The Descent 2 - 2nd 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

***

DeniseMorrisroeDavidGBennett 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

Having fled the Crawler-infested, uncharted cave system of THE DESCENT (2005), Sarah Carter (Macdonald) is forced back underground with a rescue team, to find her missing friends. Unable to remember what happened to her, she cannot warn the team of the horrors that await them.

The only thing more clichéd than many of the elements within this film, is the hackneyed notion that sequels are always a terrible idea. Given the utter brilliance of the original, one of the best horror films of the past decade, it was trepidation I’m sure we all felt when we saw it on the bill for FrightFest X. Sarah escapes the caves bruised, bloodied and wild with fear, and has a preposterous ‘daytime soap opera’ case of amnesia. A search team has been scrambled to look for Juno – daughter of a US Senator, mistress of Sarah’s dead husband – but they’re searching in the wrong place, cos Juno herself had not informed the authorities that they were going into an unexplored system. When the grizzled, cynical Sheriff Vaines (O'Herlihy) hears that Sarah is alive and in the hospital he rushes straight there. The formulaic, redneck cop – against the protestations of his Deputy, Rios (Cummings) – forces Sarah up and into her spelunking gear, convinced that another trip down the hole is what she needs to jog her memory, and help the search team find her missing friends. But of course, he doesn’t want to raise a media storm, so he keeps the news of a survivor (and the search area being incorrect) a secret, which takes us straight back to the premise of the original film: A group enters a new, uncharted cave system – some are experienced, others are not – and no-one else knows they’re in there. Plus, they’re not alone.

The basic premise of this film is flawed, it uses a mix of clichés and archetypes to take us right back to the same situation as the first film. Therefore, it lacks the emotional depth that the original brought. It is an excuse to go back underground and fight a bit more with the new and improved Crawlers (for some reason they now look snarlier and have bigger ears!?). That said, it’s a bloody enjoyable ride, the scares, tension and sense of claustrophobia are handled very well – Harris has successfully made the step-up from editor on part one, and has the makings of a very talented horror director. There are plenty of good gross-out moments, including the memorable ‘shit pit’. Whilst the gore keeps on coming, with rats crawling out of mouths, fingers being bitten off, skulls crushed and drilled, and – unforgettably – hands being interminably hacked off.

There is a good bunch of extras on the disc. The ‘making of’ documentary gives a good insight into the ideas behind how the story was put together – even though many of them didn’t come across well enough in the finished film. Whilst the features on the make-up, lighting, and especially the set-design, are definitely an interesting watch. The deleted scenes – when viewed with commentary – show off the director’s obvious talent, and his background as an editor.

Denise Morrisroe & David G Bennett

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