Happy Goat Horror

Dark bleatings, my beloved tribe! This week’s random trivia is about The Descent, one of my favourite films in (sort of) recent years. I still think it’s 2006, so recent is an incorrectly relative term for me.

1. Did you know… there are alternate endings?

That’s usually the case, isn’t it? The UK and the USA have very different preferences on how they like a horror film to end, so it seems! In the original British ending, Sarah escapes the cave but then she wakes up in the cave because the escape was just a dream. The monsters close in on her as she hallucinates happier things. It’s pretty grim, and American test-audiences were not pleased. The USA release had Sarah escape, and then the last minutes of her waking up still trapped were cut, so she had a happier ending.

2. Did you know… Marshall changed the dynamic?

In the original script, the cast was a mix of both male and female characters. Neil Marshall (director), however, changed his mind about that because of the lack of female-orientated horror films. He consulted with female friends to make sure the characters behaved authentically.

3. Did you know… authenticity, as it happens, was very important to Marshall.

He kept the main cast separate from the actors playing the creatures (Crawlers) so that they wouldn’t see them until they encountered them in film. The first time they saw each other was while the camera was rolling, enabling the crew to capture genuine shocked and fearful reactions. I love this strategy – it was also done in the IT remake (Pennywise was separated from the kids until filming).

4. Did you know… the Crawlers have a backstory?

Marshall came up with for the Crawlers is that they are evolved from early homo-sapiens – much like the great apes, we went one way on the evolutionary ladder at some point, and the Crawlers went in a different direction to become what they are in the film. They function as a colony of men, women, and children, which I personally think makes them much more horrific.

For this reason, it was important to Marshall that they have some personality, so instead of stunt people, he cast actors to play them, in order for the actors to imbue their Crawler characters with some individuality.

5. Did you know… (this is my favourite fun fact) about the Easter Egg?

There’s a scene in which Sarah falls into a pit of human remains and bones. Amongst those bones is a skull from Dog Soldiers, which Marshall also directed. I love that. I know it’s just a nod to Dog Soldiers, but I like to imagine that the films share a universe and that the Crawlers took a werewolf down!

If you have any other fun facts about The Descent, don’t be shy – let me know. I love trivia!