Thursday, December 16, 2010

The Descent vs. The Descent II

Whorticulture.com Compares The Descent Versus The Descent II


One of the most recommended movies on my "What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?" post was The Descent.  As it should be, because that movie kicks ass.  For some reason I always forget about it, so I wanted to make sure I made a post in recognition of how awesome it is.


The Descent is scary on so many levels.  Not only does the movie have underground monsters (modern day Morlocks, I decided) hunting a group of female cave explorers, it gives this whole added level of getting lost in an incredibly tight and small uncharted underground cave system, and nobody knows you're there.

There's a scene close to the beginning where a girl gets stuck as they're crawling through one of the tighter cave areas.  The space starts to collapse.  I almost wet myself.

It's a hard and serious scare.  I give it a 10/10 because of the numerous levels of scares.

AND THEN I WATCHED THE SEQUEL.



Boy oh boy was I disappointed.  For one thing, the monsters seemed different in a way I can't put my finger on.  Secondly, it seemed to try to rip-off the best scares from the first, and it failed. 

Not to say it didn't have its moments.  But it rode the coattails HARD of the first one.  And the ending went from insanely awesome to shamefully lame and WTF in a matter of moments.  Not a good note to end the movie on.  God only knows if they'll make a third.

The sequel only gets a 6/10 from me.

But dear God in Heaven check out the first one!  You won't be disappointed.  It tops the list for my recommendations. 

5 comments:

  1. I give this review a heartfelt agreement. (Mark it on your calendars folks.) I was delightfully scared at the first one. I kind of wanted to barf when that chick got stuck.

    The second one was only upsetting in the way where they didn't kill the douchebags I hated the most quickly enough. They made so many bad descisions. My sheriff isn't even quite that stupid and I still vote against him every time.

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  2. I LOVED the first movie! I'm claustrophobic and this movie only added to it. Kind of like my fear of clowns, but my constant obsession with watching Stephen King's IT.

    When I heard about the second one I was excited. But after reading the reviews on IMDB from people who had already seen it (it was released in theaters overseas and straight to DVD here) I felt stupid for wanting to see it. I still watched it knowing how it ended. Even though I knew it would suck I had to see for myself. Good call on the 6/10 rating!

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  3. I loved the first movie! I'm claustrophobic and I could not keep myself from watching it! Kind of like my fear of clowns and my love for Stephen King's IT.

    When I heard about the sequel, I was excited. But after reading the reviews on IMBD from people who had already seen it overseas, I started to feel a little disappointed. Even without seeing it.

    You're right on with the 6/10 rating. It should have been better but they were trying too hard.

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  4. I think the best part of the Descent was ruined when the Blonde decided to off herself in the Descent II instead of kicking ass. I mean she wasn't torn up about leaving the one bitch before so why get emotional now? Not to mention the stupid ending of the Descent II with the hillbilly wacking the deputy in the face. I got through all of that just to watch her get laid out for dinner? WTF

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  5. SERIOUSLY. That's exactly how I felt. I guess part of me respects the blond for going out in a blaze of glory, but it was pretty uncharacteristic since she was in ass-kicking mode by then. And that deputy...what a terrible way to end it. I mean, all of the plot they carried over from the first just ended, and then THAT. Sigh.

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