1. Unit 1- distinction criteria
1. Did the film successfully change the representation of women in horror
film?
The descent has a realistic representation of women in horror
films because all six of the characters are independent and each
one have potential to escape death from the cave, this goes against
the typical stereo types of the horror films as normally theirs a
smart one, clumsy and clueless one and the risk taker but in this
film they are all smart with juno taking the lead. Even in the film
the characters show their importance e.g. Sam the younger sister,
the youngest out the group but yet she is important because she
knows the most about medicine and helps holy with her fractured
leg, this shows a difference in normal horror compared to descent
horror where the youngest would have been the stupidest and the
most ignored. In normal horror a film one of the basics rule is sex
equals death. In the descent we don’t get much sex, its more of an
un-explicit content horror film this shows how it differs. The only
time we get sex is when we find out that Sarah’s husband Paul
cheated with Juno therefor making her an adulteress.
2. Consider the purpose of the film; did the film achieve its intended
purpose?
Money, The Descent made a lot of money production wise out of a
small budget.
Entertain, in my opinion the film is very entertaining and
claustrophobic I speak on behalf of most non-horror film lovers
when I say this. The film sold out in the UK and the US this just
shows how entertaining and fun to watch it was.
Scary/ gory, the film was definitely scary to some like me, as I
haven’t ever watched horrors before so the element of scare was
greater for me. In terms of gore it was fulfilling and successful in
scaring viewers.
The film was so good and we know that because a sequel was
made this indicates the audience want more.
3. Did the film change the horror genre?
In a sense yes as the plot (they investigate then die) stays the same
but the approach is different creating a whole new level of horror
4. How successful was it at keeping the others interested
