The Descent (2006)

Claustrophobia and bloody mayhem collide in the high-adrenaline horror flick The Descent. Six women (including one who lost her husband and child the year before, and one who harbors a bitter secret) spelunk in an unexplored cavern system that turns out to harbor mysterious, predatory creatures. That sums up the story, but--as with writer-director Neil Marshall's previous low-concept movie, Dog Soldiers--the plot doesn't begin to describe the riveting, stomach-lurching thrills this movie provides. The script affords the relatively unknown cast (led by Shauna Macdonald and Natalie Mendoza, both excellent) just enough room to make their characters distinct and genuine, so that when they're dropped into utmost peril our empathy is engaged as much as our fear. The dynamic direction and editing make the cavern a palpable, physical presence, even before the creepy beasts crawl out of their nooks. This is not a movie for everyone; it is extremely gruesome and will induce panic attacks in anyone with even a mild fear of closed spaces. But for anyone seeking something smarter, faster, and more wrenching than static torture-fests like Saw or Hostel, The Descent will draw you into its unsettling ooze. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

Into the abyss I go ....

Actually, I gave this movie 3 1/2 stars, but for the benefit of the doubt used 4 instead of lowering it to just 3. WARNING: Jeff Long wrote a fantastic book called 'The Descent'. When I first heard of this movie I thought at last they had made the book into a movie. Wrong. The only things the book and the movie have in common are the name and something creepy underground.

Six women, Sarah, Juno, Beth, Rebecca, Sam and Holly, love get togethers that include extreme adventures, such as white water rafting. The ladies haven't gotten together since Sarah lost her family in a car accident. Now, several months later, they're ready to take off again, this time on a deep cave spelunking adventure. After venturing into the cave, crawling through an amazingly tight tunnel which collapses behind them, Juno admits she didn't bring the map because this isn't the cave everyone thought they were exploring. It's a new, unexplored cave, one where they could have made a name for themselves by exploring. The problem now becomes finding a way out.

Deeper and deeper they go, until they come upon a chamber filled with bones. Here they meet an unexpected welcoming party, a group of ghastly albino beings who see humans as simply another source of food. The girls fight off the beasts, get separated, get re-united, and all the while the body count begins to pile up.

'The Descent' is a good horror flick with plenty of gory eye gouging and head slicing to feed your taste for blood, but at the same time is a bit formulaic. Another problem is that although its being filmed in a dark cave, the fights are too dark, too fast, and choppily edited making the best parts far too hard to see and follow. There are still some scenes that will make you jump out of your seat, and a few surprises in the script that keeps this film from being just another splatter film. Rent first. Enjoy!
August 27, 2008

Could someone please turn on a light

A group of young women get more than they bargained for when a weekend caving adventure ends with them getting trapped in a cave that is inhabited by flesh-eating monsters.

"The Descent" is essentially just an updated version of "Deliverance", but nowhere near as good as its predecessor. Having read so many favourable reviews of this film, I went in wanting to like it. However, try as I might, the film just didn't work for me. I could go into detail about all of the things that I don't like about this film, starting with the characters, who just didn't appeal to me, and finishing with the film's ending, which I found to be depressing. However, the biggest thing that I have against this film is the lighting or lack thereof. Think about it. This film is set deep inside a cave. There is no light except for the torches and flares of the main characters. That means that a lot of the time it is impossible or, at the very least, extremely difficult, to figure out what is going on, and believe me, staring at a dark screen for an extended period of time is BORING! Perhaps if I could have seen what was going on I might have found this film as frightening as other reviewers claim it to be.
August 8, 2008

WOW Great movie!!

I could just say "WOW" and leave it at that! If you like scary movies, movies with lots of action, and movies that you finish watching and want to watch again just because IT WAS THAT GOOD......well, then buy this movie!! It has become one of my favorite movies of all time, and I've watched a lot of horror movies!! August 7, 2008

Random Creatureface Films Vidcast Review #3 The Descent (4-25-06)

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1RVF75TPSF6CU The Descent (Unrated Widescreen Edition)The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) [Blu-ray]Alien Quadrilogy (Alien/ Aliens /Alien 3 /Alien Resurrection)Doomsday (Unrated Widescreen Edition)The Cave (Widescreen Edition) July 31, 2008

what is the point

As the chicks in this flick say: WHAT IS THE POINT?

This is one of those movies that start OK, but whose conclusion sucks real good!

Too much gory, too much blood, too much suffering. It is really hard to accept something like this as entertainment.

Well, I guess that there are worse things than this movie, like driving a pick axe through your knee. But it does not mean that I recommend watching it.

Big waste of time. July 29, 2008

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