The Descent

Day 27 Of My October Horrorthon This is easily a top 5 favourite horror movie for me, maybe even top 3. It’s such a great look at grief and trauma through a horror lens and one of the select view horror movies that still scares me at 20. The less you know and the less said about this one going in is for the best, but even having seen this film multiple times a rewatch still hits the spot, because you can look at it different and the emotions hit different and maybe even harder. This film will fuck with your senses and awareness, so much so you will feel trapped in the cave with them, the movie is so dark that your eyes adjust to it and by the time you put the lights on your eyes are hurting like you’ve just woken up, the movie is tight and claustrophobic, you feel your heart pounding out your chest every single second and anxiety and dread takes over, it’s hard to believe this was all filmed in a studio with sets and not real caves, and that speaks to the brilliant mind and direction of Neil Marshall. A lot of his direction and the camera work just make everything feel choppy and tense, certain scenes are almost like your being thrown around, multiple quick cuts so you don’t see everything clearly, which sounds like a recipe for disaster but works in this movies favour as it adds to the weight of how our characters feel alone in the dark. The story is so good and mostly used through show don’t tell which I love, it rewards the audience for paying attention, Every character is written to perfection and when there not dumb, when they do make stupid choices it’s rational and fits the situation and story, not just because they can. Theres jumpscares throughout that still get me even when I know there coming and that shows the brilliance of the film, how it can be so effective and brutal that it just never fails to make you uncomfortable, even when the cave opens up and you think you have breathing room, there’s going to be something that makes it anxiety inducing. Go seek this film out asap if you haven’t, just drop everything and go and watch it, it’s hard not to say more without spoilers, but this movie is such a awesome experience and I’m glad I got to see it in cinema, MAKE SURE YOU WATCH THE BRITISH VERSION,