CORPORATE LINE: THE DESCENT is Neil Marshall’s hotly anticipated follow up to his 2002 hit DOG SOLDIERS. Directed by Marshall from his own script, it tells the story of an all-female caving expedition that goes horribly wrong, and stars Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, Nora-Jane Noone and Myanna Buring. Set in a cave system deep in the Appalachian Mountains, Marshall describes his film as ‘DELIVERANCE goes underground’.
On a daredevil caving holiday, six women friends are unexpectedly trapped underground when a rock fall blocks their exit. Searching the maze of tunnels for a way out, they find themselves hunted by a race of fearless, hungry predators, once humanoid but now monstrously adapted to live in the dark…
As the others battle for their lives, Sarah (Macdonald), still recovering from a mental collapse brought on by the recent deaths of her family, is fighting for her sanity. When old secrets are revealed, the friends turn on one another, causing the group to implode. Betrayed and desperate, Sarah realizes that to make it back to the surface, she must become as savage as the creatures themselves.
THE REVIEW: It’s surprising that a movie about a cave and creepy crawlies can be scary. How many movies have been released with weak plotlines and even weaker scares. Remember Alien Vs. Predator?
One difference is the claustrophobic feeling one gets watching The Descent. What could be scarier than inching your way through a hole in a maze of tunnels with no exit in sight? The actresses are serviceable but in the end it doesn’t matter. Anyone could play these girls since it’s the hell in the tunnels that steals the show. It’s edge of your seat throughout and that is what makes for a terrific horror movie.
FRANKLY: The Descent is a nice surprise. I love horror movies and anything that can scare me is a good thing.
+ Charlie Craine
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