The Descent: Special Edition

Icon Distribution

R4 DVD Release

The descent was written and directed by Neil Marshall, who in 2002 had quite some success with a surprisingly new take on the werewolf mythos in Dog Soldiers. The Descent on first glance is a simple film based on the tale of six girls who go underground and meet deadly cannibalistic underground creatures, but it is so much more than that.

The concept of the “the Descent” could just as easily refer to the sinking into he depth of madness and violence and hence has psychological as well as iconic significance. The storyline has many levels. It begins with a great scene of white water rafting and what appears to be a great time between friends. However, there is a slight hint that Sarah’s husband may not be as faithful as she thinks and during the trip home his attention wanders and a horrific accident occurs leaving Sarah wounded and her husband and child dead. This event sets the stage for the psychological motifs used throughout the film as Sarah descends into her own inner fear and torment.

A year later all the friends meet up and decide to go cave exploring, while all seems fine on the surface there are simmering tensions among the group and Juno, overcompensating for her affair with Sarah’s husband, decides to take them to an unexplored cave system to give them a real adventure and hence bring them back together as a group. Not only is the cave uncharted and unexplored, but nobody knows where they are as they have recorded their itinerary as visiting a different cave in a totally separate location.

Things, of course, go terribly wrong. But more importantly a powerfully dark and claustrophobic mood is created. Through a skilful use of lighting, sounds and cave effects the audience is suffocated by the feeling of small spaces, dark and wet crevices, falling rocks and a cave-in, not to mention human panic and injury. This is an extremely effective cinematic devices and the human descent into fear and terror is depicted in an all too real manner.

What I especially like is that this mood is explored and refined; the film takes its time. It does not introduce the more violent and horror elements until just the right moment. The simple human problems of fear, relationships, injury and pain are more than enough to keep us on our toes and wondering where the film will go.

Then, all hell breaks loose. Just as you begin to think that the major problem these girls face is getting back to the surface and not being stuck underground after a cave in, they are attacked by what at first seems like an animal but later are identified as not only one semi humanoid underground creature, but lots of them.

This may sound very B grade but it isn’t. The hunt between the creatures and the girls is violent, gore ridden and terrifying. It is filmed in such fast and jumping edits that it is overpowering and the mood continues to accelerate to a fervor pitch. At the same time the various conflicts between the characters are exploited to give further emotional edge to the film, it is not just a creature vs human horror film. The climax involving Sarah and Juno as well as the creatures exploring the descent into madness, betrayal and violence is impressive and powerful.

There has been a few different underground horror films recently (such as The Cave), but none come close to the sheer brutality and intensity of The Descent. This is how a real horror film should be made.

The picture quality of the DVD release is impressive, the colours are solid and there is good contrast even in the darkest sections of the film. The Descent makes a strong use of greens, reds and blacks and these are beautifully rendered on screen. The DD 5.1 soundtrack is impressive with a good use of the surrounds and offers a great atmospheric soundscape, the creatures whining and guttural tones are especially effective. The Dialogue is clear and easy to understand, even in the quiet moments when the characters are whispering to avoid the creatures.

Extras include an interesting commentary, an in depth Making of Documentary which includes some fascinating information on the research that was needed to create the cave sets and achieve the desired sense of space (and lack of it !). There are also various deleted and extended scenes and a Story Board and Scene Comparison.