The Descent: Part II - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Descent: Part II



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


AV NIRVANA is member and reader-supported. When you purchase an item using our links, we might earn an affiliate commission.
​

Movie
Neil Marshall’s 2005 surprise hit, The Descent, is one of those movies that took the horror world by storm 20 years ago, and for some reason, is STILL considered an epic horror film in 2026. It’s been watched and rewatched so many times in my household that my original Lionsgate Blu-ray is starting to fail from constant heat cycling (and probably the weak pressings that some of the original Lionsgate Blu-rays suffered from), forcing me to get ready to upgrade to their 4K UHD steelbook that got released late last year. But you know what? The sequel has never been released on Blu-ray (or 4K UHD) state side since it came out in 2010, so when I saw that Lionsgate was going out of their way to give it a 4K UHD steelbook combo pack, I happily requested a review copy to see what the hubbub was all about. And by hubbub, I mean the consensus among fans, and the original director Neil Marshall, that this was a cash grab of a film that went against the original direction of the film’s unrated ending. And that Neil Marshall himself has gone on record saying that the sequel was “absolutely pointless”. But hey, I’m a sucker for a bad horror movie, so I went in with an open mind.

Taking the ending of the U.S. theatrical cut (which is vastly inferior to the Unrated ending), we have Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) escaping the gigantic caves where the monsters tortured them in the first film, and wakes up a short while later with the townsfolk getting a search party ready to go down and figure out where the other 5 girls were. Poor Sarah has suffered from amnesia and has no way to warn them of the horrors that await them, so the rescue party is going in blind, with only the amnesiac Sarah to guide them deeper and deeper into the caves. And sooner or later they all come to the same realization that the girls came to in the first movie. Getting out will be nigh impossible, and if they DO make it out alive, it will only be due to sheer grit and willpower.

OK, I’m going to spoil the very first movie right here, so if you haven’t seen the first film, or you don’t want it spoiled, PLEASE skip to the very next paragraph. And with that Warning aside, I can totally understand why Neil Marshall thought that this sequel was completely unnecessary and goes against his original vision. The film takes the theatrical cut ending and runs with it, even though the Unrated cut was the norm for the rest of the world outside of the U.S. for theaters, and Neil Marshall himself has adamantly hated the U.S. cut where Sarah makes it out alive. The Unrated cut ends with Sarah escaping from the pit, but it’s revealed that this was all a hallucination of a dying mind, as Sarah wakes up at the bottom of the pit, injured beyond repair as the underground monsters close in to eat her alive. Which means that there is no way for a sequel with Sarah to exist UNLESS they ignore the unrated director’s cut completely and just go with the silly U.S. butchered cut. Something which I have to agree with as well, as the Unrated cut is the VASTLY superior ending.

With all that being said about the silliness of this movie even existing due to the unrated cut’s ending, I will say this. The Descent: Part II is not a horrible movie. It’s just a dumb movie that doesn’t have the intensity nor the ambiance of the first film. It is a cliched horror film, where the red shirts who end up dying all do so because of insanely stupid reasons that never should have happened. Screaming when you know you’re to stay silent, the sheriff not following orders and making insane decisions, and the typical mistakes that doom them when they shouldn’t really have happened. Plus, the monsters are a bit toned down and less terrifying this go-around. It feels very much “paint-by-the-numbers” for a monster movie, with an ending that falls into the classic “we think we make it out, but guess what!!” trope. And in a stupid way, not as clever as the Unrated cut of the original was.




Rating:

Rated R for strong bloody horror violence, grisly images, terror, and language




4K Video: Video:

According to the opening scrawl, The Descent: Part II was remastered and restored by VDM Laboratory in 2025, supervised by Pathe. I’m not sure why it was restored, given that it was only released on DVD 16 years ago, but I’m guessing the film elements weren’t stored properly or something. Either way, the results speak for themselves, as this is a stellar transfer. The 4K UHD (and the Blu-ray disc) look amazing, even though the vast majority of the film (which used 35mm film stock, not digital) is set inside of a dark and grimy cave. Primary colors splash through every once in a while (such as Juno’s red shirt, or the green of a flare-lit tunnel), while the rest of the film is bathed in darkness and shadows. I didn’t detect more than a few brief instances of crush, and banding was pretty much nonexistent, leaving tons of detail even in the darkest corner of the caves to pop with startling clarity.








Audio:

The audio is just about perfect as well, boasting a typical superhero Atmos track that is just one big sonic delight. Dialog is crisp and located up front as expected, and the surrounds and overheads get a near-constant stream of activity as Kara blasts through space or creates sonic booms in the atmosphere as she flies around. Bass is powerful and cooked a bit hot, but not super aggressive like the Marvel days pre-Disney takeover. Simply put, this is a sonic delight, with Lobo’s heavy motorcycle blasting around, Kara lasering people with her eyes, and a rousing score that fills up every channel with rich ambiance. It’s a big, bold, superhero mix and doesn’t hold back.

.





Extras:

• Flashback on The Descent Part 2 with Shauna Macdonald
• Flashback on The Descent Part 2 with Krysten Cummings
• Audio Commentary with Director Jon Harris and Actors Shauna Macdonald, Krysten Cummings & Anna Skellern
• The Making of The Descent Part 2: Deeper and Darker
• The Genesis
• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary
• EPK B Roll
• EPK Interview Clips
• Production Design Gallery
• Storyboard Gallery
• US Trailer
• International Trailer

Final Score: ​

Simply put, the sequel is a movie that doesn’t really need to exist, and just milks the franchise in hopes of keeping it going. Luckily (or unluckily), the sequel didn’t do really well, and was released straight to DVD, where low DVD sales kept it from getting any more sequels to an amazing one-off horror movie. I have no idea why, but this was never released on Blu-ray over the last 17 years (at least stateside), so for fans of the movie to get access to not only a Blu-ray, but a 4K UHD in the same steelbook packaging with all the old DVD extras and a couple more? That’s a treat. Most of us won’t want to collect this or buy it as a blind buy, but fans of the movie should be very pleased with what Lionsgate did with this. A great video transfer and audio mix, and a hefty array of physical and digital extras make this a very impressive package.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Michael J. Reynolds, Shauna Macdonald, Jessika Williams, Gavin O'Herlihy, Natalie Mendoza
Directed by: Jon Harris
Written by: James McCarthy, J. Blakeson, James Watkins
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 94 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 11th, 2026

Recommendation: Decent Rental