The last few years have seen the renewal of the horror genre. What was once considered schlock fare for freaks is now a huge part of the corporate studio system and the most profitable genre of film today. Many of today’s horror movies are slick remakes of cult classics, some are barely more than staged snuff films, and a few attempt to open the genre to younger audiences by relying on suspense rather than arterial spray. The number of films being produced is nearing that of the halycon days of the 50’s. We are truly living in another golden age of horror cinema.
With horror films being released almost every week these days it’s not surprising that some of best fall through the cracks. Labeled as “just another scare flick”, they come and go from the multiplex in the blink of an eye. This is unfortunate because there have been some truly great horror films released in the past years. Many of the finest push the genre forward while remaining firmly rooted in its rules, myths, and trappings. High Tension comes to mind, as does Roger Avary’s Silent Hill. Without a doubt, however, the absolute finest example of the genre in recent memory has to be Neil Marshall’s The Descent. Although the film emerged from Sundance with the kind of fervor that accompanied The Blair Witch Project, it failed to coalesce into box office gold. It was a mild success, garnered critical praise, but was mostly passed over by audiences unable to tell the real deal from the myriad of horror films on offer at the end of the summer. Now with the long anticipated DVD release of Marshall’s original cut,
The Descent may finally begin its crawl to the upper tier of horror film history, where it belongs.
One of the first things that strikes you about the film is that 90% of it takes place in a single, isolated location, with a group of 6 women. Much like John Carpenter’s The Thing, The Descent jettisons the usual sex subplot of most horror films, focusing instead on same sex rivalries within a group. This allows Marshall to ramp up the tension in a film that already feels as claustrophobic as the underground cave system the women explore. Even if the movie was entirely focused on the divisions within this group in the face of a cave-in The Descent would still be an exhilarating, and frightening film. In fact the first half hour of the movie deals only with this aspect of the story.
As the women descend into a self-imposed night Marshall slices off pieces of back-story as we spend some time with each character. They are all friends, but like any large group there are smaller tighter friendships within. This comes into play later on when the group is fractured, leaving some to fend for themselves as others break off into pairs. Every subplot of their rivalries is followed through to their conclusions, and clues are given along the way. There is not one instance in the film in which a character’s actions are not adequately motivated. Marshall’s construction is precise and delicate. Sure a couple characters suffer from minimal development, but that is more a product of the running time of the film. Even in these instances Marshall works economically to flesh them out before they are torn to shreds.
The original pre-Sundance trailer for The Descent gave no warning of the creatures the 6 friends would discover deep in the West Virginian cave. It emphasized the tension and fear of being caught miles underground without any hope of seeing daylight again. I wish they would have kept this approach during its wide release, instead of giving away the existence of cave dwellers. I can’t imagine sitting in the cinema watching this film and not knowing that something else awaited them, the shock would have been a great reveal. As it is, the film’s construction flows smoothly, and by the time we do get our first glimpse of a “crawler”, as Marshall has dubbed them, we have already gone through the emotional wringer, yet this is where the film truly begins.
Once the baddies make their appearance the pace of the film accelerates, as it builds to the first major confrontation. Imagine if human beings had long ago left the daylight world for live underground. Thousands of years of evolution have destroyed their eyesight, replacing it with the sonar locating abilities of bats. Eons underground have made these people perfectly suited to scramble up walls and craggy surfaces. This is the basic design of the crawler. Marshall goes further however, developing his monster with as much care as he shows to his more human characters. We see their social behaviors, hunting techniques, and feel their pain as they fight for their very lives. Each encounter is a bit different as the group of friends dwindles in the face of the onslaught. It becomes obvious that the primary question for our heroines is: “How bad do you want to stay alive?”. Indeed those that are able to make it become almost as ferocious as their enemies.
The Descent is filled with more beautiful imagery, character development, creative screen writing, and delicious gore than any horror film since Alien. Its claustrophobic nature creates such an environment of fear that it is nearly unbearable at times. The Original Unrated Cut DVD presents Marshall’s vision, untarnished, and with a key subplot intact. It should not be missed.