Here at The Talking Crow we do our best to review films which are all of a certain quality and share many of the same traits. They get you in a guttural way, whether you squirm from disgust or empathy. They appeal to you visually through the universal language of attractive stars or stunning and often gruesome visuals. Some of them even get you in an emotional way. But most of all, the films we recommend to you are just good movies that combine all of these elements and, being fans like us, we’re confident you will enjoy.

The Descent, writer and director Neil Marshall’s second feature film, is the latest movie to be worthy of our praise. This is probably no surprise to anyone who has seen his first movie Dog Soldiers, one of the many great flicks this reviewer has yet to write about. It’s the tale of a military unit that tangles with werewolves in rural Scotland and is as much fun as playing ‘find the grenade’ with a blind kid. And trust me, that is some good (albeit messy) fun. So be sure to check Dog Soldiers if you enjoy this movie.

Back to The Descent, a tale of a group of adventurous British women who do some spelunking in the wrong underground predators cave system. It begins with a bit of back-story that closes with a bitch-slap of a car accident. This ‘bitch-slap’ method of

surprising and scaring is a favorite of Marshall’s as he uses it with much success throughout the film. The accident sets up for two important plot devices in the film, a haunted protagonist and some tension amongst the leading ladies; both of which play an important part in the final moments of the film.

We fast forward to a year after the car accident and the ladies are now on U.S. soil somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains. Their unofficial leader, Juno, has planned a trip for the six of them to explore a well know cavern system despite the fact that the more thrill seeking members of the bunch want a bigger challenge. You’ll sit through about ten minutes of the ladies bonding and what not, but bear with old Max here, it gets better. Even as they hike to the cavern opening there is some serious foreshadowing via their conversation about what could happen while underground.  The big list of potential problems

includes disorientation, dehydration, and panic attacks (apparently the ladies forgot to consider ancient cave dwelling predators).

Said predators or ‘crawlers’ as the film bills them actually don’t make an appearance until nearly an hour in. But we have plenty to keep us occupied in the mean time. This delay is another great tactic that Marshall has used in both of his films. Not revealing the true antagonist for nearly sixty minutes ends up putting you on the edge of your seat as you assume they are going to show up nearly every scene. We watch as the ladies struggle to survive a cave in only to realize they are trapped in what turns out to be an unknown cavern system. (Unfortunately it’s a little too late for the thrill seekers to be excited about this.) The lighting alone makes these scenes tense and fun to watch as Marshall illuminates them with only the meager light sources the characters have. Even a hardened bad ass like old Max can’t help but empathize with the seeming hopelessness of their situation.

Then of course things go from bad to worse as one our spelunkers falls and ends up with a broken leg. Shortly after, as the ladies are hauling around their injured friend, the creatures decide to say hello. I won’t spoil how or exactly when they're revealed

but suffice it to say that it's a great bitch-slap of an entrance. From here it gets chaotic. Some of our ladies run away, some get knocked unconscious, and some fight. Even as these scenes are beginning, you may get a feel for who is more likely to survive. You won’t be completely right though, I assure you. The first encounter ends with one of the films biggest surprises and one of the few accidental axings this reviewer has ever seen (on film that is).

The creatures become more familiar to us after this scene and it lends to the films credibility that they are actually believable. They are humanoid but blind, very athletic and effective pack hunters, though not terribly capable alone as the ladies do rack up a kill count of their own. Upon reflection the creatures seem to logically be what a cave dwelling humanoid would be. They exhibit behavior fitting of a predator that can kill the deer and bears whose skeletons lines their lair. I am going to go one step further and say it even makes sense

that they live in caves and apparently hunt on the surface as they were probably driven underground when early settlers came to the area. There are countless stories of mysterious creatures living in all sorts of places in the Appalachian Mountains and it wouldn’t be surprising to find a tale with a similar sort of creature. But I digress and will sum it up by stating the obvious, that I liked the creatures.

Aside from that, what also makes The Descent worth looking into are the psychological scares that are present for most of the film. That empathy I mentioned earlier will stick with you as the characters try to survive deep underground. Imagine you are trapped underground, you don’t know if your friends are alive, you only have a limited light source, an unknown enemy is pursuing you, you have absolutely no idea where you are, and you don't have the right tools - whether physical or mental- to battle

your enemy. Marshall’s filmmaking makes it easy to put yourself into his characters shoes and wonder what you would do if faced with those problems as well as managing to provide a few scares along the way. Though it’s not nearly as frightening as other horror films it will still make you a jump a few times, or at very least utter a “son of a bitch” or two.

Now, being a fan of both of Marshall’s films I have to point out an interesting theme I’ve noticed and most definitely approve of. Despite some of my colleagues complaining that the creatures die too easily, I saw it as an example of this theme. This film and Dog Soldiers both tell the tale of man defeating nature, only to be defeated by man. It’s an interesting statement to make especially in this age of global warming and squander. And this theme lends to Marshall’s credibility as a great

filmmaker, as well as creates some great situations in his films. One example being: during the ending scenes in which puts our haunted protagonist and Juno are at odds over that accidental axing even as they have survived the most vicious creature onslaught yet. I won’t tell you the outcome of this situation or the strange, slightly unexplained ending, as I’m sure you’ll all see for yourselves and will have droves of things to say in The Forums.

So be sure to enjoy The Descent. It will frighten you a bit (hopefully). It will make you wary of spelunking (almost definitely). And it will be a few hours well spent. I always mention that The Talking Crow has immense respect for the filmmakers who seem to have the ‘fan bug’ themselves as this usually produces the best entertainment. Neil Marshall joins the proud ranks of those fans that are out there making the movies we would if we were filmmakers. For now though, we will instead remain the eyes and ears of our fellow fans and continue to do our best to inform and entertain you all.

-Max out.