MOVIE REVIEW: The Descent

I’m still not entirely sure what to make of The Descent. The plot is great material for a thriller-horror movie: six women go caving in some Appalachian caverns. There they meet some albino humanoids who are looking for their next meal. On board for the trip is Sarah, who is recovering from an accident involving her husband and child; Juno, a resourceful and egotistical adventurer; Beth, the caring best friend of Sarah’s; Rebecca, the sensible, by the book, and motherly outdoor type; Sam, Rebecca’s younger sister and medical school student; and Holly, Juno’s protégé with a wild side. Yes, they are all “types” for this sort of story, but, as writer/director Neil Marshall establishes their strengths and weaknesses, to better help us understand their son-to-be fate, he doesn’t use a sledgehammer to do it.

It’s a sure-handed straight-forward horror movie that takes it time in unfolding (at times too long in unfolding). There are a few good jolts (even if some of the better ones are of the manufactured scares from a dream or another character sneaking up from behind). The first act follows the women’s, ahem, descent into the cavern. This in itself would make for a good thriller. The scene in which Sarah gets stuck in a small tunnel set off a small claustrophobic panic in me. But then the sequence drags. We get it, they’re in an unexplored cavern and don’t know the way out. Soon the cave-dwelling creatures are introduced. The first 10 minutes of this are pretty good, especially the first meeting. This too soon loses momentum. Then there are the questions: How strong are these creatures? At first they seem impervious to harm. Later, though, the resourceful women start picking them off pretty quickly. How did they survive this long in the caves? Despite the rooms of bones, they are terrible hunters. The raptors in Jurassic Park had better organization skills than these people. They’re more dumb than anything else.

So, it’s a nice idea that is tightly wound, but, it contains a few lulls, and, most damning, some questionable behavior by one of the group. Questionable in the sense that she’s seemingly making rational decisions and filling in puzzle pieces about past events while being chased at the same time. It tarnishes the direction I thought the finale was going.

In summary: strong beginning, so-so middle, below average ending. I suppose this is what I make of it: a movie that I wanted to like, that wanted me to like it, but just couldn’t pull it off. I’m not sure if it was too by the numbers or too aloof. The intensity of the women’s plight wasn’t sustained – in fact, it was more intense before the creatures attacked! Now, what do you make of that?