An Excellent Off-beat Horror Movie

Rating: 9/10 (14 August 2006)

The IMDb reviews seem to be pretty polarized. Viewers either love it or loathe it. At times, it's as though we're all watching completely different films. I, for one, fall into the former category and am proud to say that 'The Descent' is, for me at least, one of the best horror films of recent years.
Purposefully harking back to the horror heyday of the 1970s, 'The Descent' takes its leisurely time introducing the premise  six adventurous women get trapped in an unmapped cave system. Refreshingly, there is no obligatory prologue showing us how a previous expedition was massacred. No campfire tales of local legends of mysterious creatures in the woods. In fact, there are none of the expected clues and hints and darting shadows to forewarn us that there is something else down there in the caves with them. When the creatures do appear, they are a brilliant creation of good old-fashioned make-up effects and all the more effective because of it. Though the second half of the film inevitably becomes an 'Alien'-style chaotic pursuit through dark corridors, it's carried off with such skill and relentless pacing that it never falls into tedium. Production design, cinematography, and editing are all first rate. So-called plot holes that other reviewers have pointed out are actually well explained, and the complaints reveal more of the viewer's lack of attention than any problems with what is, in fact, a fairly solid script.
If there is a gripe, it's with the character development. While the characters are given far richer and more rounded lives than the usual horror staples, they are poorly developed none-the-less. Little distinguishes the six women other than accent and hair color, and it's a shame that more thought was not put into creating six unique and individual characters. 'Alien', which 'The Descent' so clearly resembles, created diverse and dynamic characters in the first five minutes, and such care pays off ten-fold in our emotional investment during the ensuing action.
'The Descent' is a far more professional film than 'Dog Soldiers', and provides a rare degree of originality, solid scares, genuine suspense and gore. A quality movie all round.