Descend to the depths of quality horror

Rating: 7/10 (4 August 2006)

After a half-year of horror films that play into every cliché imaginable, the movie-going public searches for a quality horror movie. The Descent, released to rave reviews in the U. K. last year, attempts to be no more than what it is  a simple horror movie with a simple theme: six girls enter a cave; trouble ensues. While it recognizes its simplicity, The Descent offers more than most of the big-budget films of recent memory. It stands out amidst the remakes and goes back to the roots of horror  tension and fear. Shauna MacDonald plays Sarah, a woman who is haunted by a horrible accident and decides to break from her depression by going spelunking with the girls with whom she used to adventure. In this group there's the lead daredevil, Juno (Natalie Mendoza) and her new protégé, Holly (Nora-Jane No one), Sarah's close and loyal friend, Beth (Alex Reid), and the newbies  sisters Rebecca (Saskia Mulder) and Sam (MyAnna Buring). Following Juno, the girls explore a cave system in the Appalachian Mountains and everything goes wrong. There is a reasonable amount of buildup that some viewers may find dull, but it keeps the movie from being full of gratuitous gore and worthless attempts at scares. The cave monsters that arise and attack are quick and frightening, with a familiarity that brings memories of the creatures in House on Haunted Hill (1999). For a simple film reliant on many jump scares and some physical gore, there are still some complexities. The relationships and feelings among the girls only add to the viewers' enjoyment and the caves themselves force the viewers to empathize with the characters' feelings of claustrophobia, paranoia, and panic. The Descent was advertised as coming from the production company that brought us Saw and Hostel, and Lions Gate is definitely making its mark in the genre. The Descent fits nicely into the category and should not be missed.