>>REVIEW
THE DESCENT
STARRING Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Jackson Mendoza and Nora-Jane Noone
DIRECTED BY Neil Marshall
Opens Friday, August 4
Uptown Screen
Getting lost – scary. Getting lost while trapped underground in the dark – much, much scarier. Getting lost while trapped underground in the dark and being hunted by monsters – pretty much a five-alarm crap-fire in the pants. Toss in no hope for rescue, backstabbing cohorts and a generous helping of mental instability and you’ve got The Descent, a horror/thriller that ranks up there with white-knuckle greats such as The Thing and Aliens.
The creation of British filmmaker Neil Marshall, who’s claimed much inspiration from those aforementioned films, The Descent follows suit by placing an ensemble of capable characters in a unique setting, adding a scary-ass predator and then piling on the tension, action, and – when need be – gore. One of the major differences here, however, is that the group is entirely female.
Shauna Macdonald stars as Sarah, a mentally fragile and medicated woman recovering from a tragic car accident on the way home from last year’s rafting trip with the group. She’s joined by Juno (Natalie Jackson Mendoza), the adrenaline junkie athlete leading the expedition, her punkish protégé Holly (Nora-Jane Noone), Sarah’s sensible best friend Beth (Alex Reid), experienced climber Rebecca (Saskia Mulder) and her med student half-sister Sam (MyAnna Buring).
They journey deep into the Appalachian Mountains, down through a gaping hole in the woods and deep underground through a maze of tunnels. When their exit collapses, swallowing up some of their equipment in the process (and Juno admits she brought them to an uncharted cave system), the desperate group must descend deeper into the mountainside in hopes of finding another way out. As tensions rise, injuries hobble the group and Sarah’s psyche starts to crack (a mental journey that parallels the film’s literal trip into the heart of darkness), the women discover they aren’t alone. As bad as the banjo-strumming backwoods butt-pirates of Deliverance may have been, much worse things live under them thar hills.
Marshall’s previous feature, the Scottish-set werewolf film Dog Soldiers, earned him a rep among horror fans as a talented filmmaker after it landed on DVD in North America a couple years ago. The Descent (already a hit in the U.K., where it was released last year), should vault him into the mainstream moviegoer consciousness. It’s an excellently paced original concept (made before the idiotic, somewhat similar American flick The Cave) with believable characters, intelligent performances, unexpectedly sublime cinematography, sphincter-clenching thrills – that will prep you for those pants-crapping chills, of course – and a very effective soundtrack, courtesy of David Julyan (Memento, Insomnia).
The film is also a blast to watch with a crowd, as the "BOO!" moments are particularly strong – just watch those around you shrink into their seats during the last half of the story. Marshall proves himself a very immersive filmmaker, one who manipulates the hell out of an audience with fluid direction that places viewers right in the middle of a slimy, claustrophobic nightmare. Perhaps best of all, though, he treats his audience with a respect that’s often lacking in genre films. There’s no caustically ironic dialogue, no teens prone to wearing skimpy outfits and untimely humping, no bad computer animation, nothing gratuitous and no illogically suicidal decision-making.
That said, however, Marshall might just be giving his audience too much credit, as there are a few subtle but important plot points that are easy to miss – pay particular attention to an inscribed necklace that appears several times in the film. Given that The Descent is more than sturdy enough to invite repeat viewings, though, it’s a flaw that’ll stand the test of time. Bring on the mountain monster madness. |
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