User Reviews

After watching "The Descent", my bud Robert and I decided that spelunking would now come off both our "To Do" lists-for good. Writer and Director Neil Marshall's "The Descent" crafts and sustains an unrelenting tension throughout, once you get past the suspended disbelief. As I watched the women one by one crawl through the tiny water filled crevice to enter the caverns somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains, I thought, "How are they going to get back? They've got to be nuts!" Well, you just have to go with it. Well, kind of. Fortunately, director Marshall effectively pretexts the story. The prior thrill-seeking jaunt for the group was a white water rafting trip. Following that trip, Sarah (Shauna MacDonald) suffers a life altering tragedy. A year later, Sarah and her close friend Beth (Alex Reid) join up with the gang at a cabin in the Appalachians. The 6 women are gearing up for a cave exploration trip headed by Juno (Natalie Mendoza). Apparently, Juno regrets not being there for Sarah following her personal tragedy and recovery. Juno sees this trip as an opportunity to empower Sarah. Those along for the ride include Becca (Saskia Mulder), Sam (MyAnna Buring), and Holly (Nora-Jane No one).

The trip starts out curious enough when Juno (Mendoza) discards her map of the caves. The women proceed, and are undeterred by the telltale signs of mysterious animal carcasses. Not surprisingly, the cave exploration goes horribly wrong. They are lost without a clue how to get out, and they are being hunted by terrifying fleshing eating creatures. So the women are literally in the fight for their lives. Marshall masterfully orchestrates the mood and tension. My bud Robert keenly pointed out that what really works in "The Descent" is that it never evolves into a trite action movie. No one screams, "Take that you, Mother F-----!" Granted Marshall may have intended his story as an empowerment allegory. The women are authentically terrified, and fight with all their courage and heart amidst their overwhelming fear. Somehow while they are thrashing and being thrashed by the fierce creatures, it is all strangely believable-strangely. Rather it gets you thinking: "Would I do the same?" Sarah (Macdonald) and Juno (Mendoza) in particular emerge as forces to be reckoned with. Mendoza's Juno warrior spirit is consistent and engaging-she is the brash leader. MacDonald is powerful and believable in Sarah's emergence as a heroic presence. All the performances are strong throughout.

Marshall maintains a claustrophobic feel and keeps us on edge. The unveiled details involving the cave creatures regarding their possible evolution is a nice touch. "The Descent" has to be one of the most gory horror movies with realistic violence-and I am not a big horror fan. However, I am a big hero fan. "The Descent" has great women heroes. Shauna Macdonald and Natalie Mendoza are awesome. "The Descent" is a wild tension filled ride. At the very end one wonders, "What next?"

What's interesting to me is the deeper meaning and symbols of the film. The film is really about two women. Sarah, and her friend, Juno. The film opens with Sarah losing both her husband and child in a horrific wreck. Over the course of the movie, it becomes apparent that the accident was caused because the husband was distracted and upset over an affair he was having with Juno. Sarah is aware, at least subconsciously, of Juno's betrayal and that it lead to the deaths of her husband and child. She is not in a place mentally or emotionally to acknowledge it on a conscious level. When Sarah awakens from the wreck, there is a sequence where she runs from darkness. The darkness symbolizes a call to action. Sarah rejects it by running from it. She isn't ready yet. This is classically what chase dreams are about. The dreamer is being pursued by their subconscious given horrible form. If the dreamer can make a conscious effort to stop running and speak to the scary thing chasing them, that dreamer's unconscious will speak directly to the dreamer. This would be the conscious (dreamer) dropping the ego defense (running) and interacting with the subconscious (chaser) to gain new insight.

A year passes and Juno get all the friends together to go spelunking. She lies and takes them to a cave she has discovered because she wants Sarah and her to be the ones who find the cave complex and name it. In Juno's sick mind, she's trying to perform some type of penance. She doesn't see that she's manipulating her friends to do something incredibly dangerous. Juno is a manipulator who only sees things from her own narcissistic point of view. Other people are only as real as Juno feels about them.

Going underground is dream imagery for going into the subconscious. This could be going into a basement under a bar as in Fight Club or even underwater.

Sarah is returning to the darkness that she ran from earlier. She starts to experience hallucinations (waking dreams) mainly her daughter's laugh. Her subconscious is pulling her back to the event that damaged her psyche (the wreck).

They get trapped and so must go deeper into the cave to find a way out. Thus Sarah is going deeper and deeper into her subconscious. It's not readily apparent but it's when they get to the deepest point of the caves (the deepest level of consciousness) that they actually encounter the cave people. If you watch you'll notice that they stop traveling downward (they may fall or are be pushed downward but the never choose to go down). Thus the cave people are the most base and ancient level of Sarah's mind. They lack all their senses. They have no problem-solving or tool-using skills but they are very strong and aggressive. They are a primal force.

While down with these creatures, several key events happen. The first is that Juno and Sarah's friends began to be picked off. The second is Juno's true character is revealed. She stabs one of her friends (accident) but then leaves rather then helps her (because of shock but on purpose). What's interesting is that as soon as Juno reunites with the main group, she makes a big show about she won't leave without Sarah who is missing. She acts differently when people are around. Character is what you do when others aren't watching. Juno is a person of weak character.

The biggest key event is that Sarah is separated from the group and ends up in the den of the cave dwellers. The heart of this lowest level of her subconscious. It is here that Juno's original betrayal becomes fully known to Sarah's conscious self. The friend that Juno stabbed is bleeding to death and tells Sarah of Juno and her husband. It's at this lowest level that Sarah understands Juno. Juno is the type of woman that would wreck the marriage of a good friend, stab a friend and leave them to die alone, and lead all her friends to certain death because of an ego trip. In short, Juno is a destructive force. Sarah kills her hurt friend to end her suffering. This is the action that Juno refused. Sarah empathized with her friend and refused to leave her in pain to make her escape. Juno did not do this. Juno felt that her feelings and safety were more important than her friend's suffering.

The other event that happens in this room, is that Sarah kills a cave dweller child and observes it's mother grieving over the loss. Sarah has now committed the same sin as Juno. The mother tries to kill Sarah. This is what is missing from Sarah's life. Sarah needs to take vengeance on Juno to become whole.

Sarah eventually meets up with Juno again and they began to make their way out as the last two survivors. After the last big fight against the cave dwellers, Sarah confronts Juno about her lies, manipulations, and betrayals. Then, Sarah stabs Juno in the leg and leaves her for the cave dwellers. This the same action Juno took earlier when she stabbed her friend and left her. What is different is that Sarah makes a conscious choice to kill Juno and takes responsibility for the action where Juno avoids the responsibility of everything she has done.

Then there is a long sequence where Sarah is climbing upward out of the dark to the light. This is symbolic of a return to consciousness and the real world.

This movie has parallels with Hamlet. What is missing from Sarah is what was missing from Hamlet. They both need to take action but because of the horribleness of the action they must take, they have recoiled from it and spend the whole story getting to a point where they come to terms with what they must do to be whole.

SPOILER-FREE FOR FIRST PARAGRAPH ONLY Having heard SO much about this movie , I couldn't wait to watch it. People said it was one of the best horror movies ever and to be honest , I disagree. While it was pretty great at creating this eerie and uncomfortable atmosphere that made you hold your breath throughout the movie , I find that the plot falls somewhat short in delivering what needed to be delivered. If you're like me and want a movie that constantly engages you and keeps you on the edge of your seat , WATCH IT. But if additionally you want a proper plot with characters you can grow to love AND a satisfactory ending , look elsewhere.

SPOILERS!!!

Firstly , for me , the scenes at the beginning with the death of Sarah's husband and daughter felt a bit out of place , it seemed as if their only purpose was to solidify Sarah's main character position in the viewer's heads. Additionally , while I do agree that there were some amazing shots at times but honestly , for most of the movie after the 6 women entered the cave , it was so difficult to make out what was going on and who was who. I could pretty much only see Juno and Sarah properly , the other 4 were barely recognisable. The acting was great , the way all 6 of them managed to capture the desperation of getting stuck in this undiscovered cave with seemingly no way out , I had chills.

The jumpscares didn't feel cheap either but I didn't really like the transition shots to Sarah's daughter over and over , it felt a bit out of place. Maybe it showed Sarah's descent into madness? Also, aside from Juno misleading the group and having an affair with Sarah's husband , I don't agree with her being villainised (is this a word?) for OBVIOUSLY accidentally killing Beth or whatever her name was. It wasn't good for Juno to leave Beth dying alone and then lying to the group about her death but still , what would one do in that situation ? The logical thing to do would be to get OUT of this cave situation first , get help and then discuss the deaths and unpack Beth's death too. Had Juno brought up in front of the group that she somehow managed to kill Beth , it would've worsened the chaos in my opinion. That being said , Juno deserved to be held accountable for misleading the group to the cave in the first place but not in the way that Sarah carried it out. Intentionally hurting Juno like that and leaving her to die made Sarah the villain , sorry.

Anyways , I'm not really much of a good writer and English isn't my first language AND this is my first review ever so it probably didn't make much sense but yep , good movie but a bit overhyped. But it's just my opinion , like whatever you like ! HAPPY WATCHING! :)

If nightmare inducing horror is not your bag then the less you know about The Descent the better. Geordie writer-director Neil Marshall has delivered an accomplished, well acted, out and out horror movie that comes as much of a pleasant surprise as his first major feature Dog Soldiers did back in 2002. Shot in a mere 7 weeks The Descent sees a sextet of undeniably attractive action women leaping headfirst into an Appalachian potholing adventure that goes wrong so quickly you are left wondering if any one of them will survive, let alone ever see daylight again.

There are comparisons to be drawn to Marshall's 'Soldiers of course - again the story is stark and wonderfully economic. Again there is group of six people, predominantly one sex accompanied with a lurking, ominous threat and again there are more nods to popular film culture than you probably realise. The Descent however has a sense of humour that is suitably pitch black.

Long before the cave appears we play witness to a traumatic event that underlies the plot and serves to both unite and tear apart relationships in equal measure. Mostly affected are fragile Sarah and physically strong Juno, an adrenaline junkie who leads the group further and further beneath the ground. No time is wasted in recreating the primal feel of crawling through tunnels with hard hats scraping the dust from the rocks, choking and inducing paranoia all the way as it lingers in the stale, torchlit air. It's here Marshall gets a little inventive. Playing with various different lighting techniques our heroines become colour coded through scenes via glow-sticks, flashlights and video camera. Sounds echo when visuals are briefly lost and deliciously bone crunching they are too. Events escalate quickly and the whole ride becomes what can only be described as a non-stop relentless assault on the senses that will demand repeated viewing.

The only thing that will ruin this movie for you is word of mouth, which ironically is exactly what this film will need to become commercially viable. But the less you know, the more you will enjoy it. Have fun spotting references to Carrie and Apocalypse Now by all means, but don't be fooled into thinking this is a mere standard entry into the much saturated genre-movie staple. The Descent will rank as one of the most unashamedly terrifying British films ever made. It was made by people that love good cinema, and it shows. The Descent was made before The Cave, and now has an alternate ending for new audiences.

There aren't that many British horror films, so it's not too much of a stretch to call this one of the best British horror movies i've seen. It has flaws, but i've only seen a few films in my life that don't. It's incredibly entertaining though.

The basic premise: Fun-loving, adventurous Sarah suffers a personal tragedy, a year later her friends rally round and they go on a caving trip in the Appalachian Mountains in the US. Things go awry.

It's a slow starter this film, the tension is palpable from the start but things don't properly kick off for nearly an hour. Don't get me wrong, it's never dull, but the pacing of the film is similar to that of a roller-coaster. There's an uphill wind-up that builds suspense, but when it goes over the edge it just doesn't let up until you come to a juddering halt. All the horror techniques are used here, there are enough jumps (both telegraphed and not) that every pause will have you ready to flinch, but there's also fantastic use of suspense and everything about the film oozes menace and foreboding. A special mention is needed for the music. Like all good scores, it goes mostly unnoticed. But it's intertwined beautifully with the film, it moves you and misleads you, it swells from background plinks and plonks to grand, blaring orchestral pieces. The lighting is also masterful. When the girls split up, Marshall uses different lighting to indicate which person or group you are looking at. Whether it's through infra-red camera, luminous green light-sticks or red flares and torches, you instantly know who you're looking at, and that cuts down on the confusion very effectively. Flaws? The dialogue is a little clunky at the start, there's a few moments of cgi as they first enter the cave that are pretty shoddy. Other than that it ticks all the right boxes. Great acting, great plot, excellent gore levels, perfect ending. Not everyones cup of tea, but definitely mine. Hell hath no fury

It may not seem fair to pigeonhole an entire decade, but man 00s movies had no chill. It really is a low point in history for subtlety, which had been on a steady decline since the 70s, but reached it's lowest point just before 2009, when people started to realize that understated tension could actually be a good thing.

The movie has a lot going for it. The claustrophobic setting is uncomfortable from the get-go. It makes you hate the main characters for even putting themselves in that situation, anyone willing to crawl through a hole in an underground cave deserves what's coming. It does a great job setting up the atmosphere through cool lighting tricks and the natural intrigue of the environment. The film could have coasted on the real dangers of the setting, but alas, we get monsters.

I would have maybe accepted some form of creature in the caves if it was sold in a more realistic way, but the humanoid "I Am Legend" style cave dwellers just cheapen things. They certainly don't hold back on the unsettling gore, and the lake of blood sequence is especially chilling, but all the Buffy villains running around just makes things come off a little goofy.

There's a pretty good top IMDB review that breaks down how the cave is actually a metaphor for the protagonist's subconscious, and I quite like that explanation. It almost makes me forgive the cheesy "crawlers". Almost.

I'm curious, because of a) the wild overpraising of this film, and b) the fact that some of the "off-the-cuff" comments showing up here are repeated word for word on other sites. I mean, sure, this movie has some good jump scenes, but the characters are murkily conceived and the monsters are absolutely ridiculous, resembling nothing so much as Chris Sarandon's old mid-change makeup from "Fright Night". If people are honestly serious and are not just shilling for the studio or for Mother England when they are praising this movie to the rafters, I think it proves three things: 1) Audiences value "jump scenes" more than honest scares. 2) No one is ever allowed to complain about ludicrous monsters in any movie ever. 3) Audiences don't care about plot details. If anyone can explain the line "we all lost something in that crash"... and remember, the line was "we ALL", not "she and I both"... please do so.

Sarah and her friends Beth and Juno have always enjoyed adventure holidays together, despite Sarah now having a family and a more settled life. A road accident after a white water rafting holiday sees Sarah's family snatched away from her and leaves her in a hospital. A year later Sarah and Beth travel to the US to meet up with Juno and her friends for some caving. Unbeknownst to them, Juno takes them to a series of caves off the beaten track. A rock slide sees the group cut off from their entry point and forced to go deeper into the system to try and find a way out.

I have said it many times that I am not a big fan of gore and, that if you get the tone and atmosphere right, I do frighten quite easily. The Descent got good reviews in the UK (perhaps this is to be expected) but I decided to ignore it at the cinema and then again on video. When it was on the selection on a plane journey I decided against it, even though my girlfriend went for it; she spent the majority of the film tensed up and I felt I had made the right decision. When it came on television recently though I decided that enough was enough and went for it (well, I taped it – I mean it was on late at night for goodness sake). Having finally watched it I am glad I did as it is a really strong thriller that delivers atmosphere and tension in spades.

Some have said that it is very grim stuff but to me that is part of the appeal. Long-time IMDb reviewer Theo Robertson comments that the lack of charm, humour or warmth is a problem but I have to disagree. On the contrary the nihilistic tone increases the tensions within the narrative and draws the audience into it further – there are no witty one-liners, there are no comedy-relief characters, nothing to allow the audience a space that is safe to breathe. Theo is bang on the money though when he says that those that loved Dog Soldiers will probably prefer it to this (and vice versa) because it does include "fun" and comedy – making it more of a multiplex horror movie, one that is enjoyable even though it delivers jumps. He is right because I loved The Descent where I only thought Dog Soldiers was OK.

When this was released, Neil Marshall appeared unlucky to have made this at the same time as America's The Cave, but in reality his film stands up on its own. Although he needs to light his scenes and not just rely on torches, he embraces the darkness of the caves with relish. The first hour is tense, even though the crawlers do not show up until late into it. This is because Marshall is working on character issues in the background but mostly because he is introducing us to this world of darkness, falls and tunnels. We are already there once the real danger comes and because he has got this tension already working, it doesn't matter whether or not we see the creatures or not – it is the fear of the darkness and the unknown that does it (two very base fears that he plays on expertly). The creatures are really well done as well, the noise and the speed of movement making them scary more than what they do (which is more about the gore). The grim air continues unto the ending, which I consider to be perfectly in keeping with what has gone before. I refer of course to the ending of the "proper" version and not the "upbeat" one forced upon some audiences where we close with Sarah having made it out but confronted with a vision(?) of a bloody Juno in the car with her. Instead the proper version sees Sarah mentally collapsed, everyone dead and the sounds all around surely meaning it is a matter of "when" and not "if" in regards Sarah going the same way. It is not cheerful of course but if a suitably grim ending and much better than ending it on the car scene.

The cast are at times difficult to tell apart and some of them are just random people. Buring has a distinctive character but I did struggle to tell Reid, Mulder and No one apart from the others in the dark. At the head of the cast though are two great performances from Macdonald and Mendoza that are full of fear, fire and hurt. The car accident and the implied infidelity is not pushed to the fore but it is kept around and used to enrich some of the interactions. Macdonald loses it convincingly while Mendoza is a strong counter to her emotion (as well as being stunning). I was engaged by the way the film didn't give us a "bad guy" in the group and indeed I felt sympathy and dislike for both characters. Of course the main thing the cast have to do is convince within the world of the film and they do this effectively throughout, whether it is a simple rock fall or being hunted for food. Aside from them the majority of the credit belongs to Marshall and cinematographer McCurdy (and you can understand why the latter was sought out for Hills Have Eyes 2) as they deliver a tense atmosphere that really draws the audience in so that you do share the characters fear and urgency.

Overall a grim but superior horror film that benefits from the dark style and content. The gore is there if you want it but for me it is the constant sense of fear and nothingness that engaged me, from the first entry into the caves right through to the nihilistic (proper) ending.

This tense thriller is a terrifying chronicle of six young women who explore caves in the Appalachian Mountains and find unspeakable horror thousands of feet down. A cave-in traps them with no way to retrace their steps, but don't yet know that a terrible fate lurks around the tunnel's next bend. The film is reminiscent of "The Lost Patrol" as the ladies band together as much as they can against a ghoulish and unseen foe, with each girl's nerves pushed to the breaking point. The movie's dark, claustrophobic look adds realism to the ghastly dangers that the young women face and the music score is effective. The girls have several encounters with the predators underground and use torches and climbing gear to fight off their attackers. Natalie Mendoza is the group's ambitious leader who misleads the other women about the caves and also tries to cover up an awful deed she committed in a wild flight to escape. The four other women on this ill-fated expedition are also good in difficult roles. This movie is certainly one of the best films of 2006.

If you've seen the trailer you'll know what your going to get – suspenseful, claustrophobic thriller, when horrible things happen to a group exploring a cave system.

Sounds simple but the direction is top notch, good performances from all involved and it somehow manages to dodge most current horror/thriller clichés to deliver a well paced film, filled with enough jump inducing moments to even give this harden horror buff a few scares ! I was so glad I saw this during the day – stepping out into warm sunshine after seeing this film was such a relief after 90 min of on-screen darkness and terror

Maybe i missed something. That HAS to be it. This movie was one of the worst horror films I've seen in... well, just a couple of weeks. It's SO dam hard to make a good scary movie today, I feel for the people trying to accomplish this mission. I've been a horror fan my entire life; granted, i was born in '85, but who's counting? This movie just didn't follow any continuity- the monster isn't revealed until an hour in (which is fine), but there is no suspense up to that moment. It's just a bunch of girls bickering and drama between mourning, sexual affairs and outright backstabbing. Then, 2 seconds later, MONSTER. Who apparently is a human evolved into blindness and echo location sensitive, but can't find the two girls breathing like maniacs 16inches below him, in front of his face. I will acknowledge the poetic symbolism in some scenes- we all know what I'm talking about. And, I probably have it wrong, but the end is this- she'll never get away from the evils of her past...??? Wrong? Please, I would LOVE someone to convince me this movie is more than a 5/10.