Product: The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 4.0
As good as the hype.
After reading and hearing the exorbitant amount of hype for The Descent I was sure I was going to be disappointed but surprise surprise I was anything but.As another reviewer has posted, this movie is not reinventing the wheel but rather, it does a great job of displaying the wheel in a different and refreshing way.............for example:Although the actresses are not exactly going to be nominated for an academy award this is the first "horror" movie I can remember in a long time where they and their actions are fairly believable and not once during the movie did I say to myself/ yell at the screen "dont do that! what are you thinking idiot!?!" (like gee I dunno just about every horror movie made in the last 5 years including the garbage, mindless gore flicks exploiting the success of the overhyped SAW)The acting is solid for the most part, which is also a huge positive characteristic of the film since there are no "big stars" to anchor the film- which is completely attributal to a solid script, storyline, and character development/ representation. There is at least one actress whose character seems a bit cheesey and exagerated as some sort of adrenaline junky but then again I used to skydive so Im used to cheesey stereotypes of "thrill-seekers", or whatever that is supposed to mean.Another favorable attribute of the film, at least to myself, is that there is no happy, low-risk-cheesey-gutless-Hollywood-ending. The people responsible for creating this film have guts.Lots of typical horror movie cliches to satisfy fans of the genre- atmospheric and creepy colored lighting and intelligent use of the dark, roller coaster tension rides, impressive score, and what appears to be somehwat of a homage to the Shining (or not) in some of the heli shot environmnet scenes in the begining with similar foreboding music.I know many modern horror fans out there like the gore and blood but I was actually turned off by the amount which I felt dumbed down the film (I only had the option of watching the unrated) but then again I was raised on Halloween, The Shining, Jaws, a little of Friday the 13th, the Excorcist, etc. back in the day.Im not sure if this film will translate to broader success outside of the horror fanbase as I still think there is too much gore for something along the lines of a film like Aliens to become a hybrid hit but fans of the genre should eagerly attempt to see this film.