'Descent' intelligent, horrifying

Take a deep breath. Feel that stuff going in and out of your lungs? It's air, enjoy it because during "The Descent" you're going to need lots of it. OK, OK, so you're probably thinking, "Hey, this movie came out last year; it was called 'The Cave.'" Well, that movie sucked. Fine, I never saw it. But I'm assuming it sucked, and this one is, well, pretty awesome and scary.\nDirector Neil Marshall ("Dog Soldiers") made this horror hit with almost no budget and it shows, but in a good way. The film follows a group of female cave-exploring adventure seekers who head out on a weekend spelunking trip. Hoping to discover a new location, one of them decides to bring her friends to uncharted territory. But things don't go as planned. A landslide seals shut the opening of the cave and the women become trapped hundreds of feet below the earth. The first half of the film works in the same manner as "Open Water" and "The Blair Witch Project," dealing with the fear of claustrophobia and knowing your life is about to end. \nThe camera movements and minimal lighting excellently create the feeling that the audience is stuck inside as well. Several times throughout the movie I reached out in front of me to remind myself I was safely in a movie theater. The fear of claustrophobia thing would've been satisfying enough, but as the film progresses, it turns out the cave isn't all that it seems to be.\nEventually the ladies discover some Gollum-like, unevolved, inhuman creatures lurking in the deep. Unfortunately for them, these things turn out to be cannibals so for the remainder of the movie, it's a run-and-hide, try-not-to-get-eaten, kill-some-creatures-along-the-way deal. Here's where most people will probably get their share of scares. The creepy-looking critters are always popping out of nowhere, making for some startling moments. However, as the women try to escape, some past secrets get revealed and there's some female drama. But something tells me when you've got fucking cannibal creatures chasing after you, you're not going to give a shit about who slept with whose boyfriend. It can be viewed as a study of how women deal with crises, but since their dilemma is man-eating monsters, it can't be very apt.\nThe body count is high and there's blood galore, so be warned. But this is a much smarter than average horror film that's worth spelunking down to.