DeniDVD Vault: The Descent - Horror at its best!
May 8th 2010 15:06
Category: Horror, What to Rent?
Holy.Crap.My.Pants! This is probably the scariest movie I've seen in ages. It's rare that I ever jump in fright when watching a film and this one was relentless!
I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre. I don't dislike them on principle, I dislike them because not many adhere to the one ingredient I require for them to work. To me, a good horror movie must totally mess with my psyche! If it doesn't psychologically freak me out then I don't care how many times someone is gored, bludgeoned, chased, haunted or maimed - to me it's like watching "Dr. Doolittle" talk to the animals.
"The Descent" played on two of my worst fears. The fear of the unknown and the fear of being closed in and trapped. I'm not really claustrophobic but the thought of being lost in a dark cave with no exit strategy is like eating a spider - the prospects freaks me out and the thought of it makes me want to jump out of my skin.
The movie follows several women on an expedition to explore a cave system. The previous year, Sarah (Shauna MacDonald) lost her husband and daughter in a car accident after a white water rafting trip with good friends, Juno (Natalie Mendoza), and Beth (Alex Reid). So this current trip is pretty much about Sarah emerging from her own personal hell of pain and loss as she is reunited with Juno and Beth and joined by several other friends on an adventure - but there's something simmering underneath the friendly facade between Sarah and Juno.
This film gets straight to the point and doesn't follow the usually boring formula. It doesn't paint a picture of each individual character having some problem to overcome. They are just women out on an adventure. There are no legends, no mysterious sightings of human like people who feed on flesh - and there is no one who's dumb enough to investigate such legends or mysterious sightings - the characters in this movie stumble innocently upon a horror so sudden and frightfully debilitating that there is no time to regather, regroup and form a plan of action. They all scatter to the four winds.
The monsters is not the only frightening element in this movie. The cave is haunting - it rumbles, the earth shifts, it provides no sense of safety or comfort. Voices echo, shadows crawl, water oozes and drips from the outside. The further they descend, the more claustrophobic the atmosphere becomes and by the time they realize that they are not alone, your sense of fear is already heightened and wound tighter than a bow-string. And still even more frightening than the cave and the monsters is something that gives the title of the movie a whole other meaning. The weak fall by the waist-side and the last man standing is always the one that adapts. In order to defeat a monster you must become one and the real descent is the one that goes straight into madness! It's the point of no return when we fight against ourselves instead of the monsters.
The only thing I didn't like about the movie was the revelation of what caused the tension between Sarah and Juno and how it played out. To me, it was ridiculous! But thankfully it didn't take anything away from the rest of the movie. So for all of you who felt cheated by "A Nightmare On Elmstreet", why not rent "The Descent" and make up for the wasted time.
Also, checkout this cool gallery at the New York Daily News. It lists the Scariest Onscreen Monsters Scariest monsters onscreen.
I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre. I don't dislike them on principle, I dislike them because not many adhere to the one ingredient I require for them to work. To me, a good horror movie must totally mess with my psyche! If it doesn't psychologically freak me out then I don't care how many times someone is gored, bludgeoned, chased, haunted or maimed - to me it's like watching "Dr. Doolittle" talk to the animals.
crawlers
"The Descent" played on two of my worst fears. The fear of the unknown and the fear of being closed in and trapped. I'm not really claustrophobic but the thought of being lost in a dark cave with no exit strategy is like eating a spider - the prospects freaks me out and the thought of it makes me want to jump out of my skin.
The movie follows several women on an expedition to explore a cave system. The previous year, Sarah (Shauna MacDonald) lost her husband and daughter in a car accident after a white water rafting trip with good friends, Juno (Natalie Mendoza), and Beth (Alex Reid). So this current trip is pretty much about Sarah emerging from her own personal hell of pain and loss as she is reunited with Juno and Beth and joined by several other friends on an adventure - but there's something simmering underneath the friendly facade between Sarah and Juno.
The only thing I didn't like about the movie was the revelation of what caused the tension between Sarah and Juno and how it played out. To me, it was ridiculous! But thankfully it didn't take anything away from the rest of the movie. So for all of you who felt cheated by "A Nightmare On Elmstreet", why not rent "The Descent" and make up for the wasted time.
Also, checkout this cool gallery at the New York Daily News. It lists the Scariest Onscreen Monsters Scariest monsters onscreen.
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
From my own review:
"Exclusively designed to unnerve and cause squirms: like when you were 7 years old, sneaking up the stairs and peeking through split finger at the forbidden slasher flick playing on some late night movie marathon.
Not that this is a slasher flick, quite the opposite, there are plenty of “boo” jump out of your seat scares, but its the drilling under your skin and getting inside your head horror that lifts this to must see status.
The fear comes from what hides in the shadows, it all about the pea soup atmosphere and intense mood created by the cinematography and sound design.
By the time the carnage and gore flow, the film is relentless, praying on our investment in the characters and satisfying our bloodlust."
If your interested you can read my review HERE
Comment by Deni
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
This movie was excellent.