Real Review - The Descent on Blu-ray

The Descent was written and directed by Neil Marshall, and it’s obvious that he is a fan of the horror genre. The Descent references several well-known horror scenes and pays homage to top horror films including Alien and Carrie. Though the film isn’t entirely original in plot or narrative structure, it is still another British horror film success. Simply put: The Descent will give you chills.

Set in the U.S. Appalachian Mountains, six adventure-seeking women meet-up to explore an unknown cave. During their descent into the cave, things begin to go wrong, and suddenly a strange creature is spotted. With escalating fear and anxiety to get out of the cave, our ladies get lost, get hurt, and get trapped by the creatures. Can they fend off the fearsome cave-dwelling creatures and escape alive? Or will they slowly succumb to the depths of their own madness?

The Descent features a well-cast ensemble, particularly Shauna Macdonald, who plays Sarah, and Natalie Mendoza, who plays Juno. These are strong-willed women, tough, and adventurous. Themes of friendship, deceit, pride, and survival are put to the test by our heroes in a dark, unfamiliar surrounding.

As I referenced in my review of The Thing, once again, the traditional horror setting is used here in The Descent: take a small group of people and put them in an enclosed, trapped environment, and throw in an unseen creature that threatens their lives. What makes this conventional structure work in The Descent is great pacing, especially the editing. There are many unforeseen scares and shocking images to keep you alert. There is also a lot of gore and gross situations, such as the lake of blood that Sarah falls into. All of these scenes are heightened by some great lighting effects, particularly the use of a neon-green glow-light as well as the infrared light from a camcorder.

My favorite thing about The Descent is the soundtrack and sound design. The orchestral soundtrack heightens the eerie mood of the film, and, as expected in a caving adventure, ambient cave sounds are elemental to the claustrophobic interiors, tight passages, and tense situations. I truly felt trapped down in a cave. This is not a nice feeling.

I watched The Descent on Blu-ray disc and the PQ is outstanding, particularly the blacks. Sharp details and colorful lighting effects add to the experience. The AQ is the real winner here. I listened to the 6.1 uncompressed track and was transported to the underground cave setting. This is an excellent sound design with great sound effects. The disc also includes a commentary track, a PIP commentary, outtakes, deleted scenes, and a documentary.

Rating: 8.5

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