Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Claustrophobic Horror, 30 April 2007
2005's "The Descent" is definitely one of the more superior horror movies that I've seen in recent years. Effortlessy getting across to the viewer the feeling of claustrophobia and terror suffered by the group of characters unfortunate enough to find themselves in a cave inhabited by inhuman, vicious crawlers very much intent on devouring all involved "The Descent" is commendable for getting almost everything right as a horror movie. Naturally, its gotten criticism for its gore content (as if that wasn't the point) but pointless, irrelevant criticisms aside: "The Descent" is the full package. There's great acting, great suspense, great make-up, great horror scenes and the sort of gore fans of films of this nature will just lap up.
After her husband and daughter die in a tragic car crash Sarah (Shauna McDonald) is convinced by friends Juno (Natalie Jackson Mendoza), Beth (Alex Reid), Rebecca (Saskia Mulder) and Sam (MyAnna Buring) to go on a caving expedition with them. Also tagging along is Juno's friend Holly (Nora-Jane Noone). Naturally, when the group of friends eventually do go underground into the cave things take an awry turn. A tunnel collapses and it becomes apparent that they aren't alone in the dark miles underground. Now they must battle for their lives against inhuman crawlers intent on devouring them all.
Nora-Jane Noone is a fantastic Irish actress, that she hasn't found immense success in her career is a travesty. Once again she's superb in what isn't exactly the meatiest role of the movie (her character's fate is sealed by a pivotal event not so soon into proceedings). She shines whenever on-screen though. Shauna McDonald does an excellent job as the emotionally shattered Sarah, still struggling to come to terms with the very untimely death of her closest family members. Also of note is Natalie Jackson Mendoza, as the most adventurous of the group Juno. Her character's perhaps the most flawed, and thus she needs to do a great job portraying the many misgivings and troubles Juno has in addition to the sheer horror of the terrifying situation she finds herself in. Those are the three actresses that stand out in the nearly all-woman cast. That all being said, everyone involved does pretty great, whatever their fates.
The prospect of having almost an entire motion picture set underground sounds like a somewhat daunting task, even when considering how such darkness adds effect to any horror movie. However, the people responsible for bringing "The Descent" to the screen have brilliantly executed a movie that feels all the more claustrophobic and tense in both the design sets of the cave and the sheer size differentiations. When characters are in small spaces they're often face to face with the blind crawlers, adding to the fear factor given the crawlers make up for their non-existant eyesight with excellent hearing. And when in large spaces, the size and darkness adds up to the possible shock factor. The crawlers can sneak up on the terrified women from any angle.
"The Descent" is high on blood and gore. With both the crawlers and the supposed victims taking their fare share of stabbings, murders and mutilation throughout the crawlers may always have the scare-factor and advantage of sheer numbers over the apparently doomed women, but always promises that its not all open-and-shut in this movie.
I love it when horror movies are done as well as this. Having always been a fan of the horror genre I've been left disappointed by movies that appear to think gore passes as horror or scares. Alas, that's not the case. What's so excellent about "The Descent" is that it has the ability to scare us as well as soak the picture in blood. Thus making for an altogether superior horror that's surely not one to be missed.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the scariest films I've ever seen, 3 Sep 2007
'The Descent' begins when there is an accident on the way home from a white-water rafting holiday, killing (the lead character) Sarah's husband and daughter. A year later, Sarah and her five friends meet up in a wood in America to go caving, only to find out (once it is too late) that the cave they have gone down has apparently been undiscovered before, so there are no maps or guides to the exits and there is also something living down there - some kind of creatures that are believed to have evolved from humans but have adapted to live in the dark.
I'm not usually someone who gets that scared by horror films but 'The Descent' was absolutely terrifying. As a majority of the film is based in the very dark, very compact caves, it makes this film very claustrophobic and the feeling that they can't see anything around them in the thick darkness is very unnerving indeed. There's a fair amount of blood and gore but it is all necessary, not just a splatterfest that most recent horrors go for these days. The "creatures" are also very creepy, being almost human adds a bit more realism to it all. The camera-work is very impressive, taking the claustrophobic feeling to the maximum. There is one scene in particular where the characters a crawling though a crack (literally) in the rock when the entrance caves in, which is honestly the stuff nightmares are made of! This scene also proves that this is a terrifying film even before they meet the creatures living down there.
Overall this is without a doubt one of the best horror films I have seen for a long, long time (British or otherwise). If you're after a tense, exciting, shocking and scary horror film, I can't recommend anything better than this. However it may put you off going caving for life!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not for casual fans of the horror genre!!!, 18 Nov 2006
Most people recommend "The descent" as an excellent terror movie, due to the fact that it manages to make a strange story believable, and because it conveys an atmosphere of paranoia and extreme fear. The actors are quite good, and writer-director Neil Marshall should be congratulated on the fact that he made a movie that scares the living lights out of the spectator.
You are curious about the plot? Well, it involves six women that are old friends, and that meet in order to explore new caves, in an effort to cheer up one of them (Sarah, played by Shauna MacDonald) that has recently lost her family. However, things go horribly wrong when they get trapped in an unexplored cavern system, without maps of any kind. As if the claustrophobia factor were not enough, they will have to face the fact that they are not alone in the cave, as someone is hunting them. On top of that, one of the members of the group has a secret that could destroy her relationship with Sarah and the other women. That doesn't sound too scary, does it? Despite that, it is. You cannot stop watching, because you wish to know how the story ends, but there are times when you will feel the temptation of turning off the tv.
I believe that many will love this movie, but that a lot of people will hate it. I can appreciate it as an excellent example of the horror genre, but I wouldn't rent it again. The reason is that, in my opinion, "The descent" is not for casual fans of horror movies. So, if you like actions movies with an ingredient of terror but are not really into scary stuff that looks too real, give "Alien vs Predator" a try and avoid this film. On the other hand, if you love horror movies that are extremely gruesome and you cannot detach from, you will probably love "The descent". It certainly wasn't my case.
Belen Alcat
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