The Descent! Help!
 

I've heard so many mixed reviews of this movie that i thought this was the only place i could get an honest opinion - I don't want to be shelling out 15 notes for something that could be potential arse garbage.
So help a phreak out people!

http://www.geocities.com/headissolve/

Watched it last nite, great movie great 5.1 soundtrack as well.

Two thumbs up. :cool:

Any word about a Canadian/North American release? I really want to see this, sounds awesome.

good film

enjoyed the hell out of this one.

we need more horror from Neil Marshall.

It's boss. I've been advertising it on here for ages trying to get people to watch it.

P

It was better than the overrated Dog Soldiers (Yanks seem to have a fondness for this one - I'm sure it's something to do with the quirky/quaint regional Brit accents being a break from the usual gung-ho goddammit stuff...), but the director still has a long way to go to make a quality horror film.

Good bits: nice lighting and cinematography in the outdoor scenes, unsetlling sense of claustrophobia in the caverns, the "ending"...

Shit bits: confusing lack of orientation within the caverns (not helped by the sparse lighting - OK so the group are "lost", but the viewer needs a sense of direction to engage the film properly), mechanical and predictable shocks, far too hyper-kinetic editing style in the fight sequences (i.e. what the fuck is going on here - a fight should be more significant than a lot of quickfire cuts to daft kung-fu moves and a load of squealing)

In conclusion, The Descent is only decent.

I totally disagree. I think that was the whole point of the film. They're lost under a bloody mountain with no navigating equipment. The audience is supposed to feel as disorientated as the characters. I thought the shocks were no way near as predictable as the shocks in the other crappy films that are churned out now-days. My opinion is that the film is so full of shocking moments that you never have any time to relax properly between them - this is what made it a good film for me. Had no probs with the ending myself. Parts of it were very similar to other horrors but I thought it was a good ending.

Also, i think Dog Soldiers is a great movie and no-way over-rated. Its not really meant to be a serious horror is it??? Its kind of a satire. And if you do take it to be serious then of course your gonna find problems with it. Its also very popular in the UK and I dont think thats because we all love the 'quaint' accents. In my opinion, it makes me happy to see a british horror do so well on the other side of the pond.

What he said

I agree as well.







but i do enjoy the quaint accents:D

great horror :cool:

Cheers people!! went out and bought it based on your recommendations and i loved it to fucking bits. nice one.

OK, but compare this to the cavernous corridors and up/down shafts in the Aliens series for example - in these films the protagonists are also pursued by murderous creatures around badly lit, tight spaces... but the viewer is given more sense of direction - if not orientation - as to where they are heading.

The scenes in The Descent did not really allow for any wider, establishing shots (granted, because they are trying to negotiate such tight spaces) but this just leads us directly from one darkened small area to the next... becoming a bit boring and diluting the suspense.

Dog Soldiers isn't bad, but the comedy-werewolf thing has been done much better, as has the night-time siege-on-the-old-house scenario.

The Descent will get a US theatrical release by Lion's Gate soon - right now it's screening in US film festivals.

I saw it last week at a midnight SFIFF screeming - I was screaming my head off which I haven't done since Aliens. I'm not sure what this movie would look like on the small screen, but on the big screen the entire audience was screaming and yelling.

Great movie and I look forward to seeing it again in a theater.

And the female angels - brilliantly written - another female power movie, and twists amd an ending that only makes sense when understanding the complexities of female friendships, relationships and competitivness.