Best Horror Film of 2005 (or 2006, since I'm in the States)

Rating: 9/10 (28 February 2007)

Actually, I think this was one of the better horror movies in the past several years. Recent films like the French "Haute Tension", the Australian "Wolf Creek" and the American "Saw" have all been decent, but they conjure up images of other, better horror films - i.e. "Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Psycho (1960) and "Last House on the Left". "The Descent" manages to be highly original while paying homage to "Deliverance", especially. The story revolves around a group of thrill-seeking women. Apparently, they get together every year for a new adventure. As the film opens, three of the women are white-water rafting. In the opening ten minutes, we learn a) that these ladies are serious about adventure, b) one of them is having an affair with the other's husband, and c) a horrific accident will prove extremely important to the rest of the film. Skip to next year and now there are six women and the adventure is spelunking. Juno, the leader of these women warriors, has decided to take the ladies into a cave system. None of the women are overly experienced in caving, but they like their chances initially. What follows is some extremely claustrophobic and tense action (and this is before the Crawlers even show up!). The darkness is cloying, but the viewer still can tell what's happening. As the ladies descend further into the cave system, they slowly realize that all is not what it seems. Juno's ego becomes too big for the group and panic ensues. After this, all bets are off and the action is nonstop and pretty damn scary. I've seen (and own) a lot of horror films and I'm happy to say that this has been added to that canon for repeat viewings. Watch this alone with the lights out and surround sound and you won't sleep for a week. Enjoy!!