The Descent

Catching up on another horror movie that came and went last Summer, THE DESCENT is one of those rare beasts, a monster movie that actually develops some well-realized characters. After a personal calamity devastates Sara, her five Brit/Scottish girlfriends convince her to join them on a spelunking adventure in the wilds of the American South. As they head into the cave, things begin to go terribly wrong. They find themselves trapped and going progressively deeper into the previously uncharted cave system... and then things go REALLY bad. Since the ads don't exactly hide the fact, it's not a spoiler to reveal that something else is down there with our intrepid band...

I think the most interesting thing about DESCENT is that it is a riveting and harrowing adventure even before the "monster" part starts. Indeed, my one critique of the picture is that the creature stuff seems to go on a bit too long, and it's fairly one note (though the note is an interesting one). The sense of dread and hopelessness and desperation conveyed as the caving expedition itself goes haywire is extremely well done, and the relationship between Sara and the expedition's leader, Juno, has some great character-based twists and turns. And the basic uneasiness of the caving debacle is made even darker by the knowledge that something awful is still to come. Definitely worth checking out...