The Descent (2005)

A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.

Director:

Neil Marshall

Writer:

Neil Marshall

Stars:

Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid

8 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shauna Macdonald	...	Sarah
Natalie Mendoza	...	Juno
Alex Reid	...	Beth
Saskia Mulder	...	Rebecca
MyAnna Buring	...	Sam
Nora-Jane Noone	...	Holly
Oliver Milburn	...	Paul
Molly Kayll	...	Jessica
Craig Conway	...	Crawler - Scar
Leslie Simpson	...	Crawler
Mark Cronfield	...	Crawler
Stephen Lamb	...	Crawler (as Steve Lamb)
Catherine Dyson	...	Crawler
Julie Ellis	...	Crawler
Sophie Trott	...	Crawler

Storyline

A woman goes on vacation with her friends after her husband and daughter encounter a tragic accident. One year later she goes hiking with her friends and they get trapped in the cave. With a lack of supply, they struggle to survive and they meet strange blood thirsty creatures.

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Plot Keywords:

friend | cave | creature | expedition | mountain | 

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Taglines:

Afraid of the dark? You will be July 2005.

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Genres:

Adventure | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence/gore and language

Details

Official Sites:

Lions Gate Films [United States] Official site [Germany]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

El descenso

Filming Locations:

Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£3,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$174,616 (Australia) (24 November 2006)

Gross:

$13,361 (USA) (17 August 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Celador Films, Northmen Productions, Pathé

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 100 min (original unrated cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS (US prints) Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the audio commentary on the special edition DVD, there was a exact replica made of Nora-Jane Noone and after the movie was finished, she got to keep the head of the doll and put it in her mother's freezer as a joke.

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Goofs

Cars in North Carolina are not required to have front license plates. Also, the license tag is made up of four digits followed by three letters; on North Carolina plates, letters precede numbers.

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Quotes

Sam: Trying to set this watch is impossible, the buttons are too fucking small.
Holly: Why do you wear that thing anyway ?
Sam: My boyfriend gave it to me, it's sentimental.
Holly: It's fucking mental, any guy who'd give that to me I'd dump him on the spot.

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Crazy Credits

This film is dedicated to Meg.

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Connections

Featured in British Film Forever: Magic, Murder and Monsters: The Story of British Horror and Fantasy (2007)

User Reviews

Dark, claustrophobic thriller hits the mark

This tense thriller is a terrifying chronicle of six young women who explore caves in the Appalachian Mountains and find unspeakable horror thousands of feet down. A cave-in traps them with no way to retrace their steps, but don't yet know that a terrible fate lurks around the tunnel's next bend. The film is reminiscent of "The Lost Patrol" as the ladies band together as much as they can against a ghoulish and unseen foe, with each girl's nerves pushed to the breaking point. The movie's dark, claustrophobic look adds realism to the ghastly dangers that the young women face and the music score is effective. The girls have several encounters with the predators underground and use torches and climbing gear to fight off their attackers. Natalie Mendoza is the group's ambitious leader who misleads the other women about the caves and also tries to cover up an awful deed she committed in a wild flight to escape. The four other women on this ill-fated expedition are also good in difficult roles. This movie is certainly one of the best films of 2006.