The Descent (Movie Review)

Let me first say this: If you plan on exploring a cave, explore it first, then watch this afterward. This movie is that scary. The Descent is about a group of girls that decide to go exploring a cave. Everything is amazing at first, but matters turn out bad when the group finds out the only way to continue onward is to crawl through a very narrow opening to press on. As they are doing so, the small crawl space begins to topple down on itself. Luckily, all of them make it out just in time, but the problem is they're stuck, with that be their only way back. Matters get worse when the girls find out the cave they're in is not the one that had intended to be in. Then out of nowhere a mysterious creature shows up behind one of the girls and pounces on her. The creatures resemble humans, except for the fact that they crawl on all fours and make terrible shrieking noises. The somewhat plus side to the girl's chances of getting out alive is the fact that the creatures are blind. They can only rely on their scent and hearing to catch their prey. Of course, this gives them the advantage in a pitch black cave that echoes every noise, and happens to be their own territory. The movie from there on out is purely about one thing. Survival. 

The Descent succeeds on many levels. The acting is beautifully done, the cinematography is great, and the story itself is simple but so brilliant at the same time. When you watch this movie, you can't help think, "What would I do if I was in this situation?" and most of you will come up blank. This movie shows how strong the human instinct is for survival, and how resourceful people can still be even under tremendous anxiety. What I truly liked about this movie was how the girls didn't freak out and just die on the spot. They chose to press on and try to make it through. A lot of scary movies have very dumb female roles, such as "The hot chick opening the door, even though she knows something is going to happen if she steps out there." No, not these girls. The majority of them keep moving, because they know if they want to get out to see another day, they're going to have to kill, and stay calm about it. The Descent is fear in its purist form. Watch this movie.   Score: 80/100