The Decent 2 DVD review

The UK's Leading fantasy & horror film festival.

The Empire Cinema, Leicester Square, London 25th to 29th August 2011

It's so good it's scary - The Guardian

The premiere event of the year for horror fans - Time Out

THE DESCENT: PART 2 - 2009

***

Alancopy Directed by Jon Harris. Starring Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Gavan O'Herlihy, Joshua Dallas, Anna Skellern, Douglas Hodge and Krysten Cummings. Horror/Thriller. UK, 90 minutes.

DVD release date 12th April 2010. DVD RRP: £17.99.Blu-Ray RRP £19.99. BUY NOW

More of the same, if not as nerve-shreddingly brilliant, there’s still much to enjoy in the companion piece to Neil Marshall’s chilling original if you can get over a few plot hurdles.

Picking up exactly where THE DESCENT left off, veteran editor Jon Harris makes the grade to director in the much bigger looking and handsomely produced if less harrowing sequel. No matter which ending of THE DESCENT you saw, either in America or internationally, depressed, haunted and hunted Sarah Carter (a returning Shauna MacDonald) didn’t die according to the filmmakers despite opinions being divided over that controversial aspect. So emerging from the Appalachian mountain caves where she recently confronted her darkest dreads, the traumatized survivor is forced back into the subterranean depths by the unfeeling authorities who consider her a murder suspect to help locate her five missing girlfriends. Unlike Sarah though, who gradually regains her memory of how futile their mission will be via stark flashbacks, the rescue party have no idea what lies in horrific store as they enter the domain of a new breed of vicious feral Crawlers. Heavily contrived at certain points, the reappearance of one ‘dead’ character being the worst offender, over-familiarity with the emulated claustrophobic atmospheres and frightening darkness does diminish the nightmare intensity. Harris to varying degrees apes Marshall’s scare techniques more than creates his own brand – the sudden appearances of the now inbred and deformed creatures being one particular area he should have stamped more personality on. Yet to be fair Harris is ironically caught between a rock and a hard place with this continuation of Marshall’s ‘six chicks with picks’ premise.

Clearly expectation was bound to be high so Harris would probably be damned no matter what avenues he pursued despite the underlying focus of his more than competent sequel being about Sarah’s redemptive ascent, after her prior descent into all types of hell, aided by deputy sheriff Elen Rios, a sterling turn by newcomer Krysten Cummings. And Harris’ efficient direction means his well-staged action highlights ably milk all the cliff-hanging/rock-fall/underwater sequel requirements - and that of a most intriguing downbeat climax meaning THE DESCENT: PART 3(D?) can’t be too far behind.

ALAN JONES

HOME-----FILMS-----TICKETS------PICTURES & VIDEO------SUBMISSIONS------ABOUT FRIGHTFEST------CONTACT-----LINKS-----FRIGHTFEST FORUM