The Descent is the first movie to make me jump out of my seat in the theater in quite a while . . .
From the word go I was oh so into this movie. It starts with a bang (pretty literally), continues with an awesome momentum and finishes with what may or may not be a twist? (From what I've read on IMDB there seems to be two different endings - one a UK version and one a US version. Quite honestly, the UK ending sounds like it might be a bit better though the US ending leaves a little more room for interpretation. But as they always say, the grass is always greener . . . )
The basic story is that Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) has suffered this hugely traumatic loss in her life. To try and get her head out of it for a while she and her rowdy girlfriends - Juno (Natalie Mendoaza), Beth (Alex Reid), Rebecca (Saskia Mulder), Sam (MyAnna Buring) and Holly (Nora-Jane Noone) - decide to go caving somewhere out in the Appalachians. This to me is bad idea number one - I mean let's be honest. If you want to get through a major traumatic loss in your life the last thing you need to do is go into a deep, dark, dank and depressing cave. At least that's my opinion.
So they go into this cave trusting that their guide, Juno, has brought them to a safe expedition. However Juno had other ideas and thus begins The Descent into the unknown. And sometimes (this being one of those times) it is better to leave the unknown, well, unknown!
I found myself increasingly uncomfortable while watching this movie. I am not a big fan of dark, enclosed spaces in the first place. Neither am I a fan of heights. I will go even one step further to divulge that I am pretty averse to being chased by ravenous, bloodthirsty, cave-dwelling creatures. Add this all together and The Descent really left me uneasy at times - but in that good horror movie watching uneasy kind of way.
The scenes where the girls are crawling through the tiny passageways really made me feel almost unable to breathe. Also there is this one scene where one of them falls down a hole in the ground and there is this protrusion of bone that makes me want to gag even now. And this is not even mentioning the horrors that go on between the friends themselves.
The Descent was an intense and horrifying ride through not only a cave expedition gone bloodcurdlingly wrong, but also an profoundly vivid portrait of deceit and revenge that should not be missed.
By the way it was, in my humble opinion, probably a gazillion and a half times better than
The Cave!
The Descent Movie Cast and Credits
Directed by
Neil Marshall
Writing credits
Neil Marshall
Cast (in credits order)
Shauna Macdonald .... Sarah
Natalie Jackson Mendoza .... Juno (as Natalie Mendoza)
Alex Reid .... Beth
Saskia Mulder .... Rebecca
MyAnna Buring .... Sam
Nora-Jane Noone .... Holly
Oliver Milburn .... Paul
Molly Kayll .... Jessica
Craig Conway .... Crawler - Scar
Leslie Simpson .... Crawler
Mark Cronfield .... Crawler
Stephen Lamb .... Crawler (as Steve Lamb)
Catherine Dyson .... Crawler
Julie Ellis .... Crawler
Sophie Trott .... Crawler
Tristan Matthiae .... Crawler
Stuart Luis .... Crawler
Justin Hackney .... Crawler
More The Descent Movie Reviews
Future Movies Review of The DescentThe Descent Movie Review at Time Out London
