Post by Bartwald on Sept 3, 2005 14:43:03 GMT -5
The Descent (2005)
Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, MyAnna Buring, Alex Reid
Grade: 9/10
Six girls are going for a caving expedition somewhere in the Appalachian mountains; this is their annual opportunity to be with each other and exchange latest news on their lives, but most importantly – to prove themselves as a trusted team in some extremely difficult conditions. Since the very beginning, however, it can be noticed that this year it’s all not exactly like it used to be: Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) hasn’t yet come to terms with her recent personal tragedy, while Juno (Natalie Mendoza) seems to be hiding some important information about this year’s expedition. Will this be enough for the team to fall apart? We should hope not because the upcoming events will need close cooperation of all the girls. After entering a particularly narrow underground passage an unfortunate accident blocks the entrance, and since the cave hasn’t yet been mapped no one knows whether there is another way out. And anyway – looking for the exit would be perhaps much more fun if a group of some bloodthirsty creatures were not lurking deep inside the cave.
Neil Marshall (director of this and Dog Soldiers) is a master of creating suspense and delivering it in carefully measured dosage – be it by punching the viewer in the gut (e.g. in an introductory scene which I should not reveal here) or by the ruthless use of the fear-inducing conditions provided by the film’s plot (e.g. when Sarah is stuck in a narrow passage or when the characters have to get to the other side of a precipice). Knowing that Marshall was not totally content with Dog Soldiers – he thought it too “light” for a horror film – we can see he went one step further with The Descent: the movie is dark, pessimistic and the tongue is no longer in cheek. For viewers who like to exit the theatre and discuss the heart-warming message of a movie this may be literally a nightmare: the bright side of human nature is not discussed here whatsoever, and it is even difficult to talk about catharsis for any of the film’s characters.
The six girls in the movie are played by actresses from six different countries: Scotland (Shauna Macdonald), Ireland (Nora-Jane Noone), England (Alex Reid), Australia (Natalie Mendoza), Holland (Saskia Mulder) and Sweden (MyAnna Buring). This little trick helps a lot to make it more clearly visible that the characters are living far from each other and only meeting once a year. All the girls do very well in their roles but these are Shauna Macdonald (also known from a thrilling TV-series “Spooks”) and Natalie Mendoza who get most of our attention. Mendoza’s Juno is the toughest of the girls but as the minutes pass by she is less and less self-confident, while Macdonald’s Sarah is the polar opposite: first she seems to be the group’s weakest link but the more terror she experiences the stronger she gets.
In a review of The Descent it is impossible not to mention the cave-dwelling monsters, but on the other hand saying too much may deprive the film of its mysteriousness. When one of the characters says “Hey, I just spotted something there in the shadows!” the viewers should not be much wiser than she is. It is enough to know that yes – there sure is something in the shadows, no – it is not friendly at all, and yes – the f/x guys did their job frighteningly well. Let’s also add that Marshall was nice enough to use the water-filled caves to pay an homage to one Lucio Fulci: please watch for an underwater scene that was intended to mirror the shark vs. zombie moment in Zombie Flesh-Eaters! Such minor details as much as the whole film prove that Marshall is not just a “director to watch” anymore, but a true fan of the genre for whose future horror films we will wait impatiently but without the “Will he manage this time?” doubts. A true horror genius.
Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, MyAnna Buring, Alex Reid
Grade: 9/10
Six girls are going for a caving expedition somewhere in the Appalachian mountains; this is their annual opportunity to be with each other and exchange latest news on their lives, but most importantly – to prove themselves as a trusted team in some extremely difficult conditions. Since the very beginning, however, it can be noticed that this year it’s all not exactly like it used to be: Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) hasn’t yet come to terms with her recent personal tragedy, while Juno (Natalie Mendoza) seems to be hiding some important information about this year’s expedition. Will this be enough for the team to fall apart? We should hope not because the upcoming events will need close cooperation of all the girls. After entering a particularly narrow underground passage an unfortunate accident blocks the entrance, and since the cave hasn’t yet been mapped no one knows whether there is another way out. And anyway – looking for the exit would be perhaps much more fun if a group of some bloodthirsty creatures were not lurking deep inside the cave.
Neil Marshall (director of this and Dog Soldiers) is a master of creating suspense and delivering it in carefully measured dosage – be it by punching the viewer in the gut (e.g. in an introductory scene which I should not reveal here) or by the ruthless use of the fear-inducing conditions provided by the film’s plot (e.g. when Sarah is stuck in a narrow passage or when the characters have to get to the other side of a precipice). Knowing that Marshall was not totally content with Dog Soldiers – he thought it too “light” for a horror film – we can see he went one step further with The Descent: the movie is dark, pessimistic and the tongue is no longer in cheek. For viewers who like to exit the theatre and discuss the heart-warming message of a movie this may be literally a nightmare: the bright side of human nature is not discussed here whatsoever, and it is even difficult to talk about catharsis for any of the film’s characters.
The six girls in the movie are played by actresses from six different countries: Scotland (Shauna Macdonald), Ireland (Nora-Jane Noone), England (Alex Reid), Australia (Natalie Mendoza), Holland (Saskia Mulder) and Sweden (MyAnna Buring). This little trick helps a lot to make it more clearly visible that the characters are living far from each other and only meeting once a year. All the girls do very well in their roles but these are Shauna Macdonald (also known from a thrilling TV-series “Spooks”) and Natalie Mendoza who get most of our attention. Mendoza’s Juno is the toughest of the girls but as the minutes pass by she is less and less self-confident, while Macdonald’s Sarah is the polar opposite: first she seems to be the group’s weakest link but the more terror she experiences the stronger she gets.
In a review of The Descent it is impossible not to mention the cave-dwelling monsters, but on the other hand saying too much may deprive the film of its mysteriousness. When one of the characters says “Hey, I just spotted something there in the shadows!” the viewers should not be much wiser than she is. It is enough to know that yes – there sure is something in the shadows, no – it is not friendly at all, and yes – the f/x guys did their job frighteningly well. Let’s also add that Marshall was nice enough to use the water-filled caves to pay an homage to one Lucio Fulci: please watch for an underwater scene that was intended to mirror the shark vs. zombie moment in Zombie Flesh-Eaters! Such minor details as much as the whole film prove that Marshall is not just a “director to watch” anymore, but a true fan of the genre for whose future horror films we will wait impatiently but without the “Will he manage this time?” doubts. A true horror genius.
