Today we have the first bunch of images to be released for the sequel to Neil Marshall’s modern horror masterpiece The Descent, simply subtitled Part 2 (although word is that in the UK it will be called The De2cent). Before I express my rather strong opinion about this, check out the images below:
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Now I’d just like to warn you that the following may very well be spoilerific of the first film The Descent – so if you haven’t seen it I recommend you skip the rest of the post (although I assume most of you will have seen it, or else why would you be interested in sequel news in the first place?).
First off I must express my love for the first film – I had all but lost faith in modern horror films when it was released, and it hit me like a bolt of lightning. It was one of the best horror films I’d seen in years and instantly became one of my all-time favorite flicks of the genre. It just truly terrified me, probably in a personal way that perhaps others might not find quite so scary.
And what made it scary wasn’t necessarily the monsters that eventually appear (out of nowhere I might add, giving one of the best jump scares ever conceived) but the sense of atmosphere and claustrophobia for the first half of the film. If you had no idea you were going in to see what would eventually become a monster based horror film you would think for a good 50 minutes that you’d walked into the wrong screening. But it also had other elements that made it more than “just another horror film:” it had an all-female cast for one and an interesting, humanistic story relating the main characters to each other. For me it’s just about the best horror film since Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining… and that’s saying something.
Okay enough of my praise gushing, onto the sequel in question…
Right from the very mention of a sequel I was irritated. Especially since they decided to make it about the same leading character as was in the previous film. If you saw the UK version (or the U.S. uncut version) you’ll know that there was a scene imagined by the lead and only surviving character where she miraculously escapes, but it then cuts back to reality where she’s still back in the very center of the indiscernable caves, being surrounded by the creepy Crawlers.
But in spite of this they’ve decided to go ahead with a sequel (as they tend to do when the original does better than expected, as The Descent indeed did), continuing on the story of the lead character Sarah, presumably if she’d escaped (which in the U.S. theatrically released version – she does). The story being something along the lines of the character heading back down to the dreaded caves which trapped her and her friends in the first film to look for survivors.
But this again rings alarm bells – there were no bloody survivors, they all died! We saw it with our own eyes! With perhaps the exception of the woman who Sarah stabbed in the foot and left at the mercy of the Crawlers, but she was clearly dead meat anyway. And I’m sorry but if anybody had been through what she did they would want to get as far away from those caves as humanly possible, potential surviving friends or no bloody potential surviving friends.
I’m sure it’s entirely obvious I’m really upset about them even making a sequel, never mind the direction they seem to be going with it. From the look of the images they’ve also decided to make the Crawlers more visible, getting rid of the “monsters in the shadows” aspect that was one of the key points that made the first so damn scary. And they’ve added a few guys to the cast, taking away the original element that the first one had of an all female cast.
Oh yeah and the mind of Neil Marshall isn’t even behind this one, he’s just an executive producer (which we all know is just so the name can be slapped on the posters and trailers to attract more moviegoers), but instead director Jon Harris (who was the editor on the first film, making his directorial debut with this one) and writer James Watkins (Eden Lake, My Little Eye). What a fantastic idea – take away the guy who with genius conjured the first one and replace him with an inexperienced director and writer.
Brilliant… really.
To me it seems they’ve just made a sequel for the sake of it, simply because they figure they can cash in on the good name of the first film. And as a huge fan (can you tell?) of the first one I am just so annoyed they’ve decided to go ahead with it.
What about you? Are you as mad as I am that they’re making another one?
The Descent: Part 2 is set to open in the UK May 15th this year (no word on a US release date yet).
Source: ShockTillYouDrop
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20 Comments
Wow. Yeah – I have to agree 100% with you. I rented The Descent one night because I was in the mood for a “cheesy horror” movie…a no-brainer…with cheap thrills… I had lost my faith in horror films as well. It was no longer about scares – it was about hot chicks, a cool alternative soundtrack and an ending you could see coming before the opening credits were finished. The Descent scared me like NO OTHER FILM.
Very disappointing that it’s the same girl – who did NOT survive – going back into the caves (even if she DID survive -that’s just a ridiculous notion to even entertain, nevermind green-light a movie over!)…
Of course – I was so utterly addicted to the film (I even googled “Horror Movies About Caves” because I was so hungry for MORE after watching this one) – I will most certainly rent it…expecting the worst…
Maybe this time around, I’ll get the cheesy, typical, no-brainer I originally wanted. Ah well…
Great write up. In a way…I’m strangely “excited” to see the film…
I just watched The Descent a week ago. I must have witnesses the US version because she escaped in the movie I saw, it’s cool to find out in the original movie she doesn’t escape, notwithstanding my hatred of alternate endings.
As for the sequel, I think a few pictures and a brief plot summery isn’t enough to judge the entire movie. It probably will be bad, most sequels are, but let’s wait for more info before we condomn it. Also, your summery is a little thin, I’ve read that the reason she goes back is because the authorities make her, so yeah it seems implausible that anyway would go back to that, but if the cops are forcing her I guess it makes a little more sense
PS, sorry for the typos, you guys need an editing option
@JMoney,
The only place that I’VE saw where it says that the authorities force her back into the caves is IMDB which is unreliable when stuff can be submitted by any user.
Perhaps it’s true though (the submitter had to get the info from somewhere) but even then the main character would make up some sort of lie that would allow her to never go near those caves again.
Hey, Well Ripley went back. And yes, she was forced, but hey, that makes the authorities forcing this character to go back just as plausible.
And i’ll be way more willing to go back and face a bunch of bat people in a cave than to go back to face a colony full of Xenomorphs!!!
I don’t want to plug another website but I read it on Slashfilm, maybe they took the plot synopsis from IMDB.
either way I agree with you that the sequel was completely unnecessary and a totla money grab, but you can always hold out hope it won’t suck
@JMoney
You can plus /Film – they’re friends of mine.
Vic
It has been commented that Aliens led to the ’sequel curse’. I now agree. I had hoped that The Descent, a superb sci-fi horror thriller, wouldn’t fall into this trap. But the film industry’s addiction to sequels is still showing no signs of diminishing.
I’m not saying that I’m totally against sequels. But they are becoming a burden for most films in this decade. Descent: Part 2 is an unnecessary sequel and I’m disappointed that it wasn’t realized by whoever gave it the green light.
Ok, I absolutely loved this film too. Have you heard of the theory that the Crawlers didn’t even actually exist? That Sarah actually went crazy and killed everyone. There is a scene, if I remember correctly, when they get up the next morning, before they venture into the caves, where she forgets her pills on the nightstand. Marshall made a point to do a close up on the bottle, thereby possibly alluding to something. Anyway, and the original ending, absolutely brilliant. Sarah, lost in the caves, staring at her dead daughter, with birthday cake candles lighting up her face. Then we zoom out to find that it is the torch actually providing the light and all we hear are the screams of the Crawlers (or the screams of insanity inside her head). It sucks that they are making a sequel, b/c it is just a money play, there is no creativity/artistic integrity in the idea of a sequel for this brilliant work. Although I probably will see it, and in that admission, the filmmakers have succeeded in their dastardly plot to squeeze more money out of The Descent, and the fans of the original film. Curses!
I loved The Descent, and I will not be seeing this. I’m sorry, but this is just the studio trying to squeeze more cash out of it. I can’t stand that.
johnnymontana
if that’s true maybe the sequel will be good. maybe it wil explore the fact that she is the one that killed her friends. she and the cops get to the caves and discover she is the murderer. that might be decent
I had no idea the US version ended early. Why do that? Who thought Americans couldn’t take a grim ending?
That ##### me off as the dream ending followed by the true one really twists up your emotions.
I have heard about other ideas for the movie. What the crawlers were, did they even exist, etc. That’s the great thing about the movie – it doesn’t explain.
I love the Descent because it isn’t about the monsters, but the main characters. I mean the crawlers do nothing as vicious as those girls do to them!
But totally agree about this sequel. She knows there are no survivors, she saw most of them dead or dying, and who could survive long down there anyway? Very feeble. Nothing would get me down there again.
Also agree about the crawlers. Reminds me of seeing Samara when they redid the Ring. Apparently they think seeing something a bit weird is scarier than not seeing much at all.
If no one has it, get the special edition dvd of the descent. Really good commentary and you get to see the crawlers dancing!
Still not sure what to make of the sequel, although I’ll no doubt end up seeing it.
But whoa (that’s English for stop a horse) on the “inexperienced” writer comment. Eden Lake was the most effective thriller of 2008, and despite its tabloid-baiting content, it contained some of the most horrific and memorable scenes of recent years.
I have to admit that it really bothers me when people have a problem with sequels,remakes or reboots.
Never will anyone put a gun to your head and force you to see it, read about it, buy it or think about it. You can end the story with the the one you like it and that’s it.
Some people (like me), can watch the sequel with an open mind and if I am disappointed, I can actually forget they exist and just like the original (like I did with Alien 3 and 4). But….what if they do make a better one? Like Aliens, 28 weeks later,The Dark Knight, etc. Do you want to be the idiot who complained that they made it and it turns out to be fantastic? Who will listen to you anymore? If it turns out to be worse or even bad…who cares? Ignore it and enjoy the original as you always did.
And to those who wonder why they make sequels, please, you can’t be that dumb. Movies are a business. Their only purpose is to make money…entertaining is a nice bonus. Movies made for art or to make a point have ruined careers and bankrupted families. A sequel that may only break even still employed hundreds of people for a year or more not to mention future residuals over time.
I can’t wait for the Descent 2 and I will pay to see it in the theatre…with mind wide open.
@Rick
Many, many sequels DO suck and are made specifically just to cash in on the popularity of what came before. Of course there are exceptions – my all time favorite movie (Aliens) is a sequel.
There’s no need to be rude about it.
Vic
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