A two hour heart attack

Rating: 7/10 (15 August 2006)

The poster lists this movie as the suspense successor to Alien and for once, I can agree with the hype. While horror/suspense movies are generally a genre that requires me to be in the right frame of mind to truly enjoy, I can remember the first time I saw Aliens and was fully on the edge of my seat. The kind of edginess that is independent of who is with you or where you are; the gasps and jumps are involuntary. But once the movie is seen once, the surprise and suspense are lost and another title must be found to replace the same feeling. This is one of them. The Descent offers a slow build-up, introducing the characters who are believable as friends and anonymously unknown to the North American audience so no preconceived opinions of who will make it out and who is wearing the Star Trek "red shirt". While character development is minimal, there is nonetheless a developing tension within the characters that builds to a tragic and rather original conclusion. CG effect monsters are replaced with traditional makeup and gore that present a visceral, real (and probably, given the situations probably realistic) depiction of the atrocities that ensue. My only criticism is for the first half of the movie, some of the characters are difficult to distinguish from, as costumes and hair are similar the inevitable culling commences.