When I first saw the trailers for The King Of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, I turned to the person next to me and said "I have to see this film". At this point, I assumed that the documentary-style film about two men vying for the title of Donkey Kong World Champion had to be a Spinal Tap style mockumentary. A little bit of research later however, and it appeared that this was in fact a genuine documentary ((ndash)) hard to believe, but even better!

Now bear with me, because this isn't going to sound anywhere near as good as it actually is. The genesis of this fascinating tale is a "LIFE" Magazine photo shoot back in 1982. They'd brought together 20 of the world's best arcade gamers, and it was here that one Billy Madison Mitchell obliterated the previous Donkey Kong record with a score that many thought would never be bettered. 20 years later, a man by the name of Steve Wiebe had lost his job and was having a bit of a rough time ((ndash)) so he turned to Donkey Kong (as you would). Steve found Billy's record, and, many hours of practice later, was finally able to break it. Here it should probably have ended ((ndash)) but it seems that Billy never really moved on from his "Gamer of the Century" days. No, Billy wouldn't take Steve's challenge lying down, and so began a duel to determine who would finally take the Guinness Book of Records entry for Donkey Kong.

The King of Kong has everything that a good competition/sport movie should. Good guys to cheer for, bad guys to rail against, the underdog to support, and a supporting cast of strange sub-cultural weirdos who you'll start to care about. It's funny, it's odd, and it's real.

A group of active young women go on a caving expedition in an attempt to cheer up one of their number who has recently lost her husband and daughter in a car accident. Deep underground, a rockslide cuts the group off from the outside world. As they struggle though the cramped caverns in search of an exit, it becomes apparent that something sinister is pursuing them.

The Descent is a horror movie with a fairly simple set up. What sets it ahead of the pack is simply how well executed the whole affair is. There are buckets of blood on show, but the film isn't driven by cheap gore. The story is driven by solid characters (mostly played by respected British TV actors) and a painfully claustrophobic tension, with lashings of blood splashed about and some creepy critters as a pay-off once you've had your pants scared off. The Descent is a late-night fright not to be missed.