Neill Marshall's The Descent was easily one of the best horror movies of recent memory, an intense experience that was terrifying even before its group of female cave explorers began being picked off by unseen subterranean creatures. It bundled instinctual terrors -- fear of the dark and claustrophobia chief amongst them -- with an examination of human nature's worst tendencies, all wrapped up in a bleak and brutal ending (especially if you saw the original ending, as opposed to the theatrical American version). It's a perfect little self-contained horror film. So, of course, what we really need is a DVD sequel without Marshall in the writer-director's chair. And that's just what Lionsgate is bringing us April 27th.
Perhaps I'm being unfair. After all, Marshall followed The Descent up with the thoroughly forgettable Doomsday. We ought to give The Descent: Part 2 a chance to shine on its own merits. The 50% fresh rating on RT doesn't suggest confidence, however, and neither does the plot synopsis. The sequel picks up right where the original left off, with Shauna McDonald returning as Sarah, the original film's only survivor (again, depending on which ending you watched and how cynical your interpretation was). She gets picked up by the authorities, who are understandably curious about where her friends are and why she's covered in their blood. Without an alibi, the local sheriff demands she accompany a team back into the caves to try and find the missing girls.
See, that's where my problem lies. Even if the alternative is jail time, I really don't see Sarah ever stepping foot back inside those caves. She's more or less in the same place as Ripley at the beginning of Aliens: the lone just-barely survivor of a horribly traumatic event, with no interest in returning to the scene of the crime. The only way they lured Ripley back to LV-426 was with a squad of Colonial Marines and false promises of nuclear house-cleaning. Unless The Descent: Part 2 includes a scene of the Sheriff clubbing Sarah over the head and her waking up already in the caves, I'm going to have a hard time swallowing this premise. And even if it overcomes this narrative hurdle, The Descent: Part 2 is going to have an uphill battle convincing me that The Descent needed a sequel at all.
The Descent: Part 2 Special Features
- Audio commentary with director Jon Harris and actors Shauna MacDonald, Krysten Cummings and Anna Skellern
- Deleted scenes
- “The Making of The Descent: Part 2 -- Deeper and Darker” featurette
- Storyboards
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