Review of Descent (2007) by Zane G — 01 Jul 2013

The Descent is one of the most darkest, thrilling supernatural horror film since Aliens.

A group of close female friends on a yearly adventure vacation find themselves trapped and hunted in a series of caves by an unknown force that lurks in the shadows in The Descent, the second horror feature from Dog Soldiers writer/director Neil Marshall. After suffering a devastating car crash one year before, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) is lured to the States with her friend Beth (Alex Reid) to a special spelunking trip by the fearless Juno (Natalie Mendoza), who abruptly fled from the U.K. after Sarah's accident. Along with two old friends and a new acquaintance of Juno's, the group embark on a cave expedition that takes a turn for the worse after a rock fall leaves them stranded in an uncharted cave with no map and only a handful of supplies to last them the rest of the trip. As tensions arise in the group, they are faced with another danger -- one whose love of the dark is as strong as its lust for blood.

I can't tell how much movies like this really mean to me. We get so much suspense and darkness out of movies like this that it leaves a scar lodged in your brain for lifetime. Movies like Alien, or the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre are one of many films that will never be forgotten. Now of course some movies like this do end up not being what you wanted it to be. I won't go into detail about that but lets talk about The Descent. The Descent is one of the very few horror movies that can leave a scar on you. I know I've already said that, but damn I loved this movie probably more than almost any other horror movie I have ever seen. Don't get me wrong, there a lot of other great horror films, but if I were to choose only one I'm going with The Descent. The title alone just makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. When your 5 or 10 minutes into this movie and at first your just waiting for something to happen and in the beginning something very shocking and disturbing occurs. As the movie goes on, you are more intrigued as the story progresses and the story behind the characters. That's what many horror films don't feature is really good character development, and that's one of the things this movie does right. The other thing that this movie is extremely great at is how much it can actually scare you. I won't lie at most points in this movie I was scared senseless to the bone, and I thought that worked great given the certain circumstances. But I have to say this movie starts off scary but it makes its way into becoming such a bad ass movie. I'm not joking the last half of this movie had more attached then any other movie I've seen. The tone they put out during the cave scenes is truly groundbreaking and it sets the mood perfectly. The Descent was intense, dark, gritty, very brutal, well scripted and is a very unique concept. You'll walk out of this movie and say "I still want to see more.".

I don't know any of the actresses but I loved all of them. The one thing I will say about this film is that I loved how it had so much girl power. We don't normally get that in many movies, but it worked out great for this movie. Director Neil Marshall is one the most gifted directors and knows how to craft horror and suspense.

The Descent is an engaging, gross, bloody, bone breaking masterpiece of a horror film. It's got great pacing from start to finish. It knows how to scare an audience, but most importantly it's one of best horror flicks in horror movie history.