Descent, The: Part 2 (2009)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror	Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	93:40
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Jon Harris
Studio Distributor	Celador Icon Entertainment	Starring	Michael J. Reynolds Shauna Macdonald Jessika Williams Douglas Hodge Joshua Dallas Anna Skellern Gavan O'Herlihy Krysten Cummings Doug Ballard
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	?	Music	David Julyan

“What are those things? .... Death”

     The Descent was a surprisingly effective horror film from 2005 which relied to a large extent on our claustrophobic fear of being trapped and the presence of an unseen menace. With the appearance of the cave dwellers The Descent resorted to a more formulaic approach with the unfortunate caverners being systematically dispatched in gruesome detail. If anything The Decent: Part 2 ratchets up the gore fest – possibly to compensate for the relative lack of surprise given that most viewers would be aware of what happened in the original. Fortunately however there are enough good elements from the predecessor reused to make this film more satisfying than a standard slasher film.

     Being a true sequel The Descent: Part 2 begins with our original heroine Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) seemingly the only survivor from six girls who had been exploring an Appalachian Mountain cave system. A rescue operation is under way with some urgency as one of the missing girls, Juno (Natalie Mendoza), has a politically influential father. Unfortunately Sarah has amnesia and cannot explain her blood splattered clothes and what happened to her companions. This raises the suspicions of Sheriff Vaines (Gavan O'Herlihy) who is not convinced that Sarah is just an innocent survivor. Vaines, deputy Sheriff Elen Rios (Krysten Cummings), cave rescue specialist Dan (Douglas Hodge), Greg (Joshua Dallas) and Cath (Anna Skellern) decide to explore the cave with Sarah in tow in the hopes that returning underground will prompt Sarah's memory and lead them to Juno.

     It doesn't take long before the cave's local residents make their presence felt and Sarah's memory and survival instincts kick-in. Armed with tactics learnt from earlier experience, Sarah helps Rios avoid the gruesome fates that systematically befall the remaining rescuers until they happen to stumble upon Juno, who is somehow still alive. This is not a happy reunion and we learn of the earlier events that led to Sarah escaping in the first instance and Juno remaining in the cave. A common enemy reunites the protagonists however and the trio join forces to fight for their lives with escape apparently within reach. The bloody final battle culminates with redemption and sacrifice, and finishes with a twist that lays open the possibility of another sequel.

     Most of the production team that worked on the original The Descent return for this sequel including The Descent editor Jon Harris who steps into the director role. Not surprisingly, most of the elements that made the original a success return, with claustrophobic sets and truly horrible critters. Although most of us know what's in store there are still plenty of (often clichéd) shocks on offer, and some spectacularly over-the-top finishing moves for the gore lovers. The special effects and costuming are quite good although the gore and fake-looking blood were exaggerated. Acting talents on show range from mediocre but adequate (Hodge) to quite good (Macdonald), and the underground cinematography and music score is excellent. If you ignore the implausible plot (including the overnight transformation of two girls into battle hardened commando-types) then there’s plenty of fun and scares to be had with The Descent: Part 2.

Video

     This DVD is presented in the original cinematic aspect of 2.35:1. Scenes outside of the cave are somewhat subdued with muted colours dominated by a largely grey-blue palette. Outdoor shots are quite grainy with the lack of clarity quite evident in overhead forest scanning shots as evidenced at 0:46, 3:33 and 10:00 amongst others. Fortunately the underground filming exhibited good blacks with enough clarity to enable all the action to be seen. On the downside there was a lot of grain, low level noise and lens flare which is probably inevitable given the requisite use of dark sets and lighting. There were no apparent film artefacts. Flesh tones are good in close-up, with no patchiness or uneven detail. Overall the video quality was quite good and appropriate for this type of film.

     This is a dual layer disc but I could not detect the layer change using my equipment.

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

    The default Dolby Digital 5.1 track is encoded at 448Kb/s with a DTS 5.1 track at 754Kb/s option. This audio offering is definitely not reference quality but it is quite good.

     Both tracks are comparable with the DTS option slightly louder than the Dolby Digital version. Dialogue was clear at all times with surrounds and subwoofer used appropriately to convey the atmosphere and enhance the shocks. Surround channel use was used quite well to help create the cave atmosphere. The subwoofer use was very good without being overpowering. There were no synchronisation or dropout issues, and no glitches.

Audio Ratings Summary

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Menu

     The menu was static with looping audio.

Trailers

     All with 2.35:1 video aspect and Dolby Digital 2.0 224Kbs audio: The Descent (1:54), Pandorum (2:00) and Triangle (1:49).

    The Region 1 offering includes audio commentary with director Jon Harris and actors Shauna MacDonald, Krysten Cummings and Anna Skellern, deleted scenes and a storyboard gallery. There is no DTS audio track. The Region 1 offering is definitely the version of choice if you can get it.

     In summary, The Descent: Part 2 is a worthy successor to the terrific original film. Whilst not quite reaching the same heights (or you might say depths) as Part 1, it does recapture the most successful aspects of the first film despite being hampered by a now known menace. In common to most B-grade horror films, common sense needs to be suspended throughout however there are enough shocks and fun to be had to make this a most enjoyable ninety minutes of popcorn fodder. Recommended.

     The video quality is good. The audio quality is good. There are no extras.

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Audio
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