Reviews

The Descent - Only at Wild and Woolly

Take one part of The Discovery Channel’s, I Shouldn’t Be Alive, add one part, Aliens and you have The Descent. Sometime this summer Lions Gate throws another horror movie in the path of the general public. I have a love/hate relationship with Lions Gate. I admire they’ll put out movies deemed too controversial by the major studios. Then again I had to sit through Saw twice. I’m so sick of people trying to defend Saw. The movie had plot holes so big you could serve Carnie Wilson dinner through them. Seriously, how does a man with terminal cancer (brain tumor) find the strength to set up elaborate traps and kidnap numerous full-grown people? Fart.

But this isn’t about tricycle riding dolls that shop at Hot Topic. This about girls lost in a cave. I’m starting to smell a Girls Gone Wild – Mammoth Cave Edition. Ok maybe not. While the general premise of people lost in a cave being stalked isn’t new, see The Cave, The Descent actually looked interesting. Well made even. Then when I started reading reviews from overseas I got really interested. So when Wild and Woolly picked up a region 2 DVD I raced right over to pick it up…then found out it was already checked out. But I was finally able to pick it up and the only thing between British babes in distress and me was a fifteen-minute drive and a stop to the liquor store.

The flick opens up with three friends doing a little white water rafting. As things look like they might get a bit hairy we see the husband of one of the rafters standing by the edge of the water (where he BELONGS!). It’s not said but the point gets across these women get together every year for some sort of adventure sport. Turns out this one ends poorly. Very poorly.

Jump forward one year later and the ladies are getting together again. Oh yeah, it’s ladies spelunking night. But this time there are more of them. Why? Because this is a horror movie and we need people to knock off. Like many horror films before, it’s easy to determine who will die and in what order. I’m sure having an all female cast was an intentional move but still it’s nice to see a horror film not filled with screaming women being saved be the hero. Even in Halloween Jamie Lee Curtis’s character is saved by Donald Pleasance.

Let’s move on to where its dark and we can get wet. I’m talking about a cave… Our team of Mountain Dew Extremers repel into a cave through the ceiling. They think they’re on an easy trip, following a trail that’s been used hundreds of times before. Only one of the ladies neglects to mention she’s on the hunt for a new path. I think you see where this is going. There are albino human like creatures living in the cave and just about everything is below the food chain of these monsters. Duh.

When people talk about movies like Suspiria they usually bring up Argento’s use of light and how stylized it is. What I found impressive about The Descent was how the Director used his lack of lighting. Most of the movie has intense sense of claustrophobia. Often characters move through scenes illuminated by one beam of light. The use of flares and glow sticks work to set mood as well as lighting the set. And when there is no light to use the night vision on a camcorder is used like the witches using “the eye” on Clash of the Titans. Dorkiest thing I’ll say all day.

When you look back to see the other movies made by Neil Marshall it’s no surprise The Descent works as well as it does. We’re talking about the guy who made Dog Soldiers here. And just like Dog Soldiers, The Descent sounds mediocre at best on paper. However once you sit down and commit, the movie does a spectacular job of blending action and horror together. If you want to rent a movie that challenges your thinking keep moving. But if you’re like me and you’re always on the lookout for well made, tense, blood soaked, horror movies with creepy creatures… the next hour and a half is perfect for you.

The creatures look great. And when the creatures weren’t around I found myself absorbed in the story and tight spaces. The Descent is a genre film but it is more thought out than most genre films. While the characters are not deep they are relatable. I’m also always happy to see hands on special effects in this day of CGI. This gives the movies monster a believability. They look like something that lives in a cave and not something that lives in a hard drive.

The more I talk about The Descent the more I want to see it again. I ended up watching it twice when I rented it. The second time was to show it to a friend who, at the end of the film, exclaimed, “Hell no! That’s a messed up ending.” No, that’s an ending written by someone who genuinely loves horror movies.

Thank you Neil Marshall. I can’t wait to see what you make next.
8/10
Andy

Renting Dog Soldiers and The Descent at Wild and Woolly would make a great double feature. Do note you will need a region free DVD player to watch The Descent.

<<< Back to reviews