Speaker 1: Hey there, everybody. It is Monday, October twenty seventh. We
Speaker 1: have made it to our Top five and our horror
Speaker 1: movie hit lists, the top five movies that we love
Speaker 1: that we think maybe a lot of people have not
Speaker 1: heard of. And number five on our list is not
Speaker 1: for you if you are claustrophobic with that. Welcome to
Speaker 1: this episode of Amy and TJ. Roobes. This was one
Speaker 1: where I knew you were.
Speaker 2: Realin when we discussed our shared love of this film.
Speaker 3: Yes, we knew we had a kindred spirit. At least.
Speaker 2: It was actually towards the beginning of our friendship that
Speaker 2: we both realized that we loved The Descent.
Speaker 1: This is a fantastic movie. I think a lot of
Speaker 1: people do. This isn't too much of an underground It's
Speaker 1: a cult.
Speaker 3: I see what we did there.
Speaker 1: Now what it's a It's not really this is a
Speaker 1: This is a mainstream hit, isn't it.
Speaker 3: I think it is now.
Speaker 2: I think now that we have streaming services and you
Speaker 2: can watch movies that maybe fell under the radar before.
Speaker 2: This wasn't a movie that I knew of anyone going
Speaker 2: to the theaters to go see. But I actually believe this
Speaker 2: was the summer of two thousand and six. I'm trying
Speaker 2: to think if I how I saw this either on
Speaker 2: a DVD or what.
Speaker 1: Were you doing in two thousand and six? Two thousand and.
Speaker 3: Six, I was given I was giving birth to Annalise,
Speaker 3: is what I was doing.
Speaker 1: I was moving to Atlanta.
Speaker 3: So that's so funny.
Speaker 1: Wow, so wow. Anyway, summer of two thousand and six, folks,
Speaker 1: is when The Descent, our number five movie came out.
Speaker 1: The Descent, Yes, it's an hour and thirty nine minutes long,
Speaker 1: rated R. It has classified these ways horror, mystery, and thriller,
Speaker 1: adventure adventure, that is for sure.
Speaker 3: That's right.
Speaker 2: So here is the synopsis for The Dissent. A year
Speaker 2: after a severe emotional trauma, Sarah goes to North Carolina
Speaker 2: to spend some time exploring caves with her friends. After
Speaker 2: descending underground, the women find strange cave paintings and evidence
Speaker 2: of an earlier expedition. They then learn they are not
Speaker 2: alone underground predators inhabit the crevasses, and they have a
Speaker 2: taste for human flesh.
Speaker 3: It actually did really well in the box office.
Speaker 1: Did I didn't remember it having a box office run.
Speaker 2: But I think I literally was on maternity leave when
Speaker 2: this was out, so I'm thinking that somehow maybe I
Speaker 2: got to see it as soon as it hit a
Speaker 2: streaming service. Back then I had some time on my hands,
Speaker 2: so I remember watching it by myself, perhaps a middle
Speaker 2: of the night feeding. But it made twenty six million domestically,
Speaker 2: thirty one internationally, so fifty seven million total.
Speaker 3: That's great with the budget less than ten million.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's a good looking movie. You just said
Speaker 1: you watched it alone. That is not something we're going
Speaker 1: to be recommending. This cast includes Sean on the McDonald,
Speaker 1: Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reed, Saskia Mulder, Nora Jane Noon. I
Speaker 1: didn't recognize a lot of the faces in the movie.
Speaker 3: It was a British indie flick, was it not.
Speaker 2: Yes, it was set in North Carolina, but I do
Speaker 2: believe there was I believe there were British makers.
Speaker 3: That was what I recall.
Speaker 1: Yet, and the lead was I think she's Scottish, and
Speaker 1: so yeah, it certainly I forgot who was in North
Speaker 1: Carolina because everybody has an accent, and it seemed yeah,
Speaker 1: so you're right. The director here is Neil Marshall. Now
Speaker 1: we always love to say don't take our word for it.
Speaker 1: Written Tomato scores for the critics and robes. The audience
Speaker 1: seemed to.
Speaker 2: Like it, Yes, eighty seven percent for the critics and
Speaker 2: the audience seventy six percent.
Speaker 3: Maybe just because it's.
Speaker 2: A little gory, a little gross, a little scary. Little look,
Speaker 2: I'm claustrophobic. I have to say, heights don't bother me,
Speaker 2: but you like to me, like worst case scenario would
Speaker 2: be trapped in a submarine or something I would lose
Speaker 2: lose my mind.
Speaker 3: Like the idea of.
Speaker 2: Having to go into a submarine scares the but Jesus
Speaker 2: out of me. And so the reason why I was
Speaker 2: able to watch this movie alone though, by the way,
Speaker 2: is because I have.
Speaker 3: Zero plans on caving anytime soon.
Speaker 2: So I felt like, you know what, I can watch
Speaker 2: this and be totally creeped out and still feel safe
Speaker 2: in my living room nursing a little baby.
Speaker 3: Just it was just it was a sweet moment.
Speaker 1: Two things, you know, One you knew you were never
Speaker 1: going to go into a cave and get trapped, correct.
Speaker 1: And two if there are these creatures down there, you're
Speaker 1: never gonna go find out any correct. All good, very
Speaker 1: good way of putting it. The critic Gonzendus put it
Speaker 1: this way, deft direction and strong performances from its all
Speaker 1: female cast. Guide The Descent a riveting, claustrophobic horror film,
Speaker 1: that the cast is their their dynamic is pretty.
Speaker 2: Cool, so good and in fact, look and we I
Speaker 2: think you and I when we first realized we shared
Speaker 2: a love of this movie, when we both said, and
Speaker 2: the Descent Too is just as good. Now the critics
Speaker 2: don't give it the same reviews. I believe, but I
Speaker 2: thought it was such a good It picked up where
Speaker 2: this one leaves off. So if you love this movie,
Speaker 2: please please check out the Part Too basically.
Speaker 1: So we can give Yeah, we'll give you a two
Speaker 1: fer on this one the Descent. And The Descent Too
Speaker 1: is wortheeing as well. Now some critic reviews. I included
Speaker 1: a lot now blazed through them because I think you'll
Speaker 1: relate to a lot of them in their shorts. Some
Speaker 1: of the critic reviews, it's brutal, bloody, and brilliantly entertaining. Yes, correct,
Speaker 1: all right, you will feel like you have descended to
Speaker 1: the pits of hell.
Speaker 2: It is true, you feel like you are right there
Speaker 2: with them. I mean you do, like you my blood
Speaker 2: would like, like, actually chill when I saw what they saw,
Speaker 2: like your heart actually stops with them. You feel like
Speaker 2: you are in these caves with these women.
Speaker 1: You know, I didn't think about it this way. So
Speaker 1: much of it they had to be up close, even
Speaker 1: the fights in the this and that nothing is happening
Speaker 1: from a distance in this movie. Another one, often terrifying,
Speaker 1: often brilliant. Another one saying parents would be best to
Speaker 1: protect their children from the concept went psychological trauma of
Speaker 1: letting them see this.
Speaker 2: Honestly, yes, to think that there are creatures like that
Speaker 2: living beneath you is really freaky, like super duper freaky.
Speaker 1: Here is one for you that was negative. A mindless,
Speaker 1: mindless tense fright fest.
Speaker 3: A mindless tense fright fest. Yes, mindless. I mean, I
Speaker 3: don't know.
Speaker 2: I think there was a lot of mind games going
Speaker 2: on there. What I liked about this movie is, yes,
Speaker 2: you're dealing with this creature, but you don't even see
Speaker 2: a creature.
Speaker 3: By the way, for the first half of the movie.
Speaker 3: Didn't we clock that and.
Speaker 1: At least an hour.
Speaker 2: Because it's terrifying, first of all, just being beneath the
Speaker 2: surface like that they're going into uncharted territory. They didn't
Speaker 2: realize they were getting into this. At least some of
Speaker 2: the women in the characters did not know they were
Speaker 2: putting themselves in this pioneering position. But you're scared for
Speaker 2: them just being trapped, let alone having a subspecies of
Speaker 2: humans down there attacking them.
Speaker 3: That doesn't even come to later. But there are also
Speaker 3: ten within the group.
Speaker 2: Because there was a tragedy to begin with, there was
Speaker 2: some husband Sharon, I think that was going on. So
Speaker 2: I actually to say it's mindless makes no sense to me.
Speaker 2: There were a lot of other plots going on that
Speaker 2: made it really interesting.
Speaker 1: They're fighting each other, they're fighting to stay alive, and
Speaker 1: they're fighting to get the hell out of there, right,
Speaker 1: so mindless I find sometimes we've talked about this on
Speaker 1: some of the episodes. If not we you and I
Speaker 1: have talked about this. I sometimes see the higher the
Speaker 1: rating like the dumber the negative ratings.
Speaker 3: They're trying to find a way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, to be contrary, they don't necessarily take on that
Speaker 1: I didn't like this acting or this writing. It was
Speaker 1: just I don't understand why anybody even liked this. It's
Speaker 1: just mindless.
Speaker 2: Huh, what's that's a mindless comment? I like this critic review.
Speaker 2: No one really enjoys nausea. But for those of you
Speaker 2: who bragg that a horror movie is so scary that
Speaker 2: it made me sick, here is The Descent, Hey, grown ups,
Speaker 2: only gorefest that is bound to have you cringing and
Speaker 2: jumping out of your seat at least once.
Speaker 1: Well said, I like that gorefest is correct. This is
Speaker 1: one of you know what, there's some that seem gratuitous.
Speaker 1: Are going a little long this for the sake of
Speaker 1: the I guess there is a nature to these creatures
Speaker 1: that has to coincide with how they go about feeding
Speaker 1: and fighting and killing.
Speaker 3: There's a savageness to it.
Speaker 1: And they capture that in the dark. Now. The Descent
Speaker 1: is so expertly made that it more than holds its
Speaker 1: own as a full throttle horror flick. Yes, it's the
Speaker 1: director's decision to provide it with a psychological bent that
Speaker 1: puts it firmly over the top.
Speaker 3: Exactly exactly.
Speaker 1: He toys with our mind this whole movie.
Speaker 2: You're rooting for these women to get out of there
Speaker 2: and to get away from these things, like so you're
Speaker 2: so invested in them escaping.
Speaker 3: You are so into it and on the edge of
Speaker 3: your seat the entire time.
Speaker 1: From the sample audience, Now, I didn't even I've never
Speaker 1: used this word before. Uh. Claustrophobically terrifying. One of the
Speaker 1: best horror movies ever made. Another thing that the scent
Speaker 1: is a thrilling surprise from start to finish. Here is
Speaker 1: my favorite, though Robes, I am now officially scared of
Speaker 1: the dark. It starts off with a bang with the
Speaker 1: two deaths, and immediately I knew I regretted watching this.
Speaker 1: They gave it five stars.
Speaker 2: In parentheses, gave it five stars, but you're, like anyone
Speaker 2: who loves horror movies totally gets that.
Speaker 3: Yes, this is.
Speaker 2: Truly one of the creepiest movies you will ever see.
Speaker 2: Fantastic all female cast, a terrific storyline, and so many
Speaker 2: atmospheric and terrifying scenes.
Speaker 3: I love this.
Speaker 2: This is the only movie that made me so uncomfortable
Speaker 2: with the claustrophobic scenes near the beginning that I seriously
Speaker 2: wanted to leave the theater.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's a good review.
Speaker 1: I think that is the If we're recommending this one,
Speaker 1: we say why this one made our list? And I
Speaker 1: think this is one of the reasons for me Robes
Speaker 1: is that if monsters never showed up, this was a
Speaker 1: horror movie on its own. There are scenes and where
Speaker 1: they're stuck and a couple of women start panicking because
Speaker 1: they think they won't be able to get out that
Speaker 1: you are breathing. You find yourself breathing hard watching this.
Speaker 1: It was a horror movie.
Speaker 3: Yes, before the creatures.
Speaker 1: Yes, and even the dread of their they say that
Speaker 1: at one point, I think they said they were a
Speaker 1: mile or something underground, so there's no light, and so
Speaker 1: there's dread from the jump. As soon as their batteries
Speaker 1: go out on their lights, it's gonna be pitch black.
Speaker 3: Even the idea of that can you racing against time.
Speaker 1: Against batteries, even that attitude this being a horror movie for.
Speaker 3: It it is.
Speaker 2: I mean, it is so scary from start to finish.
Speaker 2: It is a wild ride. So when we come back,
Speaker 2: we're gonna tell you, Yes, we'll get into the specifics
Speaker 2: of why it made our list, who it's for, who
Speaker 2: it's not for, what to pair it with, and where
Speaker 2: to watch it. Plus of course you will tease ahead
Speaker 2: to our number four on the list. We are in
Speaker 2: our top five people, and we continue our conversation on
Speaker 2: the dissent.
Speaker 3: It is number.
Speaker 2: Five on our Halloween Horror hit list, and it has
Speaker 2: been one of our favorite horror movies for almost twenty
Speaker 2: years now, and we hope it will soon be one
Speaker 2: of your favorites as well.
Speaker 3: It is terrifying.
Speaker 2: It has all the elements of being stuck somewhere claustrophobic,
Speaker 2: you're underground, you're fighting within your own factions, and now
Speaker 2: you've got these flesh eating, subhuman, subterranean creatures after you.
Speaker 2: It's so scary and it's so good, and the critics
Speaker 2: and the audience finally actually agree with us. It doesn't
Speaker 2: always happen, but this is one of those where there
Speaker 2: seems to be an absolute consensus. Why it made our list, Well,
Speaker 2: we bonded over it, so it had to be on
Speaker 2: the list. It's one of our favorite first horror movie
Speaker 2: conversations we ever had. And it's it's so intense. I
Speaker 2: think that was like it's heart pounding. It never lets up,
Speaker 2: and you are on a ride and you're like you're
Speaker 2: on this fast moving train and you can't get off it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and again when there's a horror movie does a
Speaker 1: formula to where if you don't see the monster the
Speaker 1: bad guy, you're not supposed to be scared. This is
Speaker 1: a movie where you are terrified before a monster ever
Speaker 1: shows up. And they were able to create this tension
Speaker 1: and this I don't know, just the lighting and the
Speaker 1: setting and everything about it. They created an environment. This
Speaker 1: is an experience of a movie.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, I totally agree with that.
Speaker 2: And the acting is incredible from people who you don't
Speaker 2: even know, so just really phenomenal act do really good.
Speaker 2: I was gonna say storytelling, but I was horror telling.
Speaker 2: But it's kind of both horror storytelling.
Speaker 3: Who's this for? If you love a monster?
Speaker 2: And there are certain we've talked about in this list,
Speaker 2: lots of different subgenres of horror movies, But I love
Speaker 2: a creature film, and this is an unexpected one, not
Speaker 2: one you've seen before, yes, and not one really i've
Speaker 2: seen since. I think they're so good at just giving
Speaker 2: you glimpses of these things and you're waiting for it
Speaker 2: and you don't and there oh, but the way they
Speaker 2: did it, it's so realistic looking.
Speaker 3: It's not over the top.
Speaker 2: It actually is exactly what you think subterranean cave dwelling,
Speaker 2: flesh eating things would like half human, what they would
Speaker 2: look like.
Speaker 1: Ooh ooh, this is one we have to say here.
Speaker 1: You have to have to have to watch this in
Speaker 1: the dark. It needs to be pitch black in the
Speaker 1: room because so much of this. Yes, they're in caves.
Speaker 1: There's it's very low lighting, and a lot of these fights,
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff happens pretty quickly in very low lighting.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 2: And also if you love like survival adventure type of
Speaker 2: horror movies, this is that's got that element to it
Speaker 2: as well. A race against time, a race against creatures,
Speaker 2: and a race against just even your own conditions, like
Speaker 2: trying to get out of something. It's it's so good, now,
Speaker 2: who is it not for this is? It gets pretty gory.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not over the top. It's what it should be. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't think it's gratuitous for what this is. But yeah,
Speaker 1: there are some I guess there's the A lot of
Speaker 1: the sound is disturbing as well, and a lot of
Speaker 1: these fights, and there's some All the weapons are sharp,
Speaker 1: all the deaths of brutal, the injuries are even.
Speaker 3: There are some injuries.
Speaker 2: There's at least one arm remembering that's really tough, really tough.
Speaker 2: And I do think what one of the critics said
Speaker 2: about not letting your kids watch this, This to me
Speaker 2: is stuff of nightmare. Like the creatures like no, but
Speaker 2: when you see their faces it can haunt you. Like
Speaker 2: this could keep you up at night, and certainly if
Speaker 2: you're young and just seeing their faces. I again was
Speaker 2: not scared because I just was able to rationalize it
Speaker 2: and say, I'm not.
Speaker 3: In a cave. These aren't things that are walking around
Speaker 3: New York City, So.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of okay, Well, the l train you seeing that.
Speaker 3: It is Halloween, like, we could see some of that.
Speaker 3: But yes, if you don't like Gore, if you don't.
Speaker 2: Like anything that's I mean, honestly, if you don't want
Speaker 2: to be too scared, this isn't. It's intense and it's scary.
Speaker 2: So you have to want both of those things, the
Speaker 2: intensity and the fear.
Speaker 1: There are no breaks in this movie. Once they go
Speaker 1: in that cave, you just sit up. It's going to
Speaker 1: be a ride until the absolute vary end.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And so in terms of what to pair it with,
Speaker 2: so you think you should have to watch this, it
Speaker 2: is better to watch with someone. Oh absolutely, I watched this.
Speaker 2: I remember when I was on maternity leave, I watched
Speaker 2: this and I watched The Extorcism of Emily Rose, and
Speaker 2: both of those for very different reasons.
Speaker 3: Literally, I regretted it.
Speaker 2: I was I was in the woods by myself with
Speaker 2: that my baby, and I think my mom. It was
Speaker 2: like all girls, like it was literally an all female
Speaker 2: cast in the house. It was really dumb. But so, yeah,
Speaker 2: you should probably watch this with somebody. I would say
Speaker 2: that would be fun. And yes, in the pitch black
Speaker 2: in the dark at night, and look, I don't know,
Speaker 2: I think it's so intense. I wouldn't eat a lot
Speaker 2: like popcorn, keep it simple popcorn. I was like, this
Speaker 2: is like the acid inducing type of movie, So you
Speaker 2: want to keep those things just to a minimum.
Speaker 3: So salty snacks, that's what I would say.
Speaker 1: I cannot tell folks what not to eat. Yes, why
Speaker 1: in God's name were we having medium late.
Speaker 2: Terrible? We even said we have to admit what we
Speaker 2: were watching when we read what we were eating while
Speaker 2: we were rewatching it. And yes, medium rare filet mignon
Speaker 2: is not something to pair.
Speaker 3: With this movie. It was a big mistake. I totally
Speaker 3: forgot about that.
Speaker 2: I don't really think you should probably eat medium rare
Speaker 2: steak with just about every single horror movie period. You
Speaker 2: should just go ahead and do that ahead of time
Speaker 2: and then keep to the light snack.
Speaker 3: Yes, all right, Where to watch this?
Speaker 2: This is on Amazon Prime if you've got a subscription,
Speaker 2: but we found it pretty easy to find. And then
Speaker 2: the descent too is also there as well, I believe,
Speaker 2: so you can just do one and then number two
Speaker 2: right afterwards. All right, next up our number four this week?
Speaker 2: How would you describe this one? How would you tease this?
Speaker 2: This is another one of our all time favorites that
Speaker 2: we both bonded over as well.
Speaker 1: Yes, this is a sleeper and a shocker that it's
Speaker 1: in our top five for a number of reasons, including
Speaker 1: it's PG thirteen.
Speaker 2: We were shocked you said this to me yesterday. Can
Speaker 2: you believe this? Robes two of our top five are
Speaker 2: PG thirteen something that you avoid at all costs, and
Speaker 2: we had no idea.
Speaker 1: But it does include perhaps our favorite horror movie actor
Speaker 1: of all time, mister Justin Long. So looking forward to
Speaker 1: telling you about number four tomorrow, but for now, hopefully
Speaker 1: always appreciate you hanging with us. I hope you've got
Speaker 1: some good out of these horror movies, but we got
Speaker 1: some doozies for you this week, but always appreciate you listening.
Speaker 1: For now, I'm TJ. Holmes alongside Hemmy Roepok. We'll talk
Speaker 1: to y'll soon