Do you want to see ‘The Descent’?

The Descent (2005)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 165
Fresh: 139 | Rotten: 26

Deft direction and strong performances from its all-female cast guide The Descent, a riveting, claustrophobic horror film. In this low-budget import from Scotland, director Neil Marshall has masterfully created a spelunking nightmare, which doubles as a compelling meditation on morality, vengeance, and the depths to which we might go for survival.

Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 8

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Movie Info

A group of close female friends on a yearly adventure vacation find themselves trapped and hunted in a series of caves by an unknown force that lurks in the shadows in The Descent, the second horror feature from Dog Soldiers writer/director Neil Marshall. After suffering a devastating car crash one year before, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) is lured to the States with her friend Beth (Alex Reid) to a special spelunking trip by the fearless Juno (Natalie Mendoza), who abruptly fled from the U.K. after

R, 1 hr. 39 min.

Horror

Directed By: Neil Marshall , Alex Reid

Written By: Neil Marshall

In Theaters: Aug 4, 2006 Wide

On DVD: Dec 26, 2006

Box Office:$26.0M

Lionsgate

The Descent Trailer & Photos

More Photos (11)

Cast

Critic Reviews for The Descent

All Critics (168) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (144) | Rotten (27) | DVD (21)

Marshall could very well be the Caravaggio of the B-movie.

October 15, 2008 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

| Comment

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

This intermittently effective UK horror thriller carefully establishes the psychological relationships among the women, then squanders this calibrated and generally plausible setup with a series of crude, implausible, and scattershot horror effects.

September 24, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comments (8)

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

For my money, [the] first 20 or so minutes are the best in the film. Once the real adventure gets underway in the cave, things get less interesting.

August 4, 2006 Full Review Source: USA Today

| Comments (3)

Claudia Puig

USA Today

Top Critic

While the movie has wonderful moments of unmotivated tension that make sure we're quite ill at ease from the beginning, it's also got a few too many of the kind of cheap boo-scares that indicate a director not fully trusting his grip on you.

August 4, 2006 Full Review Source: Toronto Star

| Comment

Geoff Pevere

Toronto Star

Top Critic

Do we even need men in horror films any more? They're bound to do something stupid, they almost always get killed in the end and don't look as good covered in sweat and blood.

August 4, 2006 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle

| Comment

Peter Hartlaub

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

Prepare to be scared senseless, and then, when you think you have it figured, your certainty will be shaken by scenes built to scare you even more.

August 4, 2006 Comment

Peter Travers

Rolling Stone

Top Critic

Although Neil Marshall's attempt to justify the U.S. ending is admirable, the original ending is the only way out - providing a chilling bookend to a motif and suggesting what seems like cerulean-tinged peace is actually the solitary solace of madness.

September 25, 2010 Full Review Source: Suite101.com

| Comment

Nick Rogers

Suite101.com

Director Marshall has obviously kept his DVD player spinning for days studying all of the classics and simply taking everything he needed like a Vanilla Ice "Under Pressure"

January 31, 2010 Full Review Source: Kinetofilm

| Comment

Brian Holcomb

Kinetofilm

Blank screamers, fastidiously amplified "boos," and the most confused intimations of lesbianism since High Tension

August 30, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion

| Comment (1)

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

It's nasty, unpleasant and sadistic but brutally efficient and undeniably effective.

August 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review

| Comment

Jim Lane

Sacramento News & Review

A scary gorefest underground. Not for kids.

July 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment (1)

Cynthia Fuchs

Common Sense Media

[Writer-director Neil] Marshall makes real movies, not just schlockfests designed to sate the lusts of gore-lovers (although there is plenty of gore, too).

July 14, 2008 Full Review Source: Cinefantastique

| Comment

Steve Biodrowski

Cinefantastique

Where the film exceeds 'Dog Soldiers' is toward the end, as Sarah comes to grips with what it will take to survive her ordeal and gets in touch with her feral side.

June 17, 2008 Full Review Source: ESplatter

| Comment (1)

Lucius Gore

ESplatter

Six sexy spelunkers in an underground fright fest make for keen and claustrophobic cinema.

November 19, 2007 Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews

| Comment

David N. Butterworth

rec.arts.movies.reviews

—

There are inconsistencies and frustrating ambiguities, but this is another reliable, vigorous horror experience for genre fans.

September 24, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Daniel Etherington

Film4

The Cave done right.

August 25, 2007 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com

| Comment

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

Once it gets going, it shakes you and keeps shaking you.

July 30, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

| Comments (2)

Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

The Descent may not be a classic, but it's likely to remain with you for a while.

July 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound

| Comments (2)

Joe Lozito

Big Picture Big Sound

It is to the film-maker's credit that these scenes are filled with real tension and edge-of-your-seat moments.

June 2, 2007 Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs

| Comment

Scott Nash

Three Movie Buffs

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Descent

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Well done horror flick. Ive noticed a lot of the better thrillers are being made in other countries. Im so glad that these movies are getting shots to shine here in the US.

May 11, 2008

John Manard

Super Reviewer

A bloody masterpiece. A bold, gory, intense and brilliant horror film that returns faith to a dying genre. Director, Neil Marshall crafts a breathtaking classic that is truly mind-blowing and unforgettable. A jaw-dropping and absolutely freightning film that stands with Aliens. It`s a raw, stylish and character driven

June 9, 2012

Al S

Super Reviewer

The Descent Quotes

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1. Sarah: What about you Holly, got a man?
2. Holly: Oh, I'm a sports fuck like Juno.
– Submitted by Jaymz S (4 months ago)
1. Beth: You put in a flight-plan, right? If we don't report in they'll come looking for us.
2. Rebecca: That's how it's supposed to work, except I put in a flight-plan for Boreham Caverns and this isn't Boreham Caverns, is it Juno?
3. Beth: We're in the wrong fucking cave!
4. Juno: Holly was right! Boreham Caverns was a tourist trap!
5. Holly: Don't try and pin this fucking shit on me!
6. Rebecca: This is not caving, this is an ego-trip.
– Submitted by Jaymz S (11 months ago)
1. Juno: What happened to you?
– Submitted by Jaymz S (11 months ago)
1. Juno: Sam's gonna be Doctor Van Ney in like a year's time.
2. Beth: Please tell me it's longer than that.
– Submitted by Jaymz S (11 months ago)
1. Sam: Trying to set this watch is impossible, the buttons are too fucking small.
2. Holly: Why do you wear that thing anyway?
3. Sam: My boyfriend gave it to me, it's sentimental.
4. Holly: It's fucking mental, any guy who'd give that to me I'd dump him on the spot.
– Submitted by Jaymz S (11 months ago)

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