 Tagline: Claustrophobia. Disorientation. Hallucination. Fear. On an annual extreme outdoor adventure, six women meet in a remote part of the Appalachians to explore a cave hidden deep in the woods. Far below the surface of the earth, disaster strikes when a rock fall blocks their exit and there's no way out. The women push on, praying for another exit, but there is something else lurking under the earth. The friends are now prey, forced to unleash their most primal instincts in an all-out war against an unspeakable horror - one that attacks without warning, again and again and again. Storyline: A woman goes on vacation with her friends after her husband and daughter encounter a tragic accident. One year later she goes hiking with her friends and they get trapped in the cave. With a lack of supply, they struggle to survive and they meet strange blood thirsty creatures. Written by Lien Dang Cast Notes: Shauna Macdonald (Sarah), Natalie Jackson Mendoza (Juno [as Natalie Mendoza]), Alex Reid (Beth), Saskia Mulder (Rebecca), MyAnna Buring (Sam), Nora-Jane Noone (Holly), Oliver Milburn (Paul), Molly Kayll (Jessica), Craig Conway (Crawler - Scar), Leslie Simpson (Crawler), Mark Cronfield (Crawler), Stephen Lamb (Crawler [as Steve Lamb]), Catherine Dyson (Crawler), Julie Ellis (Crawler), Sophie Trott (Crawler). User Comment: matt_cub from United Kingdom, 12 July 2005 • If nightmare inducing horror is not your bag then the less you know about The Descent the better. Geordie writer-director Neil Marshall has delivered an accomplished, well acted, out and out horror movie that comes as much of a pleasant surprise as his first major feature Dog Soldiers did back in 2002. Shot in a mere 7 weeks The Descent sees a sextet of undeniably attractive action women leaping headfirst into an Appalachian potholing adventure that goes wrong so quickly you are left wondering if any one of them will survive, let alone ever see daylight again. There are comparisons to be drawn to Marshall's 'Soldiers of course - again the story is stark and wonderfully economic. Again there is group of six people, predominantly one sex accompanied with a lurking, ominous threat and again there are more nods to popular film culture than you probably realise. The Descent however has a sense of humour that is suitably pitch black. Long before the cave appears we play witness to a traumatic event that underlies the plot and serves to both unite and tear apart relationships in equal measure. Mostly affected are fragile Sarah and physically strong Juno, an adrenaline junkie who leads the group further and further beneath the ground. No time is wasted in recreating the primal feel of crawling through tunnels with hard hats scraping the dust from the rocks, choking and inducing paranoia all the way as it lingers in the stale, torchlit air. It's here Marshall gets a little inventive. Playing with various different lighting techniques our heroines become colour coded through scenes via glow-sticks, flashlights and video camera. Sounds echo when visuals are briefly lost and deliciously bone crunching they are too. Events escalate quickly and the whole ride becomes what can only be described as a non-stop relentless assault on the senses that will demand repeated viewing. The only thing that will ruin this movie for you is word of mouth, which ironically is exactly what this film will need to become commercially viable. But the less you know, the more you will enjoy it. Have fun spotting references to Carrie and The Time Machine by all means, but don't be fooled into thinking this is a mere standard entry into the much saturated genre-movie staple. The Descent will rank as one of the most unashamedly terrifying British films ever made. It was made by people that love good cinema, and it shows. The Descent was made before The Cave, and now has an alternate ending for new audiences. Summary: Masterful horror film, not to be ignored. User Comment: NewEnglandPat from Virginia, 26 August 2006 • This tense, edgy thriller seemingly has come from out of nowhere to grab the attention of American moviegoers who are rewarded with a gut-wrenching, terrifying chronicle of six brave young women who set out to explore caves in the Appalachian Mountains. The plucky lasses find nothing but unspeakable horror thousands of feet down and realize that they're trapped with no way to retrace their steps and search frantically for another way out, not knowing, at least at first, that an awful, harrowing death awaits each girl around the tunnel's next bend. The film is reminiscent of "The Lost Patrol" as the ladies band together as much as they can against a ghoulish and unseen foe, with each girl's nerves pushed to the breaking point. The movie's dark, claustrophobic look adds realism to the ghastly dangers that the young women face and the spare, understated music score is effective and never calls attention to itself. The girls have several hand-to-hand encounters with the predators in various subterranean abattoirs, using torches, climbing gear and fists to survive, at least for the moment. Natalie Mendoza has a good turn as Juno, the group's ambitious leader who misleads the other women about the caves and also tries to cover up an awful deed she's guilty of in a wild flight to flee from their carnivorous, relentless pursuers. Saskia Mulder and the four other spunky girls on this ill-fated expedition also acquit themselves very well. This movie is certainly one of the best films of 2006. Summary: Dark, claustrophobic thriller hits the mark. IMDb Rating (03/14/15): 7.3/10 from 133,607 users IMDb Rating (12/26/06): 7.5/10 from 18,737 users
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