I keep reading a lot of great articles on Neil Marshal.  When his 2002 film Dog Soldiers premiered on the SciFi channel, I just had to give it a good look on the sole fact that it was a werewolf action/horror.  A good werewolf film is very hard to find these days.  As a result to my viewing, I’ve held Dog Soldiers very close to my howling heart along side my copy of American Werewolf in London and Ginger Snaps.  When I found out that Marshal was releasing a film whose premise involved a large group of women being trapped in a beast-ridden cave, I cringed, and said “please god”, don’t let this turn out to be like that other cave movie that came out last year.  Luckily, The Descent turns out to be a gritty, blood soaked, edge of your seat ride into the foul mouth of terror itself!   That, or a big hollow rock.

Now, I’m not big on revealing too much of a film's plot.  All I’m going to say is that six adventurous young woman are setting out to explore a popular cave deep in the North Carolina forest.  Sarah, played by the beautiful Shauna MacDonald, has had a year to try and mentally recover from a car accident that claimed the lives of her husband and small child.   Before they reach the cave, Juno (played by Natalie Jackson Mendoza) rightfully deceives the rest of her friends by leading them to a different and more treacherous cave in the hopes of discovering something that no other human being has ever discovered.  Of course, the cave is not mapped and our six heroes are clueless to what lurks behind every corner.  About halfway through the film, the team realizes that not only do they have to find a way out of the cave, but also survive the carnivorous beasts that dwell within.

The Descent looks terrific.  It’s simply amazing that the film was shot primarily on a sound stage using various lighting techniques.  It truly looks as though these scenes are lit by only the characters flashlights and flares.  It adds to the overall creepiness of the film, and the audience is always left with the feeling of tension as they too try to guess what lurks around every corner.  I’m still in disbelief when I picture the movie being shot at a sound stage with stagehands running water down sheets of styrofoam rock.  The whole crew definitely deserves one hell of a pat on the back for shooting this film in seven weeks, with hardly any budget, and still having it look as beautiful and believable as it’s shown.  It’s true.  Hardly any of this film was shot anywhere close to an actual cave.

Let’s talk about these carnivorous beasts.  The "crawlers" are high screaming savages that look and act pretty convincing for blind hybrid human like figures.  They remind me of that little guy from Lord of the Rings, what’s his name again?  Anyway, there are a lot of these little buggers crawling around the cave and they just love to pop out at ya when you least expect it.  So yes, you will be jumping out of your seat on more than one occasion.  Throats are torn, brains are eaten, and there is an incredibly graphic scene where one of the female leads breaks her leg in an untimely fall.  Gorehounds and horror fanatics alike will leave the theater feeling relieved by the lack of CGI and the overall gruesome effects that aren’t ever spared throughout the entire film.

The biggest problems I have with The Descent are the characters.  They’re just too many of them and not enough time to give them all proper character development.  Throughout most of the film, Juno is depicted as being somewhat of the rotten apple in the group.  In truth, I loved Juno’s character, and the film didn’t give me enough reasons to dislike her to the point where I thought she deserved any type of wrongful outcome.  When other characters die (come on!...you knew it would happen) you are left scratching your head saying, "who was that again?".  It doesn’t help either that the film is shot in almost complete darkness.  Choppy editing, dim atmospheres, and lack of time spent on each female role will have you leaning over the seat asking your friends to remind you who’s dead, and who’s still alive.

The ending is a major disappoint.  Turns out the US release of this film is shown with the alternative ending to the UK theatrical release.  Why that was ever decided, I’ll never know.  The only thing I can say is that I can’t wait for the DVD release to include the original ending.  The ending of The Descent that I saw was horribly cliché and unjust to the rest of the film and the films characters.  Grrrr.

Anyway, all bullshit aside.  Neil has made another film that will keep you on the edge of your seat.  Mark him down as another European director that you should keep a watchful eye out for.  The film has its downfalls which should have been reworked before shooting ever began, but still, it’s easy to appreciate The Descent for what it truly is at heart.  A really great time for fans of Neil Marshal and horror fans in general.