Product: The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 2.0
Starts Out Strong, But Fizzles Quickly...
Let me start by saying that I may need to quit listening to the opinions of some of my co-workers in regards to movies to watch, at least when it comes to the horror genre. Numerous people where I work told me that this movie, "The Descent" was absolutely one of the best horror movies ever to be made. In their defense, my co-workers weren't the only people with this opinion, many critics and other moviegoers said the same thing. Well, apparently the hype that was built up for me regarding this movie was more than the film could live up to, because I was sorely disappointed, but more on that later, for now I will give you my plot summary for last year's supposed horror spectacular, "The Descent""The Descent" begins with a young woman on vacation with her family and friends, when her husband and her daughter suffer a tragic accident. One year later at the prodding of those same friends, she accompanies them on a spelunking adventure, the problem is none of her friends have ever been to this cave, in fact it's a newly discovered cave that no one has explored as yet. So as they attempt to explore the unexplored these brave young women become trapped in the cave. Making matters worse, this cave is not like any ordinary cave, for this one is inhabited by bloodthirsty mutant creatures who have just found their next meal.At the beginning of watching this movie I was really interested in the developing story, and the shocking opener really caught my attention, giving me a sense that this movie is going to be different than most horror movies by actually giving you the unexpected. However, once the story gets to the part where the girls are inside the cave, which is actually where the majority of the film takes place, things begin to go awry for the picture. At first, the filmmakers were doing a good job of using the claustrophobic atmosphere, giving the audience a sense of entrapment and anxiety which served to heighten the suspense regarding the possibility of impending doom. Then the filmmakers introduce a fact that I felt completely derailed the movie, this is a cave that no one has been in, and these girls are hardly professional. So, who in their right mind would put all of their friends lives in possible jeopardy just to be the first to explore a newly discovered cave. It's absolutely stupid, especially when placed viewed in the context of the character's interaction and companionship with each other, none of these girls would do this to each other. After this occurs the mutants show up, a plot point that I was hoping would help put the movie back in the right direction; however, this is where the movie begins to unwind even faster, because it's now just one gory scene after another, and the movie is nothing more than your average monster movie. A decision I somewhat agreed with, yet still didn't agree with was the decision to keep the mutants origins unknown. On the one hand this served to add to the mystery of why they are attacking these girls, you just assume they're cannibalistic, but on the other it would have been nice to know how they got there.Even though "The Descent" was hyped as being one of the best horror movies of recent time, by both my friends and many critics and moviegoers, to me it was merely another average addition to a genre that is already full of mediocrity."The Descent" is unrated and contains violence and language.