The Descent (2005)
Directed by Neil Marshall
Starring Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring, Nora-Jane Noone

Early in his career, director Marshall broke not one, but two well documented theories. The first one was that if a film premiered the Sci-Fi Channel before hitting theaters or video, it meant that it wasn’t going to be that good. Such as Cherry Falls (2000) or Beyond Re-Animator (2003). So when I heard that this new werewolf movie called Dog Soldiers was going to make its debut on there, I never bothered with it. But once it hit DVD, and quite a few people were giving it quite a bit of praise, I decided to take that risky chance and give it a rent. I went out and bought the DVD the next day. That’s how impress I was with it.

The second rule was broken with his next film, the one we’re about to discuss. Most seasoned horror fans know there just isn’t really good and effective horror movie that deal with spelunking, caving, or whatever you want to call it. Oh sure, there might be some ones that are so cheesy they’re enjoyable, such as Alien 2: On Earth (1980) or The Strangeness (1985), but nothing that is really effective, scary, or just well made. So when I heard that Marshall’s new movie was about a bunch of girls that go cave exploring, I figured, there is no way this guy could break another common cinematic rule.

He didn’t break it. He smashed it.

The story here is very simple: six thrill-seeking women take an adventure exploring a cave. It was a big change to see basically an all female cast in a horror movie, especially women that were not the kind typically found in a genre picture. These were all tough and adventurous types, but yet still came across as real people. During their exploring, things go bad and they become trapped down in the cave. Then it gets even worse when they realize that they are not down there alone.

One of the real beauties of this film is how it makes the viewer feel while watching it. I’m not really claustrophobic, but I became more and more as they went deeper and deeper into the cavern. In fact, during some of the sequences, when they had to crawl through some really tight spots, sometimes underwater, I could feel a slight bit of anxiety creeping up on me. And this was even before the shit really hit the fan! For me, that showed a very talented filmmaker that could create those shots, generate those emotions, with very real characters, which makes even more of an impact with the viewer. In fact, at no point while I was watching it, did I ever think that this was all on a soundstage and not at least some of it, filmed in a real cave. Which, by the way, major kudos to the set designers for this as well.

While a lot of the movie is in near darkness, Marshall does an awesome use of lighting and color schemes, like using a red light from the flares, or sometimes green, or even a normal white light. The changing back and forth made the change in moods very effective. As for what they discover while down there, the makeup is decent and effective. They are a wee bit similar to something else you might have seen, but they still come across as scary and something that you wouldn’t want to come across at any point, especially when deep down in a cavern.

There’s not too many movies these days that makes me uncomfortable while watching it, but this is one that definitely got to me. Marshall created a simple and effective story, with an incredible cast who look like they really went through hell and back to make this. Make sure which ever version you get, it has the original ending and not the “happy one” that the studios demanded of Marshall. I think it makes more sense and honestly is more realistic. But you can decide that. Also, if you decide to go back and watch it a second time, when you know ahead of time what is down there, you just might see a few of “them” way before the real discovery!