Product: The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 5.0
A gripping, claustrophobic film
I don't know why some people hate this film. I have read the bad reviews, and tried to sympathize, but I can't. It's got a somewhat slow beginning, but you can't always just jump into the action, and keep it up.The "descent" is figurative, as well as literal. The lead character, traumatized over the death of her husband and daughter in a vehicle accident, is having a hard time trying to cope with and process what happened to her. In time, she and her friends embark on a caving trip, and the one leading the trip, named "Juno," decided to surprise the rest of them by going to an uncharted cave, and they become hopelessly lost. And, there was apparently a betrayal by this Juno, and a lot of guilt ensues.But, being in an underground cave is a very claustrophobic experience; I once went on such a trip with some friends, and even though we didn't go too far down, and the upper part was explored and well-lit, we went into the dark part, and it's not a pleasant experience. You can actually feel the darkness, it's incomprehensibly dark, and seeing these people become stranded, with nothing around but the cave walls, I got uncomfortable watching it. So, when they start to see creatures in the deeper parts of the cave, it would be easy to just say it's the mind playing tricks. But why does nobody ever believe the person who says they have seen something? This is an old cliche', but it adds to the discomfort of experiencing this.When you go into the depths like this, you don't know what you'll find, and sometimes, it's better not to find anything. You are in their turf, they are perfectly adapted to their surroundings. There are detractors of this film who say it isn't scary, and I believe such people probably take Ritalin. Psychological terror goes on in the viewer's mind, as well as on the screen, and when we finally see the creatures that live in the cave, you now have some people who are lost, injured, disoriented, and quickly losing hope, plus now, they are hunted by these ghastly things that would tear you apart as soon as look at you (if they had eyes, these things, living in total darkness, are blind from birth). One reviewer, who hated the film, and gave it one star, said "...the monsters didn't look real..."I would ask you, how are they supposed to look? They live underground, apart from people, and aren't even a real species to begin with. But given this mindset, they would probably say the same thing upon seeing a deep-sea fish for the first time. Hey, they don't "look real" either.This film has probably the bleakest ending I have ever seen. (spoiler here)The main character, the one who lost her family in the car crash, is the sole surviver, and imagines escaping, in a hallucination sequence, and even though the photography here is spectacular, beautiful landscape, it is ruined by a gag-inducing moment, a startling moment, and a return to the bottom of the cave. This is her real "descent." One into complete insanity, with positively no means of escape. It's an uncomfortable film to watch, and following the events as it does, it achieves what suspense and horror films set out to do.And I don't think I will go into another cave. No thanks, I'll pass...