Anna Daniels
The Descent is an excellent horror film about a group of friends who become lost during a caving expedition. While the premise is relatively simple, the film stands out due to its claustrophobic and hopeless approach, mixed in with thoughtful character dynamics and exchanges. Additionally, as it goes on, the film turns into a suspenseful, action-packed experience when it becomes apparent that bloodthirsty cave crawlers are hunting the group.
While the characters, story, creepy atmosphere, and even lighting are all masterfully executed, the film suffers from a less than stellar conclusion — at least in the American release. You see, The Descent has two separate endings, with audiences in the U.K. seeing a whole different ending. In the U.K. cut, as the cave crawlers close in around the main character, Sarah, she envisions a birthday scene with her deceased daughter. But then, the film cuts to black, hinting at Sarah’s death. While this is a perfectly acceptable ending, the U.S. ending is not.
In the American cut, Sarah seemingly escapes from the cave and drives off. And instead of ending there, the film stops cold with a tacky jump-scare involving one of the deceased women, completely breaking the tension and world-building crafted throughout the film. A ghostly jump-scare is completely unfitting given the prior events in The Descent, so it’s a bit confusing as to why this version exists at all.
Written by: Looper
