"The Cave is an over-the-top horror flick with one novel offering: It's shot amid a stunning network of subterranean caverns." Judy Chia Hui Hsu SEATTLE TIMES "Bruce Hunt’s directing debut displays a cold-blooded efficiency and refreshing lack of Michael Bay–ish hyperactivity in what is otherwise a solid if unspectacular action-horror flick." Tim Grierson L A WEEKLY "Think Of It As Pitch Black Meets Alien With A Little Twist." Fiore Mastracci OUTTAKES WITH FIORE "A fun film, it turns out to be smarter than you'd expect. The best part of the picture is that it takes place in a couple of locales -- spelunking in a cave and diving underwater -- that we don't normally go when we are at the movies, unless it's a nature documentary. Sure there are counterexamples, but the terrain is still basically fresh and doesn't feel like every other science fiction thriller that you've seen recently." Steve Rhodes KILLER REVIEWS

"The Cave is a monster movie; you can’t walk in expecting American Beauty self-reflection or Star Wars grand opera. But if you enjoy watching flying, bloodthirsty monsters chase people around dark places, you’ll get a kick from the film. It’s a thrill ride. Watching it, I felt like a 10 year old kid again, swooping my way down the Dolphin towards unknowable depths." Keith Breese CONTACTMUSIC.COM "As with all movies of this nature, there are plenty of "Jump-In-Your-Seat" moments, as the team plunge headlong through waterlogged grottos, around dark bends and into holes that any sane person would leave well alone." Chris High CHRIS HIGH REVIEWS "The beauty of the script by Michael Steinberg and Tegan West is that they have the good sense to very slowly introduce us to their monster world. We don't get our first glimpse of the hideous creatures until well into movie, and, even then, they come slowly at first, with the lowest members of the food chain appearing first. Although it's about 10 minutes too long, the story keeps us engaged and fascinated with the battle of the humans vs the unnamed creatures." Steve Rhodes KILLER REVIEWS

The Inside Story If asked what best describes the theme of "The Cave", two words immediately spring to mind, Aliens underwater. And in keeping with the tradition of a good sci-fi thriller, the film-makers keep the secret of "The Cave" well hidden, leaving the audience to only imagine what could be taking, one by one, the members of a scientific team and the highly skilled cave divers who accompany them. While we can probably rest assured that there are no 'Aliens'lurking somewhere below the surface, in real life there are in fact 'aliens' in newly discovered underwater caves in Romania as acclaimed Romanian Speleologist Dr Christi Lascu can testify to. Dr Christi Lascu who was present when the Movila Caves in Romania were discovered says they were in the form of micro-ecologies. "There were probably hundreds of new creatures there, and thirty five of them were noted by scientists as brand new species. These creatures only lived in this cave. An esteemed colleague of mine used the discovery for his PhD thesis. He said that if a nuclear war destroyed the planet and all of the life on the surface disappeared, the ecosystem of the Movila Caves would survive because it doesn't depend on solar energy or food from the surface." So could there be insatiable creatures somewhere below the surface big enough to tackle humans? The answer to that is we don't know. Well not yet! We have hardly explored the oceans of the world let alone what lies immediately below our the ground we walk upon every day. Executive Producer Andrew Mason says that while the film is fictional, many of the aspects of cave diving come from real life events. "A cave is an incredibly threatening environment," he said. "Apparently one diver in fourteen dies each year. In fact there has been a recent event in Mexico where a bunch of British cave divers were trapped in caves." Just how dangerous is cave diving? Ask the films Underwater Director of Photography Wes Skiles. He was trapped underground in a cave in Australia with thirteen other people. They escaped by digging their way out. So where did the story of "The Cave" come from. We can thank Australian Andrew Mason for that. He picked up the script in 1999 while on a business trip to Los Angeles. "I loved it immediately", he says. "I thought it was a great and original take on classic horror thriller films that rely on imagination terror rather than the scare of seeing something in particular, so I grabbed it." Producer Gary Lucchesi was also impressed by the screenplay. "When I first read the screenplay, I was reminded of Ridley Scott's Aliens, which was a movie that had a great effect on me twenty years ago. I thought it was sophisticated, scary and stylistically accomplished, but was also tremenously credible in terms of how it was directed," he said. "It didn't pull a lot of tricks." Helming the film is first time feature director and another Australian, Bruce Hunt. Lucchesi "knew that teaming with a first time director could be risky, but never worried about Bruce Hunt." Why? "He's been directing for fifteen years and is perhaps the most renown commercial director in Australia. He just hadn't directed a feature yet." Next they would need to cast the lead characters in the film. Amongst those is Romanian scientist Dr Nicolai whose team have discovered, but as yet haven't explored the underwater river running below the site of what once was home to a 13th century Abbey. Casting an actor for that role was easy according to Executive Producer Richard S Wright. "It's a Romanian Character. So you cast the best Romanian actor," he says, "who is, Without doubt, Marcel Iures! Hunt agrees adding, "You can call Marcel the elder statesman, not just of our group but of Romanian acting. He is the most charming and eloquent man you could meet." Filming in Romania provided a long overdue bonus for Iures. "It's so nice to actually be able to go home and sleep in my own bed, and see my family after a days shooting," Iures said. Heading up the dive team is a familiar face some may not be able to put a name to. It is Cole Hauser who was last scene in the adult drama "Paparazzi". "We needed an actor who represented leadership qualities," Lucchesi explained. "Cole had everything we needed to best represent Jack, he is a brilliant actor, is physically fit, and takes charge of a room when he walks in." Finally, there was a real twist to the movie when Andrew Mason, Bruce Hunt and Richard S Wright flew to Florida to interview Wes Skiles and Jill Heinerth. After spending a couple of days following them around, the trio "realized that not only were Wes and Jill utterly capable technically of shooting our movie, but that these were the people our movie was about! They put themselves in harms way for no money just because they want to, " and adds Wright, "because it's there." In the final analysis, many will be surprised, despite the critics, how entertaining "The Cave" is. The added bonus is the stunning underwater scenes, which are just brilliant. Cast & Crew Bytes "THE CAVE" was .......
DEBUT directed by Bruce Hunt who assisted on ["Dark City", "The Matrix", "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions"]; screenplay by Michael Steinberg ["Sleep with Me"] and Tegan West who appeared in ["Hamburger Hill", "Spontaneous Combustion", "Bad Company" and "Role of a Lifetime"]; costume design by Wendy Partridge ["Highlander: Endgame", "Blade II", "Underworld", "Hellboy", "Fantastic Four" and "Underworld Evolution"]; cinematography by Ross Emery ["Book of Dreams: Welcome to Crateland", "Bangers", "117" and "Stories Of Lost Souls"]; set decoration by Malcolm Stone ["Navy Seals", "First Knight", "Space Truckers" and "Underworld"].
"THE CAVE" stars .......
Cole Hauser ["Pitchblack", "Tigerland", "Hart's War", "Tears Of The Sun", "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "Paparazzi"]; Eddie Cibrian ["Living Out Loud", "But I'm a Cheerleader" and "Say It Isn't So"]; Rick Ravanello ["Shattered Image", "Terminal Countdown", "Out Of Line" and "Hart's War"]; Marcel Iures ["Mission: Impossible", "Hart's War", "Layer Cake" and "Goal!"]; Kieran Darcy-Smith ["Loaded", "Bloodlock", "Two Hands" and "The Island"]; Daniel Dae Kim ["The Jackal", "Cradle 2 The Grave", "Hulk", "Spider-man 2" and "Crash"]; Lena Headey ["The Remains of the Day", "The Man with Rain in His Shoes", "Ripley's Game" and "The Actors"]; Piper Perabo ["Coyote Ugly", "Slap Her... She's French", "Cheaper by the Dozen" and "Cheaper by the Dozen 2"]; Vlad Radescu ["The Ballad", "Death's Last Frontier", "The Man of the Day" and "Diplomatic Siege"] and Morris Chestnut ["Like Mike", "Confidence", "Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid" and "Ladder 49"] as Top Buchanan. What It's All About It's 1975 and fortune hunters are attempting to reach an historic 13th century Abbey set high in Romania's Carpathian Mountains. Their path to the site has been blocked by a landslide and they will have to scale the steep rugged mountainside to reach their goal. Arriving at the church they look for a way to the riches they believe are contained below the surface. The walls depict religious symbolisms and the Knights Templer fighting demons. The adrenalin rush comes when they discover a way through the floor. Thirty years later Dr Nicolai and his team are set to explore the regions below the church but with an underground river running through the area they need the best cavers in the business. It's not long before Jack McAllister and his crack team are on-site and ready to go. With Dr Nicolai, his assistant Kathryn and a photographer named Kim, the team makes the long ascent into the bowels of the mountain to reach the underwater river. It appears to be a beautiful setting but the team is soon to discover the river and the caves hide a dark secret. The team have made it in, but will they make it out? The Verdict "The word I had on this one is it's a straight to video so get in quick and see it at its best on a big screen. If you liked "Alien", "Doom" and "Predator" [with an underwater theme] you'll get plenty of kicks out of "The Cave". Recommended." The Cast

Cole Hauser Morris Chestnut Eddie Cibrian Rick Ravanello Marcel Iures Kieran Darcy-Smith Daniel Dae Kim Lena Headey Piper Perabo Vlad Radescu Simon Kunz David Kennedy Alin Panc Zoltan Butuc

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Jack Top Buchanan Tyler Briggs Dr Nicolai Strode Kim Kathryn Charlie Dr Bacovia Mike Ian Razvan Corvin

The Crew Directed by Bruce Hunt Written by Michael Steinberg & Tegan West Produced by Gary Lucchesi/Tom Rosenberg/Andrew Mason Original Music by Reinhold Heil & Johnny Klimek Cinematography by Ross Emery Film Editing by Brian Berdan Casting by Deborah Aquila & Mary Tricia Wood Production Design by Pier Luigi Basile Art Direction by Cristian Corvin/Enrico Fiorentini/Vlad Vieru Set Decoration by Malcolm Stone Costume Design by Wendy Partridge Creature and special makeup design by Patrick Tatopoulos Designs Run Time 97 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2005 - Screen Gems - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2005 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved