The Descent
This movie has a couple of scatological problems to be sure, not to mention a weakly fleshed out "villain," but none of that detracts from what The Descent does successfully—put a new twist on the monster/horror film and scare the pants off you.
Having a female-only cast was certainly a stroke of genius, but that in and of itself wouldn't have been enough to make this film work. It had to be about something else besides a group of women spelunkers fighting their way out of an uncharted cave populated by humanoid-like, feral monsters out to feed on their flesh. So writer-director Neil Marshall made sure The Descent was about just that—a descent—and not just a descent into a cave.
Among the six adventure seeking friends, two of them embody the
film's title: one from a moral perspective, the other from a mental
one. That the lead character's descent into madness was precipitated in
part by the actions of the other heightens the drama and suspense
brought on by the terror in the cave. Sure, the bad girl's motivation
and subsequent actions are a little thin, and why these creatures (who
apparently must leave the cave most nights to hunt for food) have never spread beyond this one Appalachian cavern makes no sense; but none
of that is enough to detract from Marshall's successful attempt to make
one of the smartest, most gripping terror films in recent memory.
- July 29, 2009
DVD Extras
The unrated version is actually the original theatrical cut from
when the film premiered in the U.K. in 2005. An alternate ending was
used in the 2006 U.S. theatrical release, and it is included as a bonus
feature, giving the film an entirely different (and not necessarily
worse) spin after watching the British version. There are also the
usual "making-of" videos and interviews with cast and crew, which
highlight the low-budget nature of the production and just how much
they were able to do with it.