The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) (2006)

You've got a pretty tight group of girlfriends. You're a pretty tough girl yourself. You do a lot of adventurous stuff that usually includes mostly just your girlfriends.

After a year's hiatus due to a terrible family tragedy, you decide it's time to hook up with your girls and shake the bad memories on a spelunking outing.

You head to a remote area of the Appalachian Mountains to some charted caves recommended by a spelunking guide, according to one of your group members. You embark with 6 friends into the caves from the highpoint in the mountain...down...down...down through the bowels of the mountain in search of an exit at a lower point.

Then two of a plethora of bad things happen. A tunnel that you came through is sealed off leaving you only one way to go...down. And your partner reveals the reality that a guide didn't recommend the caves at all; she thought it would make the excursion more adventurous in unexplored caves. There is no charted way out.

Think that's a problem? How about shining your light down the next tunnel where you see an eerie human-ish looking figure crouched in the dark peering back at you?

The Descent has chills. There's high suspense. It goes without saying that there are good old fashioned jump-out-of-the-dark scares (they are in a cave!). No special effects needed here to generate excitement. The creatures are well designed and scary.

The story flows very well. The acting is better than the average Horror flick. And Director Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers) keeps a better than average flow of twists and turns coming.

Do indeed see it if you're into the genre. The Descent is one of the movies on my Amazon Listmania List, "15 Flicks Guaranteed To Leave A Permanent Impression".

Note: The US theatrical version had a lame ending compared to the original UK version. The US DVD release gives you the option of which ending you'd prefer to view. Go with the original.

I'm not typically accustomed to going "gaga" over horror films. It's not that I don't like them, I love them--but truth be told, it's hard to find genuinely good ones. I'm entertained by lots of the gory, splatter films that have recently dominated the box office. Usually, however, it's a matter of accepting the limitations within these films and getting whatever enjoyment you can out of the scenarios. It's been a very long time since I thought of a current horror movie as a 5 star event, so nothing could have surprised me more than "The Descent."

The preliminary setup is a good one. Our heroines begin to explore some unknown, uncharted cave systems and quickly become trapped. Now our ladies must use their resourcefulness and intelligence to try to get out. The dynamics start to play out between the women--good and bad--and a real fear for survival starts to set in. We are squarely in a man versus nature psychological thriller atmosphere. It recalls for me "Open Water"--a film whose horror is about helplessness and being stranded, not about sharks.

But just as soon as I was sure where I was headed, the rug was pulled out. The last third becomes a monstrously bloody battle for survival. It is so well choreographed, I was sucked in wholeheartedly. And far from being victims--our heroines exhibit intelligence, brutality, resilience, loyalty and a real survival instinct. We've got some real female empowerment going on! For pure horror, this film goes out with a real bang.

I was completely blindsided by this one. There's a good screenplay, a credible backstory, appealing actresses, great cinematography and nice effects.

"The Descent" may not be the "best" movie I see this year--but as a pure adrenaline rush, I promise you it will be one of my favorites. KGHarris, 12/06.

Buy The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) (2006) Now

Neil Marshall's "The Descent" completely lives up to the hype! It is one of the bloodiest horror films to ever play on the big screen for sure. It is the definition of claustrophobic & it is truly one of the most jump out of your seat scariest big screen horror flicks since Ridley Scott's "ALIEN". Just more proof that the great horror films & the great horror film Directors are comeing from the world of independent films. Even though the concept isn't so fresh it seems that everything else about it is. The cave creatures are brilliantly gruesome & realistic(great make up/efx). Even with all the mostly dry & un-original remakes out there,the last 8-9 years has still produced some of the best horror films ever & "The Descent" is truly the final seal of approval that we horror movie fans will look back at the turn of the century as a great era in horror movie history let alone movie history in general. If I'm Alive 20 years from now I will be so glad to say I saw this one in the theatre. A masterpiece!

***UPDATE*** Coming from someone who saw the American theatre ending,IMO the original UK ending that comes with the widescreen unrated original cut is excellent & just as good if not better than the shortened American theatre version.

Read Best Reviews of The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) (2006) Here

This is probably the most effective horror movie I have ever seen. The all female cast does a phenomenal job of keeping the audiences attention (and no there is no nudity). Shows what a talented director and cast can do with little money and a good story. Has more scares and is more entertaining than the majority of horror that is released in theatres.

Want The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) (2006) Discount?

So this was a rather interesting film. I'd say that it was probably one of the most enjoyable films that I've seen in recent weeks. It provided an interesting location, mind-bending ending, and a unique cast of all females that react reasonably in the face of danger. What else really made the grade for this film?

Plot: Ok, so it's not the most original plot I've ever heard of. A bunch of girls go caving, and lurking in the darkness is an evolved human, evolved to live perfectly in the dark. Cavemen gone crazy more-or-less. Still, the plot might lack some ingenuity, but they brought it out in a way that seems to master this form of the story. I've seen other cave movies before, but they weren't put together like this one was. In fact, they did a good job of explaining almost every aspect of the adventure in a true, realistic manner. You felt like the character had no choice and made responsible efforts in their quest to survive. The ending is somewhat of a give and take piece, it lets your imagination run for a bit, as it's more symbolic rather than direct, so you'll have to take away your own thoughts of the film, but I think that this makes it leave a lasting impression.

Atmosphere: So this was another thing that I enjoyed. This movie boasts some excellent camera work. If you're at all claustrophobic, this movie will probably scare the h"ll out of you. They did a great job using the darkness and lighting the scenes effectively and mysteriously. They also used red flares, and green glow sticks in specific sequences, which gave a nice stylized look to the overall film.

Effects: There was quite a bit of gore in the film...some of it better than others. I noticed a few scenes where the gore was just amateurish, and yet there were many scenes where it was really well done. A production schedule glitch? I don't know, but I would've loved to see the whole thing with a mastering of these effects. I think though that what they do provide over-rides the less-than incredible gore, and I think most gore fans will be pleased with the quality of the effects.

Acting: There's a lot of new faces, at least new as in the sense of the American market. I've not heard of these British actresses before. They did a most excellent job, and really lost control on this production. It seems like they knew exactly how to react and the director did a great job of bringing out the emotion of the scene. It was a most realistic and reasonable ride throughout the film. I think that the females were "friends" off-set, because it really shows through in the film.

This is a definite recommendation, and a film that I will add to my collection in the near future. I think that it was interesting, fun, creative, and it really keeps you going from beginning to end. It's got a good amount of suspense, tension and gore. In my opinion, it should make any horror film fan happy.

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