Continuing our ongoing mission to watch every creature feature that hits our local video store, C. & I rented The Cave last week. The premise is simple enough: sexy spelunkers search sombre, silent shadows for fantastic fame & fortune, find ferocious critters creating carnage and chaos.

Yeah, that's how the alliterati roll.

Anyway, the movie defied expectations and really delivered on its promise: the caverns (filmed on location in eastern Europe) are stunning, the threats posed by the subterranean environment feel genuine, the acting is up to par for the genre and the monsters are appropriately creepy. Featuring improvised weapons (instead of multi-barreled rocket-launching flamethrowers) and an almost-plausible rationale for the creatures, The Cave also reveals its ambition: it may be a B-grade monster flick, but it strives for some respectability.

With a nod to Pitch Black, The Thing and Alien, The Cave is a self-aware, satisfying romp. Four thumbs up.