Like/Hated This Movie

Rating: 7/10 (4 November 2013)

Can I say that I thought this was a really well made movie while hating it at the same time? I'm always on the lookout for a good scary movie & I'm very critical at what makes a good scary movie. I think the "Boo" factor is a cheap way of getting a scare out of you, while an intriguing creepy plot is how to absolutely terrify. I don't care for stupid monsters and goriness. I love dark, mysterious, haunting movies like What Lies Beneath and the first Paranormal Activity. Descent threw some curve balls at me. I hate movies like Sanctum because I feel uptight and claustrophobic the entire time and this is what Descent does to you. It's intense and really makes you feel like you're there. One girl breaks her leg and it almost made me want to vomit because it was so realistic. The sequence of events had me saying "I hate this, I hate this," but then as a couple of the women rose to the occasion to fight for their lives I started to like it. Juno wields an ice axe becomes a true bad ass attacking the creatures that have come to feast on them. When Juno accidentally kills one of her friends, she becomes a "bad guy" which I hated. Yes, she was a coward by walking away, but I hated that she ends up getting killed by Sarah in the end. What I did like about this movie was that it was extremely realistic. Most movies like this have me saying "Oh come on! No one would do that!" or "There is no reason they couldn't get away" or "Yeah right". In Descent each of the women act like real people, real outdoorsy chicks and when they are forced to become bad asses, it's not like some stupid tough guy chick like in Ultra Violet or Underworld. These girls are real bad asses (Mainly Juno & Sarah). Although the "crawlers" seem a little cliché horror movie-esqu, they achieve a bit believability mainly by vulnerabilities: they're blind and they can actually be killed. When Sarah finally breaks free of the cave you find yourself remembering to breath. (I didn't like that her escape turned out to be a dream and you're left wondering whatever *did* happen to her. Overall, not my type of "horror" flick, but very well made and realistic.