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Film Description
Effective British horror movie about a young group of female friends who go on a climbing expedition and get a lot more than they bargained for when, lost in a cave and off the map, they encounter a race of barely human cannibalistic subterraneans who are very, very hungry.
Commentaries:Neil Marshall (Director), Shauna MacDonald, Myanna Buring, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder and Nora-Jane Noone. Neil Marshall, Christian Colson (Producer), Jon Harris (Editor), Simon Bowles (Production Designer) and Catriona Richardson (Assistant Editor)
When a group of nubile young women go spelunking in an un-charted cave system the audience is plunged into an intense claustrophobic nightmare. Video camera footage an... more >
When a group of nubile young women go spelunking in an un-charted cave system the audience is plunged into an intense claustrophobic nightmare. Video camera footage and night vision capture the dark, dank atmosphere to disturbing effect. Flares, cigarette lighters and headlamps are the only respite from the oppressive darkness and the tension builds as the girls realise they are hopelessly lost and worse still that they are being hunted by a blood-thirsty creature. The first section is incredibly successful; the cast are squeezed through impossibly tight crevices, hoisted across chasms and dropped down potholes. It’s exciting and excruciating in equal measure. Indeed even the first sighting of the monster is a shock on par with anything from Alien, but the similarities with the great masterpiece of monster horror end there. Without sounding too pedantic, truly great horror is all in the details. Any incongruency in the plot or physiology of your monster(s) and your audience’s suspension of disbelief comes crashing to the ground with a chorus of groans. It’s for this reason that The Descent falls short of being a great monster movie. Where Ridley Scott’s alien was a wholly believable, impeccably designed and highly evolved killing machine, down to its detailed breeding and feeding habits, The Descent’s vampirish bat-men are riddled with evolutionary flaws. Most of the action in the second half hangs on the premise that these blind batmen can’t detect you if you don’t move, leading to suspenseful moments of confused monsters breathing hard in the face of a motionless actress. But surely having evolved over allegedly thousands of years these creatures would be able to smell, hear or feel the heat and breath from a human being lying only a matter of inches away or notice the difference between standing on a slippery cave floor and the head of a twenty year old girl in hot pants. If they can’t then it’s a wonder they survived so long without constantly flapping their ugly faces against cold hard rock or falling headfirst down a bottomless gorge. It’s a shame as the atmosphere and photography are outstanding, the premise is good enough and the ending is suitably grim but like so many modern horror films, the incredulous plotting and eye candy cast make it great for a pyjama party or all-night horror-thon but little more. < less
