untitled
THE DESCENT
Directed by: Neil
Marshall
Internet Movie
Database Entry for full details
GRADE: A- (3.3/4)
2005.
Horror
movies work best when they successfully exploit an elemental fear;
usually it’s the fear of death, but as surveys consistently
show the general public has deeper phobias than just that of plain ol'
death. The
Descent’s
first half concerns a group of fierce
women gone spelunking; the threat of being stuck underground, even
literally trapped and immobile, is handled as to be the most
squirm-inducing experience I’ve ever had at the
movies. Who knew I was so claustrophobic? Honestly, I nearly
left the theater, something I've never done before, because the film
was so unbearably tense.
Marshall makes fantastic use of the apparatus to provoke the frights --
he doesn't merely confront you with unpleasant images and ideas as most
horror directors tend to ("look, here's somebody being murdered!!!"),
he manipulates the images through editing, lighting, and shot
composition to provoke real fear in the audience, the kind that Stanley
Kubrick produces in The Shining.
He understands that the threat of violence is often much more
frightening than violence itself (or that shadows are creepier than
blood), and that the imagination is usually far wilder than any screen image
could be.
In the second half, we find out the cave happens to be populated by
blind, hungry mutants. It's not as frightening (although just
being in a dark, shadowy cave is pretty scary!) but nonetheless
exciting. This is certainly the best horror movie in recent
memory. -- Henry Stewart
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