"Hey, There's Something Down Here..." --- Holly (Nora-Jane No one)

Rating: 10/10 (10 March 2007)

"The Descent" (2005)
Directed By: Neil Marshall
Starring: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring, Nora-Jane No one, & Oliver Milburn
MPAA Rating: "Unrated" (for strong violence/gore and language)
***PLEASE NOTE: This Is A Review Of The "Unrated" Version Of The Movie***
When The Arrow (horror critic from the "Arrow in the Head" website and really the only critic I listen to when concerning the horror genre) gave "The Descent" a four-star rating and named it his favorite horror movie of 2005, I immediately put it on my "Must-See" list. I finally got the chance in August to see it in theaters and I realized that Neil Marshall is a horror genius. With "The Descent", Marshall crafted one of the greatest entries to the horror genre in the past decade, combining claustrophobia and bloodthirsty creatures flawlessly. It has been a long time since I found a horror movie that is one of the year's best moviesbut I found that with "The Descent". This film is shocking, terrifying, and surprisingly effective. For the first time in a very long time, a horror movie actually had me trembling when I left the theater. And, when I picked up the Unrated DVD and watched it (knowing the alternate ending ahead of time), I found myself even more affected by its unflinching and deeply dark attitude. "The Descent" is a serious horror movie--incomparable to most others made today.
Sarah (Macdonald) is a troubled woman. One year ago, her husband and her daughter were killed in a car accident, which she barely escaped. She has never been able to recover from the devastating blow. Her friends, including Juno (Mendoza) and Rebecca (Mulder), decide that taking a vacation will do her good and, knowing that Sarah enjoys exciting things, they choose a cave-diving adventure. At first, everything is going perfectlybut then the entrance caves in and the women find themselves trapped beneath the earth's surface with no way of knowing whether they can find the exitif it even exists. Things go from bad to completely hellish when they discover that they are not alone in the cave, for a group of vicious, bloodthirsty creatures are thriving down in the darkness and they have been waiting for a fresh meal. Scream your last breath.
People expecting a shallow, bloody, and rapidly-faced war between man (or, more appropriately, woman) and creature will be disappointed with "The Descent". It is not the typical horror movie and I thank God for that. The first half is a calmly-paced caving expedition that exploits everyday fears we may have, such as claustrophobia and fear of darkness. It gives us to time to develop bonds with the characters, particularly Sarah and Juno. Then, the nightmare truly begins and the characters we have come to feel for are plunged into one of the most horrifying scenarios imaginable. They are trapped in the darkness with the chance of escape growing smaller and smaller with every passing minuteand, on top of that, hordes of violent, snarling creatures arrive and tear into the group of friends. Then comes the war. You see, these women are not the clichéd female characters from horror movies that scream, hide, and cry hysterically the entire timeand then die. These women, though scared and emotional, want to survive and do not merely run around like chickens with their heads chopped off. They fight to the death and unleash their most animalistic instincts in order to survive. This is handled in a realistic and believable fashion.
When "The Descent" premiered in Britain, it featured a different ending than the version released in the originalan ending that changed everything, but that was only a few moments longer. I am proud to say that the "Unrated" edition features the original endingthe way the movie was meant to be seen. It was a more fitting ending and, for me anyways, a much more thought-provoking. Strong performances by the almost entirely-female cast give this movie an excellent finishing touch and Neil Marshall's direction ups the tension and terror without using clichéd and overused styles. I was happy to see that the creatures were exposed in only brief glimpses or usually bathed in darkness, instead of being shown outright from the opening scene. This concept was probably most successfully used in "Jaws", but, here, it is used almost just as effectively. On the slightly negative side, there were a few characters that weren't given enough time to develop so I got them confused when things went crazy. But, "The Descent" is easily the best horror film of 2006 and of the past few years. It is tense, suspenseful, and ultimately horrifying.
Final Thought: Are you tired of seeing the same, generic horror movie over and over? "The Descent" is the cure for that.
Overall Rating: 10/10 (A+)