Review of Descent (2007) by Ivan B — 26 Jun 2011

The Descent gets the approval from this horror film fan. It is one of the absolute best horror films of the last fifteen years or so. The title of the film not only tells us that the women in the film are climbing down into caves but are also descending into madness and having to rely on basic survival skills in order to make it out of hell.

Each character is relatively well developed, especially compared to other tame modern horror flicks. The movie does rely heavily on sudden jumps, but given that this is a standard of horror films one can forgive it because the film has plenty of what lesser horror movies lack.

This film is as claustrophobic as it can be, has tension and suspense to spare, and plenty of riveting, terrifying moments. For the big horror fan, one will catch plenty of the references that the writer/director Neil Marshall throws out throughout the film.

Many excellent references to the classic films like Psycho, Don't Look Now, Deliverance, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Carrie, Apocalypse Now, Alien, Predator, and The Blair Witch Project. The Descent is a must-see movie for horror fans; you will not be disappointed.

Although I do offer one bit of advise, watch the original U.K. version (the unrated version in the U.S.), the U.S. version's ending is not as good as the original version. 9/10.