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:

survival horror | white water rafting | friend | creature | cave | 

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Taglines:

When you're trapped 2 miles underground there are many ways to lose your mind...Claustrophobia. Disorientation. Isolation. Paranoia. Terror.

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Genres:

Adventure | Horror

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Certificate:

18A

Details

Official Sites:

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

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 2006 (Canada)

Also Known As:

La descente

Filming Locations:

Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£3,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

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

Gross:

$419,970 (Australia) (1 December 2006)

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

The filmmakers considered it too dangerous to film in an actual cave. It also would have been far too time-consuming, so they opted to build one instead.

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Goofs

When the girls are crossing the first chasm. The first two have crossed and they are hooking up the third one, you can clearly see four people behind the third.

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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

The creature's snarling sound can be heard at the end of the credits.

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Connections

References Alien (1979)

User Reviews

Masterful horror film. Spoiler free review

If nightmare inducing horror is not your bag then the less you know about The Descent the better. Geordie writer-director Neil Marshall has delivered an accomplished, well acted, out and out horror movie that comes as much of a pleasant surprise as his first major feature Dog Soldiers did back in 2002. Shot in a mere 7 weeks The Descent sees a sextet of undeniably attractive action women leaping headfirst into an Appalachian potholing adventure that goes wrong so quickly you are left wondering if any one of them will survive, let alone ever see daylight again.

There are comparisons to be drawn to Marshall's 'Soldiers of course - again the story is stark and wonderfully economic. Again there is group of six people, predominantly one sex accompanied with a lurking, ominous threat and again there are more nods to popular film culture than you probably realise. The Descent however has a sense of humour that is suitably pitch black.

Long before the cave appears we play witness to a traumatic event that underlies the plot and serves to both unite and tear apart relationships in equal measure. Mostly affected are fragile Sarah and physically strong Juno, an adrenaline junkie who leads the group further and further beneath the ground. No time is wasted in recreating the primal feel of crawling through tunnels with hard hats scraping the dust from the rocks, choking and inducing paranoia all the way as it lingers in the stale, torchlit air. It's here Marshall gets a little inventive. Playing with various different lighting techniques our heroines become colour coded through scenes via glow-sticks, flashlights and video camera. Sounds echo when visuals are briefly lost and deliciously bone crunching they are too. Events escalate quickly and the whole ride becomes what can only be described as a non-stop relentless assault on the senses that will demand repeated viewing.

The only thing that will ruin this movie for you is word of mouth, which ironically is exactly what this film will need to become commercially viable. But the less you know, the more you will enjoy it. Have fun spotting references to Carrie and Apocalypse Now by all means, but don't be fooled into thinking this is a mere standard entry into the much saturated genre-movie staple. The Descent will rank as one of the most unashamedly terrifying British films ever made. It was made by people that love good cinema, and it shows. The Descent was made before The Cave, and now has an alternate ending for new audiences.