NEIL MARSHALL

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBB.5.  United Kingdom, 2005.  Celador Films, Northmen Productions, Pathé.  Screenplay by Neil Marshall.  Cinematography by Sam McCurdy.  Produced by Christian Colson.  Music by David Julyan.  Production Design by Simon Bowles.  Costume Design by Nancy Thompson.  Film Editing by Jon Harris.  Online Film Critics Awards 2006.  

Wonderful, scary horror movie will have you jumping out of your seat with excitement as six skinny, vapid supermodels descend into the bowels of the earth and get stuck down there. It’s a scenario my single girlfriends insist is the most delightful premise of the year. After realizing that the caves they have been spelunking on their annual all-girl vacation are not the tourist-friendly site they thought they were, the gals are forced to improvise a way out of the claustrophobia-inspiring passages, but things turn ugly when they discover that they are not alone down there. What they meet beneath the earth’s surface is a force of antagonism that even Ann Coulter couldn’t scare away; you’ll find yourself longing for the good old days when a mere boogie man lived under your bed. The story is spotted here and there by some cliched horror movie conventions, and takes an uncomfortable turn in the last third when it indulges in a tongue-in-cheek attitude towards its characters, but is otherwise admirable for not overindulging in gore and making a genuine reach for its audience’s imagination.