Okay, very bloody. So, so bloody. Gods, there's a pool of blood.
*shudder*
Although it's got a fair amount of blood and guts (and even a little drooling - eww,) The Descent is what Jay would call a "cracking film." It's a dark, dim, grey, heavy movie. It has a solid story, is brilliantly filmed, and has a strong cast. A strong, competent, rational cast. A female cast.
The Descent is a feminist film. It's important that the cast is all-female, but there are other more important things happening here, too. The women in this movie aren't dumb bimbos who run around half (or completely) naked, trip over the biggest rock in history, then die. These are women who just get the fuck on with it.
The most prominent example of this is when Holly (Nora-Jane Noone) breaks her leg. Badly. Know what I can't do? Bones sticking out where bones ought not be sticking out. *cringe* Anyway... Holly breaks her leg and her friends just assess the situation, come to a solution, and carry it out. Successfully. You get that practical attitude from plenty of women in real life but almost never in horror movies. That's the point where the women are supposed to freak out, lose their shit, and fall to pieces. Not in The Descent.
"Being all female makes it a much better movie. Women are much more practical than men. Men would just curl up and die or have a punch up. Part of the strength of the film is that they're just normal women. They're not superheroes, there's nothing special about them. They're just normal, strong women going about their business."
That's not to say that all the characters in The Descent are likable. The obvious exception here is Juno (Natalie Mendoza), who can only be described as a real piece of work.
"When Sarah stabbed Juno and left her for dead, I was totally with her. You can't forget what Juno did to Beth. She didn't even try to save Beth - she didn't want to. That's the thing with Juno: she really is all for herself. Honestly, Juno is just a crazy bitch. She's a narcissist. It's all about look at me, look how great I am.
"I do think she had good intentions going into the cave, though, because of the guilt she felt over Paul's death. She did love him, after all. I think Juno genuinely wanted to name it, to alleviate some of the guilt she felt."
As Neil Marshall said in the making of The Descent, it's about the descent into madness. I love that. It makes the title such an allegory which, you know, gets us logophiles really going. 😉 A lot of the real horror in the movie doesn't come from the crawlers (I can't help but think of them as Falmer.); it comes from the instability of sanity. The true terror comes from that hidden part of us all that wonders if reality is really... real.
Sarah's sanity starts to slip when her husband and daughter are killed in a car accident. I find it interesting that they didn't just kill off Paul (Oliver Milburn) and Jessica (Molly Kayll) in a vague accident. They kill off Sarah's family in a gruesome and graphic way that sets the tone for the rest of the movie.
I know Jay will disagree with me and it is an oversimplification but I believe they died - and possibly the rest of the women (Would they have been in that cave if Juno hadn't been feeling guilty?) - because Paul was cheating on Sarah. So... could The Descent be seen as a cautionary tale against adultery?
I'll let you decide.
The Descent's lighting is a work of art. Just that image of Juno lowering herself down with the light hitting the waterfall is breathtaking. There are photographers and painters who don't have the kind of vision Neil Marshall does. All through the movie, the lighting changes and twists, depending on how deep they are and what's happening. When you consider how dark the caves would be, you really appreciate that light.
"More than that, most of the film was shot in a studio, which makes you realize just how good the lighting really is. It was all done with the cameras in mind.
"I find it hard to believe The Descent was filmed in a studio because of how real it seems. It really feels like you're there, like you could touch it. Even when you watch the making-of video and see the sets, you still can't believe they're the same place."
The caves and tunnels make for interesting shots. It narrows your line of vision, forcing your focus to exactly where they want you to look. It also makes things like facial expressions more important, which just goes to show how brilliant these actors are.
I've gotta say the whole idea of climbing into a hole in the ground gets a great big, "Nope!" from me. Especially when you see those impossible tight, tiny tunnels they wriggled through. Not a place for a big girl like me, for sure! As much as I hate the idea of being stuck in a cave, Jay hates it even more. If you didn't know, my fella's got a problem with claustrophobia.
"Being that I'm claustrophobic, The Descent didn't have to do a lot to frighten me. You'll never, ever get me potholing. It's hard to watch this movie because of that fear. I can feel my breathing change. It's one of those things where you can't understand how bad it is unless you suffer from claustrophobia."
One of the early scares occurs in that first cavern, when bats explode out of their hiding places. What a brilliant touch! The crawlers were made to resemble a person who'd taken the next evolutionary step toward becoming bat-like so that scene is best appreciated with a second viewing.
Speaking of bats, the sounds the crawlers make are terrifying. It's creepy because it's not a sound that should be coming from something... well, mostly human. If you hadn't noticed, it's sonar.
"It's a claustrophobic, unique, terrifying, movie. Is it a monster movie or something else? That's the question, isn't it? That's what The Descent wants you to ask."
There's so much that could be said about the crawlers. Their speed was one of the most terrifying qualities - after those creepy faces, of course. Even though the crawlers are deadly hunters, they still retain a tiny part of our humanity. This is evident in the scene where Sarah kills what you realize is a child crawler. You realize then that they have families, same as us. The scene is over in no time but it was a powerful moment for me.
On the whole, the imagery in The Descent is phenomenal. There are certain moments that stand out. For instance, there's the moment Beth's hand shoots up when you're convinced she's dead. (Not only a brilliant shot, also fucking scary!) Another is the ending (...possibly) where Sarah breaks through the mound to freedom.
Or does she?
We're back to questioning sanity again. There's no one right way to interpret the ending. You can either choose to believe Sarah escaped but left part of herself behind, or you can opt to believe she cracked up and never made it out. When I watched it, I was convinced she never made it out. Jay didn't agree.
"I don't think it's a dream as such. I think she made it out but her mind didn't. The experiences she endured before and after her time in the cave broke her. She ended up leaving part of herself behind, with her friends.
"You know, The Descent: Part 2 was excellent as well. It was actually worthy of the first one. You have to be careful with a movie like this because there's not really very far you can go. How many times can you go back to that cave before there are no more crawlers to kill?
"Thank god they haven't done The Descent franchise to death. They could so easily have made a three, four, and five but they didn't. Two was enough. They're great action films. They're tense, they're nervy. They're gory in parts but humorous too. The Descent films are incredibly well done. You don't get that anymore - or, not enough, anyway."
I think that's just about enough for The Descent. What will we be watching next? Come back tomorrow to find out!
