The Descent 2

For a sequel this is surprisingly good. The shock factor is gone admittedly but the filming is not as dark so you see more of the creatures and it's probably even gorier than the first one too. If you enjoyed the first one then really there is no reason you won't like this as well.

I rated these two movies 7 and 6 stars respectively, but I also own the novel of the same name by Jeff Long, published in 1999 (hardback) and 2001 (paperback). That book is so good, I went searching for a movie by that name, and sure enough there are now at least 3: the 2 "Descents," and "The Cave". All came out way after the publication of the book.

The book is, as is mostly, but not always the case, better than movies based on it. (See and read "The Green Mile" by Stephen King).

The second movie, DP2, uses the more humanoid vicious cave creatures based on the Hadal characters created by Jeff Long. I guess the movie makers thought they got away with it the first time, so why not just blatantly rip off the characters too with no credit?

Anyhoo, both Descent movies are well worth watching if you're a horror fan, but if you're also a reader please pick up Jeff Long's novel as well. Much more character development, suspense, and it is quite the page turner. Don't get started on a work night like I did!

The novel also involves enslavement of humans by the underground mutant Hadals, physical mutilation, mind manipulation; just deeply, deeply disturbing.

I took a point off DP2 for too many jump scares. I'm not a real fan of those with the exception of the one near the end of the original "Carrie" 1976 when the hand comes out of the grave when Carrie's repentant classmate is placing flowers, which to me, is quintessential. Gets me to this day!

Does anyone know why Jeff Long gets no credit? Perhaps I'm ignorant of a previous work about underground mutants victimizing humans, but when I read his work a decade or so ago, I thought it was pretty original. Sadly, the two links on the Wikipedia article about this work are dead (account disabled). I hope it is not because he cannot afford it because others have ripped him off so badly.

Somehow, they've managed to crap all over the mystery and wonder of the first film. I wouldn't have thought that possible, but here's two hours worth of what basically amounts to the same movie with different angles. There's a fine line between horror and annoyance, and the difference is evident between the original film and this sequel. The first had some great character development, witty dialogue, an intriguing plot. All of those things have been substituted for B-movie versions of same. Huge plot holes, impossible scenarios, expositional dialogue, and an ending that makes both films seem pointless. Don't even get me started on why there is light in some of the caves deep underground.

Goodness. What a horrible, horrible follow-up to one of the best horror experiences of the past decade.

Where the first film was suspenseful and claustrophobic, this film displays constantly open cave dwellings and is repetitious to the point were no suspense can be truly built. I swear this takes place in an entirely different cave system, despite the film claiming it's supposedly the same exact one. Not even the revisited stomping grounds look the same.

The original film also used light sparingly in an attempt to actually make the audience feel as if they were trapped in a cave with the cast of the film. This sequel constantly shows bright surroundings, with light coming from unseen sources--particularly overhead, making it feel as if these characters aren't inside a cave system in the first place. Apparently the cave dwellers like to place small lava lamps and glow sticks around their territory because they... rave? I'm not sure where all this light was coming from! Strangely our characters can't seem to see what's going on even with all of this illumination and they keep bumping into each other in the "dark." Maybe there were budget problems but that doesn't excuse the lousy script and characters. Shauna Macdonald tries her hardest to keep the film afloat (she's pretty solid with what she has been given to work with), but I imagine this would be like what Sigourney Weaver would be doing had she been trapped in an AVP film. She seems like the only honest character in the film, suffering from the events of the prior nightmare, but the supporting casts around her are nothing more than bumbling idiots.

You don't feel anything for any other member of the cast. Despite David Julyan's score swelling in some of the fateful scenes, I felt almost no emotion behind any of the events this time. None of the deaths or tragedies make an impact like the deaths of those in the original movie. In fact, one scene at the end tries to tie up a major story thread from the previous movie, but it simply comes off as tacky and against the grain of the characters we have come to know.

The final nail in the tragically shoddy coffin is the ending, which is also funny whether intentional or not.

Related Recommendations: The Descent, The Thing, Eden Log, Pandorum, REC, Cube, Pitch Black

In the first The Descent movie, where Sarah was the only survival of a caving expedition, Neil Marshall (director and writer) chose to keep the ending open to different interpretations of the real cause of what happened. For me it is that open end that gave an added value to the first episode. Unfortunately someone, probably commercialism and money, decided to create a sequel. In any sequel the storyline is simplified to a brainless horror movie with a fairly guessable storyline.

There is also nothing to say about good acting or the development of characters.

If you have seen The Descent this sequel is certainly not worth it. But if you want to see a brainless horror with some jump-scenes it is acceptable.