The Descent: Part 2
★½

Watched 12 Dec 2023

❓Dubious Horror Sequels Ranked | 2009 | 🍿

"What are these things?" "Death."

Sometimes, panned sequels are enjoyable. And then there is The Descent: Part 2.

The plot is stupid, the caves are ugly, and somewhere between the screenwriting and the acting at least half of the characters deliver lines in a manner that does not relate to normal human speech. The real horror here is watching someone with PTSD be forced to go revisit their trauma in the caves because, while other horrible things happened, it is very hard to care about anything that is not Sarah and Juno.

In The Descent, there were beautifully sculpted caverns with relatively realistic lighting. Here, they looked like big chunky black rock holes that were somehow all lit overhead despite being "miles" underground. It looks like an industrial quarry.

Watching Sarah and Juno massacre cave crawlers is the main positive here. That is why it gets one star. I was expecting more gore and more jump scares because this is said to be the only good part of this film. Well, none of the jump scares worked, compared to five or so in the original, and there is barely more gore, just blood shooting out of humans and cave crawlers.

Other than that, the poo pit is just stupid. The creature using the poo pit may be the highlight of this waste of a film. Using the soundtrack from the first film was an insult to the composer.

And what was the ending supposed to be? I don't get it.

In summary, this was less of everything made uglier, was not scary, and the ending was incoherent.

It’s unfortunately as bad as people say. It won’t harm The Descent for you to watch it, so feel free to, but unless you want to hang out with Sarah and Juno, who are magically not dead here, don’t bother, there’s nothing for you.

Some Lists:

❓Dubious Horror Sequels Ranked | 2009 | 🍿 Popcorn Horror
💎 Slightly Hidden Horror Gems
🌱 Hidden Horror Candidates
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