Good call on The Shining. One of the many smile of recognition moments I had when I saw it. Looking forward to more of the visual references, because i'm sure theres still plenty I didn't even think of.

Now I know I have to see The Descent - any movie that will reference Hanging Rock, one of the more unsettling movies I've ever seen, is good by me.

using such visual stimulation as the filmmakers do in "the descent" not only adds a nice touch but an extra dimension of psychological terror - evoking, perhaps unconciously, moments from the viewer's "film past" which terrified them in small, almost unnoticable ways (though nothing gets past the astute eyes of jim emerson!) the same way our dreams can take seemingly unnoticed items and events from our lives that scare us and place them before us in ways that stimulate our fear with us hardly even realizing it. when watching "the descent", even if i were somehow completely unaware i was watching something scary i would still know, on some level, that something bad was going to happen, because my brain would be twiddling its thumbs nervously and telling me "i think we've been here before"...

Haha, neat, a Shining reference! I can't believe I haven't gotten off my butt to see this movie yet. Speaking of which...? Wanna play the ol' guessing game??

Heya Jim! I still haven't seen "The Descent," but it's on my list for next week. However, I oddly enough saw "Don't Look Now" last week for the first time, and I'm baffled that you would say it's the scariest movie you've ever seen. I appreciated it as a "mood piece," and I found it fascinating in its technique. It certainly attempts to create an atmosphere of guilt and dread, but I feel as though what Roeg was trying to accomplish has been done better. But if you go so far as to give it that much praise, I would love to hear more of your thoughts on that film in a future post. Just a suggestion for discussion. Keep up the good work with the blog; I really enjoy it!

JE: I should write an article/post about my theory of what I find scary and why. To me it is all about creating an atmosphere of dread and anticipation. Stephen King has a great description of the problem in his book about the art and craft of horror, "Danse Macabre." He describes what happens when the audience (and the characters) eventually has to confront the monster they've been imagining in their heads through the first part of the film or story. He calls it something like the "12-Foot Bug Phenomenon." Initially, there's a moment of shock: "Oh my god! It's a 12-foot bug!" That is followed immediately by a feeling of relief, when you finally know what you're dealing with: "But it could have been a 20-foot bug!"

What I think is great about "Don't Look Now" (which also ranks near the top in polls for the most erotic sex scene) and what makes it truly terrifying, is that only in the final seconds of the movie do you find out who is in the little red mack -- and even then, it's not explained, it's just a reoccurance of the color red that has been used throughout the film to suggest danger and the unknown.... Likewise, I think the scariest stuff in "The Descent" is in the first half, just the feeling of what MIGHT be down there (or out there) in the dark...

In response to the comments about something being scary until it is revealed, the first thing that came to my mind was "The Entity." Perhaps it is just the effects of the time, but, I don't know. Some things are just better left in the dark.

I believe that the visual reference to The Shining also hints at a deeper theme of the film. Namely, duality.

It is not the most obvious thematic element when one considers the overall structure of the movie, but it is there nonetheless. In that first helicopter shot, there is a clear distinction between the trees on the right side of the road and the ones on the left. Whereas the former are lush, vibrant evergreens, the latter have an eerie, otherworldly, almost moribund, quality to them. The car, and the women inside, is teetering on that fine line that divides reality from dreams, right from wrong, and, most importantly, life from death. The symbolism is even more obvious when one notices the betrayal of a few green trees amongst the largely white ones, and vice versa. This yin-yang leitmotiv continues throughout the movie. In fact, it reaches a crescendo after Sarah's "re-birth" following her quite literal baptism by blood.

I'm with you, Jim, on "Don't Look Now." The ending scared me when I first saw it (and the lack of explanation only made it more unsettling).

Yes, I am of the camp who believes the first half of the movie is far scarier than the post-reveal half. The vastness of nature and its overwhelming quality provided the same kind of terror that AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD did.

In all these postings you guys are bringing up films I've only just no been reccommended to see "Don't Look Now" and "The Entity".

I saw "The Descent" today, and was blown away by it's technique and psychological terror. I came home and immediately searched out the original final moments of the cut film on youtube and watched it, and was even more deeply haunted. Why the hell did they cut it Jim? Why, why, why??? I hate it when studios don't think their audience is sophisticated enough to deal with something a little more depressing, that's in fact even more fitting than the now distracting and abstract final few shots of the film. Three tween girls were walking out trying to figure out what it meant. I realized what it implied, but come on... leave us with something. The original ending finishes what your review speaks of, the descent into madness that was so effective in "The Shining". American studios just don't know when they have some truly classic on their hands.

Great movie though. The only other film I've been affected by this much this year was "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance".

Neil Marshall seems to big on quoting other films. On the DVD commentary track for Dog Soldiers, a good portion of it is spent pointing out shots inspired from other movies, and one lame attempt to reference the Matrix for a joke. That said, the two notable quoted shots in The Descent for me were Sarah rising out of the muck a la Apocalypse Now, and the straight out of Carrie last shot in the ascent sequence.

Love the movie, love the original ending better.

Oh, and I remember seeing Don't Look Now with a hardened horror fan/friend about ten years ago. We were so freaked out by the ending that we rewound it three times to make sure we just saw what we did.

Hey Jim. I need to thank you for motivating me to see this movie. I finally went today and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I haven't enjoyed a horror movie this much since 28 Days Later (which had a similar overall structure and tone, in my opinion).

SPOILERS
I really liked the idea of the American ending, but I like the tone and look of the original more. In the edited cut, I feel like the image of Juno, as opposed to that of Jessica, is what Sarah will see from now on in her nightmares. I think that idea is more haunting in my mind. However, I prefer, on a visual and emotional level, the final shot of the original cut. Anyway, I just hope both endings are available on the DVD via seamless branching.

The other thing I wanted to comment on was the music. As soon as the score began, I started to feel something strangely familiar about it. It took me a minute and then it hit me. It sounded a lot like the scores for Memento and Insomnia (remake). And at that exact moment, the credit for David Julyan appeared. I was really excited. While I don't think he's the most prolific composer, I have often been haunted by the memories of his music in Christopher Nolan's first three films. Also, some of the shots in the beginning of the Descent reminded me of the intro to Insomnia, so when combined with the music, I really got that "I've been here before" feeling. Overall, I think the subtle score (with the exception of the scene when it's discovered that the creatures can't see, the music was surprisingly obnoxious at that point) added a level of sadness to the movie for me.

Maybe I injected too much of my own thoughts, memories, and perceived connections into the Descent. But I don't mind. Besides, that's the point of all these great blog entries about the movie, right?

I think occasionally, homages from one director to another can be quite distracting. But what Neil Marshall does with ‘The Descent’ is more transformative and redeeming than most others. The ‘Apocalypse Now’ reference was particularly effective, creating one of the more memorable sequences in the film. And while Marshall takes a lesson from Weir in ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ (one of the best films ever made), I think he could have taken a few more, especially with regards to Weir’s use of a less tangible fear/horror. To be more precise, the only thing holding me back from calling ‘The Descent’ the best horror film in recent memory, is the way Marshall delivers the goods. The most terrifying and atmospheric scenes in the film come with what lurks in the shadows -- for instance, Sarah’s first discovery of the creature in a curious extreme long shot. But as the film progresses nearer and nearer to the climax, the creatures and scares just become sillier and sillier, as they become far more defined than what was necessary, essentially canceling out Marshall’s entire (promising) premise of psychological horror. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the film, but I think crucial times during the picture, Marshall takes his audience for granted by selling out to convention and clarity.