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The Descent (2005) R
One year after losing her husband and daughter in an accident Sarah goes to caving expedition with her friends. It's supposed to be an easy thing in a beginner friendly and safe cave but the woman responsible for the arrangements has little more ambitous goals in mind. It's not "Boredom" caves but previously uncharted one... and they're not alone.
Neil Marshall started his career with a bang. His debut, Dog Soldiers, is a good modern werewolf movie and the follow-up to that, The Descent, is one of the best claustrophobic horrors. It would be so easy to go wrong with the concept of six women lost in a pitch black cave but Marshall manages to weave legit story and enough characterization into the mix making The Descent a proper movie instead of boring display of dark and darker scenes.
I like the acting by pretty much everyone. The shift from awkward and fake reunion to battle for survival works. The crawlers look creepy and proper underground dwellers (as usual their abilities change from scene to scene and in general they have amazingly bad hearing for creatures that use sound to know their environment). Violence is rather bloody and it has certain 80s feel to it. The film also looks great and keeps the shots just above too dark.
The Descent is not a perfect horror film but it's damn good. It's a shame that Neil Marshall hasn't made more horror after it (though that's about to change in next year).
One year after losing her husband and daughter in an accident Sarah goes to caving expedition with her friends. It's supposed to be an easy thing in a beginner friendly and safe cave but the woman responsible for the arrangements has little more ambitous goals in mind. It's not "Boredom" caves but previously uncharted one... and they're not alone.
Neil Marshall started his career with a bang. His debut, Dog Soldiers, is a good modern werewolf movie and the follow-up to that, The Descent, is one of the best claustrophobic horrors. It would be so easy to go wrong with the concept of six women lost in a pitch black cave but Marshall manages to weave legit story and enough characterization into the mix making The Descent a proper movie instead of boring display of dark and darker scenes.
I like the acting by pretty much everyone. The shift from awkward and fake reunion to battle for survival works. The crawlers look creepy and proper underground dwellers (as usual their abilities change from scene to scene and in general they have amazingly bad hearing for creatures that use sound to know their environment). Violence is rather bloody and it has certain 80s feel to it. The film also looks great and keeps the shots just above too dark.
The Descent is not a perfect horror film but it's damn good. It's a shame that Neil Marshall hasn't made more horror after it (though that's about to change in next year).