When it comes to Horror movies, I almost cannot lose. I love the good ones and love the horrid ones. Luckily for me, The Descent is both of them. The movie is about 6 females craving adventure, so they go cave diving. Once inside the cave they deal with a few near death experiences, lots of blood and a ton of intensity and that's all before the "crawlers" enter the picture. The first half hour of this movie is pretty pointless. I can't really come up with a legit reason why it is included except to add a few real cheap scares. For those of unaware of what a cheap scare is I shall explain it; A cheap scare is when it gets real quiet and still and then it is followed by a very loud sound and quick motion. It is cheap because what person wouldn't jump at something like that. Luckily this film isn't based around the cheap scares most horror films today are.
This movie pretty owes everything to the camera work and the sound. The camera work is full of close ups which put the viewer right into he action of the film. You can hear the water dripping of the cave and hear the breathing with such clarity that you feel like you are in these caves experiencing the claustrophobia with the girls. That is by far the strength of it. My heart was racing for most of the movie because you really feel like you are part of the action. Also, "the crawlers" were very freaky looking and their disjointed movements enhanced by quick cuts and clever editing brought a different feel from most monster movies.
However, it is not without its faults. First of all, the acting is just crappy. I wish I could think of a better word, but crappy is just what fits. The only girl who manages any sort of acting ability is the Asian with the amazing arms. Her sense of bloodlust contrasting with her desire to live is the only thing that really registers as characterization throughout the movie. Also, the movie just gets too long. I liked the cave stuff before the "crawlers" and I enjoyed a bit of the "crawler" stuff but it seems like the director just lost control of it. It seemed like he got into this idea of women who would rather fight as opposed to running and it gets away from him. The ending works and the kind of twist it takes really gives a pessimistic view of the human condition , but also works as a sort of survival of the fittest thing.
Since it is a horror movie it has more than its fair share of blood and it is very effective. We get our first sight of blood when one of the girls gets her hand sliced open by a speeding by rope and the blood just gushes out of her hand, but that is merely the appetizer to a much bigger blood meal. My personal favorite was when the tom-boy looking girl takes a nasty fall, snapping her leg to the point where we see bone poking out. Of course after that we have to see and hear the bone being pushed back into place in another gross out scene. By the end most of the people are covered in blood, whether it be human or "crawler" blood. Overall this is a great cult horror movie and worlds better than a lot of what is passing for horror these days!
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