The Descent - Abgrund des Grauens

When I read that "The Descent" featured an all women cast I expected a T+A extravaganza with spelunkers in too tight T-shirts and panties cavorting beneath the earth. I was disappointed. What I saw was a scary movie. I am not by nature claustrophobic but a few scenes of the close quarters they were climbing through left me squirming in my seat. I can't continue the review without issuing a SPOILER alert since I will be discussing critical movie facts. The movie was very spookily lit with looming shadows and false colors and was expertly designed. The creatures living below ground were creepy and scary since often they were only glimpsed in the shadows. I hadn't expected the death count to be so high nor the movie to be so bloody. I flinched often during the movie due to the sudden appearance of the creatures or from the wounds suffered by the cast. The pace of the movie once they began the cave exploration was very fast and of course with this type of movie a deeper examination of the facts reveals some plot holes but events move too fast for reflection. I can't say I liked or agreed with some events in the end of the movie. I think Juno, maybe not the best person in the group, was unfairly judged and condemned. None the less the movie was very effective in scaring me and holding my attention. The fact that it had, primarily, an all women cast was hardly noticeable. This is not a chick flic. Worth seeing.

An interesting and differentiated horror movie in the "gore" style. It is above average for the genre. It started slowly, but after half it became interesting, maintaining a tense atmosphere, a little frightening and claustrophobic. The atmosphere is good. It can be divided into two parts: before and after the cave. You sit on the armchair during the exhibition with that feeling of agony and distress. It escapes from the usual clichés to the genre, having an unconventional and surprising ending. There are some logic flaws in the plot and the characters, but nothing that compromises the story. The curiosity is to see the cast practically all feminine. It's worth as entertainment. I recommend it to all lovers of horror art.

The concept of crawling through tight, winding, unfamiliar tunnels is scary enough. But, of course, this movie moves far beyond that.

This movie has a great setup with a close group of long time friends having fun and reuniting for different outdoor adventures.

From the beginning the directing is great. You really get a sense of adventure and the anxiety/excitement that goes into exploring a cave. It portrays it well and brings home the endeavor that cave exploration is.

The story is engaging as it builds. They run into natural trouble that's bad enough. But then the dire situation becomes far worse.

This movie is genuinely suspenseful. The gore is well done. The characters are sympathetic. The emotion builds to a fever pitch.

There are some shocking elements to the ending.

It is a great movie and there is no way it should be rated anything less than an 8 out of 10.

It really is well done. With relatable characters you can actually care about. It's considered a classic by many for a reason. It's legitimately uncomfortable, suspenseful and scary. And well directed. It's just a great movie.

A friend picked The Descent as a film for us to see together and I wasn't all that excited about the choice. I was very mistaken. The Descent is a scary fun film. If you're claustrophobic or in general just don't like tight spaces then you might find this film particularly unnerving. The descent down into the tiniest caves and crevices of the earth gave me considerable anxiety. During their exploring of the caves they start to get the feeling that they are not down there alone. Something else is down there but just not sure what it is. That alone creates even more tension and fright to be down a space like that with some unknown creature around. It was at this time that for me it went in a different direction with the creatures becoming the new central element of the story. This is fine but it kind of turned into a more typical killer monster/creature thing. Sure they idea of the creatures being down there is good but the extent to which they are utilized was a bit too much for me. Despite this one criticism, The Descent is definitely a film to check out.

The Descent is a film that plays with the theme of claustrophobia. Effective usage of lighting. I am pleasantly shocked by how well orchestrated this film is.