The Descent Review

The lengthy delay bringing Neil Marshall's The Descent to North American shores makes a certain degree of sense on a business level. After all, there was the remarkably similar, and US studio backed, film The Cave on the way and the powers that be didn't want to risk open the two too closely together for fear of oversaturating and / or confusing the market. However, it must be said that any world in which The Cave – a film positively loathed by critics and ignored by audiences – takes precedence over Marshall's impeccably crafted film is a world run by idiots.

Already well loved by genre fans for his work on Dog Soldiers Marshall has here crafted a nearly flawless horror film. The Descent tells the story of six women, adrenaline junkies all, on a thrill seeking trip spelunking in the Appalachians. The women are trapped underground when a tunnel collapses, after which they are taught a lesson in the consequences of long term inbreeding and vitamin D deficiency by a horribly deformed clan of subterranean dwellers.

The film breaks neatly into two parts, the first half playing as a horribly claustrophobic psychological thriller – this film will give claustrophobic viewers absolute fits – with all hell breaking loose once the bottom dwellers appear on the scene as the second half plays as a brilliantly blood soaked jump a minute monster picture. Taken as a whole the film gives you well nigh everything you could ask from a genre picture: solid characters, a tight and well written script, a brilliantly foreign yet recognizable setting, fantastic creature designs, and intensely uncomfortable horror sequences based on a mix of realistic situations – say it with me, “Compound fracture, no anaesthetic” – and nightmarish fantasy.

Why does The Descent succeed so admirably where The Cave failed so badly? Three reasons: script, cast and execution.

On the script level Marshall – who wrote as well as directed – proves himself a master of genre film, hitting all the right notes while also showing himself willing and able to go the extra mile. With this sort of film he could probably have gotten away with writing very simple characters and going straight for the gore but his refusal to do that elevates Marshall's work above the genre pack. He builds a deep relationship between his characters, particularly between the central three, layering in depths of meaning and subtext with subtlety and grace, and those extra grace notes go a long way towards selling the story once the more extreme elements kick in. And as for those more extreme elements, Marshall simply nails them.

As for the cast the entire group is strong with Shauna MacDonald turning in a particularly strong performance in the lead, and most emotionally demanding role. Group dynamics are a hard thing to get right, particular in a group this size made up almost entirely of people who are supposed to have been close friends for years, and this group makes it look effortless. All of the players are also dead solid when it comes to selling the more physical elements of things and, let's be honest here, who doesn't love the sight of a blood drenched woman bashing in the skull of an underground ghoul with the thigh of some long dead animal?

And finally, the execution. Marshall is simply dead solid behind the camera. He shoots gorgeous film and paces things beautifully. He shifts gears seamlessly between moods and always knows when to tease and when to deliver. He establishes his mastery with a pair of early sequences. He uses the opening three minutes of the film – a river rafting sequence revolving around the central three characters – to instantly and easily establish the relationship between the three while also delivering the tragedy that will drive MacDonald's character through the rest of the film with casual, ruthless efficiency. And again, when the film jumps forward in time a year to get us to the larger group, Marshall needs just a few minutes to establish and link each of his six characters. With just a few minutes we easily understand each of them and their relationship to one another. That he can pull this off so easily is no small feat. And Marshall's not just good with character, he is a maestro at manipulating tension and sending in the gushes of blood.

The only significant mis-step in the film is the curiously doubled up ending – either option would have been fine individually but Marshall opts to include two – but it is a relatively minor issue, certainly nothing major enough to spoil the film and for the rest of the run time The Descent stands as a stellar piece of film making, a film that would have people mentioning Marshall's name in the same breath as new wave horror maestros such as Eli Roth if only he'd been American rather than British. As it is we are left waiting for the film to hit theaters on these shores. And studio execs wonder why import DVDs are so popular …