Romania, Carpathian Mountains. A team of scientists led by Dr. Nicolai stumbles upon the ruins of a 13th-century abbey, which constitutes the passage to a colossal system of underground caves. Nicolai then contacts a team of professional speleologists and divers tasked with exploring the caves and providing complete documentation of their geography. But the speleologists will soon discover that a complete and independent ecosystem has developed among those rocks, completely unknown to man: white algae, albino moles, eels, but also a voracious race of carnivorous creatures hungry.
While Italian theaters are invaded by pre-Christmas films, this small action/horror also comes out quietly, perhaps more suitable for summer audiences. "The Devil's Hideout" (Italian title for "The Cave") shows us what would happen if we mixed "Pitch Black" with "The Descent", taking from the first some elements of the narrative structure of character elimination (already dear to "Alien") and from the second the setting. Naturally, "The Devil's Hideout" does not manage to be as captivating as the film with Vin Diesel, nor remotely claustrophobic and cruel as "The Descent", but it is not as unpleasant as expectations might lead one to believe. Let's make it clear: this film is pure B-movie aware of being so, therefore rather than a credible plot and character development, it will aim at the entertainment of the viewer through the crudest expedients of the genre: heart-pounding action scenes, slimy and cruel monsters, a large number of deaths (without showing too much blood, it's a PG-13 in the USA). Therefore, aware of the fact that we are facing a decent action/horror seasoned with 'cheap scares', we can quietly enjoy ourselves, because the film is engaging, it flows quickly for its abundant 100 minutes and the story takes interesting turns (even if predictable and unrealistic).
The locations, just as was the case for "The Descent", are fundamental to creating an oppressive and claustrophobic atmosphere; here too, they play on the narrow spaces alternated with abyssal voids, introducing the element of water as an additional obstacle (but also an exit) for the heroic protagonists. Unfortunately, they do not make adequate use of the darkness (a key element in "The Descent"), instead, in many occasions the caves turn out to be too illuminated, in an unnatural way, subtracting a potential additional atmosphere to the entire environment. The creatures, created by the special effects wizard Patrick Tautopoulos, have a look that is certainly on target: they show little or nothing at all for the entire first part of the film, to then appear clearly in the finale with convincing CGI alternated with animated puppets.
The direction is by the debutant Bruce Hunt, who until now had made a name for himself as an assistant director of the three "Matrix" films, while the cast is composed of actors not very well known to the public and not very convincing; among them, Cole Hauser ("Pitch Black"; "2 Fast 2 Furious") can be cited in the role of the expedition leader, Morris Chestnut ("Anaconda 2"; "Squadra 49") and Lena Headey ("The Brothers Grimm and the Magic Book").
An honest B-movie, not very original but entertaining. If you are interested in the genre "monsters that hunt humans in confined places", you can give it a look.
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