Product: The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 5.0
An Education in Claustrophobic Terror!
5 Stars = MasterpieceFew horror movies, if any, in the last ten years match the intensity, suspense, dread, action, acting, direction, character study, & just the up in your face horror of "The Descent!"A group of women descend in to a cave that is supposed to be already explored, at least that is what they all think, except Juno, who has actually taken them to a uncharted cave system. Juno wants them to be the first to explore it. So our story starts, after a prologue of Sarah, Juno's best friend (or should I say, biggest guilt?) loses her husband & daughter in a car wreck, & the group of friends meeting each other after a long absence, at a cabin in the woods.If you're claustrophobic, then don't watch this film, as the women crawl, climb, & dig their way in to the cave. In a terrifying scene, Sarah gets stuck in a small passage way. Her friend Beth, crawls back to talk her out of panicking, so she can get Sarah out. As this starts to work & Sarah squirms her way out, the passage starts to collapse on top of her, as Beth urges her to move fast! Hence the cave now becomes a huge looming cavernous maw that swallows them whole, & closes it's mouth. The women are stuck in a giant cave complex, filled with passages, spreading out like veins in a hand, with no idea if there is another way out. A true horror, that is completely plausible!As the women search for a way out, with many a suspenseful scene, the cave becomes more & more ominous. They find ancient drawings from cave dwellers that suggest another entrance (exit) of the cave. It is here that all hell breaks loose, as their stalked by mutant cave dwellers for food, one by one.Not since "Aliens" has there been such intense action in a horror film, as the women punch, kick, bludgeon, & stab their way through thrilling scene after scene of survival carnage with the mutants. This is literally savage, & is filmed, acted, & choreographed in such a way that it sucks you in like a giant vortex, right into the action! The mutants make up is totally credible & genuinely scary, especially the female mutant. They look like a cross of humans with bat like features on their head & faces, true subterranean looking creatures, right out of a nightmare!To say much more about the story, would be giving to much away. I will say this, the film is a experience! An experience in terrifying claustrophobic horror. One has a hard time figuring out which is more terrifying, the cave & it's hopelessness, or the mutants? Both are a potent combination, & if it were not for the terrific cinematography, make up, ensemble acting, direction, setting, & editing, this film could've of been just another forgettable horror film. Thanks to director Neil Marshall, it's not! For he has created a true masterpiece of the genre, & though there have been similar films, at least in theme of cave creatures, this film stands as a true original masterpiece!The Blu-ray looks & sounds fantastic, if you don't have it, it's time to upgrade!Essential viewing for the horror lover!