Review of Descent (2007) by William S — 19 Jun 2015

The Descent is a wonderful adventure film turn creature feature that hits all the right buttons. We've got tragedy, conflict, fear, struggle... and blood. Lots and lots of blood.

The film sets up the events to take place and while the flashbacks relating to the opening events in the film are a little hackish and unecessary imo, they don't detract. Then we enter into the adventure portion which if you're claustrophobic, might be scary to boot. Spelunking is not for the less nimble. And when you're amateurs, as most the women in the group are, it can seem downright frightening. And then disaster! Things start to ramp up... and then creatures!

This is where the film truly manages to either make fans or break viewers as it has jump scares, creepy scares, tension, and gruesome visuals galore.

Where the film just doesn't work for me is the conflict between the girls. The hints and discovery of infidelity which lead to a man versus man versus beast situation weren't well enough portrayed. I've seen the film a number of times and still find it to be the case and anyone I've ever shown it to for a first time always has questions about it at the end.

The Descent is an almost perfect adition to the genre but despite the little storytelling problem, it manages to entertain genre fans time and time again. Worth re-watching and enjoying whether for a first time, or 30th time. Highly recommended... as long as you don't mind a tight space filled with blood.