The rest struck me pretty much the same way.

Saw this today and I really, really, really liked it. I thought it was very effective using the isolated, unknown atmosphere of the caves. I thought it had a great setup as well for the 6 girls. Even before they encounter the creatures, the tension building up was terrific since they had no idea where they were going. Even the "jump" scares were effective. I usually hate those, but they worked well here.

Can someone tell me what the British ending is?

Glad to see that most of you really liked the movie. I knew it'd strike a chord with the horror nutz. Not only did I order the R2 from Amazon..... but I had to buy a R-free player! Just for this movie! (OK, I bought Flash Gordon also.)

And I could spend paragraphs explaining why I think the original ending is better. But I won't.

now that would be an ending...

from imdb:


that reminds me that I still haven't watched my Region 2 SE of 'Flash Gordon'

Saw it last night and really enjoyed it. The thing I hated the most was the end until I read about how it was changed. The one thing that kinda bothered me where the jump scares and how telegraphed they were. It seems that like in every new horror movie, you know exactly when the jump scenes are coming. It'll look like something scary is going to happen, the music will build, and then a slight relief as if it was nothing and the music drops out. Silence for 1 second and BOOM!!! This happened literally like 3 times in the movie and I saw it coming a mile away.

Any idea if the original ending will be on the R1 DVD release?

I've watched my R2 disc twice now and I still love it. This is an excellent and effective horror movie and I hope we can expect more of the same from Marshall. Sure, I could nitpick certain aspects of the film or script but in the end it's creepy, claustrophobic and well made so I'm not going to try and ruin my fun. I didn't bother with the US release since they botched they awesome ending and I doubt I'll buy the DVd since the UK edition is pretty packed and I doubt the US release is going to sport a DTS track.

I just ordered the R2 2-disc set from CD Wow. No need for the U.S. version since if you want the American ending all you have to do is press the button for the credits at the correct moment.

I just watched the R2 special edition of "The Descent," and really liked it. I noticed a number of literary predecessors, which you might check out:



Check out this blog for some interesting comments on the film:

"Walking Up and Down in the Earth" by Steve Tompkins, at http://www.thecimmerian.com/.

Best wishes,
Scott

They hated him so much they named their highest award after him.

Don't want to hijack this thread, but that was many years after the fact (1950s IIRC), once pleasant nostalgia had eased prior harsh feelings. I don't deny that the man was a pioneer, but he was also rather ethically challenged. As late as the 1980's many contributors to his 'zines still cursed his name, Frank Belknap Long and Manly Wade Wellman being two that come to mind readily. (That they quit is due more to their deaths than any forgiveness for Gernsback not paying his writers except on threat of lawsuit, and then only about 1/5 to 1/2 cent a word, while drawing $50,000 a year in salary during the Depression. Check out Mike Ashley's The Gernsback Years for the facts.
(If you want to continue this, we should go offlist so as to not crap on or hijack this thread.)
Besides, the Hugo Award being named after him is not relevant to the point that I was making about literary predecessors to "The Descent," or the resemblance of the U. S. version going for a cop-out when compared to the Clark Ashton Smith story.

Best,
Scott

No, I don't want to continue it. I know virtually nothing about Gernsback and I have no stake in defending him. I, of course, do know about the Hugo Awards and I couldn't resist that observation.

Just watched this. Good movie, though I have the same complaints as others (telegraphed jump moments, frantic editing). I know others will disagree, but it's nice to see a young, hot female ensemble cast go through an entire movie without having to show their tits -- something that an American production would never do.

A couple of classic symbolism scenes
which always add a touch of thoughtfulness to a script.

And frankly, I could have gone the whole movie just trying to find a way out of the cave. That was tense enough for me.

After all the reviewers takes on "The Descent", I'd like to add my 2 cents. My son & I saw the movie 3 weeks ago during the day with 4 other people( total) in the theater. While it added to the atmosphere, the movie took a while to get started for us. Finally, when we heard the throaty,gurgling sounds of the, as yet unseen, monsters, we figured " IT'S SHOWTIME!!". We both agreed that the creatures heads looked a lot like the evil army warriors from the 2nd "Lord of the Rings" movie ( without their helmets on).Also couldn't figure out why it took place in N.Carolina, when the movie was pretty much filmed at Pinewood Studios in England...aren't there any caves in England? Besides the fact that it seemed several of the women had English accents. The ending was, excuse the word, CRAP! My son & I both were highly entertained until the other girl "pops" up in the car...alive! We both looked at each other & said " BS". What a rip-off ending!. Now, I've seen the "original" ending today on YouTube, so tell me...WHAT THE HELL IS THE ENDING?? The part where she gets out, drives off, pulls over & the other girl "pops" up next to her, or she imagined her escape, looks at her daughter blowing out her birthday cake, still in the cave...fade to black. Now, you don't know if she got out or not! Sorry, either ending sucks! Here's the PERFECT ending. Our heroine crawls out towards daylight, over all the bones of previous victims,human & animal, busts out of branches, foilage, into the moutainside, covered with blood,mud,dirt...giving out a blood curdling shriek of freedom after finally escaping the nightmare she has fought all night. Then 2 nearby hunters whip around at the ear piercing scream, take aim, and put a bullet between her eyes. Now...come on...wouldn't THAT have been a perfect ending?? TOTALLY unexpected, don't you think? People would have left the theater SHOCKED! That's my 2 cents!

umm...no..that ending sucks worse than the two endings that are used

plus, it's just a rehash of "Night of the Living Dead"

Um..she ain't alive. It's a hallucination. And the ending you described as being 'perfect', it doesn't sound any good to me. Agreed, it's a total ripoff of Night of the Living Dead, and I just don't think it'd work with this movie.

Well it's your pick really, either she went insane (US) or she accepted her fate and was ready to die (Euro).

Just saw this this weekend and I have to say this is one of the best horror films I have seen in a long time.

It got me at all the intended places and once they were in the cave it never let go.

Very well done. Extremely glad I got the 2-disc UK...I intend on seeing this many more times.

Very, very good!!!

Add me to the short list of people who disliked this movie. Expectations for horror movies must be extremely low for dreck like this to receive so much attention. I watched the import DVD a few months ago and was thoroughly disappointed.

great movie. one of the best horror movies i have seen in some time. perfect set up and atmosphere and creepy throughout. very enjoyable.

and yes it was said in the commentary on the 2-disc UK.

No, I also think this movie is pretty lousy. It's not scary or unsettling. The acting, as he said, is dreadful. Juno, aka the bitchy, selfish, unlikeable character that everyone wants to see killed off, is a total cliche. I also agree with the previous statement, "The character setup in the beginning really wasnt that great," although I would call that an understatement. I really don't understand what people see in this movie. Hell, I think it would have been a much better movie with sympathetic characters and no stupid cliches.

Ohh, okay... I haven't seen The Descent yet but....

I just saw Dog Soldiers Saturday night, unawares this was the same guy till after. I wasn't very impressed. It just seemed like a forced actioner, no real characters, with some mild horror leanings. Was it supposed to be scary? It was like a second-rate Predator with some crummy werewolves seven feet high instead.

I guess my question is, is The Descent anything like?

EDIT: And by anything like, I mean bad.

Dog Soldier's was more an intentional ode to cheesy flicks of years past.

The Descent, imo, is absolutely nothing like it, and leagues better.