The Descent

The Descent (2005)

84% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 164 reviews)

Runtime: 100 minutes

Directed by: Neil Marshall

Starring: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring

From: Celador Films

Back in December I reviewed Doomsday from Neil Marshall, which is a goofy yet fun movie that is styled like a film from the good old 80’s. This film from Scotland was where director Marshall got a lot of attention. Now, I saw it back a few years ago, and I was less than impressed with it, to be honest. I thought the opening was pretty crap and I couldn’t get past that. But, I decided to give it another chance, this time on Blu-Ray via a Blockbuster rental.

While some parts of the opening few minutes I didn’t really care for, overall I enjoyed it much more this time around, and I wonder if it was just the wrong day for me to watch the movie the first time around or what, as I’m not sure how I developed a somewhat negative view on it initially.

This 2005 movie-released in the US in 2006-is about a group of ladies, both British and American (how they all know each other is unclear, but forget about that, along with much of the opening few minutes; that’s just me, though) who are thrill-seekers. First, we see them white-water rafting in Scotland. After that, a traumatic event happens to one of the characters. A year later, they all meet up again, this time in the Appalachian area of the United States, in the fictitious Chatooga National Park*. They go exploring a cave, and it’s not exactly like Mammoth Cave or one of those commercial places. Rather, it’s hardcore caving, where you crawl through small passages and it’s a lot of work. You at first see glimpses of something, but then you realize that yes, someone… or is it something… else is down there with the ladies… something happens down there and that’s when the shit hits the fan.

• Although there IS a Chatooga River that’s in the area. It’s where Deliverance was filmed, actually, and that movie was a clear influence on this one. Deliverance is more than just strange-looking people playing the banjo and “Squeal like a pig!” and possibly the most terrifying villains in motion picture history. Believe it or not, my dad and some of his friends actually went rafting on that river back in the 90’s. No, they did not meet any hillbillies or have to squeal like a pig.

The movie isn’t scares per minute; rather, it takes it time to allow you to get to know the ladies and see how they interact with one another. Like I said, though, at times you see glimpses of something and you wonder what it was or even if you saw it, which is always freaky. Also, all of the ladies are nicely written and there’s not a case where you end up hating a character, not because it was written that way but rather because poor writing created a character that’s just aggravating and you can’t wait to see them die a horrible death. To me that’s a problem that happens way too often but thankfully it’s avoided here. Anyhow, when the shit hits the fan, it doesn’t let up (it’s a very fun ride from that point to the very end) and what’s down there is quite the foe, and if something like that could be possible, it’s not that far-fetched if you know about organisms living in caves. The setting adds claustrophobia and hopelessness, and what ends up happening causes problems with the ladies and some surprising things end up happening because of that.

If you enjoy slow-build horror movies that happen to have a good amount of gore to it, then this is something that you need to see. I am very glad I gave it a second chance as I appreciated it much more this time around.

By the way, I’ve never seen the similar film known as The Cave, but I’ve heard mainly bad things about it. Speaking of that, the movie actually has a sequel that came out recently to DVD. Talk about a total cash-in, as whether or not you like or have seen “The American Ending” or “The Original Ending” (basically, the American one stops at a point and doesn’t show the very last scene), it is totally not needed for the characters in the story and it doesn’t make much sense either. The villains in the first movie look different from the second movie, which doesn’t make much sense as it’s supposed to be in the same cave! I’ve heard some VERY heated critiques of it, and from reading the basic plot on Wikipedia, I doubt I’ll ever see the movie, as there’s no need to.

I'll still be back on Monday night with a new review.