Overall Rating
  Awesome: 62.7%
Worth A Look: 16.76%
Average: 13.51%
Pretty Bad: 5.41%
Total Crap: 1.62%
13 reviews, 107 user ratings
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| Descent, The |
by William Goss
"Going Down Screaming"
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Trauma [n] : a serious injury to the body, as from violence; an emotional shock that leads to substantial psychological damage; a situation that causes great distress. If ever there was a word to aptly describe Neil Marshall’s 'The Descent,' "trauma" would appear to cover all the bases. Just a heads-up.A year after surviving a horrific family tragedy, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) reunites with her friends to go spelunking in the Appalachians. Led by the cocky Juno (Natalie Mendoza), the group of feisty femmes head underground, only to find themselves trapped by a cave-in. It doesn't take long before tension begins to brew as the women discover that a) Juno has led them into an uncharted cave system, and b) something sinister lurks in the darkness ahead. Maybe they're demons, maybe they're monsters, but the bottom line is this: they don't like visitors, and they're pretty damn hungry. Even as the group finds itself facing an unknown threat, the women also find themselves at odds with each other, and things most certainly take a turn for the worse.
It must be that time of the month.
Emerging at a point when the marquee is smothered with tame horror remakes, constantly campy fare, or grisly attempts at shock-and-ewww, The Descent is a reminder of why the horror genre is such an enduring (not to mention endearing) one. There are a few cheap scares at the outset, but writer/director Marshall knows better than to rely on them, and the bona fide sense of fear that ensues more than makes up for a few inferior jolts. A welcome overseas effort, especially in the wake of last year's dual disappointment of High Tension and Wolf Creek, this import also fills the overall void left by the genre since the superb likes of 2003's 28 Days Later and 2004's Dawn of the Dead remake. The Descent is simply one of the best horror movies in years, with its solid construction and relentless execution evoking the likes of John Carpenter’s The Thing and Ridley Scott's Alien, among other classics.
There’s nary a wasted frame in the film’s lean, mean 99-minute running time, and the atmosphere is damn near suffocating as Marshall toys with our primal fear of the dark, squeezing his gals through impossible passages and having them cope with their ever-worsening circumstances. Then, once the extent of their peril is fully revealed, the film becomes a merciless chase punctuated with gruesome violence and sudden scares. The film ends on quite the bold note, with a climax ambiguous enough to be simultaneously stubborn and satisfying. Despite the efficient narrative, there is significantly more depth to the characters than one would expect from a simple horror flick.
Initially, the women are quite confident and athletic, always willing to take risks, even though Juno has a frequent habit of dominating the group. However, when events turn brutal, their individual survival instinct becomes evident. Eventually, Juno comes to share the spotlight with Sarah, her best friend whose recent mental stability is questionable at best, especially when a significant development changes their personal dynamic in tense fashion. It's an immense testament not just to Mendoza and Macdonald, but to the entire group for creating such an effective experience within a genre that routinely strains to keep victims extra ordinary in the face of peril.
Marshall, who initially landed on the radar of movie buffs worldwide with his 2002 debut, Dog Soldiers, cements his reputation here as a horror director to keep tabs on, infusing his sophomore effort with a confidence that few filmmakers achieve in their entire careers. The technical aspects are equally admirable in their seamless inclusion of the convincingly confined environment. Without the use of real subterranean locations, Marshall shoots from relatively practical angles and effortlessly combines that restraint with convincing set design, immersive sound work, and little more than natural lighting to create a palpable sense of claustrophobia. If there were any justice, those elements, along with Jon Harris' breathless editing and David Julyan's solid score, would be more than deserving of awards recognition.
(It should go noted that the American version of the film suffers from a slightly snipped ending that ends matters on a decidedly weaker note, as if audiences here couldn't stand a hearty helping of ambiguity with their quality horror. Such a change may be minor, but it is also unnecessary, almost to the point of shaving off a star out of sheer principle. Either way, the film still satisfies terrifically on a visceral level, if not entirely on a psychological one.)This is a prime example of how a filmmaker can take a simple concept and use it to craft a gripping atmosphere of suspense, striking that perfect balance between genuine psychological tension and sheer visceral scares. Considering the somewhat stale state of recent horror, 'The Descent' is a godsend, a blessing disguised as a helmet-scraping, bone-snapping fright fest. Amen to that.
link directly to this review at https://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=12642&reviewer=409
originally posted: 02/08/06 22:13:52
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OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2006 Sundance Film Festival For more in the 2006 Sundance Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2006 Philadelphia Film Festival For more in the 2006 Philadelphia Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2006 San Francisco Film Festival For more in the 2006 San Francisco Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2006 Fantasia Film Festival For more in the 2006 Fantasia Film Festival series, click here.
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USA
04-Aug-2006 (R)
DVD: 26-Dec-2006
UK
08-Jul-2005
Australia
23-Nov-2006
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