Descent and Descent 2 Thread

[3dfan]

Just watched the new trailer of Descent 2 - awesome, can't wait to see!!

[NecroMorrius]

A few cool twists to the formula could make this worth watching. Seriously though, if it's just some more people in a cave getting raped by Gollum I fail to see the point.

[Paulando]

I'm going to see this next Wednesday. I'm fully expecting it to be awful, and we're only going because it's Orange Wednesday. I'm kind of looking forward to it though

[Paulando]

Went to see this earlier on!

Let's get it over and done with, then: the film's a mess. It's terrible. But that's not to say it doesn't have its moments.

It starts off a couple of days after the events in the first film, and Sarah gets found outside the cave somewhere, as a rescue team is searching for the group. She gets put into hospital, because she's quite clearly been through a lot. She's battered and bruised, exhausted, and she has no recollection of the last couple of days. So when they find out the blood on her matches the blood of Juno, they haul her out and arrest her (in actual fact, they just put her in the back of a police car). Meanwhile, the place where Sarah escaped from the cave is discovered.

So, the characters: we have a sheriff who looks like an overweight Richard Branson, and his female assistant, who looks like Wanda Sykes. Then there's some Aussie bird, an American guy, and a British guy. They send the team into the cave, with the Sheriff and Wanda Sykes, and they take Sarah with them. Now, she's barely spoken a word, has no memory of the last couple of days, and she's in an incredibly frail state, but they reason that taking her down there might 're-jog her memory'.

So, they enter the cave and get split up, then we have an hour of them running around the cave, with no idea where they are or where they are in relation to each other, as they get picked off one by one by the creatures.

The original was grounded in reality for the most part, which made it even more horrific and terrifying, but The Descent: Part 2 is ridiculous. It's just silly. Things happen, and you're just left with a bemused look on your face. My girlfriend and I had many 'WTF?' moments between us as we were watching it. The creatures seem to pose almost no threat in this installment either. All you have to do it keep your mouth shut, and it seems you're able to walk freely amongst them without any fear of getting attacked. If any characters get killed, it's because they spoke too loud.

Yep, Juno is alive and well, which is quite ridiculous. But even worse, they've totally fucked up her character. She delivers some really cheesy dialogue ('What are they?', '...

death'), and just seems generally out of place.

I've never really said this about a film, but the lighting is awful too. It's too bright in most places, considering they're in a cave, with no escape, hundreds of metres below the surface. And at one point, when a character is walking around with a green glowstick, everywhere around her has this incredibly bright, green glow, even from where she just crawled through. It's really strange.

And it's very 'direct-to-video' at times. Later on in the film, Wanda Sykes pulls a hairpin from the back of her head to use as a weapon, and almost holds it up to the screen for the audience to see, which is quite embarrassing. There are plenty of moments just like this.

As I said, it's not all terrible. The first part is actually pretty good, and there are a few decent scares and other fairly tense moments. I actually really liked the Aussie girl, and it's a shame it didn't focus on her a little more. She has one of the best parts in the film, in fact,

just after she gets trapped under some falling rock.

I'm glad I've seen it, because I like watching sequels, no matter how bad they are. I guess I'm just fascinated with how someone has taken the original film, and worked out a way to make a follow up to it. Obviously we have some great examples of this, such as Aliens, but on the other end of the spectrum we have The Descent: Part 2. I love the original, but I can't see myself ever watching this one again.

[lordcookie]

Yep, Juno is alive and well, which is quite ridiculous. But even worse, they've totally fucked up her character. She delivers some really cheesy dialogue ('What are they?', '...

death'), and just seems generally out of place.

I decided to read your spoilers as I'm not that fussed about watching this. Regarding the above spoiler -

for some bizarre reason she is doing the press circuit for this along with the rest of the cast and there have even had some screenshots of her released. Surely they want her presence to be a surprise so I don't know why they have made it common knowledge.

[Hexx]

Just back from it

I found it "more of the same" tbh. I liked it, I was scared - but I've no desire to see it again.

I liked most of the characters, but the stupid sheriff. He wasn't "fun to hate" either - he was just OTT daft and ruined the film

The creatures were a little...odd...in the film. How dangerous they were, or how potent their hearing was seemed to vary quite considerably. It's also a shame that most people seemed to die in it because they couldn't follow the simple rule - SHUT THE FUCK UP.

The end though?

WTF? I assume we're meant to think he's feeding them? Does he think they're descended from his lost Grandad? Why did he take Sarah back then? Surely he'd have treated her like the deputy?

[Paulando]

The end though?

WTF? I assume we're meant to think he's feeding them? Does he think they're descended from his lost Grandad? Why did he take Sarah back then? Surely he'd have treated her like the deputy?

Yeah, I didn't mention the ending.

It was quite strange. Of course, it leaves it open for

another sequel.

And to be fair, I did kind of like all of the characters, bar the Sheriff and the other police officer (or whatever she was), but they just didn't do anything interesting with them.

[Hexx]

Yeah, I didn't mention the ending.

It was quite strange. Of course, it leaves it open for

another sequel.

And to be fair, I did kind of like all of the characters, bar the Sheriff and the other police officer (or whatever she was), but they just didn't do anything interesting with them.

I thought the other police officer was the most rounded - if a bit cliched. She also suffered from not-being-able-to-shut-her-mouth-let's-stop-and-chat-itis.

The 3 cavers were all pretty good - I think they got the best "acting" scene

when she was trapped

.

And Greg made my dingle tingle

[marcus]

Watched 2 last night, wasnt expecting much but in some ways I was pleasantly surprised by a few standout moments that wouldnt of been out of place in the brilliant original. I didnt buy the completely implausable way Sarah ended up back down there at all, that was just retarded, and I found the whole thing typically frustrating in terms of stupid decisionmaking from its characters. The Descent is one of the best horror movies in modern times and it is a hard act to follow, whilst it would be cruel to say they needent have bothered with 2, the movie is far from great.

[choddo]

I finally got around to watching this a decade after everyone else. Late at night while the forum maintenance stuff was running. On my own. In the dark. F*** me it was scarey. That confined tunnel scene with Holly exploring ahead. Brilliant movie making.

[Stig]

It really is, but don't bother with the sequel.

[DarhkFox]

Yeah the first was ace but the sequel was pretty forgettable.