The Descent

Released: 08/04/06

Viewed: 2:35 pm 08/29/06

Starring: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Jackson Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring, Nora-Jane Noone

Directed by: Neil Marshall

Lions Gate Films Official Site of the movie

The Descent was one movie I refused to let slip by. The reaction to it by fright fans was so strong that I knew it was the best bet of cleansing my palate after a summer of humdrum horror at the movies. This story of a group of adventure seeking women that cross paths with beasts during a cave exploration, is a slick combination of a good old-fashioned monster mash and a sophisticated look at the fear of being trapped. The two sides of terror pay off and will have you franticly rolling down the windows of your tiny little min SUV only to have them go up just as fast once you swear you thought you saw a pale, naked, man-beast running alongside the passengers side. It’ll be a complicated ride home.

A group of friends looking for the next big thrill gather in Colorado for their annual adventure. The trip doubles as a cathartic return to the familiar as Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) grieves the loss of her family who were killed in a crash the year before. Sarah is still plagued by horrible nightmares of the accident and friends Juno and Beth have high hopes this trip of excitement and camaraderie will help the healing process.

As they plunge deeper into the cave narrowly escaping dangerous cave-ins and reasonably serious injuries, the woman stumble upon something no one expected. Well, no one except anyone that saw the trailer, or anyone that has ever seen a movie about people that go underground. They encounter monsters.

Going in, I was a little less intrigued by the promise of underground man-bats but thought there was some real potential in the scenes underground of them maneuvering through the cave. I love the Morlocks and the CHUDS as much as the next guy but it’s been done. There are scary people underground - we get it. But there aren’t a lot of movies that explore claustrophobia and its effects on the human mind. It can really mess with your head, and the makers of The Descent have some fun teasing the audience with figures in the shadow and voices in the distance. It’s a nice example of one woman’s struggle with reality. But I wasn’t prepared for how effective those claustrophobic scenes would be.

These women wiggle and twist through the tiniest spaces and I can’t even figure out how they got the cameras in there, but whatever they did, however they did it, it works. It feels tight. It feels enclosed. During those scenes I found myself pulling at my collar taking deeper than normal breaths, looking around wondering if anyone else noticed the theater was shrinking. It was very well done and interesting, but as much as I enjoyed the storytelling, I’m not sure it would have been enough. There needed to be some sort of payoff to really shake things up. And why not? Being stuck underground creates a lot of fear, to not take advantage of that is foolish.

The monsters, or “Crawlers�, as the films credits call them, are great. Creepy looking but not over the top. There’s no second head that whispers in your ear as the alpha head bites you in two, but I’m not saying that wouldn’t have been bad. They are minimal and honestly I think that’s the way to go. It makes the most sense. They have certain characteristics that are typical for underground creatures and the filmmakers neither exploited nor underused that.

What bothered me a little about them is that they were such punks! Of the group of 6 women that venture into the depths of the earth, the Crawlers get their fair share of take downs, but are also butchered left and right. I understand that there are certain outside factors at play. Side stories end up fueling two characters with rage and desperation, but does home turf count for nothing? I can’t get too deep into it without getting into spoilers but if something like this happen in real life there would have been a nice neat pile of 6 young ladies on the Crawler dinner table that night.

The girls in the film were very natural and real. You believe their friendship and you believe their fear. In a horror movie that’s really all you need. None of this is going on anyone’s Oscar reels, but if there’s an Oscar for being hot I’d nominate Natalie Jackson Mendoza. She’s kind of a jerk in this film but we all love the bad girls.

The scares are there, and I was pleased that it wasn’t all tight spaces and scary monsters, although both are quite freaky in their own right. Earlier this year we saw Wolf Creek and Hostel which both spent time early on to establish the characters and situations without the occasional scares and jumps. It’s an interesting way to go, a more realistic form of storytelling, but when people lay down their 10 dollars to see a scary movie, most of them aren’t going to want to put up with 40 minutes of set-up. Those people are under the impression that “this person’s life isn’t interesting until someone sticks a knife in it�. They should be satisfied with The Descent. It jumps right in and keeps you on your toes.

I have to say that I was a little upset that the whispering voices in the cave where those of little children. (I’m not confirming it as little children but audibly you can tell it’s a kid.) There must have been some memo this year in Hollywood that the scariest thing in the world is cute little kids, (Silent Hill, The Omen, The Wicker Man) but I’m not falling for it. I guess it really depends on what the kid is doing. Playing on the swings – not scary. Looking at you and squinting – creepy, but not scary. Whispering in a cave – kind of scary, but I refuse to support it here, even though it works well as a sign of this woman’s grief over her lost child, and as a reinforcement of her descent into madness. And that’s great, but… kids aren’t scary. Someone send out THAT memo. And then send out one that says, “Clowns are scary�. Who’s with me on that?

Ok. Clowns would have ruined this film, but I think we can all agree that they’re pretty freaky.

It’s not obvious because the quality is on par with your average main stream, big budget horror flick, but The Descent is an independent import from Scotland. It actually came out over in the UK in the summer 2005 and was huge. That fall a movie hit the U.S. called The Cave and there were instant comparisons. I never got around to seeing the Cave but it looked like the same sort of fun, perhaps a little flashier. I think though that the grittiness of this film and the fact that none of the actors are recognizable really helps it. It brings a certain level of realism to the experience and in a movie like this that can make a huge difference. With movies like the Descent, Wolf Creek, and High Tension being shipped over, it looks like the future of horror is in the hands of people that none of us know. That’s kind of unsettling but I guess the fact that it is unsettling is sort of fitting.

The Descent is probably the best true horror offering of the year. I enjoy the flashy stuff targeted at teens that’s not really all that scary, I mean - it is what it is. I enjoy the graphically violent eye gouging movies targeted at teens willing to sneak into R rated movies. It’s always cool to see someone chop off something that hasn’t been chopped off on film before, but once the novelty of that is gone there’s little to return to. But in terms of a real story with tension that crawls under your skin and makes itself at home, The Descent is an experience worth getting trapped in.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Really nicely done and totally worth seeing. It might be a little difficult to find, but the good jumps and strong study of how people react in enclosed spaces are reason enough to hunt it down. Movies like Phone Booth and Day Break experimented a little with the concept of being trapped, but it’s nice to see something a little more direct.

DVD Worthy?:

Not for me. It’s just not my cup of tea, but I can imagine this would be a good purchase for people that appreciate a good original story with their fright. I’d rent the DVD though if there were some footage and discussion about what it was like being in and maneuvering through the caves. They did a great job making it enclosed and claustrophobic. A nice featturette on that would be worth rental costs.

If you liked this movie check out: Predator

For some reason this movie really reminded me a lot of the Schwarzenegger classic Schwarzenegger film about a special forces team being hunted and slaughtered one by one by an alien with advanced technology. No alien technology found in the Descent, but like Predator, the prey are separated from the flock and butchered to no end, and the best parts of the story are directly connected to the surroundings.

As effectively scary as the monstrous hunters in the Descent are, they’re nothing compared to The Predator. Not just in terms of technology and intelligence but also when it comes down to being a complete bad ass. The two are definitely different types of hunters one relying on knowledge, training, and instinct, the other relying on just instinct. But there are moments that were pure Predator. Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen it. It’s a rare action classic from that era that still holds up exceptionally well.

Trailer Hitch: Saw 3

Yes! It wouldn’t be Halloween without a Saw movie for me to think would be scary, get disappointed it’s not scary, and then spend the rest of the night figuring out why I was so excited about it in the first place. Truth is though I’m thrilled about Saw 3. Though the second didn’t live up to the first, both have been fun and inventive in their way.

So I say, go for it. Even if it’s obvious that the companies producing it are just squeezing the franchise for everything it’s worth. History tells us that a good horror franchise has anywhere from 5-7 years before fans grow tired of it and move on. Not counting of course the dramatic return of the character, which breathes new life into the films and will give you another 2-3 outings at least. (Jason X, Halloween H2O/Ressurection) So they’re getting their monies worth out of Saw. Good for them.

Why not keep cranking them out? Jigsaw, the evil mastermind of the films, uses a puppet to communicate with people. A couple of Halloweens form now people are going to start figuring out that puppets aren’t scary. No matter how much swhirly face paint you put on them. So do it! Make a third fourth and fifth Saw film before the cats out of the bag. Or let the cat out of the bag and replace the puppet with a marionette. Now that’s scary!

Non Movie Related Stuff.

A friend of mine, Eri, is participating in the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation: Run for the Cure. Last year she raised a ton of money and has set her eyes on raising 500.00 for the cause. Reach into your heart/wallet and help this great cause. Even the smallest bit helps.

From “Good cause� to “Good, god that’s awesome!� I wanted to toss out a link to a flash animation done by James Roach and Carl tow of my Exile Comics brothers. I always loved their comics and it’s so awesome to see that same sense of humor come to life. In writing my own strips I often feel some gags would work better if I could control the pacing. Technically you can in a comic with silent panels and such, but that can be challenging in the 9x4 space. They did a really great job with it. Check it out.

So my plans this weekend were to go to the in-laws house in Virginia and hang out with the family, but Hurricane Ernesto threatened our leaving. Between traffic and bad weather conditions we feared we would be stranded in Maryland all night, and nobody wants that. Thankfully we made it safely and had a rockin’ time. I vegged out, played Shadows of the Colossus, and saw two movies that were not screened for critics. One of them was a beautiful surprise, and the second was the worst movie I’ve seen since starting JLCM. I’ll reveal which is which later this week.

Smell ya later.

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