When it comes to movies set in caves, we see a group of people venture out with the purpose of discovering something that has put their beliefs in doubt. It Came From Below has the same premise but with a dumbed-down group of characters that never show promise to survive, and somehow neither does the plot.

Jessie Harper (Megan Purvis) is grieving the loss of her father, so she decides to take three friends to the cave where he lost his sanity. Obviously, none of them have a clue as to what it takes to explore a cave and therefore, they are unaware of its risks. Upon reaching the cave, the appearance of strange figures and voices that echo between the walls of the cavernous space make things start to spiral out of control, and the perception of reality is in danger of blurring over the fine line that divides their sanity from mental insanity. Could it be her father suffered from a strange delusion or is there really a monster attacking explorers?

There are many details that lose consistency in It Came From Below’s plot, such as the reasons why the characters part ways once inside the cave, the lack of drive to achieve each of their goals (if they had any), and even the questionable decision to terminate someone giving them several blows with an aluminum water bottle to their helmet-protected head (I keep questioning the choice of the supposed deadly weapon)— it even seems it’s been written by two different people and in the end they put everything together completely ignoring the coherence between both texts— further investigation into the film, I realized it was indeed written by two guys.

Some things I can appreciate from the film are the gloomy and gruesome moments, but most were left half-baked since the itch to crave more never kicks in. These can be seen during the scenes filmed from the perspective of the characters, simulating the setting of a mockumentary. As I said, It has very gory images that could be gruesome in a better lighting, but much of the details in the final moments of the characters can be left to the viewer’s imagination.

It’s an interesting story, despite the insistent urge to roll your eyes from time to time at each repetition of the above-mentioned details. The intrigue is present from beginning to end, but not for the right cause, mostly because you never seem to understand what is happening.

With a gruesome yet laughable start and characters that make you root for whatever is attacking them, It Came From Below has such a promising premise that hops on a rollercoaster of plot damages tracked nowhere and ends in a strange place that’ll have you figuring out if it was a twist, a motive or a hint for a sequel.

3 OUT OF 10 HEADLAMPS