Disappointing but still Neil Marshall's film, so it isn't bad.

Rating: 7/10 (12 March 2008)

Everyone has a setback I suppose. I was hoping that Neil Marshall wouldn't for quite sometime, however. I throughly enjoyed his directing debut Dog Soldiers, and I had read many positive reviews of this film. It even won Saturn's award for the best horror film of 2006. While not horrible, The Descent is still an above average horror film that is occasionally horrifying. It lacked several of the factors that were present in Dog Soldiers, which is why I didn't enjoy it as much. I'm not trying to complain and say that I disliked it because it wasn't Dog Soldiers. Moreover, Dog Soldiers had several elements that are present in any great horror film.
Well, several of Marshall's auteur traits are showing their development in this film. Like Dog Soldiers, the film opens with a frightening death sequence, but this one is completely unrelated to the monsters. In the opening of Dog Soldiers, we are shown the werewolves killing some campers which frightens us and makes us anticipate their arrival. In The Descent, Sarah's husband's death was tangential to both the monsters and her "development" (or lack thereof) as a character. It barely made a difference other than the stereotypical depression it gave her. In the beginning of both films we see a dead animal and, fortunately, it does act to the tension in the both of them. Dog Soldiers' animal scene was more amusing, though. Additionally, Marshall delays the complete visibility of both monsters until about halfway in the films. This manifests a striking difference between the two films. In Dog Soldiers, we are aware of the carnage the werewolves commit and this makes us antsy. In The Descent, little evidence (save the dead animal) is shown of the creature's brutality nor do we have a preconceived notion of how threatening they are (since they are not based on actual mythical beasts). Therefore, the first half of The Descent is not nearly as entertaining as the first half of Dog Soldiers. One aspect that The Descent does better than Dog Soldiers is its ability to scare us without violence and bloodshed. There are several good frightening scenes which involve skillful framing and camera placement. There are also times where a character walks alone in the dark and doesn't die. This will scare you, just like Annie's walk to the washroom in the original Halloween (well sort of, she doesn't die immediately). This shows how knowledgeable Marshall is about the horror genre and his skill as a director. The Descent is also much darker (physically darker) than Dog Soldiers which does add the creepiness, but at the same time, makes it difficult to see the victims as they are attacked. When the first person was attacked (the fact that I cannot recall her name even with IMDb's help should tell you something) I was not surprised because I couldn't tell what was happening. I had to reverse the DVD for a few times to see it. Finally, we come to the most critical reason why The Descent is inferior to Dog Soldiers. The answer is characterization. When I first viewed Dog Soldiers, I was startled by how well the characters were developed and the questions I had about their personalities. I won't delve into that here (See my Dog Soldiers review for more information). In The Descent, we are shown the tragic death of Sarah's husband and little else. The other characters are periphery. While even Dog Soldiers had a few bit characters, The Descent had too many. The other characters besides Sarah and Juno were nothing more than plot instruments. Their only purpose was to be killed. I found this very disappointing. I wasn't expecting a complete character cast, but jeez, give me more than cute British girls and guts. The endings were another startling difference between the two. While Dog Soldiers' ending brought closure, Sarah's flashback was completely out of place. If more explanation of how her daughter's death had affect her, then it would have been acceptable but not preferred. The uncut ending where Sarah escapes to the car is much better than the theatrical ending. I'm sure that you'll know this but Marshall owes Peter Jackson a thank-you card. The creatures from this film were animated to appear the same as Gollum in LOTR.
So, don't think I didn't enjoy The Descent. I did but only a little. I was too disappointed to get the full benefit from this film. I would recommend that anyone who enjoys the genre see it. It's one of the best horror films to be released since Dog Soldiers itself. Those who aren't critics will probably enjoy it, hence the high rating on the IMDb. I, however, was disappointed but only because of its failure to build upon Dog Soldiers'. This film also elevates Neil Marshall to the throne of modern horror directors. With American horror stuck in sub-par remakes of Japanese films and 80's slasher films, he created two original and entertaining films. Both of which were not based on a novel, adding to his creativity as a writer. Unfortunately, both are being followed by American sequels which are bound to be vastly inferior (except The Descent II since Neil will be part of the project). Let's hope Doomsday can repair the mistakes this film has and return to the prominence of Dog Soldiers.