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The Descent Details

2005 DVD Certificate 18.gif
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 51,543 members

In a remote mountain range, six girlfriends meet for their yearly adventure, a caving trip into the arteries of the earth. The group makes their way through the remote cave system, enjoying the hazardous but beautiful surroundings. Then, deep inside the cave, disaster strikes when their route back to the surface is blocked by a .. Read more

Starring Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder
Director Neil Marshall
Genres Horror, Thriller

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The Descent

In a remote mountain range, six girlfriends meet for their yearly adventure, a caving trip into the arteries of the earth. The group makes their way through the remote cave system, enjoying the hazardous but beautiful surroundings. Then, deep inside the cave, disaster strikes when their route back to the surface is blocked by a rock fall. When they learn that Juno, always pushing herself that little bit further, has brought them to an unexplored cave, and that no one is coming to rescue them, the group starts to splinter. Left with no other option, they push on through the cave, praying for another exit. The women battle through this harsh underground world, pitting their strength and determination against each new challenge. Unbeknownst to them, there is something else lurking under the earth, a race of monstrous creatures hidden from the light, evolved to live perfectly in the dark. As the friends realize they have become prey, they are forced to unleash their most primal instincts to face the creatures. As old wounds break open and loyalties disintegrate, the women realize the horrible truth-they have most to fear from one another.

Starring Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder
Director Neil Marshall
Studio PATHE DISTRIBUTION
Run time DVD: 1 hr 50 mins
Blu-ray: 1 hr 50 mins
Certificate DVD Certificate 18.gif
Genres Horror, Thriller
Language English
Released DVD: 07 Nov 2005
Blu-ray: 09 Nov 2009
Production year: 2005
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (2) of The Descent

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  • Dog Soldiers' Neil Marshall turns the screws with expert precision. Tense, gory and masterfully malevolent

    • Total Film
  • In Neil Marshalls Dog Soldiers a bunch of blokes went into the forest and scary shit happened. In this... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
  • Most helpful member's review of The Descent

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  • 119 out of 160 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Neil Marshal - Absolute Genius!!

    After having seen Dog Soldiers and frequently read Neil Marshal's monthly diary coloumn titled 'The Marshal Chronicles,' in Total Film every month, I had been eagerly awaiting his follow-up to (In my opinion) the best werewolf film made since American Werewolf In London.

    The Descent draws some small similarities with Dog Soldiers: the deaths are not all caused by the beasties in the dark, a group of people face an unknwon monster, isolated and cut off from the rest of the world, we begin the story, focusing on one character's point of view... but these similarities are small and almost undetectable unless you know that you are watching a Neil Marshal film.

    Whereas Dog Soldiers was humourous and action-packed as well as a solid and definite horror film, The Descent is far more serious and fast-paced, Marshal hardly ever allowing his characters moments to breath between monster attacks.

    The 'crawlers' are monstrous humanoids that hunt using sound and have pointy sharp teeth, eating most of their victims alive. There is almost one point when the violence and gore seems reminiscent of a George A Romero zombie death as the crawlers dig into the live character's stomach whilst her friend watches, screaming (yeugh!)

    Indeed, the primal terror and fear is rife within the film and whilst the only breather the audience receives from the turbulent sequence of events is a brief interlude after the main shock-gore beginning is used as a chance to introduce the audience to the six female characters.

    Neil Marshal is well on the way to establishing himself as one of Britain's greatest horror film makers of the 21st century.. possibly even the 20th. Whilst Dog Soldiers was an absolute riot, The Descent is creepy, bloody and brutal but unmistakably brilliant.

      • Mia from Oxford, England.
  • Most recent members' review of The Descent

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  • 6 out of 8 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 1 star

    Terrible

    Don't waste your time. It's non sense.

      • Ludmila Curtis from London
  • News and features

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    28 Days Later - BLU-RAY Version

    Doomsday: Neil Marshall Interview

    • 02 Sep 2008

    We caught up with British cinemas very own Quentin Tarentino, Mr Neil Marshall, as he gave us the low-down on post-apocalyptic movie Doomsday. Neil explains how he came upon the idea for the film, his wariness of CGI and his love for Scotland… LOVEFiLM: Where did the idea for Doomsday come from? Neil Marshall: It was a combination of a couple of ideas; one was an image of a knight facing off against these futuristic soldiers in body armour. The other was growing up in Newcastle. Living... Read more

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Rating breakdown

51,543 Member ratings
  • 100
3,890
  • 90
4,326
  • 80
7,725
  • 70
8,264
  • 60
9,723
  • 50
6,386
  • 40
4,620
  • 30
3,114
  • 20
2,333
  • 10
1,162

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    • Descent, The - BLU-RAY Version
      A group of girls seek adventure on a caving expedition. Deep inside underground caves they find themselves cut off from the world and off the map. Battling to get back to the surface they realise that they are being hunted by an unknown cannibalistic force. Now they must pull together and fight for ...

    • The Descent
      In a remote mountain range, six girlfriends meet for their yearly adventure, a caving trip into the arteries of the earth. The group makes their way through the remote cave system, enjoying the hazardous but beautiful surroundings. Then, deep inside the cave, disaster strikes when their route back ...