History YMMV / TheDescent

* SpecialEffectsFailure: While most of the effects are [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome extremely convincing]], at least one of the Crawlers [[spoiler:coming towards Juno]] towards the end is very blatantly a CG effect.

* IdiotPlot: The characters get lost after a cave-in behind them and only ''then'' does Juno, the adrenaline junkie of the group, admit that she took them to a completely uncharted cave system instead of the safe and fully-explored cave system that they originally planned to visit. Therefore, they cannot be sure there are any other exits out of the caves (nevermind where they are if they do) and outside rescue is impossible because the search parties will be looking in entirely the wrong cave. It goes without saying that these are actual hazards of the activity in real life and going down into unexplored caves is something you should '''never''' do unless you are a professional speleologist and informed about your whereabouts and plans before departure. The characters themselves give Juno a verbal smackdown when they find this out, and her weak justification of "I wanted us to discover it" does not sway them in the slightest.

* PresumedFlop: The film is remembered for coming out after the London 7/7 bombings, and largely believed to [[NeverAcceptedInHisHometown have flopped in the UK]] due to "nobody wanting to see a film about a group of women trapped underground", released only one day after over fifty people had been killed by being trapped on the London Underground. Especially unfortunately, this poster was on the very bus that blew up. However, the film itself was actually very successful (making over£50 million worldwide on a £3.7 million budget). Partly, this can be attributed to the fact that this is extremely cheap, but they also replaced the poster campaign, so it may be a case of misremembered controversy (and it's possible that it could have done even better - or worse - without the controversy.)

** A minor example because she is a very important character, but [[spoiler: Beth dies second in the film (only to Holly)]] and is often discussed, including on Wiki/ThisVeryWiki, as much as Juno or Sarah. Despite not being around anywhere near as long as them, it's clear she made a pretty big impact.

* UnintentionalUncannyValley: The crawlers were originally going to look more animalistic, but when they did the prosthetics tests, they decided it was scarier to have them closer to human.

* UncannyValley: The crawlers were originally going to look more animalistic, but when they did the prosthetics tests, they decided it was scarier to have them closer to human.

* IdiotPlot: The characters get lost after a cave-in behind them and only ''then'' does Juno, the adrenaline junkie of the group, admit that she took them to a completely uncharted cave system instead of the safe and fully-explored cave system that they originally planned to visit. Therefore, they cannot be sure there are any other exits out of the caves (nevermind where they are if they do) and outside rescue is impossible because the search parties will be looking in entirely the wrong cave. It goes without saying that these are actual hazards of the activity in real life and going down into unexplored caves is something you should '''never''' do unless you are a professional speleologist. The characters themselves give her a verbal smackdown when they find this out, and Juno's weak justification of "I wanted us to discover it" does not sway them.

* FanonDiscontinuity: It can be tempting to try and start ignoring everything that happens around [[spoiler:Juno accidentally stabbing Beth]] and/or [[spoiler: The sisters falling to the crawlers.]]

* BaseBreakingCharacter: ''Juno'' was written to be divisive. It worked. [[GoneHorriblyRight Maybe a little too much]].

* EndingAversion: It can be tempting to try and start ignoring everything that happens around [[spoiler:Juno accidentally stabbing Beth]] and/or [[spoiler: The sisters falling to the crawlers.]]

* {{Narm}}:
** The cave drawings were a little bit narm-y.
** The female Crawler having long hair while the males are bald. So do Crawlers have gender stereotypes too?

** The sudden introduction of cave-dwelling monsters has resulted in some viewers theorizing that Sarah suffered a psychotic break from the stress of being trapped underground, and is actually killing her friends. The evidence consists of the trauma Sarah suffered in the car crash that killed her husband and daughter, and the fact that she is seen taking pills before leaving the cabin. Admittedly, Sarah does suffer SanitySlippage, [[spoiler: {{Mercy Kill}}s Beth and later cripples Juno so she can't escape]], but her friends also encounter the Crawlers long before she rejoins them, so it's a bit of a stretch. The sequel thoroughly josses this idea.
** Other viewers go even further and speculate that Sarah was left comatose and fatally wounded in the car crash at the start of the film, and the rest of the story is just a DyingDream that only ends when she finally accepts her fate - as "symbolized" by [[spoiler: her calmly sitting down with a hallucination of her daughter and waiting for the Crawlers to find her]]. Again, jossed by the sequel.

* IdiotPlot: The characters get lost after a cave-in behind them and only ''then'' does Juno, the adrenaline junkie of the group, admit that she took them to a completely uncharted cave system instead of the safe and fully-explored cave system that they originally planned to visit. Therefore, they cannot be sure there are any other exits out of the caves (nevermind where they are if they do) and outside rescue is impossible because the search parties will be looking in entirely the wrong cave. It goes without saying that these are actual hazards of the activity in real life and going down into unexplored caves is something you should '''never''' do unless you are a professional speleologist.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: [[spoiler: Becca]], whose death is one of the most senseless and tragic in terms of plot impact. Also [[spoiler: Holly]], who could have been a HandicappedBadass in her own right.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
** The movie makes the standard DevelopingDoomedCharacters segment more exciting by having the characters spend it trapped in a cave. [[PrimalFear A dark cave, filled with narrow passageways barely large enough to crawl through and gaping chasms that they have to cross by clinging to the ceiling.]] This is enough material to sustain a horror movie all on its own; having the cave *also* contain monsters on top of that was overkill and not necessary at all (although YMMV). Given how the cave and the monsters are equally dangerous, it could also be TheyPlottedAPerfectlyGoodWaste.
** [[spoiler: Holly]] could have lasted a little bit longer, especially once the Crawlers showed up. It would have added significantly ''more'' tension to have her isolated from the group, especially with her leg injury.

* TheWoobie: Everyone gets their moments, although the most prominent example would be Sarah, [[spoiler:pre-AxCrazy.]]

* IdiotPlot: Unless you're a speleology professional, caving in uncharted cave systems is a very bad idea. Of course, meeting anthropophagous Morlocks isn't certain, but other problems met by the protagonists before encountering the monsters (like getting lost or collapsing of the cave, and not knowing where other exits are. . . ''or even if other exits exist'') are actual hazards of the activity. Also, since Juno filed a "flight plan" for a completely different cave, when these women don't come back all the search parties will be looking in the wrong place, making rescue impossible. This is lampshaded when Juno is found out and the others give her a [[WhatTheHellHero verbal smackdown.]]

* WhatAnIdiot: Holly thinks she sees daylight up ahead and runs at top speed in search of it, despite Juno warning her to slow down. She's so careless, she doesn't notice the hole. And because she runs so fast, none of the others are there in time to stop her falling. On top of that, what she thought was daylight was just phosphorous in the rock.

** Some see Sarah as a sympathetic and [[spoiler:crazy]] [[TheWoobie Woobie]], while others see her as a [[spoiler:evil psychopath who committed an unredeemable act.]] Some see Juno as a flawed but ultimately heroic badass, while others see her as the selfish bitch who [[spoiler:got all her friends killed by taking them to the wrong cave]] and practically [[spoiler:murdered Beth.]] WordOfGod states that Juno's character was deliberately created to make the audience flip-flop between loving her and hating her.

** Some don't like how Juno is the only woman of color in the group because the cast could be more diverse. [[spoiler:Made more problematic by how Juno is the one who sends everyone into the wrong cave, accidentally kills Beth, and has an affair with Paul. She makes it near to the end of the movie only to get attacked by the white female lead, Sarah, and left to die while Sarah escapes. Although the UK ending hints that Sarah is doomed too.]]

** A minor example because she is a very important character, but Beth dies second in the film (only to Holly) and is often discussed, including on Wiki/ThisVeryWiki, as much as Juno or Sarah. Despite not being around anywhere near as long as them, it's clear she made a pretty big impact.

** Why yes, that is [[Series/OnceUponATime Prince Charming]] in the second film.

* {{Sequelitis}}: The second film had to retcon the end of the first, lacked the unique visual look of the cave scenes (resorting to straight HollywoodDarkness) and lost a lot of the great atmosphere from the first. Not a bad sequel, but regarded as SoOkayItsAverage.

** And even more so after that, [[spoiler: Juno and Sarah.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The movie makes the standard DevelopingDoomedCharacters segment more exciting by having the characters spend it trapped in a cave. [[PrimalFear A dark cave, filled with narrow passageways barely large enough to crawl through and gaping chasms that they have to cross by clinging to the ceiling.]] This is enough material to sustain a horror movie all on its own; having the cave *also* contain monsters on top of that was overkill and not necessary at all (although YMMV).
** Given how the cave and the monsters are equally dangerous, it could also be TheyPlottedAPerfectlyGoodWaste.

* PresumedFlop: The film is remembered for being TooSoon after the London 7/7 bombings, and largely believed to [[NeverAcceptedInHisHometown have flopped in the UK]] due to "nobody wanting to see a film about a group of women trapped underground", released only one day after over fifty people had been killed by being trapped on the London Underground. Especially unfortunately, this poster was on the very bus that blew up. However, the film itself was actually very successful (making over£50 million worldwide on a £3.7 million budget). Partly, this can be attributed to the fact that this is extremely cheap, but they also replaced the poster campaign, so it may be a case of misremembered controversy (and it's possible that it could have done even better - or worse - without the controversy.)

* BaseBreakingCharacter: ''Juno'':

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: ''Yikes.'' This trope applies in an oddly different manner than most horror movies, it's not hard to watch because the characters are [[DevelopingDoomedCharacters so awful]] [[EightDeadlyWords it's impossible to care about the plot]], but because they're so relatable and sympathetic all the horrible things that happen to them are that much worse. Let's just say that the title is very accurate - this is a film that ''[[TraumaCongaLine only goes down.]]''

** Another one for Juno, and whether or not if she is responsible for the death of Sarah's husband and child. Seeing that it's clear the husband had something on his mind, especially after a brief moment of seeing Juno with Sarah not noticed, which in turn led to Sarah's husband to be distracted when Sarah asked if something was wrong while he was driving.

** A minor example because she is a very important character, but Beth dies second in the film (only to Holly) and is often discussed, including on ThisVeryWiki, as much as Juno or Sarah. Despite not being around anywhere near as long as them, it's clear she made a pretty big impact.

* EnsembleDarkHorse: Despite being arguably the most underdeveloped of the group except Holly, Rebecca gets a lot of love for her climbing feats and BigSisterInstinct.

** For some others, [[spoiler:Juno crossed this when she left Beth for dead and lied about it.]] It's kind of a touchy, but much-brought up subject amongst fans. One could also argue that [[spoiler: Juno did this much earlier by tricking her friends into the wrong cave, including a novice, or that her affair with Sarah's husband qualifies.]]

* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler: Holly, the bad ass tough girl who loves thrills, is the first main character to die. Her broken leg sort of made her an easy target.]]

* EnsembleDarkHorse: The popularity between the characters is pretty evenly distributed for the most part but Juno gets a lot of love for her ActionGirl status and moral complexity, as does Rebecca for her climbing feats and BigSisterInstinct.

* BetterOnDVD:
** Played straight and subverted at the same time. On one hand, there is a lot of detail and scenes that you can't really enjoy as much unless it's on a huge high def cinema screen, but on the other hand, there's a lot of subtle things in the scenery and with character interactions that you don't notice the first few times you see it.
** Some have actually stated they prefer home viewing, as watched in the dark with no distracting noises provide for one unsettling experience.

** See the entry on AlternateCharacterInterpretation.
** Disagreement about whether [[spoiler: the crawlers are real or Sarah is the one killing her friends- see below]] can get ''very'' heated and supporters of one interpretation often flat-out refuse to accept that the other is even remotely possible.
** There's also the matter of [[spoiler: Juno's AccidentalMurder of Beth. On the one hand, yes she killed her friend and lied about it. On the other, Beth approached her from behind in the dark without giving any indicator of who she was]].