The Descent [WS]

Director: Neil Marshall Neil Marshall

Overview

A group of close female friends on a yearly adventure vacation find themselves trapped and hunted in a series of caves by an unknown force that lurks in the shadows in The Descent, the second horror feature from Dog Soldiers writer/director Neil Marshall. After suffering a devastating car crash one year before, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) is lured to the States with her friend Beth (Alex Reid) to a special spelunking trip by the fearless Juno (Natalie Mendoza), who abruptly fled from the U.K. after Sarah's accident. Along with two old friends and a new acquaintance of Juno's, the group embark on a cave expedition that takes a turn for the worse after a rock fall leaves them stranded in an uncharted cave with no map and only a handful of supplies to last them the rest of the trip. As tensions arise in the group, they are faced with another danger -- one whose love of the dark is as strong as its lust for blood. Opening to rave reviews in the U.K. in July of 2005, the creature-feature went on to show at the Venice Film Festival and garnered the top prize for Euro feature at Sweden's Fantastic Film Festival. The Descent was picked up for future U.S. distribution by Lion's Gate, whose work was cut out for them considering the tame opening of the similarly-themed stateside production of The Cave in late-August of the same year.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/26/2006
UPC:	0031398206422
Original Release:	2005
Rating:	NR
Source:	LIONSGATE - 600000-AEC LGE
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Surround EX, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:39:00
Sales rank:	11,363

Special Features

Audio commentary with director and crew; Audio commentary with director and cast; "The Descent: Beneath the Scenes"; Deleted and extended scenes; Storyboard and scene comparisons; Outtakes; Descending: interview with director Neil Marshall; Stills gallery; Cast and crew biographies; 16x9 widescreen version; 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX audio; 2.0 Dolby Digital audio; English and Spanish subtitles

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Shauna MacDonald	Sarah
Natalie Mendoza	Juno,Actor
Alex Reid	Beth
Saskia Mulder	Rebecca
Nora-Jane Noone	Holly
MyAnna Buring	Sam
Oliver Milburn	Paul
Molly Kayll	Jessica
Craig Conway	Scar
Leslie Simpson	Crawler
Mark Cronfield	Crawler
Steve Lamb	Crawler
Catherine Dyson	Crawler
Julie Ellis	Crawler
Sophie Trott	Crawler
Tristan Matthiae	Crawler
Stuart Luis	Crawler
Justin Hackney	Crawler
Stephen Lambriodes	Actor
Nick Ingman	Conductor
Terry Edwards	Conductor
David Julyan	Composer

Technical Credits

Neil Marshall

Neil Marshall	Director,Screenwriter
Christian Colson	Producer
Paul Smith	Executive Producer
Simon Frame	Special Effects
Johnny Rafique	Special Effects
Paul Ritchie	Producer
Paul Hyett	Special Effects
Claire Alderton	Stunts
Stuart Bagshaw	Sound Effects
Michael Byrch	Stunts
Sergio Bernuzzi	Key Grip
Gail Stevens	Casting
Kim McGarrity	Stunts
Maxine Whittaker	Stunts
William Davies	Casting
Daz Parker	Stunts
Siobhan Coughlan	Stunts
Nick Thermes	Sound/Sound Designer
Michael Maroussas	Sound/Sound Designer
Phase Uk	Sound/Sound Designer
Nigel Heath	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Recovering from a personal trauma, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) agrees to accompany five female friends on a spelunking trip in South Carolina. The group's take-charge leader, Juno (Natalie Mendoza), gets all six women lost two miles below ground, where cannibalistic cave dwellers await. The Descent was lauded in some quarters as a "progressive" gore film because its protagonists were rugged women not content to die without putting up a fight. We wouldn't go that far, but Neil Marshall's sophomore outing as a horror-film director certainly deserves praise. It's lean and taut, reflecting unusual care in every phase of production. The atavistic "dwellers" are particularly impressive; kudos to the makeup department for creating such horrifying-looking creatures. The gore effects are also convincing, although the best ones aren't seen until late in the game. Clearly, Marshall wanted the horror to build slowly and not overwhelm the audience early on. And he allots more than the usual amount of footage to group dynamics, showing how friendships dissolve and long-submerged feelings come to the surface as the party's situation becomes increasingly desperate.