A terrifying movie that draws comparisons to Alien

Rating: 8/10 (4 August 2006)

The Descent is so far the best horror movie of 2006, and one of the best in a long time. It draws comparisons to Alien and understandably so, but it is still not quite on the same par as that excellent horror film. But it is an intense engaging thriller nonetheless.
The movie starts out with three female friends on a white water rafting trip. They are about to finish their trip while the husband of one of them stands on the side with their daughter. This would be Sarah's (Shauna MacDonald) husband. The sense of doom starts from the beginning, and continues onward into a big shocking scene which works perfectly.
It is now a year later and the same friends are meeting to go on a caving expedition. Sarah is still having nightmares about that shocking scene earlier in the film involving her husband and daughter, but she goes on the trip anyway. She meets up with the two friends that were with her on the rafting trip as well as three others. One of those two girls who had been on the rafting trip is Juno (Natalie Mendoza) and we already know from one of the beginning scenes that Juno had an affair with Sarah's husband, yet Sarah doesn't know it yet. This is where the suspense starts and only increases as these girls soon find themselves struggling to survive at first a cave-in which makes things more difficult, and then something even worse as they discover they are not alone in that cave.
Neil Jordan, who directed Dog Soldiers a few years ago, directs this film with an outstanding touch. He uses different shades of light as well as shadows to make this film even more claustrophobic,that by the time the monsters come around 50 minutes into the film, your nerves are already on edge. So when the monsters appear and the blood and gore starts, you are swallowed up by the carnage.
There is not a lot of character development in this movie, but that is not the point. This is one effective horror film that will have you thinking after you've seen it. I know it will be on my mind for awhile.
The film is not perfect. It does not have the same effect as Alien did, but it does come close. With the exception of one scene near the end involving two of the characters that I just couldn't quite accept as something that one of them would do, this film works by making all of the characters believable. The performances were very well done, and maybe that's why I couldn't quite accept what happens between those two characters. Maybe others will see it differently, but I'm not about to give that little spoiler away. You'll have to see the movie and understand what I mean.
Overall this was an effective horror movie and well worth seeing. It has suspense, believable characters, and gore. All the things that make up what I think a horror movie should have. And on one final note, parents please do not bring young children to see this movie. It's R rated for a reason. I say this because I saw some parents with children under six watching this film.