One of the best horror movies I saw recently!

Rating: 10/10 (5 December 2005)

When someone told me the story of Descent, I though "Oh yeah, just another stupid movie about a bunch of stunning college girls in revealing clothes trapped by accident somewhere in nowhere and being chased by bunch of freaking monsters, then slaughtered one by one in horrible ways but not before we see most of their perfect bodies." Surprise, surprise, it's not like that at all. First of all, I was pleasantly surprised to see that movie was British, and since I have a big respect for British cinematography it was actually a good sign for me. Second surprise: it is actually scary! And it's done very well, very professional direction, great script, great actors and genuine scares. Women (not girls!) in the movie are beautiful though, but not in a pin up way. What hit me most is the many ways story could be interpreted. I can not describe those ways of interpretation here, because that would contain a lot of spoilers, but it's fascinating how many details in movie have symbolic meaning and how their interpretation, which depends on the viewer, can affect the whole plot and the way we see the story. Even without surreal horror elements in The Descent, the movie would be scary because of all that claustrophobic setting that is offered. Just the thought of being trapped 2 miles in the underground cave with possibility of never seeing sunlight again is scary enough for me. And the whole expedition into the caves looks genuine enough for me to believe. Characters are also great, well developed, though uneven. It's quite clear that some of them are more in focus, more developed than the others. Even so, the Descent is great horror movie.