Textual analysis

The scene that I have chosen to analyse is the last scene. This scene mainly focuses on the two main protagonists. One who plays the masculine role thought the film and the other who we are introduced to strait into the film with the introduction of a bit of her background, being the loss of her husband and daughter. In the scene there is also an indication of the final protagonist being left there to die going against carol clovers theory of the final girl.

The descent follows the generic conventions of a typical horror movie. The scene is set in a cave and low key lighting has been used to portray that they are trapped in a dark, wet, cost phobic cave.

There is a close up of the first girl that we are introduced to at the beginning of the film, whereby she is under light creating a distorting look whilst her face being covered in blood which signifies danger and murder.

There is then an over the shoulder shot with the same girl but with a phallic object (rock climbing equipment in the shape of a sword) whilst this shot remains there is mysterious but yet tense full music being played in the background (non-dietetic) which creates and enigma of what is going to happen. The first girl is planning to murder the main protagonist who played the masculine role I the film due to an affair she had with the 1st girls husband.

Close up shots of the women with blood on their hair and face to show facial expressions. There is non-digitise sounds of the predators that are after them, reminding the audience that the film of about them being trapped into a cave with predators and drags the attention away from their personal issues that are arise.

There is a slow motion shot of her stabbing the masculinised woman, and this shot shows how horror movies have changed throughout the years and have become more explicit and ‘gorrey’ as they show the phallic object going through her leg.