It used to be that a sleeper horror movie could sneak up on you and be a pleasant – well, unpleasant – surprise. That sense of discovery is a thing of the past, thanks to the Internet’s ability to spread the word on really effective genre films. (And if you don’t believe me, try Googling “Snakes on a Plane.”)
Even without the surprise, “The Descent” qualifies as a discovery. This hotly anticipated British-made shocker is a truly wild experience.
It comes from the mind of writer-director Neil Marshall, who scored a word-of-mouth hit with his first film, “Dog Soldiers.” A combination of platoon movie and werewolf picture, that one played with the conventions of the horror film without trashing them. And it had some jaw-dropping moments.
“The Descent” is even better. It reverses the masculine world of “Dog Soldiers”: After a prologue, the only characters we see are six women adventurers who come together for a cave-exploring expedition in the Appalachians.
Well, actually there are some other characters. We’ll get to them later.
The six women are all dealing with traumas and anxieties. Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) lost her family in an accident a year earlier, an incident handled in the movie’s heart-stopping first five minutes.
She’s also harboring resentment at Juno (Natalie Mendoza), the most swashbuckling member of the group. Juno wasn’t around to provide support after Sarah’s loss, and indeed the prologue hints that Juno may have other secrets as well.
Juno has brought along a daredevil type, Holly (Nora Jane Noone, a “bad girl” from “The Magdalene Sisters”). Also around are Sarah’s faithful friend (Alex Reid) and two sisters (Saskia Mulder and Myanna Buring).
Most of the film takes place in claustrophobic near-blackness, as the women quickly get off track. Marshall deftly sketches their personalities, giving us just enough reason to distinguish these women before they face their biggest challenge.
Yep, there’s something alive down there in the caves – a population of things, actually. And they’re hungry.
There’s enough gore here to satisfy the most finicky of horror mavens, but what’s exciting about Marshall is his ability to build a sequence to teeth-grinding intensity. Just when you think you’ve seen the worst, he tops himself. And there are a handful of shocking moments that violate the unofficial contract between filmmaker and audience, leaving us uncertain about just where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.
The ending of this film is slightly different from the ending of the U.K. release of the movie, but not by much. It won’t affect the experience, however – good news for horror junkies who’ve had enough of lame remakes of 1970s movies.
Natalie Mendoza (left), Alex Reid and Shauna Macdonald star in “The Descent.”
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