"The Descent ignites a peculiar sensation within the viewer while, at the same time, delivering effective acting, truly unsettling cinematography and special effects that are realistic and chilling."
From Neil Marshall, director of Dog Soldiers, comes The Descent. The horror film has taken a turn for the worse in recent years - though the movie industry would never admit it. It seems we've gone down a road of cinematic escalation - trying to out-gross and out-gore the movie before it.
First we had Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then there's Saw, then Saw II (and soon, a Saw III) Hostel, Wolf Creek, High Tension and the countless other films that seem to believe the true ingredient to a successful horror picture is showing the audience too much and substituting true horror with shock and brain bashing. Don't get me wrong, some of those films, like Saw, are exceptional - but they're creating a formula that's becoming duplicated constantly.
The Descent, thankfully, seems to avoid the shock and awe campaign with true suspense - the kind of horror that brought films like Alien and Jaws off the screen and into our subconscious. While the film has its fair share of blood and guts, it's justified and done the right way- quick, sudden shots in the shadows with eerie camera angles.
The Descent tells the tale of six "extreme" friends who reunite for a caving expedition. The adventure soon takes a wrong turn when a tunnel collapses and the group is trapped deep underground.
Paranoia - After you're in the dark long enough, your eyes start to play tricks on you. The Descent plays off what you don't see. It uses common fears like claustrophobia to pull you into the situation, and then leave you on the edge of your seat waiting for an explanation.
There's something waiting for the group - creatures of an unknown origin, who hunt off sound and are thirsty for blood. As the group tries to navigate the tunnels, friends begin to lose patience and relationships deteriorate - the result is a desperate struggle to survive each other and the creatures that dwell in the caverns.
The Descent feels like Dog Soldiers, Deliverance and Alien combined. The film ignites a peculiar sensation within the viewer while, at the same time, delivering effective acting, truly unsettling cinematography and special effects that are realistic and chilling.
As far as horror films in the 21st century go, The Descent is in the top 5.
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