Product: The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 4.0
Low budget greatness
The Descent didn't actually scare me, but it came closer than any film I've seen. The claustrophobic angles and dark, nearly pitch black lighting really gave it an effect I haven't seen since Pitch Black. The creatures were well done and nearly believable, and quite frightening. I would hate to be in the caves with them. Since this was a horror/thriller, the story wasn't expected to be very dense, and the characters weren't expected to be atypical, and this is usually the fault with this genre. If you want to terrify the audience, you need to identify with the victims and get to care for them. In this film we're just barely introduced to them enough to get to know their stereotype. But all of this doesn't matter when they enter the cave system and we see the beautiful underworld. This cave has never been mapped, so this is the greatest adventure these spelunkers could hope for, until the crawlspaces collapse behind them. With no way back, they move onward looking for an exit when the dark, confined spaces start to take a toll on their minds. But being stuck under the earth is the least of their worries. I really liked how well the film was made, and how complex the story got once the action got started. I said early we didn't expect the people to be atypical, but they really developed under the pressures of darkness, flight and survival.