It Came from Below, Cave Carnage

Once again we turn to our friends at Jagged Edge Productions for a creature feature.  Cave horror can be problematic.  A lot of dark shots and never a good look at the creature.  Of course, the darkness is part of the horror and a good cave horror film will have more than just visual horror...like say...the sound of a creature chomping down on someone's femur while he is still alive.  Cave horror is a flawed subgenre but it still does work.  Today we look at 2021's "It Came from Below," directed by Dan Allen.

Jessie's dad (Stuart Packer) will die in a hospital bed as the world is convinced he is a lunatic.  He emerged from a cave with tales of a toothy creature that eats everyone.  Jessie (Megan Purvis) believes him and takes his notebook and runs back to the cave in question.  Her goal...prove her dad was not insane.  Also along for the buffet, er, adventure, I mean, are her buddies Sam (Jake Watkins), Marty (Tom Taplin), and Joanna (Georgie Banks).  As soon as they get near the cave, two rangers warn them to turn back.  Also, Marty begins hearing ghostly whispers that no one else hears.  Bickering ensues and the quartet enter the cave very ill equipped.

Uh oh...something, or someone I should say, is also down there.  Cannibalistic humans who have been driven insane by the darkness, solitude, and the predatory creature.  The quartet's quest is derailed as they find themselves under attack from the cannibals and the monster.  The deaths will be excruciating.  The creature does not stay hidden and it is a toothy beast that likes to chomp down on human flesh.  Now Jessie, who really did not have a plan in the first place, must suffer the consequences of being ill prepared.

Will Jessie or any of her buddies make it out of the cave uneaten?  Who are these cannibalistic underground humans?  Is the carnage in the cave a thinly veiled metaphor for social inequality in western civilization?  This last question was designed to make me look brilliant...we can ignore it.  For an uncomfortable and claustrophobic creature feature, see "It Came from Below."