Horror like it should be

Rating: 8/10 (31 July 2005)

Neil Marshall follows up his surprise hit Dog Soldiers with claustrophobic creature-feature The Descent.
Being a fan of the horror genre I have found myself constantly disappointed with nearly all the horror movies I have seen at the cinema in the past few years. Hollywood keeps churning out terrible remakes of average Japanese films (the grudge, Ring, Dark Water etc.) terrible remakes of really terrible American films (House of Wax, Amityville Horror) and rarely do we seen a decent horror film with some good scares.
Mr Marshall delighted me with his previous film, Dog Soldiers. While the film wasn't original, big nor clever, it was tense, scary and comedic all at the same time, mostly though it was just entertaining. The Descent has a much darker tone than Dog Soldiers do and this is apparent from the beginning. as the main characters are introduced, we quickly learn that before any 'horror' has taken place, these are troubled and tormented people. The characterisation isn't majority developed, but enough so that we actually care about the main characters and we are given enough back-story to understand their motivation. Much better than the usual method of introducing 2 dimensional pretty-teenage cast members who are there purely for slaughter.
After the introduction of the characters and the situation, the second act begins with the girls heading off on an expedition into the caves. In my opinion, this presents the most excellent part of the film. The direction, lighting and wonderful sets (and locations) really broadcasts the sense of claustrophobia and risk involved in pot-holing/caving. Before we get as far as seeing any 'monsters' I was already squirming in my seat at the thought of the girls getting trapped in the caves. As the caving gets harder and the tensions rise, the strained relationships between the group members begins to show.
As we move into the final act, Mr Marshall lays on the 'horror' as we fans of the genre like. Subtle at first, throw in a few double takes and false starts, then lay on the scary/gory stuff thick and fast.
I'll not spoil the climax of the film, but it was most enjoyable. The director clearly demonstrates his understanding of the horror genre and how best to execute it. There are quite a few references to other classic films which are fun to watch out for as well. A lot of people have said there is an ambiguous ending which may or may not lead to you reading much deeper into the meaning of the film. Whether or not you agree, it doesn't matter, I felt this film was a most entertaining horror flick that will probably work on several levels.
Not too clever, but much smarter than 99% of recent Hollywood horror movies. Neil Marshall has to date made two excellent horror movies on a relative shoestring budget and still delivered the goods. I look forward to seeing his future work.