CULT CLASSIC: ‘The Descent’ (2005)

Jonny looks back on the British horror film which became an instant classic of the genre….

An all-to-common theme running through the horror genre is to have pretty girls and hunky guys get their kits off and show just enough flesh to maintain a 15 certificate, before they’re horribly butchered by a bad guy, in a gruesome visual clash of pleasure and pain.  This tried-and-tested system can be repeated as many times as the director sees fit throughout a film, to chalk up enough mediocre thrills to get a DVD release, and go straight to the sale section a month later.

This could so easily have been the case for Neil Marshall’s The Descent, given its premise of an all-girl group of friends finding themselves lost together in an unexplored cave network.  All girls?  Lost and scared?  Well surely that’s more than enough of an excuse for lifelong friends to curl up together to stay warm, perhaps choosing that exact moment to explore unspoken urges they’ve always felt and maybe finding their clothes miraculously falling off due to rips sustained in the caves, revealing lingerie that everyone knows is the sensible choice for outdoor pursuits.

But this low-budget, British horror film released in the summer of 2005 lived up to none of these expectations….and I couldn’t be happier.  Instead of cheap thrills, The Descent offered its audience genuinely scary, psychological horror which played on acute claustrophobia and isolation.

A group of old friends have gathered together for an adventure weekend like they had when they were young, as an excuse to catch up with each other and to embrace the attitude that you’re only as old as you feel.  After a short time in the depths of a cave a shift in the rocks closes the path behind them, and cuts off their supply bag, containing much of their equipment.  Fortunately they’re quick to reason that the caves they’d chosen to explore had multiple entrances, so this mishap shouldn’t have any disastrous outcome, they simply need to press on to their exit.  All is well until their self-appointed leader confesses that they are in fact in a previously unexplored network of tunnels, leaving them guessing as to whether there’s an exit anywhere, or if anyone else even knows they’re down there at all.

Claustrophobia kicks in with extended shots of the girls crawling through narrow tunnels, akin to The Shawshank Redemption or Aliens, offering the viewer no room to breath.  This is where the panic really takes hold, as the team are isolated deep underground, with the possibility of no exit, and no rescue.  Their only source of light in the caves comes from fluorescent glow sticks, which brilliantly offer ample opportunity for flickering shadows and fleeting glimpses of things that go bump in the night.

So compelling is their struggle through the tunnels, that when they begin to suspect something else is in the caves with them and discover they are being hunted, it all comes as a bit of an unnecessary change of pace.  The slow-burning horror of being trapped in the dark, in a worryingly plausible situation is so effective, that the introduction of blood-thirsty beasties breaks the tension, as the audience can breathe a sigh of relief and be reminded that it’s all OK, because monsters don’t exist.  Not to mention that the biggest flaw in the film is with the creatures themselves, who despite being “evolved perfectly to survive in the dark,” can’t seem to find a group of women so long as they all stand still and hold their breath.

Forgiving this minor oversight, the latter half of the film quickly finds its feet, and runs as fast as it can through the darkness.  The violence and ‘hunt-or-be-hunted’ attitude adopted by some of the survivors makes the first half look positively serene, as the body count quickly racks up.

The Descent is a slick and clever psychological horror that doesn’t rely on cheap tricks to entertain.  It’s a brilliant blend of atmospheric tension, relatable terror and a selection of genuinely jump-inducing scares.

Jonny West