The Descent, 2005
Directed by Neil Marshall.
Starring Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring, Nora-Jane Noone, Craig Conway, and Oliver Milburn.
SYNOPSIS:
A caving expedition goes horribly wrong when six explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.
How long does a movie have to be out in the public sphere for it to be considered a classic? Now over 20 years old, The Descent was Neil Marshall’s follow-up to his hugely popular werewolf/action hybrid Dog Soldiers and was pretty much adored right from the off, with some calling it an instant classic at the time. There is, of course, no such thing as an instant classic as these things happen over a period of time, but given how highly regarded this movie has always been, the release of this new 4K UHD restoration looks to be the right moment to possibly call it a classic… maybe?
A year after her husband and daughter were killed in a car accident, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) reunites with her circle of friends to go spelunking in a notoriously treacherous set of caves. One of the group, Juno (Natalie Mendoza), disappeared after the death of Sarah’s husband, which creates a level of tension within the group (can you guess why?) but now they are all back together Juno leads them into a cave system in the Appalachian Mountains so they can bond and have a good time.
However, it turns out that the caves Juno has lead them into are not the same as the ones on the maps and plans she submitted to the local authorities, meaning that in the event of an accident nobody knows they are there. Instead, Juno has lead them into an unexplored region of the cave system, thinking that they will be the first to discover it and therefore be celebrated for their discovery, but it turns out that the women aren’t the only living things down there and the fight for survival is on.
Recalling the great monster movies like Jaws and Alien with a bit of stranger-in-a-strange-land thrillers like Deliverance and Southern Comfort, The Descent is a decidedly simple premise made all the more effective by the brilliant sets that Neil Marshall and his crew built, because unless someone pointed it out (or you watched the special features on the disc) then you would probably assume the cast and crew really were below ground. What makes this version of the movie even better is the 4K UHD upgrade, making the inky blacks even blacker without any crushing, and the levels of detail amongst the limited light on the screen at any given time is nothing short of incredible. Whenever a character lights a flare and the screen goes red, it’s almost like watching an Argento movie given how gloriously lurid it looks, so if you own the previous Blu-ray release and are undecided on whether to upgrade based on the image quality then rest assured, the difference is worth it. There is no Dolby Atmos audio track for this upgrade, but given how crisp and clear it sounds – even the previous release scored high in that department – there was probably no need, and although there are a few tweaks here and there for atmosphere it all looks and sounds as excellent as you could want and shows off the 4K UHD format wonderfully.
As this is a three-disc set you get you get a host of extras, most of them ported over from the previous release. The 4K and the Blu-ray discs both feature the alternate US ending and cast/crew audio commentaries, and there is a Blu-ray of extra features that include a new retrospective featuring, amongst others, Neil Marshall and Sarah Macdonald, a new featurette about the score, Neil Marshall at the 2026 Gérardmer International Fantastic Film Festival featurette and all the archive material that covers the effects, the actors, the sets and everything you could want to know about the production from the time.
But what of the movie itself? On the one hand The Descent was always going to appeal to a wider audience because of its familiarity to the aforementioned Jaws and Alien, as those were movies that thrived from a simple premise and were filled with characters you could relate to and who you wanted to spend time with. On the other hand, The Descent always felt a bit like it wasn’t really offering up anything new, just the claustrophobic setting adding a different spin from a boat out at sea or a spaceship that had gone off course.
Along with that, the tensions within the group are telegraphed really early on and aren’t all that shocking when it all comes to light, which also makes them a fairly unlikeable bunch. There are a couple of minor characters who you know are there as cannon fodder for the creatures to slim the group down to the core two-or-three players, and in that respect the movie feels a little generic in its structure.
However, the creatures themselves are creepy and when they first appear properly it is a genuine jump scare moment. Neil Marshall is very careful about how and when to show the creatures – another lesson learnt from Jaws – and his use of night vision, flares and other light sources makes them a scarier prospect than if he had just shown them in full from the off. The kills are also extremely gory and the new restoration makes full use of the 4K upgrade, so you appear to see a lot more exposed intestines and deep stab wounds than before.
As a (relatively) modern horror movie, The Descent does deliver on the gore, the atmosphere and the pace – as it does rocket along once the women are in the cave – and it is a rewatchable horror movie whose good points don’t really diminish with every subsequent viewing like so many others do, but it is also a little predictable, a little generic and that ending was never really as strong or as satisfying as Neil Marshall seems to think it is. Is it a classic movie? Perhaps not, but give it another 20 years and who knows?
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
