31 Days of Drafts and Darkness

The Descent (2005)

We had some fun, now let's get back to pure, unrelenting horror.

Plot: 

One year after severe tragedy struck the life of Sarah, her friends band together and resolve to get her out of seclusion and back into their adventurous hobby: spelunking. Heading to a remote region in the North Carolina woods, the group plans to explore a low-level cavern. All seems poised to make for a great time and new start for the still-grieving Sarah. Unfortunately, the group's resident adrenaline-junkie Juno has tricked her friends, leading them instead to an off-the-map location no one knows anything about. No trails, no markings. Just these five woman vs. the darkness.

Things go smoothly until an underground cave-in blocks off the cavern's entrance, forcing the group to delve deeper and deeper into unknown tunnels in the desperate hope of finding some way out. Their flashlights are rapidly dying and they've only so much food and water.  The journey into the unknown soon begins to bring out the most raw and primal nature in each person.

But despite being lost, afraid, and running of out time, things get much worse for these adventures. Don't expect me to spoil how, but let's just say the darkness can play strange tricks on the stressed-out brain. 

Note: If you've never heard of this movie or know only a little about it, I'd advise you not to watch the trailer on YouTube or the like. Most every trailer for "The Descent" reveals the true nature of the cave, which winds up being one of the biggest shocks in the entire film. Walk in blindly, much like our main characters, for absolute maximum scare effect. 

The Flavor

Dark, paranoid, and severely claustrophobic, "The Descent" knows exactly how to terrify an audience. It's attack is two-pronged, trapping its protagonists underground and in the darkness. Anyone even remotely uncomfortable in tight spaces will immediately squirm upon seeing the inches-high crevices these actresses have to crawl through. I don't consider myself to be claustrophobic, but moments where one of the woman gets stuck wedged between a low ceiling and the cavern floor sparked in me a primal fear that chilled me up and down. And that's just from the start of the journey. 

Gathering up dread over the first half of the film, you'll find yourself so tense by the time the real scares start coming, and they come fast, that you'll likely spend the final 30 minutes of the movie screaming.Tight spaces and darkness are just the beginning. Once the groups starts seeing things the horror revs into overdrive. Most of the terror comes from the group losing its grip on reality and turning on each other. Strange sights and haunting sounds begin to unravel their collective sanity. Keeping a level-head becomes progressively more difficult.

One of my favorite aspects of "The Descent" stems from not simply the pure scares, but how the cast handles them. "The Descent" has an all-female cast but never spends a moment sexualizing or turning its band of adventurers into the typical scary movie cliques. Never once is any of them portrayed as a damsel in distress, bimbo, or virginal bookworm. Each is an experienced explorer, tough and smart. They talk like sailors and behave like actual friends. It not only makes them full-fledged characters, but also illustrates just how horrible a situation they're in. That these grizzled women begin to crack after having spent so much of their free time previously seeking out death-defying activities shows just how bad things get.

If you're in the mood to be frightened not by gore or jump scares (though there is some of each), but more by mounting dread, you'll seriously enjoy "The Descent".

Best Paired with:

No one. If you're looking for scares, watch "The Descent" alone in a dark room. Turn the lights off and the sound up. Wrap a blanket around yourself and get ready. Try to schedule the viewing for late at night to up the effect.

If you'd rather not face the darkness alone, "The Descent" makes a great film to cuddle up to a significant other with for Halloween. Bear in mind they'll likely grab your arm hard enough to break it once the scares start coming.

Accompanying Brew:

For a film so mired in darkness and mystery, I wanted a similarly veiled brew. Tonight's brew of choice packs so much darkness and bite that it's very name echoes the themes of "The Descent".

Sam Adam's Dark Depths is a year-round offering from The Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams). You'll  find it mainly in wine-bottle sized offerings, though Dark Depths in occasionally included in Sam's 'Hopology' mix pack of uber-hobby brews. I recommend fans of bitter brews to snatch these packs up when they see them.

Dark Depths is a Baltic Porter with a higher alcohol by volume content. At 7.6%, it's nearly double the strength of a typical American ale. Bear that in mind as you drink. The strong hop character and higher alcohol create a bittersweet note on the tongue. The darker roasted malt that gives the brew its 'light shall not penetrate' appearance shows up a bit later into the taste. The sweetness also fades quickly enough so the beer never gets cloying sweet, and the dark, smoky character of the porter-side of things helps cleanse the palate at the aftertaste.

Dark Depths isn't the easiest Sam Adams variety to find, but it's well worth if you're in the mood for a rich, complex beer. It has a blend of flavors - bitter and sweet bite with dark smoke notes - that I see popping up more and more in the craft beer world. While I'm admittedly a bit biased by the kick-ass label art, with its nautical edge, the flavor alone makes Dark Depths one of my favorite Sam Adam's flavors. Enjoy it slowly and let the variety of flavors linger on your tongue between sips.

For a deep, dark psychological horror tale, an equally dark and complex brew.