One of the best horror flicks in the last few years.

Rating: 10/10 (24 August 2006)

Like "Open Water" and "Blair Witch Project", this is a movie that holds more in its setting than it does in the fear factor. "The Descent" isn't your typical screaming, jump-fest, it's a film that creates the situation more scary than the atmosphere. However, what makes a movie like this work is the constant feeling that something will in fact trigger that atmospheric feeling that every horror tries to manipulate onto the audience. And even though there are certain scenes that have you jump out of your seat, this is not an exercise in just how many surprises you can take. It's an exercise in how long you can have your hands squeezing the seat before it starts to hurt.
It is a movie that centers around Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) and her female friends who, every year, take a trip somewhere adventurous and explore. After Sarah's husband and child are tragically killed in a car accident, she suffers emotional pain but decides to bond again with her friends and do something fun to get her mind off of everything. This time, they decide to explore a deep cave. Of course, being a horror, the cave isn't really ordinary. In this cave, there are dead ends, rocks falling, bridges collapsing, deep holes, and-- oh yeah, mutated creatures. These deadly creatures hunger and without warning, eat the living flesh right off your body. Sarah and her friends must avoid all obstacles and reach the exit of the dark cave, before it's too late.
Neil Marshall, previously famous for "Dog Soldiers", creates a movie so intense, so teeth clenching, you have no choice but to feel tense. His use of space and camera angles creates an almost surreal claustrophobic feel. There you put yourself in the situation, and as you imagine yourself walking through a dark cave full of monsters, you get more terrified. Never before has a movie put me in such terror without even realizing it.
In the day and age where horrors are all the same, and where they're only made for money, a horror fanatic needs some sort of reminder that there are some movies that still excite. Being a huge fan of the genre myself, it was a pleasant treat, and definitely a scary one. Call it being biased, call it too early, but "The Descent" makes its way up into one of my favorite movies of the year.