Product: The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 4.0
Poor branding by US marketing, but a great horror movie
Lion's Gate will be remembered by history as the film studio that made detailed on-screen torture a horror genre staple, as well as educating a generation of American serial killers in the most efficient way to extract an eyeball from a living victim's face.Politics aside, their choice to release Neil Marshall's brilliant film in the US is an uncharacteristic move of good taste on their parts. But it does explain the unfortunate billing the film received in the television adverts. ("If you liked Saw, you'll love the Descent!")Maybe so, maybe not. But the two films don't belong in the same genre.The Descent approaches the "Night of the Living Dead" style of trapped victim horror movies with several fresh ideas:1.) All the main cast are female, including many roles that are usually filled by men.2.) The environment itself (the cave) is as much a villain as the monsters.3.) The monsters themselves aren't necessarily evil. They start out afraid and curious of the women, until one of the women kills a monster.It is not a slasher flick. In fact, the low budget aspect of it all brings the focus far more onto the terror than onto the mutilation.Many of the scariest parts of this movie touch on some fairly primal fears (car accidents, claustrophobia, being eaten alive), but oddly enough, it's all done more with the audience's imagination than with graphic demonstration (the sign of a good director).As for the unedited ending, I don't think it makes much of a difference either way. I saw the UK version first.