The Descent

One of my favorite movies is Dog Soldiers, which I had the privilege of watching at its first U.S. theatrical presentation at the Studio 35 Halloween Horror marathon. It was a wonderful blend of action, comedy, and horror. It was the very first DVD I ever bought (yeah, I was late to the DVD scene), and I enjoy it just as much now as I did that Halloween three years ago.

I remarked to Jeff how much I love the movie, and he suggested that I watch The Descent, also written and directed by Neil Marshall. we talked about the movie last night, and both Jeff and Lisa really got us excited to watch it. They took great care not to spoil too much. As fate would have it, the movie was delivered yesterday, so Carina and I sat down to watch it tonight.

It is, without a doubt, a scary movie. Carina, who usually enjoys a good horror movie, literally shrieked out loud – three times! The story isn’t anything revolutionary in terms of horror stories. The pacing is what sets it apart from most other entries in the genre: the tension builds and builds and builds. Even knowing the basic premise (and a few details) didn’t diminish the scariness in any way.

The title is very apropos, and I highly recommend this movie. Be sure to watch the extra features on the DVD. The blooper reel is hysterical, and the “making of” feature is quite informative.