First off, I’m a huge fan of Neill Marshall’s
The Descent--specifically, the uncut version that’s been released on DVD. That
version of the film had a solemn finality to the ending that was both disturbing,
as well as satisfying, in an odd way. The first movie was just as much a descent
into madness for Sarah (Shauna MacDonald) as it was a physical descent into the
shadowy world of the Crawlers--the creepy underworld denizens who assaulted the
women. The Crawlers were former humans--cave men who never left the caves--who
evolved into nimble bat-like predators. The entire movie was a perfect metaphor
for those who cut themselves off from the world, as well as life--in Sarah’s
case, it was doing so by giving herself over completely to her insanity, which
was effectively, and chillingly, conveyed by the final scene.
But rather than let the insane and the Crawlers alike both rest in peace, the
producers behind The Descent: Part 2 decided to
regurgitate the storyline all over the audience with a lame, insipid sequel that
clearly and painfully lacks the imagination, sophistication and intelligence of
the first film. In The Descent: Part 2, a rescue party goes looking for the six
female cavers who went missing from the first film. The rescue team is made up
of a pretty flimsy group of nondescript cavers and police--as well as Sarah, who is found wandering by a
road in a bloody daze, with no memory of what happened to her in the caves. And
so, the local sheriff (Gavan O'Herlihy) decides to drag her back down into the
sprawling underground cave complex with the rescue party for some more fun with
running, screaming and fighting with pick axes.
While the first film was a masterpiece in its slow and steady build up of
suspense, the sequel seems to go out of its way to avoid any tension whatsoever.
Part of the problem here is that we’re not as invested in the characters in the
sequel like we were the first time out. All six of the women in the first Descent
were well thought out individuals who each had their own little character moments
in which they shined brightly. This made their deaths have a much greater impact for us--as
well as amp up the tension beforehand. But the sequel’s one dimensional characters
are sensationally stupid people who do stupid things, and you really can’t wait
for the Crawlers to show up so they can get killed really quickly, and we can be
put out of our misery at watching these morons.
The Crawlers themselves don’t fare very well this time out, either. Director
Jon Harris and his small army of writers have apparently decided to show as much
of them as possible, and that’s a really bad mistake. With so much exposure,
the Crawlers look just like Nosferatu wannabes with way too
much unpainted prosthetic makeup. The underground caverns in this film were also
annoyingly over lit that it only served to make them look like the cheap, spray-painted sets
they actually are. I could go on and on, but you get the point.
The Descent was the perfect, self-contained horror movie that literally didn’t
need a sequel. And The Descent: Part 2 is the perfect example of a waste of film.
Don’t bother with this one.
--SF
Main Review Page | Horror Reviews |The Descent: Part 2 on DVD
