Most horror films these days are crap, full of cheap shocks but no real terror or suspense. Studios keep churning out the same movie about a creepy Asian kid or attractive teens getting hacked to death in some dirty red state.
I liked the Saw movies, but like Se7en, those were clever thrillers with elements of horror -- not genuine horror movies. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and its copy-cats seemed to want to gross out audiences rather than scare them.
So I was reeeeally pumped when I started hearing buzz about a movie called The Descent. The ads were touting it as "the scariest movie of the 21st century," and "the best horror-thriller since ALIEN!" That's some serious praise for a little movie from Europe, but since it had already been released across the pond, I knew that audiences were just as excited about it as critics. It was settled -- I was going to see the movie.
Let me start by saying that, as a 19-year-old male, I'm not usually the type to jump out of seat and scream in a crowded theater. It's just not good for my street cred. I'm not proud to say it, but this was the movie to make do that.
In a nutshell, The Descent is about six female adventure-seekers on a cave-diving trip that goes horribly wrong. The movie starts one year before the cave-diving trip when a horrific event happens to one of the women. What goes down once they're inside the cave, I won't spoil. But it's good.
There is so much mounting fear and suspense throughout the first hour of this film that once the tension breaks, you have no choice but to jump and scream. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.
Neil Marshall is a director who understands how to make a great horror film. His pacing is deliberate and he knows just how far to stretch the audience's sense of dread before providing them with a jolt.
The six actresses in the main rolls are muscular and athletic enough to be believed as skilled cave-divers and spelunkers. In terms of acting chops, each is believable and never once do you sense that they've been given "characters" or stereotypes to play. You rarely see quality acting in horror movies, but each of the six women in The Descent is solid.
Marshall hits on every inherent human fear to maximum effect, whether it's fear of the dark, confined spaces, heights, or something lurking just beyond eyesight. He spices things up by playing with lighting, such as when scenes are seen through the green night-vision screen of a camcorder, or when bright red flares light up hollow spaces of cave.
Watching The Descent is a full-body, gut-wrenching experience. You'll feel like you're in this cave, claustrophobia and all. There are shocks and scares right off the bat, followed by one of the most expertly crafted movie build-ups I can think of -- because when the shit hits the fan in this film, it HITS THE FAN. The last half hour of The Descent is raw, explosive and mega-satisfying.
The only drawback to name is the ending, which is a bit too abstract for my taste. I googled around and found that the film's ending was changed for U.S. audiences. Having watched both, I wish they would've stuck with the original European-release ending, which is easier to understand. Neither ending, though, is very hopeful -- but that's fine with me because I like my horror films dark and twisted.
Film buffs will notice this movie takes some visual and thematic inspiration from films like Carrie and Silence of the Lambs, as well as some others. I don't see it as stealing so much as paying homage. What Marshall chooses to borrow, he uses well and very effectively.
I'd have never thought a European horror flick would be my favorite film of Summer 2006. But a movie this terrifying and still so good is hard to ignore.
AFTER YOU SEE THE MOVIE, highlight here to find out what part made me jump, scream and almost soil myself: The scene in which the camcorder night-vision feature is being used to see in the dark, and she spots one of THEM right in front of her. Something about not knowing what's two feet away from you in the dark and the uncomfortable closeness of looking through a camcorder just got to me. That's truly the movie's signature scene for me.
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