Fantasia CR: The Descent

Bursting from the heart of England comes Neil Marshall’s creature feature The Descent. Situating itself neatly between a slumber party and Hieronymus Bosch, Marshall continues his exploration of inter species conflict that began with his well-received 2002 effort, Dog Soldiers.

The story follows the all female cast on a weekend bonding session that quickly devolves into a fatally disastrous cave expedition. Setting the mood with a jarring violent mishap, then driving it’s characters deep into a claustrophobic underground maze and finally into the lair of some seriously twisted manimals, The Descent is an unrelenting torrent of tension. The cumulative psychological effect is an inducement of primal fear, of being cornered and overpowered.

With a very enthusiastic response from the Fantasia faithful at Thursday’s screening (Day 1), The Descent boasts an impressive body count and effective shocks, a thrill-ride where survival of the fittest becomes the mantra of both the film’s unfortunate characters and the bruised audience along for the ride.