It's as direct and as effective as bamboo slivers under the nails.

Rating: 9/10 (4 October 2005)

I like its simplicity. No explanation of who the monsters are. Nice, ambiguous ending that can have friends argue what exactly it means. The story is plain yet effective, so it's open to a lot of interpretations. I favor the idea the girls become so much like the monsters in the end, even ripping out the throat of one monster, that it's become hard to differentiate monster from human. Actually, the monsters care for each other, while we end up fighting each other out of fear and suspicion. I also like the idea they built sets and didn't go on location at all for the caves. They covered up their cheap sets by lighting the movie with the actors' cave lights, making things even eerier. I haven't seen "The Cave", which DID go on location, but I can only imagine they went through a lot of trouble only to have a lot of people dump on how dumb "The Cave" is compared to "The Descent". One friend summed it up nicely and made me bark in laughter, "This director sure doesn't like people." This one, and the upcoming Hostel, are the must-see horror films of the year for me.