For the first half hour, this isn't that bad. A couple of men stripping an old mine hear some curious noises, next thing we are in a school with a young "Lucas" (Jeremy T. Thomas) seemingly distracted, a little dishevelled and only when his teacher "Julia" (Keri Russell) decides to investigate, do we realise that what came out of that mine was a hell of a lot more rapacious than what went into it... Sadly, though, the rest of it all quickly becomes a bit too routine and the ending though quite well built up, is really a bit too predicable, brief and flat. The "monster" is seriously under-used by director Scott Cooper. A lot is left to our imagination, and to an extent that works - but unfortunately, regular fans of this genre will probably have far gorier fantasies that those we are eventually offered here. It's not a terrible film, it is decently paced and the young "Lucas" holds it together quite well, but sadly it offers very little for us (or the beastie) to get our teeth into.
