NOTE: Glitchspot keeps screwing up the layout of my blog posts. Sorry for the random break in paragraphs.

The Descent – A

“Hey, there’s something down here…”

This British horror film from Neil Marshall is a true horror
classic. I know that line has been thrown around a lot in reference to this
film as of lately but I’m just reaffirming that it isn’t an over exaggeration,
it’s the whole truth. It truly is the best of it’s kind since Alien.

The plot is fairly simple. An all-female caving expedition
goes horribly wrong. About one year prior to the day, one of these women lost
her husband and daughter in a horrible car crash, today her friend Juno
(Natalie Jackson Mendoza) tries to bring their friendship back together by
leading them on an expedition.

Before getting to the good stuff, let me talk about the
technical things, as I do in all my reviews. Each woman on this expedition is a
different person, meaning that each has her own personality. Each actress
(since there are no men after the opening scene) plays their character well and
makes them believable. This helps the movie tremendously because if we didn’t
believe in these women and care for them, the movie simply would not have
worked. The movie starts off quite slow and in this time we get to know these
women better and in turn care for them. Once everything kicks in though, it
does not hold up until the end credits start up.

David Julyan delivers a truly exceptional score. It ranged
from orchestral moving to nerve rackingly frightening (I loved the homage to The Thing. I had such a huge smile on my face when that beat started up).
It supported the film tremendously but did not overshadow it. You knew there
was a great score here but like a truly great score, it was hardly noticeable
but the film would not have been complete or nearly effective without it. The
claustrophobic feeling this movie oozes is wonderful. You feel vulnerable and
helpless and you feel the terror these women feel. There’s a genuine tension
and fear felt throughout the entire running time because you don’t know who
will live or die nor will you know where the hell the movie is going to take
you next.

This movie delivers the red stuff in geysers. If Dorothy
ever lost her ruby slippers all she’d have to do is step into this movie and
click her feet together three times regardless of what she is wearing. Once the
blood starts it doesn’t let up; exactly like the movie itself. The makeup is
great as well. Everything is believable. The monsters look grotesquely
beautiful in a morbid sort of way and the special effects look great (gotta
love that protruding bone). The reveal of the Crawlers is a truly wonderful
scene. When we finally saw them, the theater exploded in a way I have never
witnessed. Everyone in the theater screamed (except me, I knew it was coming
and had a huge smile on my face the whole time).

This is a movie with balls, something that is truly absent
these days in Hollywood. This is a mature film and there is nothing funny about
it and Neil Marshall has handled it wonderfully. The drama that is here is
truly poignant and the horror is truly horrific. This movie pulls no punches in
the least. This is a savage and raw horror film. I’ve never seen an audience
react to a movie like they did with this one. They screamed at the right times
with the obligatory “Jesus/Jeeze!” or “Christ!” and breath catching
afterwards. This is what the theater is about! It even made me jump a few
times, something I never do during a movie. Even if you know a scare is coming,
and many times you do, they’re always pulled off so well and stylishly that
they are still surprising. Of course, the title isn’t just referring to the
cave expedition. One character completely descends into madness and realizes
that in order to survive, she has to rely on herself and along the way, she
makes some startling discoveries.
Neil Marshall also does something very cool (and helpful!).
In a movie like this, in a dark, dank cave, it can get confusing as to who is
who and everything because sometimes we don’t know exactly who is who. Marshall
counters this with the usage of lights. He uses different colored lights to let
us know whom we are following. The lights range from flashlights, green glow
sticks, flares and even an infrared view on a camcorder. It all works very well
and isn’t blatantly obvious as to take you out of the movie.

I really have no qualms with this movie so I can’t
list any negatives. If I had to I’d have to say some of the dialogue is wonky
at times and a few CGI shots don’t come off very well (luckily they are only
bats and not the creatures) and a few characters do the cliché stupid moves but
other than that, this was a terrific movie. Full of blood, danger and most of
all horror, this truly is a modern classic. If only more movies could come out
and have balls this big then maybe we wouldn’t be in this slump.