The Descent 2 (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Lewis C

  
  I love The Descent. It's easily one of my ten favorite modern horror movies, and I've seen it more times than is probably healthy. It's excellently paced, atmospheric, genuinely claustrophobic, and frightening in both psychological and more visceral ways. The Descent:… More
  I love The Descent. It's easily one of my ten favorite modern horror movies, and I've seen it more times than is probably healthy. It's excellently paced, atmospheric, genuinely claustrophobic, and frightening in both psychological and more visceral ways. The Descent: Part II is nothing like the first movie when it comes to atmosphere, tone, or (unfortunately) quality. This is just a bad (and oddly bright), gross-out blood-fest that's blindly grasping at the name recognition of its predecessor. I had to struggle just to focus on the bland, annoying new characters. There's no real tension, no creativity to be found, and it doesn't even look like its related to the first movie. I've seen better sets and special effects on old Xena episodes (better writing, too). I understand that this is the work of a completely different director (the editor of the first film), but it's like he completely abandoned anything and everything that mad the first movie memorable, plopped some hilariously generic new characters into the caves with the barest story to support their existence, and then just copied parts of the first movie in the most boring and amateurish ways possible. Part II is a shoddy, unnecessary sequel if I've ever seen one, and should be skipped with impunity by even casual fans of the original. The best parts of the movie are actually the brief flashbacks to the first one, which is my way of saying you'd be much better of just watching the original again. Horror movies don't have to be masterpieces to entertain me, but I can't help but compare The Descent: Part II to its predecessor, and it doesn't compare well at all.

• J P

  
  Really stupid actually. The fact that they'd bring Sarah, who was clearly suffering from PTSD, back down into the cave is so unbelievable. The gore was terrible, unlike the original which was fantastic. The characters were for the most part obnoxious and unlikable with the… More
  Really stupid actually. The fact that they'd bring Sarah, who was clearly suffering from PTSD, back down into the cave is so unbelievable. The gore was terrible, unlike the original which was fantastic. The characters were for the most part obnoxious and unlikable with the exception of Sarah and Juno, the original characters. The twist with Juno was good, but the very end when the guy hit the girl with the shovel and dragged her back to the cave? What the fuck was that? Who was that guy? It didn't make any sense at all. The movie was tolerable up until that point, then I was like "this movie is a piece of shit". It was a funny movie though, not intentionally funny, but I laughed anyway. Really poor attempt at a sequel.

• MisterYoda ?

  
  2 stars

• Carlos M

  
  I was ready to accept the fact that this sequel picks up where the US edited version of the first film left off, instead of the amazing uncut one. But nothing can make me forgive the heavy-handed direction or the lack of inspiration in this silly horror movie.

• Dean !

  
  A pretty decent follow up to the first film, continuing right where that one left off. Ok second time round, you know what to expect, so the surprise element has gone. Otherwise it's pretty much more of the same, although with some odd plot decisions but we have to overlook… More
  A pretty decent follow up to the first film, continuing right where that one left off. Ok second time round, you know what to expect, so the surprise element has gone. Otherwise it's pretty much more of the same, although with some odd plot decisions but we have to overlook rational decisions in horror films. Good to see the lead character back again for this one. If you enjoyed the first and want a bit more, go see this!

• Cynthia S

  
  Gruesome. Disgusting. Suspenseful. Scary. Fun to watch!!! The rare sequel that is almost as good as the original.

• Steve K

  
  Meh. Not bad, really, but nowhere near as claustrophobic as the original, with a couple of characters whose actions make no sense and really destroy credibility.

• Manu G

  
  Good movie, it wasn't as good as the first one but still made me shake a little watching it at night time. The ending was the only thing I didn't like I mean it's freaking wicked completely, I couldn't believe what happen at the end, seriously messed up!!!! Anyways… More
  Good movie, it wasn't as good as the first one but still made me shake a little watching it at night time. The ending was the only thing I didn't like I mean it's freaking wicked completely, I couldn't believe what happen at the end, seriously messed up!!!! Anyways if you like evil endings you will like this one. Two days after the events of the first film, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) is washed away to safety with no memory of the events of the last time she was in the cave. She is taken to a hospital, where it is revealed some of the blood on her matches that of Juno Kaplan (Natalie Mendoza). Sheriff Vaines (Gavan O'Herlihy) demands that along with his deputy Elen Rios (Krysten Cummings), Sarah and three specialists - Dan (Douglas Hodge), Greg (Joshua Dallas) and Cath (Anna Skellern), must go back into the cave to find the missing women. A new entrance is found with the help of a sniffer dog. The team members are sent down via an old mine shaft operated by the old, mysterious Ed Oswald (Michael J. Reynolds). Whilst crawling through a narrow tunnel in the caves, Sarah has a flashback of what happened in the caves, and in a nervous panic, attacks Vaines, Greg and Elen and runs off deeper into the caves. Vaines pursues Sarah but eventually runs into a crawler and fires a shot that causes part of the cave to collapse, separating Cath from the rest of the group. Elen, Dan and Greg arrive in a room full of bones where they find the video camera used by Holly in the first film. They watch the playback, which reveals the women were attacked by the cave dwelling 'crawlers.' Then, the three are attacked by a group of crawlers and separate. The trio split, and Elen starts calling for help, alerting the crawlers to her location, but is stopped by Sarah, who warns Elen that the crawlers hunt via sound. The two then watch as a crawler attacks and kills Dan, ripping his throat open and dragging him away. Later, Cath escapes and kills a crawler and runs into Greg. The two climbing away from a crawler and using their radio to divert the pursuing crawler away from them. They travel deeper into the cave and find Sam hanging lifelessly. They decide to try to use her to swing across the chasm, but are both attacked by crawlers. Greg falls below, whilst tackling a female crawler, and although Cath makes it to the other side, she is attacked and killed by another crawler once she gets there. Elen and Sarah wander deeper into the cave, and kill another crawler before Elen reveals she has a daughter, which makes Sarah more determined to escape. Vaines is wandering around the cave and is about to be killed by a crawler before he is saved by Juno, who is revealed to be alive and an expert in hunting the crawlers. Later, all four meet up again. Juno and Sarah immediately fight, but then they all decide it's best they work together to escape and survive. Juno leads them off into the feeding pit, which she claims is also the exit. Vaines handcuffs Sarah to him so she can't leave them to die like she did to Juno. As they progress, Vaines falls over a ledge and is attacked by crawlers from below. Elen cuts off his hand to save Sarah from falling and to prevent the crawlers from attacking them as well. At the film's climax, Elen, Sarah and Juno reach the exit, but are blocked by a small group of crawlers. As they try to tip-toe around the crawlers, Juno is grabbed by a dying Greg. Juno screams in surprise, which gets the attention of four crawlers. Greg dies and the women are left to fight off the crawlers. The battle is tough, but Elen, Sarah and Juno kill a crawler each. After that, Sarah sees that Juno is losing the battle to a crawler larger than the others and strangles the crawler from behind. Tensing up, the crawler rips into Juno's stomach, mortally wounding her. She and Sarah finish it off before Juno dies in Sarah's arms. As Sarah mourns for her loss, Elen turns around to leave, but finds them surrounded by a large group of crawlers. Sarah, with the need to redeem herself for Juno's suffering and nothing to lose, screams to draw attention to herself, allowing Elen to escape. Elen reaches the outside and is about to call for help when she is attacked by Ed, who hits her with a shovel and drags her back to the entrance to be food for the crawlers. As Elen recovers from the hit, a bloodied crawler jumps out at her as the movie ends.

• Jason O

  
  Wayyyyyyyy better than the original to me! I wasn't crazy about the original "Descent", probably mostly because I thought the creatures failed majorly in comparison in look and sound and overall coolness, as did the cave itself, to that seen in one of my all-time… More
  Wayyyyyyyy better than the original to me! I wasn't crazy about the original "Descent", probably mostly because I thought the creatures failed majorly in comparison in look and sound and overall coolness, as did the cave itself, to that seen in one of my all-time favorite films, "The Cave". However, I loved this sequel! The creatures are the same, but there are way more memorable parts and a better storyline between all the characters. The ending was a nice twist too, which I appreciate. Surprised that most seem to prefer the original and that only 38% of Flixster users like this film as of now, cause I loved it.

• ♥˩ƳИИ &

  
  Cast: Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Jackson Mendoza, Krysten Cummings, Gavan O'Herlihy, Joshua Dallas, Anna Skellern, Douglas Hodge, Doug Ballard, MyAnna Buring, Axelle Carolyn Director: Jon Harris Summary: In this gruesome thriller, blood-drenched Sarah Carter (Shauna… More
  Cast: Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Jackson Mendoza, Krysten Cummings, Gavan O'Herlihy, Joshua Dallas, Anna Skellern, Douglas Hodge, Doug Ballard, MyAnna Buring, Axelle Carolyn Director: Jon Harris Summary: In this gruesome thriller, blood-drenched Sarah Carter (Shauna MacDonald) surfaces as the lone escapee from the savage cave-dwelling Crawlers that terrorized her and five others. Traumatized and unable to explain the nightmare, she must return to help find her friends. But it's not long before the search team becomes the Crawlers' fresh prey. And Sarah once again battles to cheat death, as she clings to the hope that her friends are alive. My Thoughts: "It's a good sequel considering most sequel's are pretty bad. I just felt it was more of the same that happened in the first movie. You know what's going to happen when they all squirm their way through the cave. I liked the first one a bit better. The story was just more interesting to watch, and their was still suspense. This one's characters were kind of bland and the cops were annoying. The ending was different and unexplained which hopefully doesn't lead to a third one of these. They all start looking the same after the first two. But definitely a strong sequel and worth the watch."

• Dr Blood  

  
  Well, what can I say? I hated the first film and, with this being a sequel, I didn't expect much of "The De2cent" at all. It's just the same stuff all over again yet even weaker as if that was even possible. I'm glad that I only rented this one through Netflix… More
  Well, what can I say? I hated the first film and, with this being a sequel, I didn't expect much of "The De2cent" at all. It's just the same stuff all over again yet even weaker as if that was even possible. I'm glad that I only rented this one through Netflix and didn't buy it. I know I'm going to get branded as a "Negative Nancy" over my recent batch of reviews even though it's not as if I hate everything but, honestly, this was truly awful. At least there was some sense of reason, slim as it was, to the first film but nothing in the sequel made any sense. Why was Sarah (yes, I got her name now!) taken back into the caverns which she escaped from? Don't you think she would have spent a considerable time recovering in hospital and suffered from post traumatic stress disorder for the rest of her life if any of this was real? And why was this all based on the American theatrical ending rather than the British version where she never escaped the caverns in the first place? I was expecting some big twist like another dream sequence at the end to finally wrap this up. Maybe having Sarah in an asylum like the girl from "High Tension" or even taking her right back to the white water rafting accident and having her wake up from being knocked out to discover that everything was just a nightmare would have worked. I think I need to become a screenwriter as clearly nobody involved in this shoddy production had a clue. As much as I really want to do nothing but tear this film apart for all its plotholes, feeble dialogue, lack of atmosphere, credible sympathetic characters or pathetically unrealistic special effects, I'll leave those things to anybody who even cares. What disturbed me the most about "The De2cent" was the reappearance of the annoying Juno character (not Ellen Page) who miraculously survived being killed by hordes of CHUDs in the first film to become a completely different kind of badass character altogether. You can imagine the obvious expletives which I let fly at the TV screen at that point but suffice it to say that the acronym "WTF" will do. I'm over it now because at least she was the best looking female in either film even if she never delivered the goods in the way I would have preferred. As a Classically trained movie reviewer, I'm always looking for consistent characterisation, unity of time and place, and any kind of catharsis. "The De2cent" had even less of these things than "The Descent"! If you try and watch both films back to back as I did then everything falls apart completely. "The De2cent" is supposed to be a continuation rather than a sequel but it disregarded so much of the first part that it felt like a vastly inferior remake. Even with Sarah suffering from amnesia her actions made no sense whatsoever and, as much as I paid attention, nor did anyone else's. For instance, why could three grown women not manage to pull the Colonel Sanders lookalike back out of the hole instead of chopping his finger lickin' hand off? Was it just to add some more unrealistic gore to an already totally implausible story? Funny coloured blood and multiple hacks aside, I did somewhat enjoy that moment though. There were some things that I liked about "The De2cent" but they were very few and far between. The jump scares varied from irritating to effective but the gory set pieces seemed to work. It was just a pity that the rest of this story was wrapped around them. I'm probably a complete contrarian because I preferred the abundance of light in the new cavern set to the darkness of the old one. It's nice to be able to see what's going on and I hate watching anything that leaves 90% of my TV screen completely black. The supposed claustrophobia which lots of people felt watching the original didn't work for me anyway especially as I watch everything on a massive widescreen LCD TV in the first place. One thing that's puzzled me about the CHUDs (or "crawlers" as they are called in the credits) is how, by relying on all their senses other than vision, they can tell the difference between themselves, noises made by each other, and anything else which screams laziness on the part of the writers. I remember from the first film how one of them had his hand right on the head of one of the girls and didn't notice yet all anyone has to do is make a small noise and dozens of CHUDs appear. Why don't the CHUDs attack each other if they are so stupid? More importantly, why do I even care? Perhaps it's because they have no real backstory. Since I don't believe in evolution, I'm tempted to think that they are creations of some sort and, furthermore, some kind of scientific creation which will have more light shed on it in the next sequel. Oh, yes, there will be a "Part 3". According to the forum on the ultra-reliable IMDb, it's already been filmed. If "The Descent" doesn't actually turn into a trilogy then the ending of "Part 2" made absolutely no sense at all especially if you try and tie it up with its own beginning. Of course it could just be completely ignored like they used to do with the cliffhangers of RKO serial plays back in the 1930s especially as that's exactly what happened with this sequel. I don't really care one way or another. If I had my "drothers" as they say in New York, then this series would end right here but I fear the worst is yet to come.

• E.J. B

  
  (Review coming soon)

• Justin Y

  
  Jon Harris' <i>The Descent: Part 2</i> is a notable sequel.<p>Picking up right where the first installment left off, this sequel can stand on its own. There is enough provided throughout the picture to explain what happens the first time around; however, there… More
  Jon Harris' <i>The Descent: Part 2</i> is a notable sequel.<p>Picking up right where the first installment left off, this sequel can stand on its own. There is enough provided throughout the picture to explain what happens the first time around; however, there is a little more to get out of this if the first film is viewed.</p><p>The plot is very simple and it doesn't take long to get to the point. The first 30 minutes is mostly character buildup, which isn't very good, as they begin their descent into the darkness. Soon enough, the boulders fall and the final hour of this 90 minute thriller is where all the fun happens.</p><p>The setting may not be much, since it mostly takes place in a maze of caves, but it works well with a film of this caliber. The camerawork is good and so is the lighting.</p><p>The violence is intense with blood all over, while the creatures are non-CG and freaky looking. As for the scares, they are predictable, yet effective.</p><p>Shauna MacDonald and Natalie Mendoza hold their ground nicely in the acting department. There isn't much to say about anyone else, since their characters aren't interesting enough.</p><p>The very last minute or two of <i>The Descent: Part 2</i> is disappointing and the scenes before the caves aren't anything special, but everything in between is more than satisfactory.</p>

• Josh L

  
  A disappointing sequel where all the ideas and intriguing aspects of the original are scrapped in favor of more gore, more action, and pointless character cameos that ruin the story of the first movie. It's a pointless sequel that kind of ruins my fond memories of the first one.… More
  A disappointing sequel where all the ideas and intriguing aspects of the original are scrapped in favor of more gore, more action, and pointless character cameos that ruin the story of the first movie. It's a pointless sequel that kind of ruins my fond memories of the first one. Everything that was beautiful and haunting about the first movie has been turned into murky, disgusting cinema and cheap looking special effects. I guess the only good things I have to say about this movie are that I wasn't bored while watching it and it was competently acted.

• Stuart B

  
  If you have seen the first movie and enjoyed it then I guess, like me, then you where looking forward to a sequel. Picking up directly after the first one, the film follows a group of police plus one of the original cavers as they re-enter the caves looking to find out what happened… More
  If you have seen the first movie and enjoyed it then I guess, like me, then you where looking forward to a sequel. Picking up directly after the first one, the film follows a group of police plus one of the original cavers as they re-enter the caves looking to find out what happened to the rest. Is it as good as the first film, simply, no. Not that it is a bad film, just that the first one was so fresh and original it really was a stand out work. This is just more of the same but not as good. Too much blood squirt detracts from some of the action and a feeling that shock has taken over somewhat from substance. With talk of a 3rd movie on the way, sit back, grab your popcorn and just enjoy what is one of the better horror movies from 2009.

• Robert C

  
  Unlike the original film there are few surprises here. But it is an enjoyable little horror sequel, none the less. The creatures do loose some of their "mystique" by being much less "camera shy" this time around, but they are still totally menacing and pretty… More
  Unlike the original film there are few surprises here. But it is an enjoyable little horror sequel, none the less. The creatures do loose some of their "mystique" by being much less "camera shy" this time around, but they are still totally menacing and pretty damned creppy. And this time the director actually used the rather bleak ending, which I always applaud. Though it is a definite "WTF?" moment. Possible "Descent 3"?

• A.D. V

  
  Just like the first I enjoyed it quite well right up til the end which ruins the whole damn thing.

• David L

  
  I have to say I was very curious how this movie would turn out. I was very worried because the original is one of my favorite horror films, that being said "The Descent: Part 2" is nowhere near the disaster it could have been, despite some strong flaws that begs the question… More
  I have to say I was very curious how this movie would turn out. I was very worried because the original is one of my favorite horror films, that being said "The Descent: Part 2" is nowhere near the disaster it could have been, despite some strong flaws that begs the question of whether or not the filmmakers even bothered to watch Marshall's first film. To be fair to the filmmakers, it really ups the ante in terms of tension, darkness, claustrophobia, and gory special effects. Third, "The Descent: Part 2" is actually pretty scary and intense, and actually had me on the edge of my seat on more than a few occasions. Marshall is gone for now (only serving as one of the film's producers), and in the director's seat this time is Jon Harris, who was Marshall's editor on the first film and is now making his directorial debut here. Much of the crew from "The Descent" is also on-board this time as well, providing a stronger sense of continuity between the two films, including production designer Simon Bowles, make-up effects designer Paul Hyett, director of photography Sam McCurdy, Harris himself as the editor, Oscar-winning producer Christan Colson, and composer David Julyan. The sequel takes place two days after "The Descent," with Sarah Carter (Shauna Macdonald) having escaped from the unexplored cave system where her five friends from the previous film - Juno (Natalie Mendoza), Beth (Alex Reid), Rebecca (Saskia Mulder), Sam (MyAnna Buring), and Holly (Nora-Jane No one) - all met their demises at the hands (and teeth) of a strange and vicious breed of underground predators called "crawlers." Sarah is found all bloody, near-catatonic, and wild with fear. A search party is combing the underground caves where Sarah and her friends encountered the beastly crawlers. Sarah is brought along with the rescue team that includes Rios (Krysten Cummings), Sheriff Vaines (Gavan O'Herlihy), Cath (Anna Skellern), Greg (Joshua Dallas), and Dan (Douglas Hodge) that is trying to unravel the mystery of her lost friends. Another inevitable cave-in traps them in the same underground cavern that trapped Sarah earlier, and they thus encounter the crawlers once again, albeit a newer, inbred, and even more feral breed of the creatures. And there's even more room for a really big secret from the first film to be revealed about an hour into the movie. "The Descent: Part 2" is pretty intense and scary throughout, but is especially scary and intense during its first hour before letting things go in the second half. Although prone to repeating many of the same scenarios from "The Descent" and not really bothering to explore any new territory, the movie is still able to put a fresh spin on some of them so that they're scary again. And as the new team searches for answers, they also discover many clues that unravel the mystery from the first film (done, I presume, in a manner that will certainly please fans of "The Descent"). In short, as far as sequels go, this is one of the few horror movie sequels that while it doesn't surpass the original, it's worthy of a place in the series storyline. I think that where the movie falters most is that the new characters are not that well-developed, considering the searing human drama from Marshall's original that really made you care about the women in the first film and what happened to them. Here, the newer characters are about as good as the more expendable members of the platoon in any war movie. The performances were not that good either, considering the first movie's performers, except that of Shauna Macdonald. On the plus side, I praise the film for its production design and the direction of Jon Harris. Also, Julyan repeats many of his same cues from the original movie, but strangely enough they fit the work done on the sequel quite well. And as usual, Paul Hyett's graphic special effects come to work during the film's frequent and gory battle sequences that match some of the work done on the first movie. "The Descent: Part 2" is not a bad film. Believe me, I really think it could have been a lot worse. And I honestly hope that there aren't any more sequels because I think that with this picture they really exhausted a lot of ideas since they were prone to repeating much of the set-up from Neil Marshall's previous film. Plus, it also helps that the bleak ending to "The Descent: Part 2" pretty much seals the deal in terms of the possibility of another sequel on the horizon but then again who knows, we might see a Descent 3 in the near future

• jd c

  
  A sequel just as good as the original, and much gorier as well. Some nasty, icky shit in this one. Many scary, frightening, and tense predicaments each character get themselves into. It's a nail biting experience. Great spooky, dark cinematography and ultra-chilling sound mixing.… More
  A sequel just as good as the original, and much gorier as well. Some nasty, icky shit in this one. Many scary, frightening, and tense predicaments each character get themselves into. It's a nail biting experience. Great spooky, dark cinematography and ultra-chilling sound mixing. If you're a fan of the first, you'll definitely love this one. 2010 is starting off just the right way with all these great horror films, let's just hope it lasts. But for now, start with this one. The Descent: Part 2 rocks! Never cheesy, always serious, and bloody full on throttle intensity. A must see for all horror fans!

• Brian D

  
  Spot on sequel to the 2005 hit movie.Starts off where the american ending finish.The british ending was far darker and was my perfer choose.Anyway this movie is more creature feature with more violents too.The film keeps its style and darkness just like the first.I also like this… More
  Spot on sequel to the 2005 hit movie.Starts off where the american ending finish.The british ending was far darker and was my perfer choose.Anyway this movie is more creature feature with more violents too.The film keeps its style and darkness just like the first.I also like this ending to this one,but is left open for another sequel if they what to.All in all if your like the first then you get a treat from this,its well made and it doe'nt take the piss out of the first one.

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