Product: The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 5.0
An effective horror with characters
09/03/2008There are over 140 reviews so there's not much I can add in plot summary. I viewed the DVD over 6 months ago but decided to add a few comments and give away a few twists (warning: don't read this review if you want to be surprised).1. The story starts out with the lead character (Sarah), an outdoorsy young, married mother, suffering a horrible family tragedy - I'm not one to "get over it" if it happened to me - - the tragedy returns in the finally scene of the DVD unrated director's cut, and it is this closing of the loop that really haunts me, more than the Crawler creatures (which, as far as I know, don't exist).2. Because most of the actors are British/Irish/Scottish, I couldn't pick up all the dialogue. Fast forward a year, and the group of 6 adventurer friends join on an underground cave exploration outing. Unbeknownst to the group, the trip organizer (Juno) selects a cave system that isn't charted. That, in itself, demonstrates the recklessness of the leader and is one of several points of friction.3. To proceed further after roping down, they have to go through a narrow tunnel. I wouldn't crawl under my dusty bed to retrieve a dropped item much less a narrow tunnel dozens of feet underground but it was a situation of "no guts, no glory" according to their leader or turn back 10 minutes after starting off. The collapse of the tunnel, the only way in & out they know, is filmed in a claustrophobic manner -- this scene was very effective and gave me an ominous feeling right away.4. Although trapped, they persevere with tense nerves and friction with each other -- blaming and encouraging each other since they know the situation is very untenable. In one scene, one of the characters is overtaken with joy when she thinks there is a way out, and she (recklessly) suffers a broken leg that puts her and the group at even greater loss of hope.5. The antagonist Crawlers, as in most horror movies, are introduced slowly but once shown, they relentlessly attack the group. I'm sure reviewers have a great deal to say about this but the Crawlers are shown to be graphic killers - in the DVD extras, you see the Crawlers are human actors wearing albino suits -- they are not computer generated or added in the editing room. Knowing this, it explains their presentation and in my view, delivers the same scariness as Jurassic Park special effects.6. The movie devotes considerable time to the group's attempt at survival. The characters are smart, athletic & can fight back (not those wimpy, dumb female characters in other horror movies), but distrust and ill feelings set in, and there is a later scene where one character leaves another to the Crawlers to kill so she can flee. The character interactions are as interesting as anything in the movie and sets it apart from others - you actually feel for what they are going through, liking one over another, blaming some, while hoping they all survive but know that some won't make it. During all of this, you get to know something about the women characters, taking sides while watching them fight for survival.7. Well, I wrote that I will give away the final twist so here goes - - in the unrated DVD version (I can't compare it to the US or UK theatrical releases), you think the lead character survives, but she doesn't which is a sad ending in itself -- she imagines seeing her deceased young daughter (died a year earlier) in the final moments as her life is also about to end - perhaps that's better than surviving . . . a very impactful movie in my view.