The Very Definition of Horror in Its Purest Form.

Rating: Null/10 (8 October 2013)

One of the most genuinely frightening & paranoia inducing films to come out in a long time, The Descent is an ingeniously crafted horror masterpiece that seamlessly intertwines its incredibly tense & cleverly paced story with inventive cinematography, tight editing, mesmerizing score & strong performances from its all-female cast to create an undeniably creepy atmosphere of unrelenting claustrophobia which eventually launches such an all-out assault on our senses that the ensuing events turn into nothing short of an escalating experience of nightmarish horror.
Inducing fear from its isolated look, grim tone & eerie mood rather than relying on typical jump scares, The Descent is the very definition of horror in its purest form and with its sinister plot & nerve-jangling adventure, easily qualifies as one of the scariest films of this or any other decade. Its story concerns Sarah; an adventure junkie, who accompanies her friends on a spelunking trip after suffering a horrible tragedy an year ago. But their adventure soon turns into nightmare as their cave expedition goes horribly wrong & they find themselves being pursued by strange blood thirsty creatures.
The direction by Neil Marshall is very impressive as he lets the claustrophobic nature of his film play mind games with the viewers & by employing the 'less is more' trick, he truly succeeds in letting our imagination run wild. The screenplay makes sure that plenty of time is devoted to creating the build up, tension & mood of isolation while moving the story forward. The mountains & underground caves are exquisitely photographed but it's the effective use of shadows & lighting where cinematography plays its best part. And David Julyan's score contributed immensely in evoking the perfect tension & mood this film was aiming for.
Coming to the acting department, this film features an all female cast of six beautiful actresses who all chipped in with strong & sincere performances which apart from providing this film a realistic mood also made the drama all the more plausible. The character of Sarah is the centered piece around whom the whole story revolves, and Shauna MacDonald has done a terrific job in elegantly capturing the trauma, uncertainty & survival instincts of her character. The rest of the performances are no slouch either & everyone did an amazing job in their given roles.
On an overall scale, The Descent is a claustrophobic horror that works as a masterfully executed piece of original work from Neil Marshall and is an illustrious example of a horror film done right. It plays with your mind, forcing you to make assumptions & imagine the outcomes, and yet manages to surprise & shock you psychologically & viscerally. Destined to bring a smile on the face of every horror fanatics along with many screams of horror, this bloodstained nightmare of a spelunking adventure gone horribly wrong is absolutely recommended.
P.S. Make sure you grab the Unrated Cut of The Descent for it contains the original ending which sensibly wraps this film in a way that was always meant to be. The alternate ending (which was included in its US release) cuts to credits before its real ending & only ends up destroying so many of the possible outcomes it could've had, just for the sake of cashing in on its success with an uninspired sequel which eventually happened.