Dark and Claustrophobic Horror

Rating: 8/10 (17 August 2006)

The Descent is a horror movie that develops a plot that's original, harrowing and not for the claustrophobic or faint-of-heart. I had never seen the actresses who play members of a hiking group embarking on a misadventure in an unexplored cave, but I was duly impressed. Natalie Jackson (Juno) is beautiful almost to a fault and very gifted. It would be nice to see her in prominent roles in the future.
The psychological aspect of the horror in this movie keeps building tension and is intelligently handled, where a lot of things are hinted at but not spelled out for the audience, and the caves and the things that happen inside them are unexpected and disturbing.
No doubt about it, this movie does justice to its genre and I daresay that even the seasoned horror fan will be affected by it in some way. It is not a movie that leaves you indifferent to the fate of the characters, and the ending is unapologetic and uncompromising (European version).
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