The Descent

This movie has you on the end of your seat. Jumpy movie. 😱😱

Horror movies are never my thing, but my appreciation for excellent film-making always outweighs my dislike for jump scares. Featuring some expert level independent film direction, and a stellar cast, this cave-diving spook fest has what I call The Predator effect. Now what that is, is when a film presents itself as one thing, making the audience believe they have the making of the plot, then halfway through becomes something completely different, just like the film, The Predator.Now I won’t spoil the film because that would be terrible, but the premise is a bunch of adrenaline junkie ladies, mostly from the U.K., are going cave-diving in America as a way to help one of the members, Sarah, recover from a terrible accident a year before where her husband and daughter were tragically killed. What the ladies don’t know, is that one of them, Juno, has decided instead of taking them to a mapped cave system (which she deems is more for tourists) she has taken them to an unmapped cave system, to claim as their own. But after a small cave-in blocks them off from the entrance, the ladies now have to find a new way out of the cave. If there is one.

Read good reviews and wanted it to be good (I'm British) It was mediocre at best. It's just hours of women screaming inside a cave with one horror set piece that repeats over and over again (won't explain because spoilers) Waste of money- no idea why this is behind a pay wall.

I like the casting choices, mostly faces I recognise from occasional appearances in murder mysteries. The feel of the movie is similar to Dog Soldiers but with women. With a basically UK cast, with a variety of UK/Irish accents it would have seemed more logical to set it in Scotland which is where it feels like it was filmed, but that is a minor comment. As with every film set in a cave, ever, the huge amount of light that supposedly comes from a Maglite, homemade (infinitely burning) flaming torch or glow stick is a bit disruptive to the illusion, but I understand that if I could only see what was possible with the real light source I would not be able to see anything.As a person who is not a horror aficionado I have to admit I found the low rent special effects quite reassuring because I do not need to see scary stuff to be scared, you only need to suggest it and I will be uncomfortable, so dubious animations of bats and other weak SFX helps avoid there being too much tension for me.Stupidly I read something about Descent 2 before seeing this, so I knew how it would end before I started, but still on balance "I like it" is a reasonable score. So for an evening in with a moderate horror movie I think this is a great buy. Yes there is lots you can pick at but for the film budget, the DVD price and the pacing it is worth it.

Neill Marshal gave British horror flicks a bite in the arm with his funny and thrilling Zulu-with-werewolves flick Dog Soldiers, but he ain't joking in The Descent. Unlike overhyped, undernourished recent local efforts like glorified TV pilot 28 Days Later, this is a real movie made by someone who knows exactly what he's doing, and who does it well. More importantly, he's not afraid to take his time to ground the story and the characters before getting to the main course. There are a couple of hokey false alarms before his heroines find themselves trapped in an unexplored cave system, but the first two thirds are a pretty good survival story in their own right, making you wonder if he really needs to give the gals company down there: big mistake, because when they finally do meet the locals, the film shifts into high gear that makes Cameron and Sigourney look like wimps. Aside from some terrific action scenes, Marshall even manages to subvert the expected it's-not-really-the-ending ending, turning it from the usually schlocky cliché into something that is genuinely haunting. Which is a shame for those of you Stateside, because that's not the ending you'll be seeing when the film opens there late Summer (apparently it's only the last minute that's been cut, but that's enough to leave you with the standard one-size-fits-all horror movie ending). Still, I suppose we should be grateful at least that Lion's Gate haven't retitled it Mountain-Pick Chicks in the Cannibal Cave of Death. Yet...

I watched this years ago, and I just bought this UK Special 2 Disc Edition few weeks ago.I have to say I love this movie, the plot and the acting, all the actress did a very good job.They made me do care about their life, this is so important for a horror, because we don't care at all whatever if the character die or not, this means the horror failed to build up the emotion of the characters, and we just watching actors running from some maniac killers. And then... Oh, she gets killed, hmm...okay.The Descent not a slasher with a stupid psycho killer killing the teenagers all around, then end up the movie with a pair of beautiful young couple alive the terror. Descent is about friendship, family, trusting and a lot deeper stuffs, you can feel each character owned a different character's mood, I do enjoyed the filmmaker did a good job in this point.I'm looking forward to The Descent Part 2, although I've heard some bad reviews of that, but somehow, I'm still getting to watch it, how it won't turn out too bad, praying~~ XDP.S: I've uploaded some product's pics of this DVD, hope it helps for the ones who considering for buying the DVD. :)