The Descent Part 2 – Alex’s Review
Back in 2005 Neil Marshall unleashed The Descent upon the unsuspecting public. A savage little British horror film that ticked all the right boxes and was the perfect follow up to his impressive feature debut Dog Soldiers.
The Descent succeeded because it played out like a violent nightmare. The horror genre at that point had been suffocated by a string of un-scary big budget films and it was a joy to behold when all of a sudden we could sink our teeth into something genuinely scary again.
The 70s were the best years for horror. Films such as The Shining, The Omen and of course The Exorcist were brilliant for the genre and The Descent seemed to hark back to an era that cinema had lost. A horror film that was not only scary but also psychologically terrifying. A horror film that was as much about the characters as the shocks it delivered.
The Descent was hugely successful, so a sequel was inevitable really. In fact I’m surprised that it has taken so long for the sequel to arrive. It would have been easy to knock up a cheap script quickly and just made some cash.
However, it seems that they didn’t want to go down that route and instead of rushing out a sub-par sequel what we have here is a pretty effective horror film… for the most part anyway.
The first thing to mention here is that Neil Marshall is back as executive producer. Jon Harris makes his directorial debut after carving out a very successful career as an editor. Editing such films as Snatch, Layer Cake, Eden Lake and even the original Descent gives him the perfect platform to helm the sequel.
As soon as The Descent: Part 2 starts we are pretty much thrust straight into the story. Set a mere two days after the first film we witness Sarah (Shauna MacDonald) as she emerges from the Appalachian cave system covered in blood and suffering from amnesia and trauma. The local law enforcement led by Sheriff Redmond Vaines (Gavan O’Herlihy) is positive that she has something to do with the rest of her missing group and so along with a rescue team he forces her back down into the caves.
As they get deeper Sarah’s memory starts to come back to her in flashes. Her warnings fall on deaf ears and it is too late when the true horror of the savage ‘crawlers’ make themselves known. To make matters worse there is also someone else deep in the caves that may just be out for revenge on Sarah.
OK, so the film isn’t very original and it relies very much on the same shocks as the previous film. That said, the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is very fitting here. The darkness is used to it’s full potential again. There are times when the only illumination comes from the lights on the rescue teams helmets and of course the claustrophobic element is still apparent.
It is a lot more violent than the first film. Blood gushes like a geyser and limbs are torn off all over the place. There is a point where a head gets squished open which reminded me so much of Peter Jackson’s Braindead.
There are moments of real tension, which is almost unheard of in a horror sequel, and the film benefits from some brilliant set pieces scattered throughout. A great sequence involving a crawler toilet where the leads literally swim in mutant shit is one of the highlights. Another great moment comes when; in order to get across a deep chasm the hanging body of one of the original group is used to swing from one end to the other.
The acting is passable. Shauna MacDonald is effective as Sarah. She relates all her fears quite well and plays everything tense and electrifying. Natalie Mendoza is almost feral in her approach to Juno. She has had to adapt to her environment so her character has evolved into a crawler-hunting machine. The rest of the cast go through their paces and it’s O’Herlihy that comes out as the best of the rest.
His portrayal as the ignorant and arrogant sheriff is quite good if not entirely original.
Yes, for about 89 minutes The Descent Part 2 delivers some impressive shocks despite being pretty much more of the same as part 1.
It works because it plays on the age-old fear of the dark and confined spaces to full effect. It utilises sound very well and it’s obvious that Jon Harris is an accomplished editor because the film is extremely well paced. The scenes of violence especially are cut to maximise brutality.
Unfortunately the film is let down by the last 5 minutes or so. All of the hard work is undone by the inclusion of possibly the worst twist in cinema history. A pointless, dumb, rubbish tacked on ending that seems to have only been included to leave the door open for a further sequel.
It wasn’t needed at all and ruined the entire film. The good writing, effective use of minimal light, savage violence and tension building sound become null and void because as you leave the cinema the only thing left in your mind is that stupid ending.
Rating: 
(Could have been 4 without the “twist” at the end)
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