Not Marshall's Best, But Still Better Than Many Horror Films

Rating: 7/10 (4 January 2007)

A year after one woman loses her husband and daughter in a freak car accident, she joins up with five of her friends to go spelunking in a big cave. But a fun afternoon turns tragic, and the women are not alone... can they survive the dark, tight spaces, and the unknown? This movie is by no means original. Other movies take place in caves and other horror movies take place in caves and other movies, horror and others, have people encountering similar problems in caves. For example, "The Cave" (see the review for this elsewhere). But this is not to say it's a bad film... all movies have predecessors, and this might set the new standard for cave movies.
Also, I should highlight Neil Marshall, a "rising star" on the horror scene and a member of the nonsensically sorted group known as the "Splat Pack". This is his second horror film, following "Dog Soldiers". Many in the horror world and in the media have praised "The Descent"... but the real praise should be for "Dog Soldiers", which is by far the better movie in terms of plot, editing and gore.
"The Descent"'s biggest flaw was, for me, the editing and pacing. I watched the DVD timer and the entire first hour consisted of simple talking about random things with no plot relevance (I'm glad they have a good girl's weekend, but why does this matter?). The action arrives in the last twenty minutes. The action is gory and fast-paced, but hardly makes up for the first hour. Could we have extended the second half and lost the first half? Or maybe just condensed this to an hour long film? I realize theaters won't carry shorter movies, but the fact of the matter is there was not enough of a story to tell here.
I also think the number of characters could be reduced. I cannot tell you the names of the women for the most part, and they had little back story. Cutting the number down to four or five and making them more three dimensional would have helped tons. I think there was a lesbian relationship in there somewhere, but it was not made clear. And the thick Scottish and Irish accents made the women more dense... far too dense to throw that many people in without developing them.
One small complaint: the women in this film were supposed to be about twenty-five from what I could gather. I found them to be in their mid-thirties. This made the film not only misleading (why do you look so old?) but denied the viewer a horror staple: young women. The iconic blood bath scene was hot, but would have been even hotter with a younger woman. (I suppose you could argue the woman with the child needed to look older, but I don't think so. A 25-year old woman could easily have a 6-year old daughter, especially after seeing "Amityville Horror" where a young Melissa George somehow has a 12-year old daughter.)
If you have the option, watch this film on DVD, because I honestly think the best part was the outtakes. Showing the green screen was hilarious... a nice surprise after such a snoozer of a film. I'm also disappointed in the special effects... notably the fake bats. Marshall proved in "Dog Soldiers" he's a fake gore and puppetry master -- why all the computerized blood and bats and morlocks?
Despite all my nitpickery and bashing, the movie is still worth seeing and really sets a pace for other films of its kind. Neil Marshall has made a name for himself with this one and I hope he is able to ride that wave with "Doomsday" and future projects. I know what he's capable of and I want nothing more than for him to give fans the very best.