|
OFCS Rating: 84% Fresh |
|
8/10 | "This dark labyrinth of trauma, treachery and troglodytes sets terrifying traps for the mind." |
| Movie Gazette |
| Anton Bitel |
2.5/5 | "For my money, (The Descent) is one of the most overrated and poorly realized spook shows in a very long time." |
| DVD Verdict |
| Bill Gibron |
| "[W]ill inspire boys and girls who like the genre even though it could be read as a tale about the battle between the sexes." |
| european-films.net |
| Boyd van Hoeij |
9/10 | "A harrowing, brutal piece of work -- my hand was over my mouth for the last 30 minutes, lest I scream like a little girl on fire. Not to be missed." |
| Freeze Dried Movies |
| Brian Juergens |
A- | "Descent is everything The Cave wasn't: edge-of-your-seat terrifying, atmospheric, and frightfully inventive." |
| FilmJerk.com |
| Brian Orndorf |
B | ""The Descent" succeeds thoroughly as a horror film, based on the filmmakers' diligent attention to fundamental genre elements." |
| ColeSmithey.com |
| Cole Smithey |
| "Because you sort of see this something too (and most importantly, because you know the horror movie drill), you tend to believe her when her friends don't." |
| PopMatters |
| Cynthia Fuchs |
5/5 | "This is the kind of horror movie horror fans mention when they try to explain why they love horror movies." |
| eFilmCritic.com |
| David Cornelius |
2.5/4 | "Six sexy spelunkers in an underground fright fest make for keen and claustrophobic cinema." |
| rec.arts.movies.reviews |
| David N. Butterworth |
3.5/4 | "...genuinely frightening..." |
| Reel Film Reviews |
| David Nusair |
| "This journey down and inwards, piercing Mother Earth but metaphorically “a descent into madness” and psyche, is not personally involving or convincing." |
| ReelTalk Movie Reviews |
| Donald J. Levit |
3/4 | "Becomes so enthralling and intense that perspective viewers shouldn't be surprised if they forget to breathe for minutes at a time." |
| TheMovieBoy.com |
| Dustin Putman |
2/4 | "Neil Marshall's creepfest may see more feminist deconstruction than the original Alien, contemplation the film's unthinkingly slick surface invites but doesn't merit." |
| Slant Magazine |
| Ed Gonzalez |
A- | "Bring a change of pants, because this one's a soiler." |
| EricDSnider.com |
| Eric D. Snider |
3.5/5 | "With beautiful direction, a plausible plot, effective but downplayed creature effects, and top notch acting, The Descent takes a tired concept and actually adds a sense of distinction." |
| Film Threat |
| Felix Vasquez Jr. |
3.5/4 | "The Descent reúne todos los elementos que hacen un buen filme de horror: víctimas creíbles, suspenso creciente, giros narrativos inesperados y por supuesto situaciones de visceral tensión y sangre. Padres, por favor, dejen a los niños en casa.
" |
| Doncinema.com |
| Flavio J. Arosemena |
D | "Unlike the cave in the movie, the plot is certainly not uncharted, and mere technique can't overcome weakness in acting and effects." |
| One Guy's Opinion |
| Frank Swietek |
3/4 | "For horror fans and those who love things that go bump in the night, this is one not to miss." |
| ReelViews |
| James Berardinelli |
3.5/5 | "Some of the best horror work in years." |
| Q Network Film Desk |
| James Kendrick |
| "I rather resented the way in which it managed to scare the heebie-jeebies out of me . . ." |
| Sci-Fi Movie Page |
| James O'Ehley |
3/4 | "Grabs at the jugular and doesn’t let go until the last gory frame." |
| Palo Alto Weekly |
| Jeanne Aufmuth |
9/10 | "On the surface, the film is competent ... but where The Descent triumphs are in the little details." |
| Window to the Movies |
| Jeffrey Chen |
3.5/5 | "This is an accessible art house horror film." |
| Film Threat |
| Jeremy Knox |
7/10 | "Offered powerful enough performances to keep me engaged throughout." |
| JoBlo's Movie Emporium |
| JoBlo |
| "What distinguishes The Descent from other cave thrillers is the way director Marshall never lets up, constantly pounding at us until our heartbeat becomes so loud we can no longer hear the characters scream." |
| Light Views |
| John Larsen |
7/10 | "Refreshing." |
| Planet Sick-Boy |
| Jon Popick |
| "The mutant attacks can begin to seem repetitious. After all, there's just so much a girl can do in the dark with a ravenous humanoid who only wants one thing." |
| In the Dark |
| Jonathan F. Richards |
5/5 | "You will feel like you have descended to the pits of hell." |
| 3BlackChicks Review |
| Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel |
3/5 | "By far, the first half is the most effective as the outing goes from bad to disastrous: Sarah [Shauna Macdonald] gets trapped in a tunnel ("Just keep breathing!"), and the rest are lost - this film is not for the claustrophobic." |
| Film-Forward.com |
| Kent Turner |
3.0/4.0 | "(For fans) who prefer their scary films well rooted in the believable before adding a fantastic element or two, (this) is exactly the horror film you've been waiting for." |
| MovieCrypt.com |
| Kevin A. Ranson |
4/5 | "a gripping journey into madness" |
| 7M Pictures |
| Kevin Carr |
B+ | "...this one is not only exceedingly well done, it is guaranteed to put you
through the ringer.
" |
| Reeling Reviews |
| Laura Clifford |
4.5/5.0 | "The Descent isn't ONE of the scariest movies I've seen in years, The Descent IS the scariest movie I've seen in years." |
| Monsters At Play |
| Lawrence P. Raffel |
3.5/4 | "Six weekend warriors on a caving excursion find themselves fighting for their lives in Neil Marshall's harrowing follow-up to his lean, larky werewolf picture Dog Soldiers (2002)." |
| TV Guide's Movie Guide |
| Maitland McDonagh |
6/10 | "THE DESCENT is a
genuinely suspenseful adventure and horror film.
The scariest
monster is the cave itself." |
| rec.arts.movies.reviews |
| Mark R. Leeper |
| "It may sound bizarre to say that a film about women under threat of vicious, violent death is a triumph of feminism, but there we are..." |
| Flick Filosopher |
| MaryAnn Johanson |
3/4 | "The Cave done right." |
| Mr. Brown's Movies |
| Michael Dequina |
C+ | "Essentially a more grave, and less unintentionally hilarious, version of The Cave." |
| Lessons of Darkness |
| Nick Schager |
3.5/5 | "Marshall is clearly having fun here, and he effectively assembles all of the elements to gross us out and scare us half to death." |
| Shadows on the Wall |
| Rich Cline |
5/5 | "Once it gets going, it shakes you and keeps shaking you." |
| eFilmCritic.com |
| Rob Gonsalves |
A- | "Few films parlay their assets so well... or reap such frightfully powerful rewards." |
| Flipside Movie Emporium |
| Rob Vaux |
B | "It is no masterpiece, but it is very well crafted, with some effective "gotcha" moments." |
| Laramie Movie Scope |
| Robert Roten |
B+ | "It will be hard to find a better horror film this year." |
| Reeling Reviews |
| Robin Clifford |
6/10 | "Technical details and weak characters fail to derail the latest frontrunner in blood soaked underground horror." |
| Monsters and Critics |
| Ron Wilkinson |
4.5/5 | "Packed with slick surprises, jarring jolts, gruesome gore, and unbearable tension, The Descent is one of the best horror films of the past several years." |
| eFilmCritic.com |
| Scott Weinberg |
A | "It's a film stripped to bloody basics, a ferocious and taut exercise in action horror that recalls early James Cameron, with more gore and less sentimentality." |
| Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
| Sean Axmaker |
3/4 | "Symbolizes a return to horror-movie basics." |
| Charlotte Weekly |
| Sean O'Connell |
4/10 | "A mindless, tense fright-fest" |
| Modamag.com |
| Susan Granger |
3/4 | "Often-terrifying, often-brilliant." |
| Film Freak Central |
| Walter Chaw |
3/4 | Read review |
| Big Picture Big Sound |
| Joe Lozito |
|
OFCS Rating: 84% Fresh |
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