The Descent, Part 2 (2009/Lionsgate DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: D
With its
interesting success, did Neil Marshall’s The
Descent really need a sequel? Well,
those who made it might have liked that idea because they thought they could
make more money on the idea, but even with its success, I did not hear a large
choir of voices saying they wanted another film. Still, they could not resist and the oddly
titled The Descent, Part 2 (adding
“Part” is supposed to make it more intelligent) has been produced and it just
does not work.
The
survivor of the last film (no spoiler intended) manages to get to authorities,
but they insist they go back to confirm her story and bring her with them. It is hard for them to believe her story, so
they want to confirm it, but it could cost them their lives. Unfortunately, it will also cost you 94
minutes of yours because this is one of the silliest, dumbest sequels I have
seen in a while. Writers J Blakeson,
James McCarthy and James Watkins have decided to extend the “final girl” ending
in the last film that has been the case in Horror since the silent film
era. When you see the result here,
you’ll understand why this is a bad idea that rarely works. It may have in the Halloween II in 1981 after the John Carpenter original, but even
that had its limits.
Taking
itself more seriously, it prevents itself from being as outright bad as most
productions in the genre over the last ten years, but find new problems in
being unintentionally funny, especially when you get to the point where you ask
if the authorities have seen any horror films.
So it takes a higher road and still finds itself in a different set of
problems.
Director
Jon Harris makes his debut behind the camera after year of being an editor on
high profile releases like Snatch, Layer Cake, Kick-Ass and edited the first Descent,
but unlike Peter Hunt (the James Bond editor who directed Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
as the launch to a second career), Harris has not created any kind of classic
and there is no real excitement here.
This will be a curio, but one that goes nowhere.
The anamorphically
enhanced 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition was shot in Super 35mm and is on the
weak side here despite having same Director of Photography as the first film,
Sam McCurdy of Dog Soldiers and Doomsday. The look is about the same with about the
same digital effects, though I would like to see a film print or Blu-ray before
passing judgment on the film’s overall look.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 is more dialogue-based than lively, which is an
artistic choice to their advantage (i.e., trying to make this more
suspenseful), but even when surrounds kick in, the soundfield is only so
impressive.
Extras
include feature length audio commentary with Director Harris & cast, a
making of featurette, deleted/extended scenes, Storyboard Gallery and Deleted
Scenes that could not have saved this.
For more
on the first film, try these links of our coverage:
Original
Theatrical Release
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4080/The+Descent+(2005/Theatrical+Film+R
Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5079/The+Descent+%E2%80%93+Original
- Nicholas Sheffo
