The Descent: Part 2

Relive the horror of Frightfest 2009
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dnky666
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Post by dnky666 »

thesavageintruder wrote:the key action scenes are cut so fast (and shot on Shaki Cam) that everything becomes an incoherent, bloody blur[/b]
I couldn't agree more. Would really prefer to see what was being chewed, ripped and generally savaged.

That being said, I really enjoyed this. Thought that it did the original proud and was a worthy sequel. Was also glad to see that the blood used in Part 2 was just as red as that in the original. Not sure for why but The Descent FX teams really favour the reddest blood.....
Porkboy
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Post by Porkboy »

This was ok - a good way to end the festival but as a stand-alone film it didn't really add anything to the fantastic original. It was a well-made cash-in, that's it.
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micodler
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Post by micodler »

I really enjoyed this sequel, but I preferred the original.[/u]
macready
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Post by macready »

Not the claustrophobic masterpiece that Neil Marshall's movie was (which scared the hell out of me before the crawlers even turned up), but enjoyable nonetheless. I liked the twists at the end (killing off certain characters, and the hint as to how the crawlers are being fed), and the gore was pretty strong.

For what's an utterly unnecessary sequel to a modern masterpiece, it's worth watching.
dangerous_jamie
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Post by dangerous_jamie »

Swapping the atmospheric claustrophobic charm of the first one for a (slightly) more frenetic and gore-soaked angle was always going to be risky.

It was efficient enough, and was even good at some points but utterly pointless.

I hate the "if the audience didn't see them actually die, then we can bring 'em back" factor too. Really? Alive? Nonsense.

Also, the afterthought twist ending? What was that about?
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zoltan
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Post by zoltan »

Had to miss this to get coach back home :(
fd
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Post by fd »

I must admit that I really enjoyed this. Delivered as a sequel for me.

The thing that kept going through my mind though was "Have they just taken bullet-points of how Aliens follwed Alien to write this plot ?". Mother missing dead daughter, returning to face something mother doesn't want to, more of the bad creatures to attack them, discovery that there is a more complex nature to their existence.

Really good fun ride for what it was and I'm really glad that the next (real)day's events are not like when I went to the premiere of the first one in 2005 !

edit - also meant to say that I'm really glad that the festival ended on this action packed, gore soaked event rather than the maudlin Heartless. ;)
krispyg
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Post by krispyg »

I loved this - my other half hated it.

Great fun, good closer, retained the trapped atmosphere of the original film which is scary enough without throwing monsters into the equation too.
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Post by Wolfshade »

Unfortunately I had to leave this after about an hour, due to the schedule overruning somewhat - had an early start so I had to make sure I got the last tube home.

the action had just started to take off and the crawels started to appear just as I left, so I imagine I missed all the fun stuff, lol!

Still I'm not exactly gutted about missing the end, I wasn't crazy about the first one, and this looked very very similar.
Laymonite
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Post by Laymonite »

A decent Descent follow up here. Not as good as part 1 but good enough as far as sequels go. The action scenes involving the crawlers were effective and there was also the nice addition of some humour too. (Crawler toilet!)
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Alex J
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Post by Alex J »

*** Possible spoilers ***

Very good follow-up to a classic, although some of the new characters were a bit weak and I don't think there were as many memorable set-pieces as the first either. Perhaps the gore levels were lower this time around too, although the overly fast action sequences perhaps meant we "missed" some of the gorier events. The element of surprise of the first movie was obviously lost, as we knew what the crawlers looked like and what they could do already. If a third film is made, perhaps new crawlers with some different, but still realistic, abilities may enhance the experience.

Overall, the first film felt more like an ordeal for the characters, but I didn't feel that quite so much this time. Not sure about the ending too, as others have mentioned.

Nevertheless, I liked this film, especially the part where the girl is buried alive and seemingly left to die! I felt this had a great emotional impact.

8.5 / 10
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PiercedEyeball
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Post by PiercedEyeball »

Seemed bit of an unnecessary sequel and felt the ending spoilt an otherwise okay monster movie. Good effects though.
odishon
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Post by odishon »

A great closing film and a sequel which did all that can be expected of it.

**spoilers**

Disagree on the lack of claustrophobia as I thought the girl being completely trapped and the bit where they had hardly any space above the water were very claustrophobic.

Didn't like the twist end but can forgive it as it was basically another great thrill movie like the first.
feggie
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Post by feggie »

The 3 times that i saw The Descent in the cinema I felt claustrophobic and i just didn't feel it with this one.

I see that others felt it so they managed what they set out to do.

I still enjoyed the film a lot though. The chief was an utterly unredeemingly stupid character but you kinda need that in horror sometimes. Good kills and decent twist ending. How will Hollywood change that ending?
AndyJWS
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Post by AndyJWS »

A very solid sequel - clever in that it could theoretically follow from either of the endings for the original (you don't lose anything if you've only seen one of them) and well-made with some nice follow-ups going on - you don't see the corpses of people killed in the first film in many sequels!

Also got the Aliens vibe, down to the creatures being that bit more drooly than the last film as happened there too!
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