My Thoughts on The Descent (2005) (Archive)

Normally I am not one who views and enjoys horror films (films that are simply made to frighten). But I had been curious to see Neil Marshall's The Descent after hearing from some folks that it was rather good movie. This weekend I got the chance to sit down with some friends and view it. It wasn't totally what I was expecting, but I have to admit that for a horror/thriller it was entertaining.

I do not wish to spoil the film for those who haven't yet seen it, but I will present a brief synopsis. The story focuses on six women, all of whom are friends and all of whom share a passion for adventure, namely climbing and caving. This time around they are going to a place that all but one of them have never been... or so they think. In fact, none of them have ever been to this cave and thus the gears are set in motion for a trip gone terribly, terribly wrong.

For me, this non-traditional premise helped the film because it didn't feel derivative. In today's film culture, that scores points with me. It also didn't waste any time setting itself up as a psychological thriller, tapping into some of the most primal human fears including being trapped, being lost and most notably being in the darkness. The setting of a cave also adds that claustrophobic element which heightens all the other elements I've just listed.

The title of the film serves a dual purpose: to describe the physical descent deep into the earth and also to denote the psychological descent into madness that arguably all the characters undergo, but most notably the central character, Sarah. But due to a previous personal trauma that she experiences a year prior to this adventure, Sarah is already not on even keel mentally, battling her own demons.

Speaking of demons, I'm not entirely sure why, but I somehow expected this film to feature some supernatural demonic element to it and this film turned out to be different that what I expected, because that never came into play. Something did, but discovering what exactly that is is part of the experience that goes with viewing The Descent.

This movie makes you jump and is quite eerie, but looking back, the methods employed by the director are conventional; things get very quiet, the musical cues come in and the characters suddenly movie very slowly as they peer around corners and move through tunnels. Most of the time you can feel that something is about to happen, but you still jump! This film was a great showcase for music is this respect. While watching I began to wonder how different the experience would be if the soundtrack were removed. It still would have been creepy, but the music definitely helped to put the audience on edge. It wasn't a memorable score, but it succeeded in its purpose.

Overall, I would score The Descent a 8/10. It wasn't derivative, did some very interesting camera work (given the confines of a cave setting) and genuinely creeped me out. I would recommend it, and certainly if you're looking for something a bit different in the horror genre.