Bad Cave
The Cavern (Within): (2005): 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, a film is primarily a visual medium director may want to point their cameras in the general direction of the action. A movie also requires light to work. Perhaps a light source should be employed so one can see the effect on the screen. I know it is a cave movie, but nothing is frightening about watching pitch blackness for minutes at a time.
For that matter, showing the film upside down doesn’t show confusion on screen. It means confusion in the editing booth.
One last note to the director: I’m sure there was a good reason to have a 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 will 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. Also try adding some fancy spelunking terms to a cave movie. You might have wanted to start with spelunking.
The Cavern is a pretty lousy film, poorly shot with a confusing, improbable, and anticlimactic ending.