The Descent

Shauna Macdonald, Alex Reid, Natalie Mendoza, Nora-Jane Noone, Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring

Dir. Neil Marshall
Scr. Neil Marshall

I’ve never been happier for a movie to end in my whole cinema-going life. That’s not to say that The Descent is a bad movie. Far from it. But, jeez, I was very scared. Very, very scared.

As a general rule, I don’t really like horror films. Mainly because they usually aren’t very good – not scary, unoriginal, predictable. There have been a few quality examples of the genre in the last decade, and most have come out of the UK rather than Hollywood. 28 Days Later, for example, and Dog Soldiers. And I would now certainly add The Descent to that list. And if we’re talking about pure horror, it would definitely top the list.

Neil Marshall wrote and directed Dog Soldiers, which is full of humour and bad visual effects and, although a terrific film, not hugely frightening. I was expecting a similar film when I saw The Descent but instead got a bloody terrifying, intense and gory venture underground.

The plot is nice and simple (as all good horror plots should be): six friends meet in the Appalachian Mountains for a fun day out caving. One of the friends, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) is haunted by the death of her husband and daughter, which we see at the beginning of the film (not a nice way to go). These women are seasoned trampers/rock climbers/cavers/gung-ho fitness freaks … so what can possibly go wrong? In a word – everything.

From the moment the movie began until the moment it ended, I was either on the edge of my seat or hiding behind my hands. There is very little let-up – even the simple act of gazing out a window can have horrifying consequences. I was scared before they even got into the cave and way, way before the actual monsters appeared. It is quite a feat to maintain that level of intensity for pretty much the entire movie and that is probably The Descent’s greatest accomplishment.

Although the setting is not original (there have been many movies about stupid people who stupidly venture into stupid caves) it was certainly the best example I have seen – I was in a cinema with only four other people and yet felt extremely claustrophobic, physically ducking my head at times to avoid the rocks and walls the characters encountered. The monsters were pretty good but, to be honest, I was already so on edge that they could have been fluffy puppies and I still would have gasped in horror. They certainly provide some great material for nightmares.

I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone who wants to see it, so I won’t talk too much about the chain of events. Let’s just say, there’s a lot of dying and not much living. The end is a tad confusing, but it doesn’t detract from the film and it left me rather disturbed. The cast of mostly unknown actresses are pretty good, especially Macdonald who plays the haunted shadow of her former self superbly.

If you don’t fancy being terrified, avoid this film. It’s not an easy watch and I understand that many people go to the cinema to relax not scream. But if you like to be scared and taken on a thrill ride, see this low-budget, quality B-movie. I recommend taking someone with you, preferably someone you can hide behind.

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Beth: I'm an English teacher, not f**king Tomb Raider.