Product: The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) [Blu-ray] (2006)
Rating: 4.0
A moody, character driven horror piece.
I'll come to the bottom line first and say that, overall, this is an excellent horror movie. The gist is that six women decide to take their yearly adventure spelunking in an Appalacian cave only their group leader decides to take them to an unexplored, unmapped cave rather than the "cakewalk" that they were expecting. Naturally a cave-in ensues and the women are trapped, trying to find their way out. As if that weren't bad enough, the cavern is home to a horde of hungry meat-eating humanoids (think Golem from LoTR, only not nearly so timid).On the plus side of this movie, the actresses all do an excellent job and, if it weren't a horror movie, these performances likely would have all gotten attention from the Oscars and such (perhaps they did, I don't watch the Oscars but I don't remember hearing anything about this movie). This is an odd horror movie in that character development really drives the movie rather than the plot (28 Days Later is perhaps the movie that seemed to have a similar feel in that regard to my recollection).This movie has some of the same problems too, as 28 Days Later, particularly regarding a relatively flimsy plot that requires some suspension of disbelief. The acting is so good that you won't likely notice it unless you think about it. For instance, the women, after being trapped, quickly realize that other humans have been down in the cave before them (they find a 100 year old pitton). Although obviously these previous humans never made it out alive, the women at one point start following arrows the previous group had left behind (why would you follow the arrows left behind by another group who died in the cave?). The women also find some reasonably recent looking cave drawings that include a rhino (in the Appalacians?)....the humanoid monsters also present some significant logical problems. They're plenty scary, but a little thought makes you wonder how they ever survived in that cavern. They're blind, which makes sense, and apparently hunt using hearing. Although it seems their hearing isn't any better than humans. They apparently don't use it to hone in on prey like bats (despite what one character suggests) since they don't notice any of the women when they're 2 feet away as long as the women remain quiet (apparently their hearing is not so good that they can hear breathing). For the same reason it's clear they don't use sent, or apparently even notice when they're touching a human (several of these scenes are added in for suspense but are cliche and only make the monsters look like idiots). Despite sharp teeth and claws, the monsters also seem rather weak. Although the women in the movie are well built, the critters clearly have less strength than the women do, and it's only the sheer number of monsters that make them a threat. And how tenatious they are. Apparently these critters never figure out that the women are pretty lethal and that easier prey could be had elsewhere.The other big negative of the movie is simply that, like any movie that takes place in the dark, it's sometimes just hard to see what's going on. Although this oppressive darkness is meant to add to the sense of claustrophobia, it ultimately makes for annoying viewing.That having been said, this movie is still a good viewing, and if you can suspent your disbelief a bit, does manage to be reasonably intense. But it's the fine acting and production that makes the movie worth watching.