The Descent (2005)

 

Just a head's up: if you are even the slightest bit claustrophobic, this film won't be for you. As if it wasn't tense enough to begin with, but that's another story. 

Hot of the excellent 'Dog Soldiers', director Neil Marshall was given this one. At first he didn't feel like doing yet another horrorfilm, but we can all be glad he decided to tackle this story, as it is pretty bloody good, focusing more on tension than gruesomeness. 

Also: this might be one of the very few horrorfilms with an all female cast. That might not seem like a big deal, but it is. 

One year after a tragic accident took the lives of both her husband and daughter, Sarah is invited by one of her friends to go out spelunking. The group of ladies meet in the US, close to a fictional park. It is a colourful band of ladies, but it does feel as if they could actually be a group of real life friends. This is important and it works greatly to the film's benefit that everyone comes across as a real person and not just a carbon cutout of a character. Sarah still hasn't fully recovered from the trauma of a year ago, but that is only natural. Some of the more adventurous ladies complain that Juno (the one who organised this trip) chose a boring trip through a tourist cave, but unbeknownst to all, Juno leads them to unexplored caves. 

Juno is an absolute douche. 

No really: no one knows where they are; if something happens, no one can come to their rescue and she has no idea if they can make it through these caves. Talk about a dick move. And as this is a horrorstory, you know something is going to go wrong or this would have been the shortest and most uneventful film ever. 

When squeezing through a narrow passage it collapses, stranding our ladies up shit's creek/cave without a paddle. The only way forward is down and along the way they discover some very old spelunking gear, giving them hope that there is another way out. But there's something lurking in the dark and this will very soon turn things nasty.

And that's not even taking into account Juno is an absolute bitch who also screwed Sarah's husband, so yes: the plot does thicken quite a bit. 

Neil Marshall is great at building tension. Sure enough, the surroundings make it a little easier, as being stuck underground with no way of knowing whether one is going to make it out alive is in itself rather harrowing. And then I haven't mentioned the fact that batteries don't last forever. But the discovery and encounter with vicious creatures below (probably mutated/evolved humans) just adds to the insanity. This all works because the ladies are relatable and for the most part likeable. 

Like I said: Juno is a total self-centred bitch and I can't help but harp on the fact that I absolutely hate that character with every fibre of my being. 

You could argue that with things often happening in the darkness, there would be less tension, but this is not the case. You get a lot of flashes and some scenes expertly lit with minor means and it just all clicks. The US ending is fairly uplifting, but since we Europeans can take a punch, the real ending is incredibly distressing, depressing and brutal as all fudge. 

I love it. It has proverbial balls.

In short, 'The Descent' is one of those great little horrorfilms that do the most with a simple premisse. Be sure to check it out. It works better if you are a bit claustrophobic. If not, half the tension.