Product: The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 4.0
A worthwhile, suspenseful horror film from the director of "Dog Soldiers"
WHAT'S IT ABOUT?This review is the for widescreen, unrated DVD edition of "The Descent". "The Descent" proves that the road to redemption and the road to recovery are often paved with the bones of distant memories, ghosts and friends. Neil Marshall's first film "Dog Soldiers" inverted the paradigm for horror films featuring werewolves and cleverly used the template of "Aliens" creating a memorable beast all its own. Marshall now does the same thing for spelunking. One year after a family tragedy Sarah (Shauna MacDonald) and her buddies Juno (Natalie Jackson Mendoza) and Beth (Alex Reid) meet up with three other women on their annual outdoor pilgrimage. In the past they've done climbing, white water rafting and other extreme sports. This year Juno has chosen the Appalachian Mountains and a series of underground caverns for them to explore. They get lost. Their friendships sour as they find they are being hunted by vicious creatures that have no fear.IS IT WORTH BUYING?Absolutely. If in doubt rent it but be aware that the "R" rated version has a slightly different ending than the unrated edition. The unrated edition seems to be the same as the UK theatrical release.IS IT WORTH WATCHING?Yes. While "The Descent" shares a similar setting to "The Cave", it's a close cousin to "Aliens" and "Pitch Black". It's one of the most suspenseful and best written films in the horror genre of the year. Writer/director Neil Marshall ("Dog Soldiers")creates characters that are memorable each with their own individual quirks and allows the actresses to inhabit their roles completely. Each character is not a faceless victim but has enough character development and scenes to make them interesting and memorable. Marshall also fills his film with references to other horror movies as a tribute to them--you can spot inspirations from "Deliverence", "Alien", "The Thing" and many other classic horror films/thrillers that inspired him. This is definitely a worthwhile horror film.HOW DOES THE FILM LOOK?Great. "The Descent" receives a gorgeous transfer to DVD. If you have a widescreen TV go for the widescreen edition of the film as the carefully composed images look truly beautiful particularly during the white water rafting sequence that opens the film and the foreboding drive through the Appalachian Mountains(actually shot on location in Scotland). The level of detail is remarkably sharp with surprising depth given how dark much of the film is. The use of light, darkness and shadows is expertly portrayed in this edition. Colors are right on target with nice warm skin tones where appropriate. Director Marshall also makes effective use of color, texture, light and darkness to drive home the dramatic effects of the film and they are rendered extremely well in this edition.WHAT EXTRAS ARE INCLUDED?We're given two audio commentaries with both effective and intelligent. The first one features director Marshall, producer Christian Colson, Editors Jon Harris & Tina Richardsen and the production designer Simon Bowles focusing on the technical elements of the film, how various effects were achieved, shooting on a soundstage vs. actual location shooting (the entire sequence set in the caves was shot on soundstages) and the effort that went into creating the careful mounting element of fear that dominates the film. The production crew commentary is fun to listen to even when they aren't discussing technical stuff as they're all friends enough to bust each other's chops.The second audio commentary features Marshall again with his female cast. While they do discuss the various technical elements that made the film so effective, they also focus on the physical challenges of shooting the film and the development of their characters.The short documentary "The Descent: Beneath the Scenes" allows us to be the proverbial flies on the wall; we see the construction of the elaborate cave sets, the design for the creatures and production issues that arose during the shot. Director Marshall discusses the change to the ending in a short interview and how the film tested with American audiences, his feelings about the changes and how it impacted the drama. A blooper reel is included as well as deleted scenes that elaborate on their characters relationships. A stills gallery and series of biographies round out the goodies in this set.We also get storyboard to sceen comparisons. Folks who purchase this film at BestBuy will get a second disc that was a featurette release in the UK on the make up/visual effects showing how they prepared some of the puppets for some of the effects, some of the gore effects and the preparations for the prosthetics in the film. The featurette runs about 12 minutes and because it's the only thing on the disc there isn't a menu to choose from. It's a pity that Lion's Gate didn't think to throw additional previews from other films on here as well as the original theatrical trailer.CONCLUSION:In a year of dreary remakes, sequels and bad horror films "The Descent" doesn't pretend to be the most original horror/thriller of the year but, instead, takes a conventional situation and twists it inside out with clever plotting and characterizations. This improved version features the unrated cut of the film, the original, darker ending of the film and enough extras to make you feel as claustrophobic at the cast did on the set during the shoot. Lion's Gate, Pathe and Marshall have done a top notch job with this release.