In a genre where misogyny runs as a matter of course, 'The Descent' is a true rarity: a feminist horror film. It's Ida Lupino kicking Brian De Palma right in the junk.
The Descent (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:159
Fresh:134
Rotten:25
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: Deft direction and strong performances from its all-female cast guide The Descent, a riveting, claustrophobic horror film. In this low-budget import from Scotland, director Neil Marshall has masterfully created a spelunking nightmare, which doubles as a compelling meditation on morality, vengeance, and the depths to which we might go for survival.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong violence/gore and language.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Aug 4, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $26,005,908
Synopsis: THE DESCENT is Neil Marshall’s hotly anticipated follow up to his 2002 hit DOG SOLDIERS. Directed by Marshall from his own script, it tells the story of an all-female caving expedition that goes... THE DESCENT is Neil Marshall’s hotly anticipated follow up to his 2002 hit DOG SOLDIERS. Directed by Marshall from his own script, it tells the story of an all-female caving expedition that goes horribly wrong, and stars Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, Nora-Jane Noone and Myanna Buring. Set in a cave system deep in the Appalachian Mountains, Marshall describes his film as ‘DELIVERANCE goes underground’. On a daredevil caving holiday, six women friends are unexpectedly trapped underground when a rock fall blocks their exit. Searching the maze of tunnels for a way out, they find themselves hunted by a race of fearless, hungry predators, once humanoid but now monstrously adapted to live in the dark… As the others battle for their lives, Sarah (Macdonald), still recovering from a mental collapse brought on by the recent deaths of her family, is fighting for her sanity. When old secrets are revealed, the friends turn on one another, causing the group to implode. Betrayed and desperate, Sarah realizes that to make it back to the surface, she must become as savage as the creatures themselves. THE DESCENT was filmed on location in Scotland and at Pinewood Studios from December 2004 to February 2005, and was fully financed and produced by Celador Films. Celador’s Paul Smith is executive producer and Christian Colson is producer. The film reunites Marshall with DOG SOLDIERS’ director of photography, Sam McCurdy, and production designer, Simon Bowles. Celador’s previous credits include the Oscar-nominated DIRTY PRETTY THINGS. THE DESCENT movie has already had a hugely successful release both critically and commercially in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. In September, 2005 the film took the top competition prize -- the Méliès d’Argent -- for Euro feature at Lund International Fantastic Film Festival in Sweden, and in November, Neil Marshall won Best Director and the film Best Technical Achievement (for the Editing) at the British Independent Films Awards (BIFA's) (THE DESCENT was nominated for Best Film). It has also been nominated for Best British Film, Best British Director and Best British Producer by the London Film Critics Circle (the winners are announced in February), an unheard of achievement for a genre piece. --© Lionsgate Films [More]
Starring: Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder
Starring: Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, Nora-Jane Noone, MyAnna Buring, Oliver Milburn, Molly Kayll
Director: Neil Marshall
Director: Neil Marshall
Producer: Christian Colson
Screenwriter: Neil Marshall
Composer: David Julyan
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for The Descent
...whatever qualities have made horror fans embrace The Descent are lost on me.
The Descent is so expertly made that it more than holds its own as a full-throttle horror flick, yet it's Marshall's decision to provide it with a psychological bent that puts it firmly over the top.
As The Descent draws to its close, or rather shreiks to a halt, you may well admire how many thematic reads the movie has kept in play.
Marshall may not have made the deep-dish horror flick he perhaps thought he was, but he has managed to pull off a splattery last act that's all anyone could hope for.
Marshall guides his game cast through their paces and it's refreshing to see a group of women as heroines
For my money, (The Descent) is one of the most overrated and poorly realized spook shows in a very long time.
An exercise in pure craftsmanship, this is one lean, mean, blood-curdling thriller -- maybe the best of its scrappy breed since The Blair Witch Project.
At its most powerful (and evil), it lets viewers feel like they're being buried alive.
No one really ENJOYS nausea. But for those of you who brag that a horror movie is "so scary that it made me sick," here is "The Descent," a grownups-only gorefest that is bound to have you cringing and jumping out of your seat at least once.
[A] superior brand of monster movie, and Marshall's claustrophobic caves are worth catching in a dark movie theater rather than on DVD.
This film, unlike Hostel or Saw, has a gross-out factor that's actually fun.
In America, the only reason six girlfriends would enter a cave would be to find reliable day care.
Unsettling and claustrophobic, as the lost women squirm through the damp tunnels of the virgin cave in re-enacted birth traumas punctuated by Sarah's visions of her dead daughter.
A clever blend of psychological thrills and stalked-by-monster terror is what makes writer-director Neil Marshall's sophomore effort a cut above most horror films.
On the surface, the film is competent ... but where The Descent triumphs are in the little details.
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