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Author Topic: The Descent (2005)  (Read 2743 times)
UnSub
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on: June 27, 2009, 05:52:22 AM

One of Neil Marshall's films (modern British horror), this movie follows an all-female team of spelunkers who try to (mostly unknowingly) go through a thus-uncharted cave system. It being a horror film, things don't go according to plan, especially since one of the team is only just getting over the death of her husband and child. And then there is the case of the humanoid race they find below ground...

This film isn't great art, but as a low budget horror film it delivers. Being underground adds to the claustrophobia and the women are all human (rather than bimbos or pure script creations) and make some human mistakes. Tension is built over time with this film (or: some gorehounds will spend time wondering when the good bits start) and this movie has one of the most effective panning shots I've seen for creating a jump scare.

There is a different ending for the US (happy) and UK (unhappy) markets.

Didn't see this discussed before; thought it worthwhile to point out as a movie.

Hawkbit
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Reply #1 on: June 27, 2009, 06:44:59 AM

Saw this in the theaters (US version) when it came out.  US ending is terrible.  Some parts of this movie put me through a real emotional strainer and it had nothing to do with the underground people. 

Being in a dark theater in the spelunking scenes nearly made my claustrophobic ass walk out.  Alas, it was dudes night out and I couldn't puss out. 

I very much enjoyed it, but mostly because of the way I saw it in a theater.
Johny Cee
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Reply #2 on: June 27, 2009, 02:45:30 PM

Saw this in the theaters (US version) when it came out.  US ending is terrible.  Some parts of this movie put me through a real emotional strainer and it had nothing to do with the underground people. 

I just saw this again on TV a couple months ago.  Very enjoyable.  Didn't realize that the US ending was different.

Honestly, I really like the US ending:


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Reply #3 on: June 28, 2009, 06:34:59 AM

The UK ending is:


HaemishM
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Reply #4 on: June 28, 2009, 10:51:05 AM

I saw this on the pay channels not too long ago. The cinematography was pretty good, especially the claustrophobia of being stuck in those tunnels. The only thing I didn't like was the rather convenient bit of stupidity by the characters that got them stuck there in the first place. Namely, the hot chick who lied about where they were to get them in that cave. Obviously, there wouldn't have been a story without that choice, but it just felt like a plot device rather than a character flaw. I think the ending I saw was the UK version, but I can't remember.

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Reply #5 on: June 28, 2009, 02:49:20 PM

Today, when most scary films I see are just terrible, this one was alright.  It even had some decent creepy moments.

PS  I saw the UK version, too.

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Reply #6 on: June 29, 2009, 12:47:08 AM

I remember the UK ending too, although IIRC I saw it in theaters... Found the movie in general pretty decent. It didn't rewrite the book but it did have some good moments.

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Reply #7 on: July 04, 2009, 03:31:48 AM

If Descent had just been those women crawling around in dark caves and dying, it would've been one of the best horror movies ever.  The cave freaked me the hell out and single-handedly convinced me to never go spelunking, EVER.  The retarded cave monsters, on the other hand, were awful.  As was the marauding pipemobile.

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