The Descent

[Dr. Briggs]

I was pleasantly surprised by The Descent, having come into the film thinking it'd be something like The Cave, a slightly below-par creature feature that came out around the same time.

Needless to say, the worrisome atmosphere of the caves and savagery of the creatures won me over. Now that I think back on it, the womens' backstories were effective in keeping a disturbing tone as well. I kind of took Sarah's flashback for granted during the film itself, but it was pretty creepy in retrospect, foreshadowing the violence in her future.

I'd maybe call it one of the best of the last decade (not saying much, with so many "missed opportunities" in the past decade), although I think there are ways it could have been more effective, such as more precise camerawork. Call me crazy, but I was also not a big fan of the pre-cave character banter, which seemed to me to drag on with little regard for the atmosphere of the piece as a whole.

I'd say it gets a a 7-7.5/10.