Down Into the Darkness

The most remarkable thing about The Descent—and there is much that is remarkable in this bloody, terrifying film—is its patience. Most monster/horror films start quickly and try to push themselves continually faster, meaning that by the time the movie is half way though there’s no where left to go. The Descent, though, is willing to wait you out; you don’t see a shadow or hear a sound from the creature till more than an hour in. This is not to say that the first half of the film is slow, but by pretending everything is normal for so long, it lulls you into a sense of relative security. Everything is okay here, right?

If only.

When The Descent starts to move, get ready, because at just the point when you’re actually starting to wonder when things will start happening, the film takes its gradual climb and buries you under a rockslide of fright. For an hour or so, you’re going along, engaged with the characters and growing mildly worried as the situation slowly declines, and then it just drops the floor out from underneath you. The final forty minutes are nerve-rattling, one of the most sustained efforts in cinematic terror I’ve ever seen. This is not a serious movie, but it takes itself seriously enough, and it’s determined to flip off the lights and drag you through the rock-wall haunted house chambers it has built. It's a cliche to say it, but it will scare the hell out of you. And if you're like me, you'll love it.

It’s a much better film than UK director Neil Marshall’s debut flick, Dog Soldiers, which was actually a surprisingly good horror/actioner about a military unit taking on a pack of werewolves. Marshall has clearly studied Alien and Aliens extensively, and he’s got the low budget action setpiece down like no one since early James Cameron. He never shows us too much, and he makes the most of his spooky settings. The cramped corridors of the unexplored cave in which the film takes place are scary and claustrophobic all on their own. Add some intestine-devouring cave monsters and Marshall's expertise at shooting jumpy scare shots, and you've got yourself a vicious bit of horror.

Marshall isn't afraid to bust out the blood and guts either. A little gore goes a long way, he knows, but sometimes a lot of gore goes further. By the end of The Descent, the heroine is spattered with dirt and blood, like war paint—proof of her ferocity and killer instinct. The Descent takes this nice, sweater-wearing Scottish girl, and drags her down through the bloody bowels of hell. Fortunately enough for those of us who like to be scared witless, we get to join her.