DVD Reviews

The Descent 2

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Natalie Jackson Mendoza
• Details: 94mins (18)

After the surprise global success of the effective first film, the producers have taken their time delivering this sequel, set directly after the events of the The Descent. Ignoring the Hollywood rule of thumb that sequels to popular originals must have bigger budgets and scope, this poorly executed, scripted and generally conceived horror lacks the edge, and relative innovation of its predecessor.
Shauna Macdonald's Sarah manages to find her way out of the caves that are home to the nocturnal creatures that used her and her mates as a buffet on wheels. But she's not out of there a day or two, when the world's dumbest sheriff insists she goes back in with him and a team, to help locate the rest of her buddies. See, Sarah has got a bit of amnesia on account of all the trauma she experienced - she's "blocked it all out" a not-arsed doctor tells the fuzz. So down the hatch she goes, with some fresh meat for the hungry monsters that she'd only said goodbye to a couple of days previously. Needless to say, it all comes back to her pretty fast.
The Descent was by no means a classic, but it worked because of the visceral violence that director Neill Marshall inflicted on his game cast, as well as its claustrophobic setting. New director Jon Harris essentially photocopies the shenanigans of the first film, but does so with crappier paper. The script here is pretty atrocious, with the reasons for including Macdonald's Sarah in the new expedition flimsy at best; while shoddy attempts at giving the supporting players some depth fall flat on their face.
The gore is also disappointingly used, as most characters just get bit on the neck, then dragged away. Harris even uses that "I'd no money left" cut to a shadow-of-the-killing shot - which is now beyond a cliché in the horror genre.
Macdonald is great, though, and it does pick up somewhat in the last twenty five minutes, or so. But fans of the original will still feel hard done by, as this is another half-arsed horror sequel in the vein of The Hills Have Eyes 2.

Review by Mike Sheridan