The Cave - BD

Film: It's supposed to be a relaxing dream holiday for five friends who meet on the Spanish holiday island of Formentera. Lying relaxed on the white sandy beach, swimming in the crystal clear water or hiking through the dreamlike landscape. It all sounds like pure idyll. But this impression quickly gives way to pure horror when the group discovers a cave and decides to explore it. For when they get lost in the narrow passages, the cave becomes a murderous labyrinth with seemingly no way out. Then, when supplies run low, panic drives the shut-ins to make a drastic decision that will turn friends into bitter enemies...

The Cave is another representative of the ever-growing found-footage subgenre. Like the great cave horror The Descent or most recently Catacombs, Spanish filmmaker Alfredo Montero's feature debut attempts to play on his audience's primal fears through narrow corridors and darkness, creating an oppressive, claustrophobic underlying atmosphere. He succeeds very well in places, once his protagonists enter the titular cave. Until that point is reached, there are the usual trivialities of a found footage movie, which are supposed to show how the horror later breaks into the normal everyday life of the characters. This might have been an effective stylistic device once, but in the thousandth rehash it just seems boring.

What you have to give the film credit for, on the other hand, is the fact that there is no supernatural horror here, but that the people in the extreme situation outlined here become the real monsters. However, especially in this aspect you also notice that Montero directed his first feature film here. Because in order to make the scene in which the trapped people decide to take a very extreme step for their own survival really seem shocking, it should have been built up a bit more carefully. While the panic that reigns among the five becomes quite understandable, it simply moves too quickly from the initial consideration to the execution of said move to actually feel believable.

In addition, the visuals only work to a certain extent. The image is often too shaky and too dark, which clearly comes at the expense of atmosphere. With his claim to make the whole thing look as realistic as possible, Montero just overdoes it a bit - especially since what the camera has to endure here without taking serious damage completely contradicts this claim to reality. Of course, the found-footage style is perfectly suited for such a story. But by now there are quite a few representatives of this genre who have shown that the look can be used in a slightly less shaky way and still be effective.

No question, The Cave has some very intense moments that may well leave viewers with claustrophobia breathless. And what happens in the cave is something you'll have to think about for a long time even after the fairly short film ends, because you're bound to ask yourself: how would I act in a situation like that? But apart from that, the thriller also has to fight with some lengths at the beginning and in the cave with many too shaky and too dark shots, which noticeably reduces the pleasure of this shocker. Therefore: only for found footage fans with extreme claustrophobia extremely effective and absolutely worth seeing. All others should rather put in The Descent again!

Picture + Sound: Not only the found-footage style, but also the many very dark scenes ensure that the picture does not cause much cheering. True, there is no smudging whatsoever and when the camera does rest for a bit, the decent image sharpness comes into its own. But too often the action is just too shaky or too dark to really show off its positive qualities. The sound has some very atmospheric moments to offer, which still support the claustrophobic events well, but otherwise remains rather restrained. Overall, the technical realization is exactly what you would expect from a found footage thriller. Good!

Extras: Included in the bonus package are a making of (approx. 11:15 min.), as well as short featurettes about the true story the film is based on (approx. 4 min.), about what scares the actors (approx. 2:30 min.), about the event (approx. 3:45 min.), as well as about the shooting on Formentera (approx. 2:32 min.) and the shooting in a cave (approx. 3:20 min.). All in all, the viewer is offered quite a decent insight into the production. The trailer and other program tips round out the additional offerings.

Conclusion: And yet another found-footage film, The Cave doesn't manage to wring any real new sides out of the subgenre, nor is it quite as effective as other cave shockers like The Descent. But as an oppressive thriller about the depths of human social behavior in extreme situations, it works quite well, at least in the final third. Those who don't like the shaky-cam style of the genre will quickly get annoyed here. But for those who get gasps at the mere sight of narrow cave passageways, the second half of the film should be truly effective horror. The Blu-ray presents the film in coherent picture and sound quality and also offers a good look behind the scenes. Despite some dramaturgical hangs, there is therefore just a: recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp