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The descent - Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, Neil Marshall

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Afraid of the dark? You will be.

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 (Natalie Mendoza), 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 realise 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 realise the horrible truth-they have most to fear from one another.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film thriller horror caving spelunking cave-in trap group dynamics monster adventure weekend extreme cannibal

Persons of interest

MyAnna Buring .... Sam
Craig Conway .... The Limper
Natalie Jackson Mendoza .... Juno
Molly Kayll .... Jessica
Stephen Lamb .... Crawler
Shauna Macdonald .... Sarah
Oliver Milburn .... Paul
Saskia Mulder .... Rebecca
Nora-Jane Noone .... Holly
Alex Reid .... Beth
Leslie Simpson .... Crawler
Mark Smith .... Crawler
Neil Marshall .... Screenwriter
Neil Marshall .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Los Angeles Film Festival 2006: Screening
Melbourne International Film Festival 2006: International panorama
Sundance Film Festival 2006: Screening
Sydney Film Festival 2006: Hot spot

See also Dog soldiers, The cave
Studios and distributors:

Icon Film Distribution

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Eeek! The descent is a classic of the horror genre: a bunch of friends with severe issues is trapped in an isolated wilderness with no way out except the one way you don't want to go. There is bitching, there is biting, there is bashing, there is bleeding, there is blood on the walls and the floor and the ceiling. There are scary, scary monsters. The descent is a bit like Alien with no Ripley to save you.

Or, to put it another way... a bunch of chicks get together for the weekend and demon-spawn rise from the nether world to walk the earth. Typical. Sounds like the average Aussie hen's night to me.

But apart from the misogynistic humour, The descent had me jumping out of my seat on more than one occasion. That's a rare thing. Gotta love that adrenaline rush! See this film: it's great!