The Descent (Original Unrated Widescreen Edition)
by Neil Marshall
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Actor: Alex Reid, MyAnna Buring, Natalie Mendoza, Saskia Mulder, Shauna MacdonaldDirector: Neil Marshall
Brand: Lions Gate
Cinematographer: Sam McCurdy
Writer: Neil Marshall
Producer: Christian Colson
Producer: Ivana Mackinnon
Producer: Keith Bell
Producer: Paul Ritchie
Producer: Paul Smith
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-12-26
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Product features:
- Actors: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring.
- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC.
- Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX). Subtitles: English, Spanish.
- Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
- Not Rated. Run Time: 99 minutes.
DVD Reviews of The Descent (Original Unrated Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: First-rate UK Horror
Summary: 5 Stars
The British horror industry seems to be coming back to life in recent years, and Neil Marshall's sophomore film "The Descent" is the latest impressive addition to the growing catalogue. Marshall previously directed the much, perhaps excessively, lauded "Dog Soldiers". I thought "Dog Soldiers" was good, but not altogether remarkable, and "The Descent" is definitely a cut above that, and falls into the upper tier of horror films. Though "Dog Soldiers" wasn't quite a horror-comedy it was definitely a relatively lighthearted, fun and humorous horror movie, while "The Descent" is much darker and more serious. The setup, as in most horror movies, is exceedingly simple: A group of friends go on a caving expedition only to be assailed by a pack of carnivorous, subhuman monsters. This will doubtless cause many ignorant individuals to suppose that this film is a knockoff of "The Cave", but hopefully the superior quality and craftsmanship of the film will carry it during its American release. Either way, horror aficionados will know the score, and that Neil Marshall has clearly established himself as one of the most, probably the most, promising up and coming horror director of the new millennium.
Marshall says, in interviews, that his prime inspiration for the film is the early 70's classic "Deliverance". This may seems a little strange at first glance, but they have a lot in common under the surface: Both focus on a group of friends who enjoy going on athletic, adventurous vacations only to find that they've now bitten off more than they can chew, facing dangers from both murderous individuals and the natural setting itself. Of course, replacing "rafting" and "crazy rednecks" with "caving" and "monsters" is a pretty substantial reworking, but it's not tough to believe that this is where Marshall got his main inspiration. In contrast to the all-male major cast of that film we've got an all female ensemble here. We've got 6 people here, perhaps a few too many to allow for much characterization of a couple of them. (i.e. Sam and Becca) Other then those two we've got Sarah, who is somewhat more timid and low-key then most of the others, partially due to the tragic accident which occurred during their last trip. Then we've got Juno, the one American and the authoritative leader of the group, and her reckless Irish protege Holly plus Sarah's best friend Beth. Again, we don't get to know all of these characters terribly well, since there is little time for characterization prior to their horrific adventure, but they at least aren't the obnoxious cliches you'd find in most horror films, and Marshall manages to create some real pain and sadness in their deaths.
Technically the film is very accomplished, particularly for having a mere 6 million dollar budget. The widescreen cinematography is very nice, particularly in the aerial establishing shots, and they manage to keep it from getting to visually monotonous in the cave itself. The cave is a set, naturally, but it looks very good, though the effects do falter at a few points, particularly a CGI bat swarm, and a somewhat dubious cave-in. Acting is professional and convincing all around, though perhaps not that much is asked from some of them. I also really like the score. It's effectively varied, with some throbbing pulses along with roaring, shrieking and chaotic stuff all topped off by the very dramatic main theme.
"The Descent" uses an interesting, uncommon tactic: The film pretends like you are watching a completely different movie from the one you really are up until the point where things really fall apart. This isn't like in some horror films, where they just kinda sit around for an hour before the killing starts, as we've got an actual plot and conflict here: Shortly after entering the cave the entrance collapses, trapping them all inside a previously unexplored cavern which may or may not have another exit. Thus, they have to deal with a wide variety of concerns prior to the appearance of the monsters, including a gruesome compound fracture where they have to cram the bones back into her leg in order to splint it. There are relatively few hints that anything is actually going on prior to the appearance of the monsters, and I suspect that anyone who watched this completely blind and who wasn't paying a ton of attention may be in for a surprise.
Once the crawlers show up things really get out of control, and the film is just this side of incoherent, as the various characters are separated, wandering around looking for each other, hiding, and fighting the crawlers etc. A monster movie needs a good monster to work, and the Crawlers are quite cool. Not truly remarkable or anything, but nasty and gruesome enough to be effective, and their makeup is very good. Needless to say this film is extremely dark, not so much that scenes are poorly lit, but that many portions of the screen are not lit at all, with nothing but flashlights to illuminate it. At a few moments I literally could not tell what the hell was going on the first time I watched it, but these are rare enough that it's not too big of a problem. One minor concern is that the characters are frequently extremely tough to tell apart in the later scenes, but honestly it doesn't really make that much of a difference who is who. Personally, I didn't really find this movie scary, but it is intense and severely watchable, which is just as good. That's another nice thing about the long, buildup, as that it allows Marshall to throw everything at us in the climactic 35 or so minutes, and the film is just unrelenting from the first encounter on.
Many have claimed this film is old-fashioned, and while that it true in many ways, that isn't correct regarding the violent encounters, which are exceedingly modern, particularly reminding me of "28 Days Later". Here Marshall uses incredibly frantic editing, sometimes makes the movement haphazard and jerky by speeding up the action or cutting frames. This sorta modern presenting it is risky, and many films like this are tiresome and incoherent, but they get it just right here, making it genuinely chaotic but maintaining coherence. I should also mention that the film is fairly gruesome. It doesn't linger on the gore, but there's plenty of spurting blood and flesh eating going on. Furthermore, it's got genuinely brute, painful violence, not the over-the-top and silly bloodletting you'd see in lotsa gory movies.
This DVD has restored the UK ending, and I've never felt strongly about it either way. Neither ending is great, but they're both acceptable. Ultimately, I think the US theatrical ending implies what's show in the UK one, so they're effectively identical. As for the DVD itself, I haven't got much of an eye for this kinda thing, but the transfer looks good to me, and the Director/Cast commentary was fairly entertaining, if not overwhelmingly insightful.
But all that aside this is just a great horror film. Definitely one of the best ones in recent memory, and mandatory viewing for any horror fan.
Grade: A-
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