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Trailer for "Descent"

In the opening reel of the 1970 British “B” picture Trog (Joan Crawford’s final film), a team of explorers discovers an ape man living in a series of underground caves. This is essentially the same concept of the new B film The Descent, also of British origin.

Writer-director Neil Marshall’s’s first film, Dog Soldiers, pitted a squadron of Brit soldiers against a pack of Scottish werewolves. It was a fun monster movie, surprisingly devoid of the comic relief that spoils so many domestic fright flicks, and it performed well on DVD and cable TV. In his new film, Marshall sends a team of six thrill seeking female “cavers” underground, where an accident traps them with a race of ravenous, bat-like humanoids. Just as I wasn’t able to tell the soldiers apart from each other in Dog Soldiers because of their heavy accents, I was unable to distinguish the heroines of this new effort from each other because they were covered from head to toe in blood, and sent scurrying around dark caverns with nothing but camcorders, torches and helmet-mounted flashlights to illuminate entire scenes.

This is a joyless affair, to be sure, and aside from teenagers and a niche audience (in which I include myself), it’s difficult to imagine who will find it entertaining. But Marshall possesses considerable skill as a storyteller and a filmmaker. I admired that he took the time to introduce his cast of characters and establish their group dynamics before banishing them from sunlight. And it was a brave choice—in this day of rapid fire bumps and scares—to expend nearly half the running time before unleashing his monsters (comparisons to Aliens are on some levels appropriate). He derives maximum suspense from the claustrophobic exploration of the caves, and the monsters are effective and believable, refreshingly devoid of computer generation (although some bats seen early on are about as realistic as Roger Rabbit). The gory battle scenes employ that jittery, sped up camera trickery that so many contemporary action films rely on, and combined with the geysers of blood and spinning camera moves, the total effect is more than a little overwhelming.

Actress Natalie Mendoza fares the best of the talented cast, perhaps because her exotic features make it easy to recognize her despite the bloodshed and mutilations around her. Her character is essentially the same as Burt Reynolds’s in Deliverance, and her portrayal reminded me of Michelle Rodriguez’s on the TV series Lost.

Sadly, the film collapses in the final five minutes. I attribute this partly to studio interference: the more nihilistic resolution seen in England was deemed unsuitable for American audiences conditioned to happier, sequel friendly endings. Ironically, it’s hard to imagine a coda more depressing than the one that’s been tacked on. But I also blame Marshall; when one character is called upon to pass moral judgment on another, her decision left me feeling as utterly hopeless as I’m sure the film as a whole will leave those seeking escapism.