The Descent

I don’t know if this is really a good thing or not but I’m giving this film the benefit of the doubt just because and crediting the claustrophobia as a positive. I got hit with a healthy dose of that squeezy sort of feeling a number of times throughout this film and that only adds to the tension. Which I will say that this film does a great job of building the emotional pressure all over this movie. In the opening scene of the movie, we hit the ground running with some serious impactful imagery of the Final Destination 2 variety. Additionally, the film does a great job of steadily turning up the heat scene after scene. It doesn’t take long from the intensity of the opening sequence to the time we are in the cave and things really open up. One of the things that this movie also does well is it uses the natural surroundings to amplify the building pressure amongst the cast. Much like in “The Blair Witch Project” a big part of what pokes the proverbial sleeping bear is the frustration that natural calamity brings. Each little revelation of how wrong the plan is going only heaps fuel onto the growing fire. Toss in injuries and the notion that all six ladies may be stranded in this cave system and things are ready to blow. The only thing I would have liked to see with this would have been for a more natural breakdown of their friendship fabric while things continued to spiral. There was a more abrupt nature due to the twist the movie took when it came to creatures in the cave.

This is probably the other aspect of the movie that I felt like they really hit the mark. I don’t know where I first heard it but I’ve always really enjoyed the notion that when someone notates that they are afraid of being alone somewhere like the woods or, in this case, a cave, what they are actually afraid of is NOT being alone wherever they are. That’s the true fear. Sure, being alone in the woods at night or stuck down in a cave by yourself does still have it’s own terror signature. But if you add in the reality that you have someone, or some THING, in your midst, all of a sudden the severity of the situation becomes much greater. I appreciated that there were a handful of camera shots that appeared to be from the perspective of the cave people followed by some brief hints at them. It was that kind of “did you see that” kind of camera work that made you do a double take and possibly even rewind to see if you saw what you think you saw. Eventually you get a full on look at the underground monsters and I really think it’s in their simplicity that makes them as scary as they are. Sure there’s plenty you can do to a ghoul to make it big and hideous, but having these stalkers seem so close to human really made them creepier in my opinion. It was the fact that they were more of an adaptation over time that made their hunting of people so much more dastardly. It’s that seeming juxtaposition to cannibalism and the animalistic nature of the way they ripped into people that heightened that fear factor. Coupled with the fact that several shots in the caves also featured their darting around and the natural darkness provided ample room for the creatures to move around quickly in uncertain terrain pushed the fright factor over the edge.

But that brings us to what was not so great. While there’s a lot about this movie that is easy to enjoy from a scary movie perspective, it’s still got plenty of flaws. The acting is not great. We’re supposed to believe that these six women are the best of friends but if they went over a reasoning for this, I missed it. Which is possible, clearly. That could be on me. But if it was that brief of a story, then it hardly seems like the kind of connective tissue that bands six grown women together to the point where they take these annual excursions together. Furthermore, their interpersonal interactions did not seem overtly friendly. At times they came across as moderately friendly. But I think the film ultimately suffers a little because of the disjointed nature of how these six ladies come together. Because they don’t feel like natural relationships, the pressure put on them doesn’t seem as genuine. It’s a misstep because I think if the performances had been a little more believable then the tension would have risen significantly because of it. By not totally buying that they had these bonds they poised themselves to possess, and not delivering on it, they short circuited some of the realness of the tension built because friends who start breaking down and in fighting during a terrifically stressful subterranean expedition should be a remarkable source of palpable frustration. Instead it was a little bit lacking many times and even when Sarah gets stuck in a tunnel, the entire event is circumvented and the claustrophobia in that moment isn’t what it could have been because the performances suffered in that deficit of authenticity.

The other thing I think I have to touch on is the CG in this movie. The digital effects were really not so great. Not the worst I’ve ever seen but far from the best. I know this movie wasn’t made yesterday but it’s also not a product of the 1970’s either. The ability to create reasonable digital effects even on a low budget has been a thing for a while now. It’s not like I’m taking away massive points for it. They weren’t heavily used, thankfully. The film relied far more heavily on practical effects which was nice. Even finding out that they constructed the cave sets and reused them with different lighting techniques earns them more than enough points to counter balance this oversight. It’s just one of the few things that they didn’t quite nail when they put this movie together.

Overall I think I’ve gotta give this movie a B-. It’s already made it’s way onto the shelf so that’s a given. I don’t think it falls in quality enough to downgrade into the C range but there’s still some room for improvement, hence the B-. I would easily recommend this movie for any spooky movie night. The scares are not heavy on jumps but there’s some decent ones mixed into the overall film. The tension builds nicely and the claustrophobia is heavy but not central. It doesn’t overuse that which I found refreshing given it’s a hard one for me to deal with. The other elements in this movie complimented the horror aspect of the story well and the humanity (and lack thereof at times) really added to the climate of the film. I’ll definitely bring this one back out in the future for rewatches. That about wraps up The Descent in my book. So until next time, I’ll catch you on the flip side.