bloody good

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2005)

Just caught this one and I'm still reeling a bit. I really didn't expect very much of it at all, and was a bit concerned about the idea of Neil Marshall playing it straight. Part of the reason why Dog Soldiers worked so well was it's very English sense of humour, and without that I thought The Descent would flounder. Turns out I was very wrong indeed.
Where the film succeeds most is simply by scaring the bejezus out of you. The whole cinema was wincing and shrieking along with the cast members, and there is an emotional depth that I'm surprised hasn't been made more of. Okay, so the cast are a little too photogenic for their own good, but then I suppose this is the movies. I don't think we'd care quite so much if Anne Widdecome got stuck in a cave.
I suppose the only potential minus point (largest selling point if you wear black, listen to nu metal and manage to combine a comfortable middle class background with like, so totally hating yourself)is the degree of bone crunching violence (literally). There is a great deal of blood. But... the film was quite restrained for the genre in that
1. Everyone stayed pretty much fully clothed for the entire movie
2. There was none of this psychological/ physical torture crap that everyone seems to feel obliged to put in anything even vaguely horror related these days (Takashi Miike, be very ashamed. Only kidding, love you really! Just from a distance. A very long distance). Okay, so one or two people got eaten, but the bad guys weren't doing it for kicks, they were hungry. For some reason that doesn't sit so badly with me. There. High horse dismounted.
Anyway... at the risk of rambling. Rather a pleasant surprise. Just go watch before they remake it, Hollywood style. The Descent is just the kind of film they'd bugger up royally given half a chance and a $40 million cheque. Which is why it's so nice to see we can make it instead.