Why spelunking appeals to so many people is as deep a mystery to me as why mosquitos or flying cockroaches exist. And if someone says "well there is a thrill to it," I say: If I want to feel the thrill of taking my life in my hands and exploring my boundaries, I can wear an oversized coat, large fake gold earrings, and a giant handbag to Macy's on 34th street! But I digress. Suffice to say, I cannot be terrified of encountering creatures I would never meet since I'm not going to jump in a random hole out in the woods.
However, mild Claustrophobia does figure into my psychic landscape, and Gynephobia exists in men I have encountered, and to those ends the film is deeply terrifying!
The Plot: A group of "friends" go out for a day of "bonding" while diving deep into an allegorical Vagina in the woods. Upon wriggling through the extremely narrow Birth Canal into the cavern's Womb, they find they cannot go back due to a vaginal-mesh, I mean, due to a cave-in. Upon going forward seeking egress through branching "fallopian tubes", they encounter giant allegorical Semen that pick them off and consume the women one by one - so with full bellies, the Semen can stay alive and reproduce more little ectopic pregnancy monster Semen.
There's even a giant bloody pool that one chick must hide in temporarily from the semen. My first thought was, thank god she's on the rag or she too might have little monster babies! And once she rises from the depths of this Diva Cup, I mean, the pool of blood, all red and slimy, we know she's a bad ass and not to be messed with! This chick is bloody angry.
Less Allegorically: Upon descending into a cavern on a spelunking trip, a group of female friends cause a cave-in and cannot exit the way they entered. Pushing onward, they discover a race of carnivorous, melanin-challenged humanoids living deep in the earth who are blind, but have heightened smell and hearing, which helps them track down and kill the women one by one.
ARRGHH, WARNING: There be Spoilers Ahead!!
The film's adventure is a trip of redemption for Sarah (Shauna McDonald) whose child has recently died, but it also features the usual cast of female characters: the ambitious, type-A leader Juno (Natalie Mendoza), who's aggressive nature feels at once queen-B catty, needy, and dismissive; the granola girl, the peace-maker, etc, etc. The important thing to note is that driven leader Juno has also had an affair with the husband of clearly telegraphed "Final Girl" Sarah! No one really discusses the affair outright, in the way that women passive-agressively remain "friends" after doing truly horrid things to each other, but it becomes a key issue towards the end of the movie in what I DID find a really scary scene.
Once the others have all gone the way of tv dinners, and of course our Final Girl is still around, the only other lingering survivor is Juno. Juno is physically fit, athletic, resourceful, quick on her feet, and capable at defense. When these two find each other and are in the midst of successfully battling the monsters, Sarah suddenly takes one of those climbing/spelunking curved axe-type things and plunges it into the back of Juno's calf muscle! This move of course cripples her, and leaves her as food for the nasty, toothy critters, while Sarah seems to escape. Yes, sleeping with someone's husband is a terrible thing to do, but a crime punishable by Death?! Really?!!
I found this the most scary not because it seemed impossible for a woman to do this, but because it seems very possible! I also found this most scary not because I have ever slept with a friend's husband (or ever could/would), and not because I believe what Juno did was not terrible, but because of the comments the film seems to be making about women's friendships, behaviors, attitudes, and predispositions in general. Women are so vicious, illogical, and emotionally unstable that they would doom their own lives by taking out another compadre in the fight against vicious, carnivorous beasts deep in a cave in the earth?? Ok. So this is why I have so few really close female friends!
If one were to psychologically, allegorically consider the film, then we have moved from female sexuality being merely scary on its own, over to any sort of strong female, or female bonding, or female attempt to venture beyond the domestic sphere as being so terrifying it is something to avoid at all costs.
Now, of course I know that the basis of horror is often facing evil in unexpected places, whether the cabin in the woods, the ship at sea, the foreign country, etc. However, for a group of women to delve into a giant "womb" and upon "gestation," each find certain death due to either their inability or unwillingness to help each other survive, well that feels unnecessary. And running through tunnels in the earth from slimy, white men who seek to rip you open and consume you is as close to a cautionary tale against pregnancy if I ever saw one.
And these points don't even touch on the fact that Juno, the husband stealing uber-Bitch of the group, is played by attractive, ethnically, racially mysterious, but obviously Other/Of Color actress Mendoza! All the other chicks are Caucasian. Sigh.
That said, I know there are plenty of folks who did find this film great and terrifying on the merits of the basic story and the portrayal of claustrophobic monster-battle alone. All I know is that after Sarah's idiotic, homicidal act against Juno, I was very happy to be watching the British version (or "unrated" version) the first time I saw this film!
Genre: A-
Epidermal/Ethnic Variance: C- (always the hot, horny minority chick taking white girl's men)
Visuals/Audio: B
Gender Rep: A- (its an all female review, sole dude mentioned cheated on wife with her best friend)
Narrative: C+
Overall Gut: B- / C
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