After watching "The Descent", my bud Robert and I decided that spelunking would now come off both our "To Do" lists—for good. Writer and Director Neil Marshall's "The Descent" crafts and sustains an unrelenting tension throughout, once you get past the suspended disbelief. As I watched the women one by one crawl through the tiny water filled crevice to enter the caverns somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains, I thought, "How are they going to get back? They've got to be nuts!" Well, you just have to go with it. Well, kind of. Fortunately, director Marshall effectively pretexts the story. The prior thrill-seeking jaunt for the group was a white water rafting trip. Following that trip, Sarah (Shauna MacDonald) suffers a life altering tragedy. A year later, Sarah and her close friend Beth (Alex Reid) join up with the gang at a cabin in the Appalachians. The 6 women are gearing up for a cave exploration trip headed by Juno (Natalie Mendoza). Apparently, Juno regrets not being there for Sarah following her personal tragedy and recovery. Juno sees this trip as an opportunity to empower Sarah. Those along for the ride include Becca (Saskia Mulder),Sam (MyAnna Buring),and Holly (Nora-Jane No one).

The trip starts out curious enough when Juno (Mendoza) discards her map of the caves. The women proceed, and are undeterred by the telltale signs of mysterious animal carcasses. Not surprisingly, the cave exploration goes horribly wrong. They are lost without a clue how to get out, and they are being hunted by terrifying fleshing eating creatures. So the women are literally in the fight for their lives. Marshall masterfully orchestrates the mood and tension. My bud Robert keenly pointed out that what really works in "The Descent" is that it never evolves into a trite action movie. No one screams, "Take that you, Mother F-----!" Granted Marshall may have intended his story as an empowerment allegory. The women are authentically terrified, and fight with all their courage and heart amidst their overwhelming fear. Somehow while they are thrashing and being thrashed by the fierce creatures, it is all strangely believable—strangely. Rather it gets you thinking: "Would I do the same?" Sarah (Macdonald) and Juno (Mendoza) in particular emerge as forces to be reckoned with. Mendoza's Juno warrior spirit is consistent and engaging—she is the brash leader. MacDonald is powerful and believable in Sarah's emergence as a heroic presence. All the performances are strong throughout.

Marshall maintains a claustrophobic feel and keeps us on edge. The unveiled details involving the cave creatures regarding their possible evolution is a nice touch. "The Descent" has to be one of the most gory horror movies with realistic violence—and I am not a big horror fan. However, I am a big hero fan. "The Descent" has great women heroes. Shauna Macdonald and Natalie Mendoza are awesome. "The Descent" is a wild tension filled ride. At the very end one wonders, "What next?"

This tense thriller is a terrifying chronicle of six young women who explore caves in the Appalachian Mountains and find unspeakable horror thousands of feet down. A cave-in traps them with no way to retrace their steps, but don't yet know that a terrible fate lurks around the tunnel's next bend. The film is reminiscent of "The Lost Patrol" as the ladies band together as much as they can against a ghoulish and unseen foe, with each girl's nerves pushed to the breaking point. The movie's dark, claustrophobic look adds realism to the ghastly dangers that the young women face and the music score is effective. The girls have several encounters with the predators underground and use torches and climbing gear to fight off their attackers. Natalie Mendoza is the group's ambitious leader who misleads the other women about the caves and also tries to cover up an awful deed she committed in a wild flight to escape. The four other women on this ill-fated expedition are also good in difficult roles. This movie is certainly one of the best films of 2006.

THE DESCENT is a decent British horror film, very much along the lines of WILDERNESS and DOG SOLDIERS, the latter also directed by Neil Marshall. Although it falls into the trap of using all the tired clichés of modern horror films – if I never see another fake scare scene it'll be too soon – and has one too many obvious jumps along the way, for the most part it's a strong, gory film packed with suspense, and tension which sometimes becomes unbearable as the climax nears. The plot is simplistic, the script nothing special; things kick off with a nasty road accident which reminded me of the beginning of BUTCHER, BAKER, NIGHTMARE MAKER but then we're in slasher territory as a group of women head into the unknown and get picked off one by one by the nasties.

The best thing about this film is the atmospheric location: Marshall really gets his money's worth by photographing the eerie, dust-filled caves and natural wonders that are to be found beneath the ground. This is not a film that claustrophobic people should watch, or indeed those with weak stomachs: the blood flows pretty freely towards the end, although it's not really disturbing as it's included in the action scenes.

The idea of using an all-female cast is a nice one, that makes things feel different, and there are one or two excellent performances here which lift things a lot (Natalie Mendoza's ass-kicking heroine makes Ripley look like a prim and proper schoolgirl). The monsters, a combination of Gollum-style CGI and more traditional men in monster suits, are creepy and eerie, especially when glimpsed briefly in torchlight. The only thing I really disliked – and which stopped this film from being truly great – is the silly twist ending, one of those dream things I wish had never been thought up. It's dumb and makes you think "what the heck?", cheating the viewer, but aside from this THE DESCENT offers good solid chills.