I am on survival mode on Macho difficulty, and I have survived 3,902 seconds. I bought everything and maxed it all out, and I even reached the level cap (30) and I sat there doing nothign while the enemies tried to kill me. I went outside to play for a while, then I came back in and I still had full health. So I had to take off all fo my armor and unequip all of my gear so they could kill me.
When you use your power, it kills bats, zombies/goblins, dark dirt, and the green plant things. So if one of those is blocking a tunnel, just use your power and kill it. :)