Movies
The Descent: Part 2 (V)
“Light on tension and the pervading claustrophobia, which made Part I unbearably bleak in places, Blakeson, McCarthy and Watkins’s script is lacking the dialogue and characterisation to truly get to know this new set of crawler-fodder, stripping their demise of any emotional affect.“
Sending blood-splattered Sarah MacDonald) back into the caves of the Appalachian Mountains is an odd premise for a sequel to Neil Marshall’s 2005 cave-diving chiller The Descent – odd on account of her not actually escaping her subterranean ordeal the first time out. But that was only one ending of the film, Sarah coming to and discovering that she, in fact, was still stuck in the damp, dark crawler-infested depths, her escape a trick of the mind. Shorn of this downbeat conclusion for its North American release though, Sarah makes good her escape and director Jon Harris uses this as his jumping off point for the sequel. However, this departure from Marshall’s narrative lineage isn’t the only difference between Parts 1 and 2 as Harris’s film is an altogether very different creature.
Found, blood-drenched and hysterical, by the police as a search for the missing cavers is underway in the full glare of the media, Sarah finds herself less a survivor and more a suspect, with the local Sheriff assuming her responsible for the girls’ whereabouts. It is for this reason that he insists on her accompaniment when the party moves underground in search of Juno, Beth and the rest of the missing girls. Sarah can’t remember what happened but it doesn’t take too long in the murky confines of the suffocating darkness – aided by the unveiling of the caves’ inhabitants and their dietary requirements – for her memory to return.
The production of Marshall’s film was against the clock somewhat to beat the similarly-themed yet vastly inferior The Cave (the Cole Hauser-starring US movie favouring underground winged-beasties and action over chills and suspense) into theatres, and Harris’s sequel has more in common with this than with Marshall’s sophomore film. The look is the same, the dark, dripping tunnels and omnipresent fear of what lay within them, and the action as frenetic, but the tone is very, very different. Where there was little hope in Part I – no redemption for the girls who promptly descended into in-fighting as soon as the going got tough – and the mood was one of devastating fatality, Part II favours a more light-hearted approach. Not in an Evil Dead sense, but rather there are moments of levity (the search party encounters the crawlers’ restroom, for example) which detract from the horrific events elsewhere, and jumps orchestrated by deliberate misdirection are played for laughs as much as screams.
Light on tension and the pervading claustrophobia, which made Part I unbearably bleak in places, Blakeson, McCarthy and Watkins’s script is lacking the dialogue and characterisation to truly get to know this new set of crawler-fodder, stripping their demise of any emotional affect. The film shouldn’t be viewed solely in relation to the original though, but in being titled Part II and following on directly from earlier events, it is intended very much as a companion piece rather than a spin-off sequel. It is a hugely entertaining film, with plenty of gore, shocks and surprises to keep genre fans entertained, a surprise return from one of the original gang will keep Marshall fans happy and it has the crossover appeal to reach an audience unfamiliar with our first encounter with the crawlers. It is a tad ironic though, given the film’s downbeat-sidestepping origins, that it throws a third act curveball of its own.
Check out Screenjabber.com for full coverage of FrightFest 2009.
Ghostface is back on the big screen this weekend… well, sort of… with the release of Scary Movie, which marks the Wayans brothers’ return to the horror spoof franchise for the first time since Scary Movie 2 back in the day. It’s likely to be the talk of the horror community for the weekend, but don’t overlook the other six genre movies that were freshly unleashed today.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Friday, June 5, 2026.
The horror spoof franchise is back with Scary Movie now playing in theaters!
Marlon Wayans (“Shorty”), Shawn Wayans (“Ray”), Anna Faris (“Cindy”), and Regina Hall (“Brenda”) reunite for the new Scary Movie, with the cast also including Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Jon Abrahams, Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, and Felissa Rose.
Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer (“Ghostface”), the Core Four are back in the killer’s crosshairs and no horror movie IP is safe…
Scary Movie will slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every “final chapter” that absolutely isn’t. A whole lot has changed in the horror genre since the Wayans Brothers were in charge of the franchise; their involvement ended with Scary Movie 2 back in 2001!
Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House) directs Scary Movie 6 from a script written by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, original Scary Movie director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans (Scary Movie 2), and Rick Alvarez (A Haunted House).
From IFC, shark attack movie Chum is now available on Digital.
Alice Eve (Haunting of Queen Mary) stars in shark attack movie alongside Eric Michael Cole, Jim Klock, Elle Haymond, Lisa Yaro, Johnny Gaffney, and Sarah Siadat.
This one sounds very similar to last year’s Dangerous Animals…
Here’s the plot: “A newlywed couple joins friends on a Mediterranean yacht excursion, only to find themselves caught between a predatory shark and a psychopathic killer in their midst-transforming a sun-drenched escape into a fight for survival.”
Jonathan Zuck directs Chum, from a script by Jonathan Zuck and Joe Leone.
Samara Weaving (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) and Kyle Gallner (Strange Darling) come together in Carolina Caroline, a sexy crime thriller now playing in theaters.
It’s not a horror movie, mind you, but it’s worth a mention here all the same.
Kyra Sedgwick (Family Movie) and Jon Gries also star in the romantic crime thriller.
Director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s film stars Samara Weaving as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast.
Adam Rehmeier previously directed the films Dinner in America and Snack Shack.
Tom Dean wrote the screenplay for Carolina Caroline.
Similar to Steven Spielberg’s upcoming big screen blockbuster Disclosure Day, Signal One explores humankind’s enduring question: what if we aren’t alone in the universe?
The sci-fi thriller is now available on Digital.
Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), Josh Hutcherson (Five Nights at Freddy’s), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Raoul Bhaneja (Possessor), Emma Ho (“The Expanse”), and Dennis Quaid (The Substance) star in Signal One from director Jonathan Sobol (The Art of the Steal).
When tech billionaire Sam Houston (Quaid) hires the brilliant computer scientist Annika (Fuhrman), she ventures to an isolated facility run by the brilliant, nihilistic creator of LITTLEMOUTH, a machine which can communicate with alien intelligence.
Annika soon learns some humanity-altering facts: that we are not alone in the universe, that alien intelligences are communicating around us at every moment, and that we are likely too primitive to even remotely understand what they are trying to tell us.
When the goal of the endeavor shifts from listening to talking back, the project rapidly devolves into chaos. With contact comes consequences, and soon Annika and the team must work to ensure the very survival of our species.
A schoolyard dare becomes an urban legend in the creepypasta-inspired horror anthology The Summoning. The indie film is now available on Digital from Brainstorm Media.
“A babysitting gig becomes a nightmare of urban legend when three teens summon Baby Blue. Survival depends on uncovering the past to escape a mother’s wrath from beyond the grave.”
Felipe Vargas (Rosario, Hive), Sergio Gonzalez, Brandon Piskorik, Corey Benson Powers, and Brian Sepanzyk direct the segments. Valeria San Martín, Justina Ceballos, Daniela Flombaum, Nannu Spannauss, Agustín Olcese, and Giovanni Onetti star.
The Summoning is written by Camilo Zaffora.
Happy Death Day actress Jessica Rothe stars as a mom struggling to keep her grip on her sanity and memory in the mind-bending Affection, now available on Digital at home.
In Affection, “Afflicted by a mysterious condition that resets her memory, Ellie becomes trapped in a cyclical nightmare with a man who claims to be her husband. She soon must uncover the horrifying truth of her existence—before she forgets it all again.“
Joseph Cross (“Big Little Lies”) and Julianna Layne (“Chicago P.D.”) also star in the sci-fi horror thriller. Affection marks the feature debut by writer/director BT Meza.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review out of the film’s premiere, “Affection is steeped in existential questions and fears that plague modern society, while it embraces the ethos of the ’80s through bold body horror. Add to that Rothe’s revelatory performance, and Affection is a hidden gem that will connect with your mind, body, and soul.”
Lucile Hadžihalilović’s latest dark fairy tale, The Ice Tower, loosely reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s fable “The Snow Queen,” and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
In the ’70s set film, “Jeanne, a 15-year-old orphan, witnesses the shoot of a film adaptation of the fairy tale The Snow Queen, and she becomes fascinated by its star Cristina (Marion Cotillard), an actress who is just as mysterious and alluring as the Queen she is playing.“
Clara Pacini stars as Jeanne. August Diehl and Marine Gesbert also star in The Ice Tower, and look for a cameo from director Gaspar Noé (Climax, Irréversible).
“For me, The Ice Tower solidified Lucile Hadžihalilović’s place amongst the most fascinating creators of fairy tales today,” said distributor Yellow Veil Pictures co-founder Joe Yanick.
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