is primarily a visual medium directors may want to point their camera's in the general direction of the action. Film also requires light to work. Perhaps a light source should be employed so one can see the action on the screen. I know it is a cave movie but there is absolutely nothing frightening about watching pitch blackness for minutes at a time.

For that matter showing the film upside down doesn't indicate confusion on screen it indicates confusion in the editing booth.

A last note to the director I'm sure there was a good reason to have a horribly fake CGI campfire. I honestly can't for the life of me think of one.

Now on to the screenwriter. Try to make at least one character likable. I'd prefer two or more but one decent person I can root for or care about might help. Also if you are going to have flashbacks make them relevant to the story.

If you are going to have a surprise ending it is probably best if it doesn't contradict every single thing that comes before it. And try adding some fancy spelunking terms to a cave movie. You might have wanted to start with spelunking.

The Cavern is a pretty bad film, poorly shot with a confusing, improbable and anticlimactic ending.

Horror films are a curious thing, sometimes they manage to stumble across a formula that works very well, sometimes they try valiantly to tell a worthy story despite time and budget problems, sometimes they're so bad they're actually kinda fun...and sometimes they're "The Cavern".

A good horror/suspense film should contain vagaries that keep you guessing, they should allow you to be interested in the characters and their motivations so that you actually have some sort of reaction when they die. However, The Cavern chooses instead to introduce elements that work at first, only to be negated by it's own lackluster storytelling.

All the characters are completely forgettable and any actual back story that might make any of them even remotely interesting is blurted out within a 30 second monologue, making it impossible to do anything more than laugh as characters are picked off almost at random and on more than one occasion in the least possibly frightening way.

(To spoil a scene a bit, one victim is taken during a complete blackout which might have been a little frightening if the sound effect used to indicate his killing wasn't reminiscent of stirring a pot of too thick Macaroni and Cheese) Add to this formula the camera that work makes me think the director saw one too many Nine Inch Nails videos and an ending which in an attempt to be shocking serves almost no purpose but to annoy and confuse the viewer and you have an almost completely unwatchable horror film that fails on every level.

I'll be honest with you, if you want a claustrophobic caving horror movie go watch "The Descent", and I feel weird saying that because I didn't particularly enjoy that movie either.