The Descent
Written and directed by Neil Marshall
Responding to my son’s cries of boredom, I took him to see The Descent. I wasn’t sure if I was in the mood to see something scary, but there I was, nonetheless – in the fourth row even – for added horror goodness. I have to say, from the start, things happened that I just didn’t see coming. This is not a complaint; this is a good thing in a horror flick. And this is the strength of the film, the jumps, gasps, and occasional “oh shit”s.
Outdoorsy adrenaline junkie Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) is joined by five of her closest friends on a trip to explore an Appalachian cave. Not just a chance for friends to hang out (literally), the trip is therapy for Sarah. A year previous she lost her husband and daughter in a horrific auto accident. She still suffers from bizarre dreams and hallucinations. But she insists she’s fine, and the rest of the group concurs. They meet up in an outdoorsy little cabin, wearing adorable, outdoorsy outfits, drinking, smoking, and catching up. The scene is reminiscent of 2003’s Dreamcatcher, all getting-back-to-nature goodwill with a Gurly, Sporty Spice twist.
There is the odd bit of tension here and there. The plot crumbs were thrown down from the start, when earlier, we glimpsed a tender moment between Sarah’s soon to be dead husband, and gal pal Juno (Natalie Mendoza). Not like anyone was sending up flares (they’d need them later in the movie) but somewhere between microsecond longing glances – and Juno’s overly distraught reaction to Paul’s death – you pretty much knew that Juno and Sarah’s husband Paul had a thing.
But back to the Adventure.
The next morn, bright and early, Juno rouses the hung over femme rabble to fetch axes and lanterns and appropriate cosmetics for the trek. They drive, they laugh, and they hike, and finally come to the mouth of the Cave of Wonders. No, that really wasn’t the name, they were actually supposed to be exploring Boreham Cave, which would have been a neat trick, as it’s actually located in the U.K., and not the Appalachian Trail, as was the supposed setting.
The women all seem to be pretty capable climbers, their talent is set off in scenes such as one that shows one of the girls hauling herself across a chasm to set up a line so the rest can follow. A difficult task involving much upper body strength and a very firm grip. Not sure if it was Sam (MyAnna Buring) or Rebecca (Saskia Mulder), but as she inserts her cams and biners, she is grunting in exertion and fear. Made me glad I don’t do that kind of stuff. Even gladder, as (Sam, I think) suffered very nasty rope burns as she tried to grab and hold a falling Juno’s line. Tore right through her gloves!
Article comments
1 - SithSnoopy
Have to say this movie totally surprised me. Didn't see it in the theatres, saw it instead on Netflix DVD. Could pause and step through scenes where I was going, "WTF??" Could also have subtitles on, which meant I didn't miss anything due to slight accents.
Oh, man. Loved this flick. It had the same GOOD plot, gore but not gore just for gore's sake, and unexpected twists... and awesome character development.
Oh, and thanks for clearing up the Boreham Caverns thing... couldn't figure out why googling for it in the Appalachians (spelling?) wasn't giving me any hits, lol!!!
2 - SithSnoopy
Oh, and the sound the crawlers made... I don't remember the sounds the Aliens made being exactly like that. And I've watched all the Alien movies except the 2nd Predators vs. Aliens movie.
FYI, the first Predators vs. Aliens (Aliens vs. Predators?) movie wasn't too bad. Liked it better than Alien 3. Of course, Alien and Aliens are the two gems of that whole series.
How old was your son when you took him to see Descent?? That's a pretty freaky movie for a kid to see.
3 - Mary K. Williams
Sith: Thanks for your comments. Funny, I had just been thinking about this movie for the first time in years. Trying to describe it to a friend. There are SO many horror movies out there, and though this one got little press - it really was pretty good. My son was 17 at the time when I took him.