The Descent Part 2 (2009)(Minor Spoilers Review)

This review contains MINOR spoilers, no major reveals, surprises, or character deaths.


The Story- Two days after the horrific events inside the dangerous cave system, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) finally escapes, as the sole survivor. A bloodied and bruised Sarah catches Ed Oswald’s (Michael J. Reynolds) attention on the streets, and Sarah is rushed to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Dan (Douglas Hodge) leads a search party for Juno and the others with some help from Greg (Joshua Dallas) and Cath (Anna Skellern), and the search gains extra media attention, when Juno’s family ties to a US senator as his niece are revealed. Dan, Greg, and Cath are spelunking experts, but they’re looking in the wrong cave, because the group is unaware of Juno’s plans to explore the uncharted cave system during the original expedition. 

At he hospital, a disorientated and heavily sedated Sarah awakes, but Sarah has no memory of what happened in the cave. Deputy Ellen Rios (Krysten Cummings) questions Sarah about the events in the caves, and the whereabouts of her friends, but a defensive and confused Sarah can’t give Rios the answers she wants. Sheriff Vaines (Gavan O’Herlihy) has trouble buying into Sarah’s sudden memory loss, so he orders the doctor to run a blood test for Sarah’s bloodstained clothing, and the test results reveal traces of Juno’s (Natalie Mendoza) blood type.

A bloodhound leads Ed and another officer to a dilapidated mineshaft in the woods, and with some help from Ed, a new entrance into the unmapped cave system is found. Sheriff Vaines quietly organizes a search party to avoid any media attention, and Vaines recruits Dan, Greg, and Cath to look for Juno and the others. Rios joins the team, and Vaines has plans to use her knowledge of the system for guidance, so he forces a reluctant and petrified Sarah to tag along. 

Sarah is still struggling to remember what happened in the caves, and Vaines and the others don’t know about the massacre during the first expedition. Ed assists the group with the descent into the caves, but the group stumbles across a series of startling discoveries in the abandoned mine and the cave system. As the group searches for survivors, clues, and familiar passages, Rebecca’s mangled corpse triggers Sarah’s memory, and a series of flashbacks help Sarah remember what happened the first time around.

With no time to explain or convince the rest of the group, a revitalized Sarah escapes the pack after a series of kicks to Vaines’ face. Thoroughly convinced Sarah is responsible for the murders, Vaines relentlessly pursues her, while the others try to regroup. But Vaines sets off a series of chaotic events, when he fires his gun, causing a dangerous cave-in. Cath is trapped underneath a mound of rocks and dirt, and the group is forced to fight for their lives, when the crawlers emerge. Sarah, Vaines, and the rest of the group will have to work together, if they want to escape the cave system alive, but a surprising return complicates the rescue mission…..

Review- Remember the strong characters, who were  willing to scrap until their last breath in The Descent? Well, when Sarah regains her memory, she instantly transforms into the fierce fighter with a never say die attitude again, and as the story progresses, Sarah takes Rios under her wing as a protégé, so she can teach her how to evade the crawlers, how to fight them, and how to navigate the tight passageways. And Sarah has a soft spot for Rios, when she learns about the tender relationship with Rios’ young daughter (remember, Sarah’s young daughter lost her life in the car accident). Towards the end, Rios turns the corner, as she embraces a more aggressive mean streak, because she realizes she can’t hold back anything, if she wants to fight the crawlers and escape.

Yeah, I get it. If you’re stuck underground with an army of flesh-eating creatures, a limited supply of resources and supplies, and no communications to the outside world, you’re going to be scared. In fact, there’s a good chance you’ll feel an overwhelming sense of panic and fear, because you’re stuck in an unprecedented situation.

Strong and fearless female characters (well, to be fair it’s just Juno and Sarah for the most part), who were willing to risk it all helped the original stand out amongst the pack, and The Descent provided a refreshing change of pace for horror films. But in The Descent 2, you get the feeling they wanted to settle for your typical set of “Don’t go in there!” or “Don’t do that!” horror movie characters, complete with head shaking, facepalming, and frantic finger pointing from the audience. I don’t have any real complaints about Dan, and Greg has one act of nobility in the sequel, but it’s hard to forget the “OH MY GOD WHAT’S HAPENNING!?!?!?” moments, and Cath is the panicky trainwreck, who screams and freaks out every five minutes. Also, one real head scratcher happens, when the group wanders through the old abandoned mine. There’s a boarded up entrance with skull and crossbones and “Do not enter” written on the front……but the group ignores the sign, and they decide to continue the search without a real debate? Seriously?

But Sheriff Vaines takes the cake for stupidity here. Vaines is warned about the dangers of brining a loaded gun into the caves, but of course he refuses to leave his gun (remember, Vaines’ gunshot caused the big cave-in) behind, because he’s too stubborn to listen to the experts. To make matters worse, Sheriff Vaines’ baffling animosity towards Sarah is beyond foolish. From start to finish, Vaines makes it clear he doesn’t like or trust Sarah, so he handcuffs himself to Sarah to prevent another escape attempt, but during the search and rescue mission, it’s clear the crawlers were responsible for the murders.

If you’re familiar with The Descent 2005, The Descent Part 2 can be a frustrating film at times with some noticeable pet peeves. You already know the crawlers are blind creatures/humanoids, who use sound to track and hunt their prey, and you already know, Rebecca, Sam, Beth, and Holly are dead, so it’s kind  of hard to sit back and watch the “We have to find them!” rescue mission unfold. Also, I know Cath, Greg, Dan, Vaines, and Rios are supposed to be the newbies, so they don’t know anything about the crawlers, but watching the new group scream, shout, and use their radios, when you know they’re basically serving themselves up to the crawlers on a sliver platter brings one too many eye rolling reactions out of me.

And to add another strange twist for this sequel, you really need to stretch suspension of disbelief  to buy into Sarah’s sudden memory loss. As the audience, are we really supposed to believe Sarah can just forget or completely blackout to the point, where she doesn’t remember what happened in the first film? Don’t get me wrong, The Descent Part 2 kicks into high gear, when ass-kicker Sarah returns, and I get the point of Sarah being traumatized to the point, where she wants to block everything out. But Part 2 almost crosses a slap in the face line, because they seriously expect you to believe in the possibility of a character drawing a blank two days later after engaging in deadly fights with flesh-eating creatures, and watching her best friends die horrifying deaths.

You’ll see a few select returns from characters in the original film. But for the most part, it’s just archived footage (for Sarah’s flashbacks) from the first film, and if we’re talking about physical returns, Rebecca and Sam are just rotting and decaying corpses, and their bodies are literally in the same locations from the first film.

I’ve re-watched this one more times than I can count over the years, and I still have mixed feelings for The Descent Part 2. On one hand, it’s not a terrible film, not by a longshot, but Part 2 is a noticeable step down, when you compare it to the original. Part 2 is bogged down by some unnecessary jump scares (including a lukewarm fakeout jumpscare), having to buy into a questionable story (i.e. Sarah’s memory loss), and you have a few dumb horror movie character moments here.

With all that said, The Descent Part 2 is still MUCH better than most horror sequels or horror number twos, and to be fair, topping or coming close to the critically acclaimed original would’ve been damn near impossible. Shauna Macdonlad’s return gives the sequel a boost, Macdonald delivers another strong performance, and the rest of the supporting cast ranges from decent to solid. Part 2 features a handful of terrifying and suspenful close calls, and you can make the argument for Part 2 trumping the original in the nail-biting claustrophobia department.

Plus, the sequel reintroduces some familiar remnants and themes from the original with sacrifice, bravery, and strong female characters, as Rios comes into her own as a fighter under Sarah’s tutelage. To add to that, when it comes to gross-out moments and gore, Part 2 is not afraid to hold back, at all. A rat crawling out of Rebecca’s dead body, the blood from Sam’s hanging corpse dripping onto and drenching Cath’s face, and Rios using a pickaxe to chop off Vaines’ arm. Oh, and it’s hard to forget about Sarah and Rios accidentally stumbling into the crawler’s pit of feces, and having to quietly watch a crawler use the bathroom.

If we’re talking about the crawlers, outside of a few facial changes, there’s not a big difference between the original and Part 2. But I’ll say this, adding the large, hulking crawler to the pack was a nice touch. He appears during the tail end of the film, but the large crawler’s size and build as a behemoth gives him more of an intimidating and threatening demeanor, and he’s the only large crawler in the pack, so he can stand out with a “one of a kind” presence.

A few bonus points for a shocking return, and I have some complaints for some noticeable horror tropes here, but it could’ve been worse, much worse. Think about all the cheap and watered down horror sequels/straight-to-video abominations that try to capitalize off of a successful original for the sake of making a quick profit. You know the formula: a lazy and tedious screenplay with references and winks to the original, a disposable new cast of characters, poor production values, and shoddy directing. In the end, the sequel is not without its flaws, but I’m just glad the powers that be for The Descent Part 2 made the effort to avoid the embarrassing levels of a bargain basement horror sequel disaster.

Rating- 7/10
Twitter- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/mitch.macready

The Descent Part 2 (2009)(Spoiler Review)

This review contains spoilers.

The Story- Two days after the horrific events inside the dangerous cave system, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) finally escapes, as the sole survivor. A bloodied and bruised Sarah catches Ed Oswald’s (Michael J. Reynolds) attention on the streets, and Sarah is rushed to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Dan (Douglas Hodge) leads a search party for Juno and the others with some help from Greg (Joshua Dallas) and Cath (Anna Skellern), and the search gains extra media attention, when Juno’s family ties to a US senator as his niece are revealed. Dan, Greg, and Cath are spelunking experts, but they’re looking in the wrong cave, because the group is unaware of Juno’s plans to explore the uncharted cave system during the original expedition. 

At he hospital, a disorientated and heavily sedated Sarah awakes, but Sarah has no memory of what happened in the cave. Deputy Ellen Rios (Krysten Cummings) questions Sarah about the events in the caves, and the whereabouts of her friends, but a defensive and confused Sarah can’t give Rios the answers she wants. Sheriff Vaines (Gavan O’Herlihy) has trouble buying into Sarah’s sudden memory loss, so he orders the doctor to run a blood test for Sarah’s bloodstained clothing, and the test results reveal traces of Juno’s (Natalie Mendoza) blood type.

A bloodhound leads Ed and another officer to a dilapidated mineshaft in the woods, and with some help from Ed, a new entrance into the unmapped cave system is found. Sheriff Vaines quietly organizes a search party to avoid any media attention, and Vaines recruits Dan, Greg, and Cath to look for Juno and the others. Rios joins the team, and Vaines has plans to use her knowledge of the system for guidance, so he forces a reluctant and petrified Sarah to tag along. 

Sarah is still struggling to remember what happened in the caves, and Vaines and the others don’t know about the massacre during the first expedition. Ed assists the group with the descent into the caves, but the group stumbles across a series of startling discoveries in the abandoned mine and the cave system. As the group searches for survivors, clues, and familiar passages, Rebecca’s mangled corpse triggers Sarah’s memory, and a series of flashbacks help Sarah remember what happened the first time around.

With no time to explain or convince the rest of the group, a revitalized Sarah escapes the pack after a series of kicks to Vaines’ face. Thoroughly convinced Sarah is responsible for the murders, Vaines relentlessly pursues her, while the others try to regroup. But Vaines sets off a series of chaotic events, when he fires his gun, causing a dangerous cave-in. Cath is trapped underneath a mound of rocks and dirt, and the group is forced to fight for their lives, when the crawlers emerge. Sarah, Vaines, and the rest of the group will have to work together, if they want to escape the cave system alive, but a surprising return complicates the rescue mission…..

Review- Remember the strong characters, who were  willing to scrap until their last breath in The Descent? Well, when Sarah regains her memory, she instantly transforms into the fierce fighter with a never say die attitude again, and as the story progresses, Sarah takes Rios under her wing as a protégé, so she can teach her how to evade the crawlers, how to fight them, and how to navigate the tight passageways. And Sarah has a soft spot for Rios, when she learns about the tender relationship with Rios’ young daughter (remember, Sarah’s young daughter lost her life in the car accident). Towards the end, Rios turns the corner, as she embraces a more aggressive mean streak, because she realizes she can’t hold back anything, if she wants to fight the crawlers and escape.

Yeah, I get it. If you’re stuck underground with an army of flesh-eating creatures, a limited supply of resources and supplies, and no communications to the outside world, you’re going to be scared. In fact, there’s a good chance you’ll feel an overwhelming sense of panic and fear, because you’re stuck in an unprecedented situation.

Strong and fearless female characters (well, to be fair it’s just Juno and Sarah for the most part), who were willing to risk it all helped the original stand out amongst the pack, and The Descent provided a refreshing change of pace for horror films. But in The Descent 2, you get the feeling they wanted to settle for your typical set of “Don’t go in there!” or “Don’t do that!” horror movie characters, complete with head shaking, facepalming, and frantic finger pointing from the audience. I don’t have any real complaints about Dan, and Greg has one act of nobility in the sequel, but it’s hard to forget the “OH MY GOD WHAT’S HAPENNING!?!?!?” moments, and Cath is the panicky trainwreck, who screams and freaks out every five minutes. Also, one real head scratcher happens, when the group wanders through the old abandoned mine. There’s a boarded up entrance with skull and crossbones and “Do not enter” written on the front……but the group ignores the sign, and they decide to continue the search without a real debate? Seriously?

But Sheriff Vaines takes the cake for stupidity here. Vaines is warned about the dangers of brining a loaded gun into the caves, but of course he refuses to leave his gun (remember, Vaines’ gunshot caused the big cave-in) behind, because he’s too stubborn to listen to the experts. To make matters worse, Sheriff Vaines’ baffling animosity towards Sarah is beyond foolish. From start to finish, Vaines makes it clear he doesn’t like or trust Sarah, so he handcuffs himself to Sarah to prevent another escape attempt, but during the search and rescue mission, it’s clear the crawlers were responsible for the murders.

If you’re familiar with The Descent 2005, The Descent Part 2 can be a frustrating film at times with some noticeable pet peeves. You already know the crawlers are blind creatures/humanoids, who use sound to track and hunt their prey, and you already know, Rebecca, Sam, Beth, and Holly are dead, so it’s kind  of hard to sit back and watch the “We have to find them!” rescue mission unfold. Also, I know Cath, Greg, Dan, Vaines, and Rios are supposed to be the newbies, so they don’t know anything about the crawlers, but watching the new group scream, shout, and use their radios, when you know they’re basically serving themselves up to the crawlers on a sliver platter brings one too many eye rolling reactions out of me.

And to add another strange twist for this sequel, you really need to stretch suspension of disbelief  to buy into Sarah’s sudden memory loss. As the audience, are we really supposed to believe Sarah can just forget or completely blackout to the point, where she doesn’t remember what happened in the first film? Don’t get me wrong, The Descent Part 2 kicks into high gear, when ass-kicker Sarah returns, and I get the point of Sarah being traumatized to the point, where she wants to block everything out. But Part 2 almost crosses a slap in the face line, because they seriously expect you to believe in the possibility of a character drawing a blank two days later after engaging in deadly fights with flesh-eating creatures, and watching her best friends die horrifying deaths.

You’ll see a few select returns from characters in the original film. But for the most part, it’s just archived footage (for Sarah’s flashbacks) from the first film, and if we’re talking about physical returns, Rebecca and Sam are just rotting and decaying corpses, and their bodies are literally in the same locations from the first film.

The Descent Part 2 features a few big returns, with Sarah taking center stage for the vast majority of screen time, as one of the living characters from the original, but The Descent Part 2 throws in a legit shocker towards the end……….JUNO IS STILL ALIVE! That’s right. Juno is not dead. Of course, she’s injured and limping around, because Sarah drove a pickaxe into her leg, but she’s still alive. During her short time in the caves, Juno learned how to survive, and she knows how to evade, attack, and fight the creatures. Remember, they never showed the crawlers attacking Juno during the ending in the first film. You just hear Juno’s screams, as Sarah runs for her life, and that’s it.

Okay, so we’re in the final stages of the movie, and Vaines, Juno, Sarah, and Rios are the known remaining survivors after the crawlers murder Dan and Cath. Sarah and Rios are a functioning duo, and Juno believes she knows how to escape the cave system, so Vaines follows Juno. But a brawl between Sarah and Juno breaks out, when both teams finally cross paths, because Juno is not too happy about the pickaxe, and Sarah abandoning her. And on the other side of the grudge, Sarah is not over Juno having an affair with Paul, and using the previous trip as a pity prize for her.

Cooler heads prevail after the brawl, but Vaines makes a crucial mistake, when has the bright idea to handcuff Sarah to himself.  But wait a minute! Vaines is bitter because Sarah left Juno behind the first time around. Eh, okay, if ANYONE has the right to hate Sarah, it’s Juno, not Sheriff Vaines, because she didn’t do anything to him. Anyway, the group agrees to follow Juno’s lead to escape the caves.

But Sarah and Vaines are stuck hanging on a ledge after they fall from too much weight on an unstable surface. Sarah pleads for Juno’s help, and Juno reluctantly agrees, as she instructs Rios to use a pickaxe to cut off Vaines’s arm (Juno made it clear it was impossible to save both, so they had to choose one), and Vaines falls into the abyss, as a group of crawlers devour what’s left of him. Meanwhile, Sarah, Juno, and Rios make a strong push towards Juno’s planned escape route.

The three remaining survivors reach the exit, but there’s a big problem: The feeding ground is packed with crawlers, and on top of that, an abnormally large crawler drags an animal’s carcass through the exit. Together, Rios, Sarah, and Juno take quiet and careful steps towards the end exit, but a horribly mutilated Greg makes one last desperate plea for help, and it’s enough to alert every crawler in the area.

Rios, Sarah, and Juno fight off and kill the group of crawlers, but as the battle progresses, Sarah notices Juno is struggling. Rios urges Sarah to make a run for it, but Sarah decides to help Juno. Juno and Sarah restrain and pummel the large crawler together, but the crawler rips Juno’s abdomen open. Juno falls to the ground, but she uses her last ounce of strength to bite a chunk of flesh out of the crawler’s neck, and together, Sarah and Juno kill the hulking crawler.

Juno is bleeding out, and as she dies in Sarah’s arms, she offers a heartfelt and teary apology to Sarah. Rios begs Sarah to escape with her, as a new group of crawlers surround them. Fearing the worst, Rios falls to her knees, but Sarah sacrifices herself, when she stands up and screams. Sarah’s screams draw the crawlers towards her, and as the crawlers swarm and overwhelm Sarah, Rios uses the opportunity to escape.

Rios runs into the nearby woods, and she takes a moment to catch her breath. Rios tries to make a phone call, but when she turns around, Ed smacks her in the face with a shovel. Ed drags Rios’ lifeless body towards the same entrance/exit she escaped from. The camera slowly descends into the black hole, and to end the movie, a crawler bursts through the opening before the credits start rolling.

Juno returns at the sixty-four minute mark (Part 2‘s overall runtime clocks in at 1hr. & 34 min.), but it’s still a genuine surprise, and the emotional farewell between Sarah and Juno is something to remember. Yes, Juno comes off as a pretentious phony, who’s more concerned with trying to stroke her own ego, while owning up to the affair and directly apologizing to Sarah takes a backseat. But after the events in The Descent Part 2, it’s hard to question Juno’s morality. She could’ve easily killed Sarah during the first brawl, and she could’ve let Sarah fall to her death with Vaines on the ledge with an “eye for an eye” revenge mindset, but she chose to save her.

After Juno’s deception and a scathing betrayal on Sarah’s end, two friends reunited and fought side by side, risking life and limb for each other. That’s excellent storytelling for Juno and Sarah‘s storyline, and if you stop and think about the events in both films, you can understand the motivations behind Sarah’s sacrifice. Think about it, here’s someone, who was in the same car, when her husband and young daughter suffered agonizing deaths in a brutal head on collision. Fast forward one year later, and all of her friends die horrific deaths at the hands of flesh-eating creatures, she gives Beth a mercy killing, and Sarah learns the truth about an affair between her husband and one of her best friends. And to pile on more misery, Sarah returns to the cave system to watch Juno, her only living friend in the world, die in her arms. Sarah blamed herself for what happened to Juno. She was overwhelmed with guilt and regret, and Sarah was way past the point of having nothing to lose.

The ending/cliffhanger? I have an indifferent reaction to it. I don’t hate the ending, but at the same time, the ending didn’t do anything for me. You get the feeling they were trying to recreate Sarah’s triumphant moment of relief and freedom, when she “escaped” the cave system in the first film with Rios’ crawling and running to freedom here, but the moment did not resonate with me for a few reasons.

Sarah truly SUFFERED, going to hell and back in the first film, so her escape had a resounding and meaningful impact, and if you pay close attention to the descent into the cave system during the early stages of the film, Ed gives Rios a knowing wink. Remember, Ed bragged about his “granddaddy” working in the mines. Ed was a local in the area, and he obviously knows everything there is to know about the crawlers, so he sat back and watched, as the creatures waited for a fresh group of meat. I’m not saying I have a crystal ball, because that means I already knew Rios would escape the cave, with Ed waiting in the wings to attack her from behind. That’s ridiculous, but the wink is an obvious clue that undermines the moment, and you had to know something was going to happen to Rios during her little scamper in the woods.

I’ve re-watched this one more times than I can count over the years, and I still have mixed feelings for The Descent Part 2. On one hand, it’s not a terrible film, not by a longshot, but Part 2 is a noticeable step down, when you compare it to the original. Part 2 is bogged down by some unnecessary jump scares (including a lukewarm fakeout jumpscare), having to buy into a questionable story (i.e. Sarah’s memory loss), and you have a few dumb horror movie character moments here.

With all that said, The Descent Part 2 is still MUCH better than most horror sequels or horror number twos, and to be fair, topping or coming close to the critically acclaimed original would’ve been damn near impossible. Shauna Macdonlad’s return gives the sequel a boost, Macdonald delivers another strong performance, and the rest of the supporting cast ranges from decent to solid. Part 2 features a handful of terrifying and suspenful close calls, and you can make the argument for Part 2 trumping the original in the nail-biting claustrophobia department.

Plus, the sequel reintroduces some familiar remnants and themes from the original with sacrifice, bravery, and strong female characters, as Rios comes into her own as a fighter under Sarah’s tutelage. To add to that, when it comes to gross-out moments and gore, Part 2 is not afraid to hold back, at all. A rat crawling out of Rebecca’s dead body, the blood from Sam’s hanging corpse dripping onto and drenching Cath’s face, and Rios using a pickaxe to chop off Vaines’ arm. Oh, and it’s hard to forget about Sarah and Rios accidentally stumbling into the crawler’s pit of feces, and having to quietly watch a crawler use the bathroom.

If we’re talking about the crawlers, outside of a few facial changes, there’s not a big difference between the original and Part 2. But I’ll say this, adding the large, hulking crawler to the pack was a nice touch. He appears during the tail end of the film, but the large crawler’s size and build as a behemoth gives him more of an intimidating and threatening demeanor, and he’s the only large crawler in the pack, so he can stand out with a “one of a kind” presence.

A few bonus points for a shocking return, and I have some complaints for some noticeable horror tropes here, but it could’ve been worse, much worse. Think about all the cheap and watered down horror sequels/straight-to-video abominations that try to capitalize off of a successful original for the sake of making a quick profit. You know the formula: a lazy and tedious screenplay with references and winks to the original, a disposable new cast of characters, poor production values, and shoddy directing. In the end, the sequel is not without its flaws, but I’m just glad the powers that be for The Descent Part 2 made the effort to avoid the embarrassing levels of a bargain basement horror sequel disaster.

Rating- 7/10Twitter- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/mitch.macready

The Descent (2005)(Minor Spoilers Review)

This review contains MINOR spoilers, no major character deaths or reveals.

The Story- After a whitewater rafting trip, the relationship between five friends takes an unexpected turn, when Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) loses her husband, Paul (Oliver Milburn) and her young daughter, Jessica (Molly Kayll) in a gruesome car accident. Unbeknownst to Sarah, Juno (Natalie Mendoza), one of her close friends in the group, was having an affair with Paul.

One year later, Sarah is struggling to cope with Paul and Jessica's deaths, relying on medication for help, but Juno suggests an expedition to a cave system to reinvigorate Sarah. Together, Juno, Sarah, Beth (Alex Reid ), Sam (MyAnna Buring), and, Rebecca (Saskia Mulder) reunite for spelunking, with some help from Juno's new friend/protege, Holly (Nora Jane Noone).

Inside the cave system, a passage collapses behind Sarah, blocking the only known exit. But the group runs into a bigger problem, when flesh-eating creatures (or crawlers) emerge. The blind creatures use sound to hunt, and Holly's broken leg complicates the life-or-death dilemma.

Review- Patience. You'll need a lot of it for The Descent, because the movie kicks into high gear at the fifty-six minute mark, and the total runtime clocks in at 1hr. and 39 min. On paper, I know that sounds like a lengthy and tedious "twiddling your thumbs" wait, but the slow burn build is worth it, because The Descent delivers one hell of a payoff.

Director/writer Neil Marshall slowly builds the tension one step at a time. The exit collapsing behind Sarah, the confusion and anger, when Juno tells the truth about the expedition (more on that later), Sarah being the only one, who notices the crawlers tracking the group (Sarah's sightings are dismissed as hallucinations at first), Holly breaking her leg, and brief shots of the crawlers quietly waiting in the background.

It's only a matter of time before the crawlers attack. The constant teasing from Marshall really works, because you know the main characters are walking into massacre. It's one setback after another, as the story unfolds, and you can feel the impending sense of doom before the crawlers launch the first attack.

It's one close call nail-biter after another during the fight against the crawlers, and here's one of my favorite scenes:  


                                  



Friendship, betrayal, loyalty, and revenge. Four very important themes in The Descent, and each theme is intensified during the ups and downs in Sarah and Juno’s relationship.

Throughout the movie, Sarah suspected something between Juno and Paul, but she wasn't 100% sure. And to add an eerie touch to the situation, you get the feeling Paul was on the verge of a confession (Paul's uncomfortable body language in the car, and the look of guilt on his face are two dead giveaways) before the fatal car crash.

Natalie Mendoza delivers a solid and believable performance, and Marshall deserves some bonus points for the way he chooses to portray Juno. Juno stays in a grey area, because you want to believe she feels remorse for the affair, but at the same time, Juno never openly apologizes to Sarah for the affair, and she never offers an explanation. Instead, Juno believes the spelunking trip will cheer Sarah up, and she plans to name the undiscovered cave system after Sarah.

But here's the big problem with Juno's goodwill mission; for starters, Juno deliberately lied about the cave system. Originally, the group agreed on a spelunking trip to a known cave system (or a "tourist trap"), but Juno decided (without asking or consulting the group) to lead the group to the unknown cave system for a real adventure. There's a scene, where Sarah and the others gang up on Juno to call her out on all the BS behind her motivations, and in certain scenes, you get the feeling Juno is a pretentious phony with a big ego.

The Descent is a chaotic, tense, and claustrophobic horror film, featuring a solid cast, and believable performances. The Descent is loaded with graphic violence, blood, and gore, and Marshall creates a series of striking visuals behind the camera. The crawler's lair (or "The Killing Floor") is one that sticks out. It's a horrifying and gloomy setting, with the bones of animals and humans scattered across the ground, and you'll see one of the more memorable gross-out moments in the movie, with Sarah slowly rising to the top in a pit of blood. Also, I can’t forget about the eerie scene during the early stages of the movie, with a frightened Sarah running through a series of dark hallways at the hospital, and Sarah, screaming, covered in blood, and holding a torch, while standing inside the cave system. And the genuinely shocking swerve at the end really works, because Sarah as the sole survivor was supposed to be the big feel good moment in the movie, but they pull the rug out from underneath at the last second.

Characters and a story with real depth separates The Descent from other gory bloodbath horror films. It's a story about friendship, deception, betrayal, revenge, survival, and how far people are willing to go, when they're pushed beyond their limits.

Rating: 10/10

Twitter- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/mitch.macready

The Descent (2005)(Spoiler Review)

This review contains spoilers.

The Story- After a whitewater rafting trip, the relationship between five friends takes an unexpected turn, when Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) loses her husband, Paul (Oliver Milburn) and her young daughter, Jessica (Molly Kayll) in a gruesome car accident. Unbeknownst to Sarah, Juno (Natalie Mendoza), one of her close friends in the group, was having an affair with Paul.
One year later, Sarah is struggling to cope with Paul and Jessica's deaths, relying on medication for help, but Juno suggests an expedition to a cave system to reinvigorate Sarah. Together, Juno, Sarah, Beth (Alex Reid ), Sam (MyAnna Buring), and, Rebecca (Saskia Mulder) reunite for spelunking, with some help from Juno's new friend/protege, Holly (Nora Jane Noone).

Inside the cave system, a passage collapses behind Sarah, blocking the only known exit. But the group runs into a bigger problem, when flesh-eating creatures (or crawlers) emerge. The blind creatures use sound to hunt, and Holly's broken leg complicates the life-or-death dilemma.

Review- Patience. You'll need a lot of it for The Descent, because the movie kicks into high gear at the fifty-six minute mark, and the total runtime clocks in at 1hr. and 39 min. On paper, I know that sounds like a lengthy and tedious "twiddling your thumbs" wait, but the slow burn build is worth it, because The Descent delivers one hell of a payoff.

Director/writer Neil Marshall slowly builds the tension one step at a time. The exit collapsing behind Sarah, the confusion and anger, when Juno tells the truth about the expedition (more on that later), Sarah being the only one, who notices the crawlers tracking the group (Sarah's sightings are dismissed as hallucinations at first), Holly breaking her leg, and brief shots of the crawlers quietly waiting in the background.

It's only a matter of time before the crawlers attack. The constant teasing from Marshall really works, because you know the main characters are walking into massacre. It's one setback after another, as the story unfolds, and you can feel the impending sense of doom before the crawlers launch the first attack.

It's one close call nail-biter after another during the fight against the crawlers, and here's one of my favorite scenes:

                               

Friendship, betrayal, loyalty, and revenge. Four very important themes in The Descent, and each theme is intensified during the ups and downs in Sarah and Juno’s relationship.

Throughout the movie, Sarah suspected something between Juno and Paul, but she wasn't 100% sure. And to add an eerie touch to the situation, you get the feeling Paul was on the verge of a confession (Paul's uncomfortable body language in the car, and the look of guilt on his face are two dead giveaways) before the fatal car crash.

Natalie Mendoza delivers a solid and believable performance, and Marshall deserves some bonus points for the way he chooses to portray Juno. Juno stays in a grey area, because you want to believe she feels remorse for the affair, but at the same time, Juno never openly apologizes to Sarah for the affair, and she never offers an explanation. Instead, Juno believes the spelunking trip will cheer Sarah up, and she plans to name the undiscovered cave system after Sarah.

But here's the big problem with Juno's goodwill mission; for starters, Juno deliberately lied about the cave system. Originally, the group agreed on a spelunking trip to a known cave system (or a "tourist trap"), but Juno decided (without asking or consulting the group) to lead the group to the unknown cave system for a real adventure. There's a scene, where Sarah and the others gang up on Juno to call her out on all the BS behind her motivations, and in certain scenes, you get the feeling Juno is a pretentious phony with a big ego.

To end the movie, Sarah and Juno are the remaining survivors, and Sarah reaches a breaking point with Juno. When the crawlers launched their first attack, Juno accidentally wounded Beth with a pickaxe to the throat (she mistook Beth for a crawler), but Juno never told the truth about the accident. After Beth's death, Sarah finally learns the truth about the affair, when a dying Beth gave Juno's "love each day" pendant (Beth ripped off the pendant, as she fell to her knees) to Sarah, and she maims Juno with a pickaxe to the leg. Sarah escapes, and a wounded Juno is left alone to fight a pack of crawlers. Long story short, “love each day” was one of Paul’s sayings, so it wasn’t hard to put two and two together, when Beth gave Sarah the pendant.

Throughout the movie, you can feel the awkward tension between Sarah and Juno, and things go south, when Juno tells the truth about the cave system. You get the feeling Sarah wanted to forgive Juno, but she completely snapped after Beth’s death. If we’re throwing  more gasoline on the fire, Sarah finally accepted the truth about the affair after Beth gave her the pendant. Also, if you pay close attention, you’ll notice timid survivor Sarah disappears in the blink of an eye after Sarah puts Beth out of her misery with a mercy killing, and a more aggressive and violent version of Sarah emerges.

Think about what Sarah did for a second. She could've easily killed Juno with no real problems, but she made the choice to cripple Juno, because she wanted her to suffer a slow and agonizing death at the hands of vicious flesh-eating creatures. That's revenge, and you can say Sarah had genuine feelings of hatred for Juno. The irony for Sarah crippling Juno? Throughout the movie, Juno flat out REFUSED to leave the cave (motivated by guilt and a second chance) without Sarah, when the remaining survivors were more than willing to escape, leaving Sarah alone in the cave with an "every man (or in the case, woman) for himself" mindset.

You can feel a grand sense of triumph and relief, when Sarah finally escapes the cave......but she didn't escape. Sarah pulls over on the side of the road to vomit, and she sees a pale Juno (covered in blood) sitting next to her. Here, it's revealed Sarah never escaped the cave. The escape was one big dream, and Sarah is still trapped in the cave. She hallucinates a celebration for her daughter's birthday (a reoccurring hallucination throughout the movie), but in reality, Sarah is kneeling on the ground, and she's staring at a torch.

To add an extra tidbit for the ending, for the US theatrical release, the movie ends with Sarah sitting next to a pale and bloodied Juno in the car, and the part with Sarah hallucinating and staring at the torch in the cave is cut out of the film. Of course, the ending is shown in its entirety on the unrated DVD/Blu-Ray releases. I’m not trying to nitpick, but I believe the movie ending with Sarah and Juno sitting in the car is the better option. It works as a mysterious cliffhanger, because you’re not 100% sure what happened. Is Sarah still alive? Did she survive? Is she inside a hospital again?

The Descent is a chaotic, tense, and claustrophobic horror film, featuring a solid cast, and believable performances. The Descent is loaded with graphic violence, blood, and gore, and Marshall creates a series of striking visuals behind the camera. The crawler's lair (or "The Killing Floor") is one that sticks out. It's a horrifying and gloomy setting, with the bones of animals and humans scattered across the ground, and you'll see one of the more memorable gross-out moments in the movie, with Sarah slowly rising to the top in a pit of blood. Also, I can’t forget about the eerie scene during the early stages of the movie, with a frightened Sarah running through a series of dark hallways at the hospital, and Sarah, screaming, covered in blood, and holding a torch, while standing inside the cave system. And the genuinely shocking swerve at the end really works, because Sarah as the sole survivor was supposed to be the big feel good moment in the movie, but they pull the rug out from underneath at the last second.

Characters and a story with real depth separates The Descent from other gory bloodbath horror films. It's a story about friendship, deception, betrayal, revenge, survival, and how far people are willing to go, when they're pushed beyond their limits.

Rating: 10/10

Twitter- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/mitch.macready

Welcome To Horror Month 2015!

Yeah, I know I'm late on this, but it's time for horror month! We still have a few weeks left in October, and it's 100% horror on my blog with blood, flesh-eating fiends, gore, ghosts, demons, ghouls, werewolves, vampires, malicious supernatural creatures, and monsters.

You'll see a few new movie reviews, some redos, and all new Character Spotlight posts, so strap yourselves in for some horror fun on Mitch MacReady's Movies & TV World!

MMR

In The Blood (2014)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers. No major character deaths or reveals**

In 2002, a teenage Ava lives with her father, Casey (Stephen Lang) in a shabby Bridgeport, Conneticut home. As a hardened outlaw, Casey trains his daughter to be a lethal fighting machine with rigorous survival exercises and intense sparring sessions.

One night, a group of thugs invade Casey and Ava’s home. The intruders murder Casey, but Ava turns the tables with a shotgun. Ava murders the remaining thugs to survive the attack, but a callous Ava refuses to shed one tear for her father’s death.

Twelve years later, a reformed Ava (Gina Carano) prepares for her wedding ceremony in Arlington, Virgina. Derek Grant (Cam Gigandet) met Ava at a narcotics  anonymous meeting, and he’s ready to trust and spend the rest of his life with her, but Derek’s wealthy father, Robert (Treat Williams) doesn’t trust Ava and her motvations for marrying Derek. Ava’s troubled past raises a red flag for Robert, and the thought of Ava devising a scheme to marry Derek for a piece of the family fortune is too much to handle, so Mr. Grant pushes Derek to sign a prenuptial agreement. To prove his loyalty to Ava, Derek refuses his father’s request, and he tears the prenup in half to erase any doubts.

After the wedding,  Derek and Ava take a trip to a Caribbean island for their honeymoon, and Derek uses his grandfather’s old house as a vacation home. On the island, Derek and Ava meet a friendly local named Manny (Ismael Cruz Cordova). Manny convinces Derek and Ava to join him for a wild night at a local nightclub. Here, Ava and Derek cross paths with Big Biz (Danny Trejo), a powerful and respected gangster on the island. Big Biz tries to seduce Ava, but Derek intervenes. Ava fights off an assault to protect Derek, and Manny helps the couple escape in a taxi. After the brawl, Big Biz’s rival, Silvio Lugo (Amaury Nolasco) issues a stern warning about disrupting the peaceful and festive environment at the club. 

In the morning, Derek and Ava take a chance on ziplining after a persuasive pitch from Manny. The ziplining instructor JoJo (Oscar H. Guerrero) reassures a nervous Ava, but Derek suffers a nasty leg injury after a potentially fatal fall from faulty equipment on the zipline.

JoJo calls for an ambulance, but Manny disappears. Ava tries to fight her way into the ambulance with Derek, but the paramedics deny Ava’s attempts for insurance concerns. Ava follows the ambulance to the hospital. She loses Derek and the ambulance after a fall, but a friendly local helps Ava with a ride to the hospital.  

At the hospital, Ava runs into an unpleasant surprise, when Leta (Yvette Yates), a receptionist,  can’t find any records of Derek’s name in the system. Ava forces her way through the doors, but after a quick search, it’s clear Derek is not in the hospital.

Ava  turns to the local police for help after an unsuccessful search in every clinic and hospital on the island. Police Chief Ramon Garza (Luis Guzman) is reluctant to help Ava, and after a visit from Derek’s family, Ava takes matters into her own hands to find and rescue Derek. 

Ava suspects a cover up after JoJo completely denies knowing, seeing, and assisting Derek, Ava, and Manny on the zipline. A determined Ava embarks on a bloody and deadly mission to find Manny and the paramedics for more answers, and rescue Derek before it‘s too late. But during the fight to uncover the truth behind the conspiracy, Ava unintentionally brings the bitter feud between Big Biz and Silvio to a dangerous boiling point.

Gina Carano has the tools to carve out a sustainable career for herself, as a recognizable face and name in the action genre. When it comes to sex appeal, she has the perfect balance. You notice Carano’s beauty, but her looks are never the main focus for her character, because she has what it takes to be a physical force. That, or Carano’s character(s) can use her good looks to deceive any adversaries (the bathroom scene on the boat is a good example for In The Blood.), and Carano’s MMA background is no secret, so she can rely on a touch of legitimacy for her film roles.

Carano’s Ava is a no-nonsense fighting machine, and Carano delivers another entertaining performance in her comfort zone here. Carano delivers on the physical side of things, and it’s not limited to the fight scenes. Carano carries herself well with convincing body language and an unflinching demeanor, and she’s decent enough in a few emotional scenes.

Although, I will say this, In The Blood constantly tip-toes on a suspension of disbelief line with Ava throughout the movie. Flashbacks show Ava’s tough training sessions with her strict father, and yes, in real life Carano has the MMA credentials, but it’s hard to ignore In The Blood constantly going way over the top to showcase Ava’s deadly combat skills. One scene that sticks out as an example, is Ava trying to fight her way out of the police station, and it takes an entire group of cops to restrain her, and force her to the ground.

As far as the rest of the cast goes, I can’t say too much. Danny Trejo fans shouldn’t get their hopes up too high, because Trejo’s screen time is limited here, and you can say the same thing about Cam Gigandet. If we’re talking about personalities, Trejo plays the powerful hot head, while Gigandet is the loyal husband, and that’s about it. Nolasco’s Silvio is your typical cocky and greedy bad guy, he’s a bully, and that’s about it.

There’s some potential for a feud between Treat Williams’ Robert and Carano’s Ava. To give an example, there’s a scene, where Robert accuses Ava of planning Derek’s disappearance to collect some of the family fortune, and Ava responds to the accusations with a defiant “f*** you.” Robert resented Ava, because he believes she’s nothing more than a junkie and a crazy fraud, who’s trying to take advantage of his son, but Ava is willing to fight and die for Derek, because he saved her from a miserable life. The bitter distrust on Robert’s side, and Ava’s loyalty is believable, but the big problem is the feud never has a chance to develop, because Williams’ screen time is limited, and his character disappears after the visit to the island.

Overall, director John Stockwell’s work behind the camera is hit-and-miss. The editing for Ava and Derek’s honeymoon highlight reel and Ava’s risky bike ride through the city looks and feels clunky and choppy. The hiccups are not enough to drag In The Blood down into the gutter quality wise, but they’re noticeable.

If you’re looking for an artsy and stylish action/crime thriller, In The Blood is not for you. But if you’re looking for some mindless fun action, and hard hitting fight scenes, In The Blood is a satisfying film. Yes, the torture, interrogate, fight, kick ass, and repeat formula during Ava’s “WHERE’S MY HUSBAND?!?!” mission feels repetitive and tedious at times, but Carano consistently delivers a good show throughout In The Blood on the physical side of the film. Again, In The Blood is not a masterpiece, the dialogue sounds rigid and contrived most of the time, and the characters are one-dimensional, but if you’re looking for an entertaining guilty pleasure, it’s worth a try. And the big twist at the at the end is a little far-fetched, but it's a genuine and refreshing surprise. 

As I said before, Gina Carano has a future in the action world. For now, I won’t go as far as using the superstar tag, but she has what it takes to make a real name for herself. Haywire is still Carano’s best starring action role to date, and nothing comes close. It’s true Carano was surrounded by a talented cast in Haywire, and you can say the likes of Fassbender and McGregor helped hide her flaws, but Carano doesn’t need to deliver an Oscar worthy performance. The potential is there, and she can build her career around the persona of a lethal action heroine, but she needs more time and more films to build a more solid résumé.

Rating: 6/10

In The Blood (2014)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

In 2002, a teenage Ava lives with her father, Casey (Stephen Lang) in a shabby Bridgeport, Conneticut home. As a hardened outlaw, Casey trains his daughter to be a lethal fighting machine with rigorous survival exercises and intense sparring sessions.

One night, a group of thugs invade Casey and Ava’s home. The intruders murder Casey, but Ava turns the tables with a shotgun. Ava murders the remaining thugs to survive the attack, but a callous Ava refuses to shed one tear for her father’s death.

Twelve years later, a reformed Ava (Gina Carano) prepares for her wedding ceremony in Arlington, Virgina. Derek Grant (Cam Gigandet) met Ava at a narcotics  anonymous meeting, and he’s ready to trust and spend the rest of his life with her, but Derek’s wealthy father, Robert (Treat Williams) doesn’t trust Ava and her motvations for marrying Derek. Ava’s troubled past raises a red flag for Robert, and the thought of Ava devising a scheme to marry Derek for a piece of the family fortune is too much to handle, so Mr. Grant pushes Derek to sign a prenuptial agreement. To prove his loyalty to Ava, Derek refuses his father’s request, and he tears the prenup in half to erase any doubts.

After the wedding,  Derek and Ava take a trip to a Caribbean island for their honeymoon, and Derek uses his grandfather’s old house as a vacation home. On the island, Derek and Ava meet a friendly local named Manny (Ismael Cruz Cordova). Manny convinces Derek and Ava to join him for a wild night at a local nightclub. Here, Ava and Derek cross paths with Big Biz (Danny Trejo), a powerful and respected gangster on the island. Big Biz tries to seduce Ava, but Derek intervenes. Ava fights off an assault to protect Derek, and Manny helps the couple escape in a taxi. After the brawl, Big Biz’s rival, Silvio Lugo (Amaury Nolasco) issues a stern warning about disrupting the peaceful and festive environment at the club. 

In the morning, Derek and Ava take a chance on ziplining after a persuasive pitch from Manny. The ziplining instructor JoJo (Oscar H. Guerrero) reassures a nervous Ava, but Derek suffers a nasty leg injury after a potentially fatal fall from faulty equipment on the zipline.

JoJo calls for an ambulance, but Manny disappears. Ava tries to fight her way into the ambulance with Derek, but the paramedics deny Ava’s attempts for insurance concerns. Ava follows the ambulance to the hospital. She loses Derek and the ambulance after a fall, but a friendly local helps Ava with a ride to the hospital.  

At the hospital, Ava runs into an unpleasant surprise, when Leta (Yvette Yates), a receptionist,  can’t find any records of Derek’s name in the system. Ava forces her way through the doors, but after a quick search, it’s clear Derek is not in the hospital.

Ava  turns to the local police for help after an unsuccessful search in every clinic and hospital on the island. Police Chief Ramon Garza (Luis Guzman) is reluctant to help Ava, and after a visit from Derek’s family, Ava takes matters into her own hands to find and rescue Derek. 

Ava suspects a cover up after JoJo completely denies knowing, seeing, and assisting Derek, Ava, and Manny on the zipline. A determined Ava embarks on a bloody and deadly mission to find Manny and the paramedics for more answers, and rescue Derek before it‘s too late. But during the fight to uncover the truth behind the conspiracy, Ava unintentionally brings the bitter feud between Big Biz and Silvio to a dangerous boiling point.

Gina Carano has the tools to carve out a sustainable career for herself, as a recognizable face and name in the action genre. When it comes to sex appeal, she has the perfect balance. You notice Carano’s beauty, but her looks are never the main focus for her character, because she has what it takes to be a physical force. That, or Carano’s character(s) can use her good looks to deceive any adversaries (the bathroom scene on the boat is a good example for In The Blood.), and Carano’s MMA background is no secret, so she can rely on a touch of legitimacy for her film roles.

Carano’s Ava is a no-nonsense fighting machine, and Carano delivers another entertaining performance in her comfort zone here. Carano delivers on the physical side of things, and it’s not limited to the fight scenes. Carano carries herself well with convincing body language and an unflinching demeanor, and she’s decent enough in a few emotional scenes.

Although, I will say this, In The Blood constantly tip-toes on a suspension of disbelief line with Ava throughout the movie. Flashbacks show Ava’s tough training sessions with her strict father, and yes, in real life Carano has the MMA credentials, but it’s hard to ignore In The Blood constantly going way over the top to showcase Ava’s deadly combat skills. One scene that sticks out as an example, is Ava trying to fight her way out of the police station, and it takes an entire group of cops to restrain her, and force her to the ground.

As far as the rest of the cast goes, I can’t say too much. Danny Trejo fans shouldn’t get their hopes up too high, because Trejo’s screen time is limited here, and you can say the same thing about Cam Gigandet. If we’re talking about personalities, Trejo plays the powerful hot head, while Gigandet is the loyal husband, and that’s about it. Nolasco’s Silvio is your typical cocky and greedy bad guy, he’s a bully, and that’s about it.

There’s some potential for a feud between Treat Williams’ Robert and Carano’s Ava. To give an example, there’s a scene, where Robert accuses Ava of planning Derek’s disappearance to collect some of the family fortune, and Ava responds to the accusations with a defiant “f*** you.” Robert resented Ava, because he believes she’s nothing more than a junkie and a crazy fraud, who’s trying to take advantage of his son, but Ava is willing to fight and die for Derek, because he saved her from a miserable life. The bitter distrust on Robert’s side, and Ava’s loyalty is believable, but the big problem is the feud never has a chance to develop, because Williams’ screen time is limited, and his character disappears after the visit to the island.

So what happened to Derek? Was it a kidnapping? Are the kidnappers asking for a ransom? Is he dead? Well, after torturing him in the night club at a bathroom, Ava forces a reluctant Manny to help her find Derek and his kidnappers. To add to that, the two paramedics played a part in Derek’s disappearance.

Eventually, Ava escapes police custody twice, she foils a last second execution attempt, and after a chat with Chief Garza, Ava learns the truth about Derek’s disappearance: Derek died on the operating table during a botched surgery, and Chief Garza played a part in covering up the death as a favor to the doctor. An enraged Ava gives Chief Garza a choice for his death. Ava gives Garza the choice of a box cutter or a gun, and Garza chooses the cutter, because he doesn’t want to startle  his sleeping daughter.

But wait a minute! It’s not over yet. Ava wants to “finish” her mission, so she infiltrates the hospital. Ava kills the receptionist (Leta), who lied to her earlier in the film, and she tortures the doctor, who performed the surgery on Derek  for more answers….and Ava witnesses a shocking revelation, when she spots a wheelchair-bound  Derek entering the hospital with Silvio and his men.

Silvio suffers from a rare type of cancer, and he needs stem cell transfusions for bone marrow. Derek is a perfect match, and Silvio constantly uses Derek as a reliable source to prolong his life.

Using a doctor’s outfit as a disguise, Ava rescues Derek from the hospital, but a wounded and drugged Silvio (Ava sabotaged Silvio’s IV at the hospital) chases Ava and Derek through the island with help from his crew and a few locals. Manny helps Derek and Ava hide, but Silvio and his gang trap Ava and Derek in Manny’s neighborhood. Derek and Ava systemically eliminate Silvio’s gang, and Ava faces Silvio in a one on one fight.

During the fight, Ava turns the tables on Silvio, and she holds a knife to his throat. The neighborhood cheers for Silvio’s death, but Big Biz interrupts the fight. Ava reluctantly gives the knife to Big Biz, and Biz uses the knife to murder Silvio. Why did Biz murder Silvio? Silvio was bad for business. The deaths of two Americans would hurt the island from a financial standpoint, and Biz wasn’t happy about the idea of Silvio risking his way of life (i.e. money from American men paying for his prostitutes, gambling, etc.). Biz reclaims his spot as the dominant force on the island, and he allows Derek and Ava to leave. To end the movie, Derek and Ava say their good-byes to Manny, and they leave the island together for the long trip home.

No real complaints about the big showdown between Silvio and Ava, and a few extra bonus points for the “Derek is still alive” twist. It’s a genuine surprise, because after Graza’s confession, you had to believe Derek was gone for good. Also, I’m glad they avoided a clichéd “islanders kidnap wealthy Americans for profit in an underground operation” twist. Silvio’s cancer revelation and Silvio using Derek to stay alive is a little far-fetched, but it’s nice to see an action/crime thriller take a chance on something different.

Overall, director John Stockwell’s work behind the camera is hit-and-miss. The editing for Ava and Derek’s honeymoon highlight reel and Ava’s risky bike ride through the city looks and feels clunky and choppy. The hiccups are not enough to drag In The Blood down into the gutter quality wise, but they’re noticeable.

If you’re looking for an artsy and stylish action/crime thriller, In The Blood is not for you. But if you’re looking for some mindless fun action, and hard hitting fight scenes, In The Blood is a satisfying film. Yes, the torture, interrogate, fight, kick ass, and repeat formula during Ava’s “WHERE’S MY HUSBAND?!?!” mission feels repetitive and tedious at times, but Carano consistently delivers a good show throughout In The Blood on the physical side of the film. Again, In The Blood is not a masterpiece, the dialogue sounds rigid and contrived most of the time, and the characters are one-dimensional, but if you’re looking for an entertaining guilty pleasure, it’s worth a try.

As I said before, Gina Carano has a future in the action world. For now, I won’t go as far as using the superstar tag, but she has what it takes to make a real name for herself. Haywire is still Carano’s best starring action role to date, and nothing comes close. It’s true Carano was surrounded by a talented cast in Haywire, and you can say the likes of Fassbender and McGregor helped hide her flaws, but Carano doesn’t need to deliver an Oscar worthy performance. The potential is there, and she can build her career around the persona of a lethal action heroine, but she needs more time and more films to build a more solid résumé.

Rating: 6/10