The Descent
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- For the book by Jeff Long, see The Descent (novel).
| The Descent | |
|---|---|
| |
| Directed by | Neil Marshall |
| Produced by | Christian Colson |
| Written by | Neil Marshall |
| Starring | Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, MyAnna Buring, Nora Jane Noone, Alex Reid Saskia Mulder |
| Music by | David Julyan |
| Cinematography | Sam McCurdy |
| Editing by | Jon Harris |
| Distributed by | Pathé Distribution (UK) Lions Gate Films (USA) |
| Release date(s) | Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg 6 July 2005 Image:Flag of the United States.svg 4 August 2006 |
| Running time | 95 min |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~ £3,500,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Descent is a British horror film, written and directed by Neil Marshall. It was released on 8 July 2005, having premiered at the Dawn Horror Film Festival on 6 July 2005. It has received a cinematic release in Australia, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Canada and the United States.
The Descent was both a commercial and critical success, with box office receipts from the UK alone totalling over £2.6 million and a total worldwide gross of approximately £13 million. The Descent received very positive reviews from many critics and a sequel is currently being planned.<ref>"Comic Con '06: Neil Marshall Hints at 'Descent 2'", Bloody-Disgusting.com, 2006-07-22. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.</ref><ref>Butane, Johnny. "Marshall, Neil (The Descent)", Dread Central, 2006-07-30. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.</ref>
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[edit] Plot
The film follows a group of six women on a caving expedition in the Appalachian Mountains. Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) is recovering from a car accident a year ago, which killed her husband and daughter. She and her friend, Beth, (Alex Reid) are invited to the Appalachian Mountains by Juno (Natalie Mendoza). There they join up with Holly (Nora-Jane Noone), and two sisters, Sam (MyAnna Buring) and Rebecca (Saskia Mulder).
After stopping in a cabin for the night, they drive to the caves and begin to explore. A cave-in blocks the way they came in, and it is revealed that Juno has brought them to an unexplored cave system in a misguided effort to bring the group closer together. They continue on as their only hope is to find another exit. Holly breaks her leg in a fall and, as the others assist her, Sarah wanders off and sees a pale humanoid figure drinking from a puddle of stagnant water. It disappears into the darkness when it senses her, and when Sarah tells the others, they dismiss it as a hallucination.
As they progress through the cave system, they come under attack from the creatures (dubbed 'crawlers'). Holly is killed. Juno stabs Beth through the throat by accident, and Beth grabs Juno's necklace as she falls to the ground. The remaining members are separated, and try to survive the environment and the stalking crawlers. Sarah hallucinates about her dead daughter at several points, and as she explores the caves, comes across Beth, who is mortally wounded. Sarah sees the pendant that Beth got from Juno, which shows Sarah that Juno had been having an affair with her husband. At her request, Sarah euthanises Beth.
Sam and Rebecca are both killed by crawlers. Juno narrowly avoids the same fate. She meets up with Sarah, and the two make their way onwards together, only to find a group of crawlers between them and a possible exit. A fight ensues, the women kill the creatures, and afterwards Sarah cripples Juno and leaves her for the crawlers. Fleeing, Sarah falls and is knocked unconscious. She dreams of escaping the cave and sees a bloodied Juno in the car beside her. Screaming, she awakes once more in the cave, hallucinating that her daughter is there with her. Crawler screams are heard, and the film ends.
Image:Thedescent bigreleaseposter.jpg
[edit] Alternate ending
The Descent was released in North America with approximately a minute cut from the end. Sarah escapes the cave and sees Juno, but the film does not cut back to the cave.
In the 4 August 2006 issue of Entertainment Weekly, it was stated that the ending was trimmed because viewers didn't like its "überhopeless finale". Lionsgate marketing chief Tim Palen said, "It's a visceral ride, and by the time you get to the ending you're drained. [Director Neil] Marshall had a number of endings in mind when he shot the film, so he was open [to making a switch]." Marshall compared the change to the ending of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, saying "Just because she gets away, does that make it a happy ending?"[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| MyAnna Buring | Sam Van Ney |
| Natalie Mendoza | Juno Caplan |
| Shauna Macdonald | Sarah Carter |
| Saskia Mulder | Rebecca Van Ney |
| Nora Jane Noone | Holly Mills |
| Alex Reid | Beth O'Brien |
[edit] Reception
The Descent opened on 329 screens in the UK and received limited releases in other European countries, eventually earning more than £6 million in box office receipts. It has received many positive reviews in the UK and the USA, with 106 out of 128 critics on Rotten Tomatoes giving positive reviews, resulting in an 83% freshness rating. On its debut weekend in the US, The Descent opened with a three-day gross of $8.8 million, and as of August 30, 2006 has earned $24.7 million. Total worldwide box office receipts are $42 million.
[edit] Trivia
- There are many references to other films in The Descent, including The Shining, The Thing, Deliverance, Picnic At Hanging Rock, Carrie, The Evil Dead, Apocalypse Now, Alien, Predator, Final Destination 2, Pitch Black and THX 1138.
- At no point in the film are actual caves seen, all of the scenes are filmed with model sets, miniatures and blue screen digital images.
- In his Eatmybrains.com interview, Marshall said Pathe deliberately released The Descent first "just to try and beat The Cave to the punch, piss on their chips a bit."
- The Number 30 bus destroyed at Tavistock Square during the terrorist bombings of London in July 2005 had been carrying a placard on the side advertising the film. The placard featured a bloodied Shauna Macdonald staring out of darkness, and quotes from several positive reviews of the film. Famously, as seen in Mario Rosenberg's award nominated photos of the scene, the half of the placard left undamaged by the blast read "Outright Terror, Bold and Brilliant," a quote from a review by Total Film magazine. Several commentators, including writers for Variety and The Times, remarked on this unfortunate irony. Three of the four bombs detonated that day specifically targeted the London Underground transport system, leaving many victims trapped underground for several hours. There were initially concerns that the film, due for release the next day, might have to be delayed for reasons of sensitivity but ultimately Pathé chose to release the film with a slightly retooled marketing campaign. The US promotional campaign, managed by Lionsgate Films, is significantly different from the original European one.
- The American movie poster is based on a photograph by Salvador Dali depicting several women arranged in positions to make them look like a large sculpture of a skull.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
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