The Descent (2005) REVIEW - 💎💎

(May Contain Spoilers)

DISAPPOINTED.

This film by IMDB and other Youtubers hyped this film WAY TOO MUCH. Yes I have seen people dissect this film to delve into the many meanings each little thing has, but you could do that about most movies. This is entirely my OWN OPINION and it sucked. If you like this film, I’m not sorry lol. It didn’t have what I look for in a horror film and it got way too cheesy!

Sarah meets up with her friends once a year to go on some sort of excursion, this year it was water rafting, however when her husband comes to pick her up there is a VERY OBVIOUS look from the best friend, Juno (Natalie Mendoza) and the husband that they are clearly having an affair. On the way back Sarah (Shauna Macdonald), her husband and daughter are in a terrible car accident and Sarah is the only one to come out alive. Now one year later, Sarah goes to meet up with her friends for this year’s excursion, caving.

There are five friends including Juno who is the one who leads the group to the caves, however, the caves that they should have been exploring were ‘too touristy’ for her so took the group to some that hadn’t been discovered yet. When they get down there claustrophobia ensues, of course, which is one of the best points about the film! There are some foreshadowing signs and some noises and woshies past the camera to indicate that they are not alone in these caves. After a while, Sarah notices one of the “walkers” (we will call them), which are humans who have adapted to live down the caves and like bats they are blind. Of course, when the girls start making noises they wake from their slumber and start attacking the women. They light up red flares only to reveal that the caves are much bigger and harder to navigate than they anticipated. This is where the cheese started, with the close up eye shots and the walkers chasing them, especially as the walkers didn’t look that scary anyway. I wasn’t thrilled I was bored.

I must say I did like the ending with Sarah climbing up this hill of skulls and her hand breaking out of the grave looking exterior like Evil Dead (1981) and that fact that the ending was a dream or illusion, so the audience got the ending they wanted and the relief however the makers got what they wanted and Sarah dies in the cave along with all her friends.

I thought the cinematography was a bit too much at times with the constant manic hand shake, it got a bit too much like a headache, but I did appreciate the The Blair Witch Project (1999) handheld recorder element. The claustrophobia from the caves kept me watching, but all together boring the characters didn’t have much substance and it got cheesy. I liked 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019) better and that was terrible!

Stream now on Box of Broadcasts.