Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Descent


This terrifying British horror movie is, to turn a cringing phrase, "the mutant offspring of Touching The Void and The Hobbit on steroids". A group of young women meet to go potholing in the Appalachians, one year after a terrible accident threatens to tear them apart. Tensions bubble under the surface as they descend into the mountain, where they are totally unprepared for the horrors that will throw them together and then tear them, limb from limb, apart.

While on paper this premise sounds overblown and more than a little silly, The Descent is actually a refreshing change: a horror movie that is subtle in characterization and sharply acted. Once the subterranean odyssey begins, the dialogue is reeled in, and director Neil Marshall allows his astonishing visuals to command the action. A happy conjunction of realism and textured artistry, the aesthetic is dark, claustrophobic, and unnervingly effective.

Indeed the claustrophobic first half of the film is arguably the stronger, where the tension is maintained by the fracturing emotions and crumbling setting. Horror aficionados especially will appreciate the punch behind the claustrophobic terror shown here, of woman-versus-nature at it's most raw. Inevitably this is lost somewhat in the second act, as Marshall pulls out all the stops to unleash a torrent of gore. Surprisingly, the tension remains.

Important to note here is a conscious effort to avoid clichéd visual terminology, meaning some of the symbolism is surprisingly potent. Where one "dirtied" character lands in a pool of water, another apparent innocent lands in... something rather less appealing.

Ultimately the main point of contention in whether the film succeeds is in the reading of the dénouement. Marshall attempts to append "into Madness" to the title of his film, and whether he successfully achieves this coup de grâce is for the viewer to decide. What is certain is that The Descent stands tall as a terrifying, brutal and witty horror film, that no doubt will age better than many of its contemporaries.
4/5