Claustrophobic horror with tonnes of potential

Rating: 7/10 (16 March 2018)

Being a huge horror fan, 'The Descent' is a film that comes up again and again on "best of horror" lists on all sites across the internet. Whilst I do understand why, I think that 'The Descent' is generally overrated and accredited far too much within the horror genre. In this review I'll attempt to give a balanced analysis that covers all bases without revealing any major spoilers (although there will be minor ones that are in-keeping with what can be learned from reading summaries and watching trailers).
'The Descent' has a lot of promise, that much is true. The cave setting makes for a very claustrophobic and apprehensive mood which is definitely one of the strong points of the movie. There are definitely some very tense scenes that are incredibly boxed in and create a sense of panic that would not be as keenly felt in a different setting. The setting also allows for some interesting lighting, which further adds to the atmosphere whilst not relating too heavily on night-vision cameras (which is a trait of horror movies I dislike).
The movie is held together by a rather strong cast of female leads - Shauna Macdonald (Sarah), Natalie Mendoza (Juno), Alex Reid (Beth), Saskia Mulder (Rebecca), MyAnna Buring (Sam) and Nora-Jane Noone (Holly) - who don't over-act and play the characters reactions and behaviours convincingly. Although, the characters are completely lacking in any real substance or backstory (with the exception being Sarah and Juno who have a small amount of story invested in them), they're a pretty bog-standard set of characters for a horror movie. All of the characters do seem to suffer from the typical horror cliche of having complete lapses in logic or reason whereby they make ill-advised decisions that will have you screaming at your screen, but often these kind of silly decisions are necessary to put the characters in the kind of life or death situation the movie relies on. The relationships between the main characters are average, but more time could have been invested to creating more established friendships and interesting dynamics which would've raised the stakes and made me feel more invested.
Whilst the setting and cast are adequate, the plot itself is weak. The writers seem to over-invest in Sarah's (Shauna MacDonald) trauma which takes place at the beginning of the movie and her strained relationship with Juno, when ultimately this sub-plot and attempt at character development adds nothing to the overall story and seems totally out of place. It feels that it's been thrown in there so that it isn't JUST about the cave monsters, when in reality, it is just about the cave monsters. By investing much more time and attention to the character's development and relationships with each other, it could have been a lot more interesting and there could've been a real story that people could get on-board with.
There are certainly scary moments in there or rather jump-scare moments, but the build-up is lacking. For the first 40-45 minutes not much of anything happens at all, but the mood is set and the apprehension is built. Unfortunately, any build-up is very abruptly ended and after that there doesn't seem to be any sense of pacing. It's erratic and frantic, and seems to throw those over-used jump-scares in there at any given opportunity. For those that are seeking a genuinely scary movie, this doesn't deliver on that. I can imagine it would be much more effective in the cinema when it was first released since the emotion of physically being there would have been stronger and the noises would have been louder, but for home viewing, not so much.
What lets this movie down the most is definitely the addition of the cave creatures. Some would ask how I can possibly say that when the entire premise of the movie is built upon the creatures, but it's this that makes the movie feel cheap and unsatisfying. Whilst the idea that there are cave dwelling creatures that lurk in caves where no human has ever been is chilling and a possible reality, the execution is poor. For starters, whilst the audience know from the get-go there's creatures in the caves based on the synopsis, the appearance of them is incredibly sudden and destroys any sense of mystery almost immediately. Secondly, the appearance and general functioning of the monsters is completely inconsistent. Whilst the characters establish rather quickly they hunt by sound and are completely blind, apparently that means that the creatures can't hear heavy breathing and gasping less than a foot away. Unlike other reviewers, I do think the creatures are scary looking, but the writers did lack in imagination when designing them and are as others have described, they're essentially bad Gollum lookalikes. Furthermore, the attempt to villanise the creatures falls short because what exactly have they done wrong? They're primal cannibal creatures that hunt prey that has wandered into their habitat. If the women had wandered into a jungle full of tigers, the result would be exactly the same. Why exactly should we root for these women to survive or kill these creatures besides the fact that the women happen to be human? The stakes just aren't there for people to invest in or root for the characters to survive over the creatures. Also, towards the end of the movie there is too much reliance on the creatures and unnecessary violence and gore ensues which really does nothing to scare or interest viewers. In fact, it's at that point that the movie begins to lose me.
I saw a suggestion that this movie would have been much better if the creatures had been removed and the plot of the movie had instead been solely focused on the six women and their relationships with each other, becoming a psychological horror of sorts where the women are killed one by one and it is one of them that is doing it and it is the audience's task to guess who and why. I agree that this would have made for a much more interesting story. Not only would it have made the characters themselves more intriguing, but it would've vamped up the confusion, anxiety and fear ten fold whilst also giving the audience a mystery they can invest in that would keep them on their toes. It would have also provided an opportunity to develop a rich backstory for the characters that provides an interesting motive for the killer.
Overall, 'The Descent' has a lot to offer and the potential to be a great horror, but unfortunately, the lack of plot and inclusion of cave dwelling creatures that results in pointless gore and violence, means it falls short and fails to deliver a memorable viewing experience or leave the viewer feeling anything other than relieved it's over.