The Descent - Neil Marshall

I was reading a couple of the viewer reviews on the IMDB and began to wonder if the recent popularity of this new, 'hip' horror genre is starting to turn some into bonified idiots. I have been a horror fan since I was literally forced at an early age, by my brother and his friend, to watch The Exorcist and Demons in one night, and yes, I was fucking petrified. Please let me remind some of you who had yet to be conceived, that CGI was non-existent as well as unnecessary for the time because writers, directors, and actors could not rely on computer generated effects to save their asses, they had to work with a very small budget and, oh wait, here it comes, USE THEIR IMAGINATION.

Furthermore, a horror film, is not solely about action (lest we forget that their is an entire genre of action, cock in the air movies out there), it also needs a steady pace and development, a rising action (remember Shakespeare?), and a denouement, and The Descent delivers.

The premise is claustraphobic and tense throughout, and I appreciate and like the fact that this is pretty much an all-girl movie (let us remember who would usually survive in the Friday the 13th series), and what I love the most is that they are intelligent, tough, and know how to deliver the ever important human element in the face of crisis. Marshall obviously works with very little, yet somehow he manages to make it look so big, and those that criticize the simplicity of this film are missing the point, the beauty of horror is not to confuse (ok, David Lynch is in his own category!) but to make the audience associate with and merge with the characters on the screen. The closer the relationship, the more disturbing it is; I walked out of the theater feeling unsettled and smiling my way home. The Brits are definitely due for a comeback.