Review of Descent (2007) by Jeremy K — 19 Feb 2014

I don't think I'm in the minority when I say that many horror movies that came out in the 2000s sucked real bad. Occasionally you had a decent film, but the industry became polluted with remakes, rip-offs and basically a bunch of crap. Well, mostly American films fall into this category. But in 2006, the British horror film "The Descent" hit American theaters. It's a film with stellar special effects that never overshadow the characters.

It starts with a white-water rafting trip in Scotland with friends Sarah (Shauna Macdonald), Juno (Natalie Mendoza) and Beth (Alex Reid). When it's over, Sarah rides back to the hotel with her husband Paul (Oliver Milburn) and daughter Jessica (Molly Kayll). But Paul is distracted on the drive, and they crash, which kills him and Jessica; only Sarah survives. A year later, Sarah, Juno and Beth are in North Carolina with their friends Sam (Saskia Mulder) and Rebecca (MyAnna Buring), along with Juno's new friend Holly (Nora Jane Noone). They go recreational spelunking in a cave, but it collapses behind them, and Juno then reveals they're in an unknown system; and to make matters worse, something else lurks in the dark.

The movie has the technique of "Alien" by putting its characters in a dark, unfamiliar setting where nobody can help them, all while there's something trying to kill them. Much like in "Alien," the characters are likeable enough and believable enough that you actually give a crap when the horrific stuff happens to them. They aren't exactly standout performances, but they still seem like real people worth caring about. Even Juno, who more or less got them all into this mess and even causes the death of one of them, doesn't become an annoying tool like you see in a lot of other movies. She still cares about her friend, still wants to be supportive. The others are in their rights to blame her; she led them to a cave they didn't know about for what they call an "ego trip." But you have to think there are people like this, so gung-ho, so daredevil, that the risks are secondary in priority.

As for the others, I also like Nora Jane Noone as Holly, even though she's inevitably one to get killed, and I like Alex Reid as Sarah's supportive friend Beth. I really wish Shauna Macdonald stood out more as Sarah; she is the main character, after all. But it isn't really until the end where she starts leaving an impact; that's at least my opinion. But I do like the scenes where they're all hanging out together, just enjoying each other's company, more or less being friends. They're good light-hearted moments that offset the events later in the film.

So eventually Sarah sees a humanoid creature in the shadows called a crawler; the others don't initially believe her, but they soon come under attack by several of them. I should mention that the effects on the crawlers are really top-notch. They soon start picking off each of the women, and here's where the movie takes an interesting turn; their survival instincts take over, and it isn't long before they become as monstrous and animalistic as the crawlers. It's actually really fascinating to see the literal descent of these characters and their humanity; would you abandon your friend to save yourself? The events that transpire make for some really tense, suspenseful scenes between Sarah and Juno in the third act.

But I feel like from a storytelling standpoint, the film isn't usually up to snuff. It does take a while before it gets interesting, and there's a lot of climbing lingo that gets pretty confusing. It's also a little too dark to tell what's going on at times. And as strange as it sounds, I really feel like maybe the movie would have been better if there were no crawlers at all. I think it would've been more effective if it was just about the characters trapped in the caves battling the elements as well as their own animal instincts; the crawlers just seemed to be an addition. Or maybe make it all psychological; maybe have Sarah or them just imagine the crawlers. But I suppose it still works as it is. I also wasn't a fan of the ending, but I guess it did have some good set-up.

So I suppose I don't like "The Descent" quite as much as I should. Don't get me wrong; the suspense is great, the characters are solid, the effects are impressive and the questions it raises are definitely fascinating. But I just feel like it could've been better, like there's a truly legendary horror film in here somewhere if only they had ironed out some of the rough parts. It's a good movie, just not as good as I feel it wants to be.