The Best British Horror. Genuingly Scary. (The Descent (Special Edition, 2 DVDs))

Member Name: Joe11Joe11

Product:	The Descent (Special Edition, 2 DVDs)
Date:	16/08/06 (202 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Genuingly Scary, British.

Disadvantages: Ending Could Cause Confusion

'The Descent's Director Neil Marshall was the brains behind 'Dog Soldiers' which was released a few years back. That film is absolutely brilliant and i think i'll do a review on that next. Anyway, i bought 'The Descent' a few months back and have watched it a couple of times since. It is a very original and clever film and scared my girlfriend severely on several occasions (and me a couple of times, but shh).

I'll try not to give too much away here but if you don't want to hear about the films basic plot, skip the next paragraph.

At the beginning, there are 6 women who are white water rafting together. They are obviously adrenaline junkies as it were. Anyway, on the way home one of the girls is involved in a car crash where her husband and daughter tragically die. In a bid to make her feel better once she's recovered one of the girls organises a cave expedition to a cave that is well-known and safe. But it turns out that the cave is a new find and no-one has ever been down there (infact, no-one has ever came out alive). Once they have gone through part of the cave one of the tunnels collapses leaving them unable to go back. Friendships between the girls are 'on the rocks' (excuse the pun) and things get worse when it turns out a pack of cannibal alien type creatures are hunting them. The girls fight for their lives and for freedom from the cave and the film follows this journey.

The storyline and cinematography of the film is top-notch and Marshall uses clever techniques to scare and shock the audience (which i wont delve into as i want them to scare you). The 'monsters' that hunt the girls are expertly designed and look like they could actually be real but due to being down a cave for so long they have mutated. There is a sense that these beings were once human. The girls all have different personalities and traits and because of their good acting and the emotion they show in the film you can feel yourself taking to them and caring about what happens to them.

The ending of the film is very confusing and can be deciphered in more than one way i think. This could leave some people disappointed but i think most will like it and like to discuss what they think with other who have seen the film.

I saw this film in the cinema when it first came out and then, as i said, bought it a few months back and it doesn't lose any of it's 'scare factor' when watched on a tv screen. As long as you watch it in the dark it will scare you.

On this 2-disc edition there are 2 director commentaries unveling the technical side of the film and how it was shot and the other informs you of what the cast got up to on set etc. The second disk has a very informative 'The making of' documentary telling how the film managed to get the most out of it's cast, the film's main influences and why certain shots were shot. Overall a good watch. There are also galleries, trailers etc. on this extra disk.

This is definetly one of the best horror's out there at the minute and it's a bonus that it is British as we don't really produce many good horror films these days. This is definetly scarier and more entertaining than 'The Ring' for example and other horror's of that sort. I'd definetly recommend it, but watch on your own at your own risk.

Summary: One of the best British films for years, a great storyline and characters. Definetly recommend.