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grrgoylI've been dying to see this ever since it was praised so glowingly by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jaaaaamas. I hate being so jaded and desensitized. I miss the days when horror movies genuinely made me feel fear. I can't stand renting something for some scary thrills and laughing inappropriately instead.
So imagine my disappointment when I realized The Descent was to be a UK release only. Those of us here in the colonies had to put up with a Hollywood remake instead, The Cave, which based on the reviews on Amazon sounded every bit as crappy and ridiculous as I suspected. Someday years from now after I've rented everything I could possibly rent I might consider taking a peek for comparative purposes. But not a minute before then.
I was able to see this film without buying a ticket to England (as fun as that would have been) through the internet wizardry skills of a relation. Yes, I mean internet piracy. I am normally very much against the idea, but this was a special case. A) I wasn't about to shell out $25 to buy the movie from amazon.co.uk without even knowing if I'd like it and B) I AM going to shell out $25 for it anyway now that I know I like it. So this was a win-win situation.
The Descent has a very simple, basic plot. Six girlfriends who routinely search for adventure in extreme sporting activities decide to go spelunking in the Appalachians. Naturally the journey goes awry even before they discover they aren't alone inside the mountain, and well, things go dramatically from bad to worse after that.
I was led to believe that this was based on the book, The Descent, which has an interesting premise: if there was an historical Jesus, there might have been an historical Satan, and he's living under a mountain and accidentally discovered by cavers. If there is any connection between the book and the movie, it's either extremely flimsy or my bootlegger fell asleep and cut out huge swaths of the film.
I've got no problem with unknown casts, except when talking about such a large group. Not for lack of the director attempting to build some character development, but it just wasn't enough. Of the six, I was only able to keep two of the girls straight in my head, one of which was the leader of the crew and the other which, unfortunately, was the first to die. Damn. After that I only knew ONE of the girls by sight. What little hope I had of recognizing anyone else was squelched when they got covered with dirt and gore and they all looked alike. You might think it wouldn't really matter once it became a blood-soaked creature flick, but something actually quite important happens that changes the dynamic between some of the characters and I feel I missed out on some of the drama by not knowing who was who.
The beginning goes for the cheap scares, which annoys me. But we'll forgive it this time because it eventually does deliver the goods: the creatures. FINALLY, something that scared me. As I mentioned in my Bros Grimm review, CGI monsters do nothing for me. I'm not scared of what is essentially a video game. So 100 bonus points go to this movie simply because the monsters are not CGI. Or at least, if/when they are, the setting is dark enough and the camera work skillful enough that you really can't tell. In fact they looked like something seen in a Marilyn Manson video, which is v. v. good when going for high creepilicious factor. The director also learned a thing or two in film school about jacking up the horror quotient by not lingering on your monster too long, and the dimmer the lighting and more fleeting the glimpses, the better. Particularly brilliant was his use of the girls' infrared video camera to see in the dark, reducing the already claustrophobic surroundings to a very tight, very restrictive view, a la Blair Witch Project.
The ending was a little disappointing and bizarre, but being such a small portion of the entire film I won't hold too much against it. I remembered some mention in reviews of The Cave that the team discovers the monsters are actually survivors of other exploration parties. I don't know if that was what was happening here because the only scene that might have alluded to this was when one of the girls is attacked by a female, slightly more human-looking creature. It didn't seem to go anywhere so I am trusting the director's commentary will clear some things up.
There isn't any great moral to be taken from the movie, unless you want to be really deep and think of the title referring not only to the cavers' descent into the mountain, but their descent from civilization into pure, primitive survival mode and being forced into doing brutal, horrific things they never would have normally.
I have a couple of picks though. First, instead of the classic "stupid people going into the dark basement which is clearly a bad idea" scenario, we have supposedly experienced cavers injuring themselves by running off willy-nilly through the caves even before they are being pursued. Dumb.
Second, the creatures we eventually learn are animalistic, highly belligerent and very, very hungry. They ALWAYS attack on sight (figuratively speaking, as they are blind) except for the first close encounter, where one just strolls through the group past the camera. Creepy effect, true, but nonsensical in light of their predatory nature. That is all.
This is the first horror movie in a long time that had me on the edge of my seat, anxiously peering into the dark to try to see better. Whether this can be attributed to the bootleg copy being too dark and grainy I'm not sure, but I'm going to buy the commercially-released DVD in November and we shall see what we shall see. 4 out of 5, for making me feel alive and scared once again.
P.S.: One of the reviewers at Amazon.co.uk said he laughed at the movie because of the tools the girls carried, and seemed to be using the review solely to brag about his superior caving skills. I felt sorry for him if he went into this looking for a technically accurate biopic on spelunking. Lighten up, man.
jaaaaamas. I hate being so jaded and desensitized. I miss the days when horror movies genuinely made me feel fear. I can't stand renting something for some scary thrills and laughing inappropriately instead. So imagine my disappointment when I realized The Descent was to be a UK release only. Those of us here in the colonies had to put up with a Hollywood remake instead, The Cave, which based on the reviews on Amazon sounded every bit as crappy and ridiculous as I suspected. Someday years from now after I've rented everything I could possibly rent I might consider taking a peek for comparative purposes. But not a minute before then.
I was able to see this film without buying a ticket to England (as fun as that would have been) through the internet wizardry skills of a relation. Yes, I mean internet piracy. I am normally very much against the idea, but this was a special case. A) I wasn't about to shell out $25 to buy the movie from amazon.co.uk without even knowing if I'd like it and B) I AM going to shell out $25 for it anyway now that I know I like it. So this was a win-win situation.
The Descent has a very simple, basic plot. Six girlfriends who routinely search for adventure in extreme sporting activities decide to go spelunking in the Appalachians. Naturally the journey goes awry even before they discover they aren't alone inside the mountain, and well, things go dramatically from bad to worse after that.
I was led to believe that this was based on the book, The Descent, which has an interesting premise: if there was an historical Jesus, there might have been an historical Satan, and he's living under a mountain and accidentally discovered by cavers. If there is any connection between the book and the movie, it's either extremely flimsy or my bootlegger fell asleep and cut out huge swaths of the film.
I've got no problem with unknown casts, except when talking about such a large group. Not for lack of the director attempting to build some character development, but it just wasn't enough. Of the six, I was only able to keep two of the girls straight in my head, one of which was the leader of the crew and the other which, unfortunately, was the first to die. Damn. After that I only knew ONE of the girls by sight. What little hope I had of recognizing anyone else was squelched when they got covered with dirt and gore and they all looked alike. You might think it wouldn't really matter once it became a blood-soaked creature flick, but something actually quite important happens that changes the dynamic between some of the characters and I feel I missed out on some of the drama by not knowing who was who.
The beginning goes for the cheap scares, which annoys me. But we'll forgive it this time because it eventually does deliver the goods: the creatures. FINALLY, something that scared me. As I mentioned in my Bros Grimm review, CGI monsters do nothing for me. I'm not scared of what is essentially a video game. So 100 bonus points go to this movie simply because the monsters are not CGI. Or at least, if/when they are, the setting is dark enough and the camera work skillful enough that you really can't tell. In fact they looked like something seen in a Marilyn Manson video, which is v. v. good when going for high creepilicious factor. The director also learned a thing or two in film school about jacking up the horror quotient by not lingering on your monster too long, and the dimmer the lighting and more fleeting the glimpses, the better. Particularly brilliant was his use of the girls' infrared video camera to see in the dark, reducing the already claustrophobic surroundings to a very tight, very restrictive view, a la Blair Witch Project.
The ending was a little disappointing and bizarre, but being such a small portion of the entire film I won't hold too much against it. I remembered some mention in reviews of The Cave that the team discovers the monsters are actually survivors of other exploration parties. I don't know if that was what was happening here because the only scene that might have alluded to this was when one of the girls is attacked by a female, slightly more human-looking creature. It didn't seem to go anywhere so I am trusting the director's commentary will clear some things up.
There isn't any great moral to be taken from the movie, unless you want to be really deep and think of the title referring not only to the cavers' descent into the mountain, but their descent from civilization into pure, primitive survival mode and being forced into doing brutal, horrific things they never would have normally.
I have a couple of picks though. First, instead of the classic "stupid people going into the dark basement which is clearly a bad idea" scenario, we have supposedly experienced cavers injuring themselves by running off willy-nilly through the caves even before they are being pursued. Dumb.
Second, the creatures we eventually learn are animalistic, highly belligerent and very, very hungry. They ALWAYS attack on sight (figuratively speaking, as they are blind) except for the first close encounter, where one just strolls through the group past the camera. Creepy effect, true, but nonsensical in light of their predatory nature. That is all.
This is the first horror movie in a long time that had me on the edge of my seat, anxiously peering into the dark to try to see better. Whether this can be attributed to the bootleg copy being too dark and grainy I'm not sure, but I'm going to buy the commercially-released DVD in November and we shall see what we shall see. 4 out of 5, for making me feel alive and scared once again.
P.S.: One of the reviewers at Amazon.co.uk said he laughed at the movie because of the tools the girls carried, and seemed to be using the review solely to brag about his superior caving skills. I felt sorry for him if he went into this looking for a technically accurate biopic on spelunking. Lighten up, man.
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no subject
Date: 2005-09-14 04:50 am (UTC)I agree with everything in your review. Therefore it's a good one :) I am happy you enjoyed it though. It was one of the few scary movies that truly FRIGHTENED me. I couldn't sleep right for a week!
no subject
Date: 2005-09-14 06:38 pm (UTC)Oh, and to answer your mail, I have no problem with unhappy or grim endings. Some of my favorite movies are unbearably depressing. It just seemed like the ending came out of nowhere and maybe required a little explanation. But I didn't let it ruin the whole movie for me.