Neil Marshall's one-man stand against spelunking ~ The Descent
by dramastef - Written: Aug 24 '06 (Updated Aug 24 '06)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: cinematography; casting; tension; creatures
Cons: not too crazy about the ending
The Bottom Line: The bottom line is selling its spelunking gear on eBay
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| dramastef's Full Review: The Descent |
My hair is long, very thick, and I wash it with vanilla scented shampoo. You’re now asking yourself why this information is important in a movie review, aren’t you? It’s because long, thick hair that smells pretty makes a very nice curtain through which to watch a movie such as The Descent.
Three women, Sarah, Juno and Beth, seemingly long time friends, are whitewater rafting in Scotland, having a grand time. On the way back to the hotel with her husband and daughter, Sarah gets into a car accident. She is the only survivor. One year later, she still hears her child’s laughter and suffers horrible nightmares. In an attempt to reconnect, both as friends, and Sarah to the world, Juno plans a cave exploration with the original three friends, and three more, Holly, Rebecca and Sam.
After an early cave in blocks their entrance, the girls realize that Juno has mislead them into caves that have never been explored, in the hopes they could discover them together. Pushing forward to find a way out, they soon realize that they’re not alone.
There, that’s the best I can do to make the plot sound enticing. I realized every time I tried to tell someone about this movie that it’s not an easy thing to do. Luckily, it’s not the plot that makes this movie. Even with the added drama of Juno having an affair with Beth’s husband at the time of his death. What makes this movie is Neil Marshall.
I first became a Neil Marshall fan after seeing Dog Soldiers last year. Even so, I was torn when I saw the previews for this movie. Where Dog Soldiers was darkly funny, with a bit of gore thrown in, the previews made The Descent look awfully gory with a bit of black humor thrown in. Turns out the previews weren’t too misleading. I’m not usually a big fan of slash-and-bash type movies (a la Saw), and though this has a lot of slashing and a lot of bashing, it’s something more than that as well.
Marshall does an excellent job of using the setting to build and create oodles of tension, long before the Gollumesque creatures (named “crawlers” in the credits). With the darkness of the caves and the claustrophobically tight crawl spaces, my heart rate was above normal for the entire first half, long before the first crawler showed up. Right around the time the girls started seeing the crawlers is when I started smelling vanilla and watching the movie through a brunette haze.
There are scenes when one or more of the girls are fighting with one or more of the creatures and the camera work is so quick, so jerky, so hard to follow, that it’s easy to watch, even though exceptional violence and gore is taking place right before your eyes. This is both annoying and relieving. Understandably so, the overall feel of the movie is dark. There isn’t much false light to relieve the darkness of the caves. When one of the girls light a flare, it offers a creepy, subtle glow. One of the scariest moments for me is when one of the women is watching a creature through a video camera, utilizing the infrared feature, and the entire screen is that eerie, green-tinted view.
* * * * Spoiler Alert ~ U.K. vs. U.S. Ending * * * *
The U.K. version (released in 2005) was slightly longer than the U.S. version (released 2006). The original ending was deemed “too dark” for American audiences (don’t get me started on where that thought could lead), and the movie was cut off before the final twist. Both endings work, neither is “happy”, but I felt like the ending was too hurried.
Final Thoughts:
The Descent was a good movie in a sea of bad horror movies being released recently. Be fairly warned, however. This is not for the faint of heart or stomach. Bones protruding through skin. Splurting blood. Head bashing against rocks. Rocks bashing against heads. Still, even with my own weak stomach, I was able to enjoy the movie. I liked the all-woman cast. I enjoyed the fact that this was not some “Sorority Girls Gone Wild” trip into the caves. These were intelligent, funny, engaging women. I still liked Dog Soldiers more, but this was worth seeing.
Movie Details:
Rated: R
Runtime: 99 Minutes
Written and Directed by: Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers)
Starring: Sarah ~ Shauna Macdonald
Beth ~ Alex Reid
Juno ~ Natalie Mendoza
The remaining three ~ Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring and Nora-Jane Noone
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Scary Movie
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
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