The Descent (2005)★★★★★

Previously I mentioned that watching Indigenous made me want to watch The Descent again, so that’s exactly what I did tonight. And yep – it’s still a better monster movie than Indigenous. And probably not just because I didn’t need subtitles for it.

The character development in this movie is so strong that I found myself relating to characters who aren’t anything like me. For one thing, I almost certainly wouldn’t wake up at 7am to go rock climbing, even in creepy old caves like the ones in the movie.

But here’s the thing…none of these characters are particularly stupid. The dialogue seems real, and the heightened emotions believable and engrossing. And while spelunking in the middle of nowhere without anyone else knowing where you are doesn’t seem like the brightest idea, the women aren’t otherwise making stupid decisions. Well, they don’t really have time to be making stupid decisions for most of the film.

The creatures are incredibly scary, and the camerawork is so well done that at times I felt like I was in the caves with them, even when watching on my home television. It’s been raining outside all weekend, so the sounds outside the house almost mirrored the sounds from the movie inside the house, which only increased my immersion. This is a really good scary movie on all counts. Highly recommended…but not for the faint of heart.

Oh, and if you do see this, make sure you see the full, uncut British release of the film. I remember when my mom and brother went to see this in theaters here in the States, and when they were describing the plot to me I realized they’d cut the ending before the best part.