I'm not sure if this is old news here, but when the really rather terrific The Descent opens Stateside in August, it won't quite be the same version shown in the UK.
The original manages to subvert the expected it’s-not-really-the-ending ending, turning it from the usually schlocky cliché into something that is genuinely haunting. Obviously a little bit too haun ting for Lion's Gate, who've cut the final scene so you're just left with the schlocky "BOO!" moment.
Still, I suppose we should be grateful at least that Lion’s Gate haven’t retitled it Mountain-Pick Chicks in the Cannibal Cave of Death. Yet…
The Descent ending cut for US release
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AndyDursin
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I read about this a few weeks ago. Apparently it was done with the director's participation, or so they say:
Chances are, if you have a multiregion DVD player, you’ve already devoured Neil Marshall’s THE DESCENT (released theatrically in the UK last summer and on disc last November). If not, you’ll be able to see it on the big screen when Lionsgate releases the DOG SOLDIERS director’s subterranean exercise in terror this August in the U.S.—but you’ll witness an alternate cut of the film. Rumors have been flying around the web that Lionsgate has trimmed THE DESCENT’s final haunting minutes for Stateside audiences—and they’re not wrong. Early test screenings, and a recent screening at Sundance, have proven that the new cut with a different conclusion has been favorably received—but why tamper with the film in the first place?
For the first time, Lionsgate president of production Peter Block talks exclusively to Fango about the decision-making process behind the new ending, which had the wholehearted blessing and involvement of Marshall himself. “When Neil wrote the script for THE DESCENT, even he wasn’t sure where he wanted to end the movie, because there are two very emotional beats [that close the film],” says Block. “He [originally] ended it in a way that gives it an intellectual and downbeat approach, but he always wondered how it would play with an ending that had a different impact.”
Borrowing some inspiration from Fox’s handling of 28 DAYS LATER—on which a post-end-credits alternate finale surfaced in theaters weeks after the film’s initial release—Lionsgate offered Marshall the opportunity to tinker with THE DESCENT’s conclusion while the studio mulled over a release time frame. “Neil thought it would be cool to see how the other way would play; rarely does a director get this chance,” Block says. “If you add on a scene, it feels like you’re giving a film something extra; if you cut a little bit earlier, it’s not necessarily taking away from the experience, it’s just changing it slightly.”
This experimentation led to a palpable contrast in overall audience reaction. “Neil found that although people loved THE DESCENT, they spent a long time talking about the end of the movie and not the movie itself, and without the last shot, there’s far more discussion of the film as a whole rather than the ambiguity one is left with from the last moment.”
U.S. horror fans sans the Region 2 DVD won’t be completely left in the dark. Lionsgate aims, of course, to release THE DESCENT’s original ending on American disc when that time arrives. “The one thing I can guarantee you is that losing the last shot does not change at all how the film plays,” Block says.
“It’s such a well-made film, and one that needs to be experienced in the dark of a theater. We’d never do anything Neil didn’t want us to do—and this is something he did want to do, and we’re happy to accommodate him.” —Ryan Rotten
http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=5749
Chances are, if you have a multiregion DVD player, you’ve already devoured Neil Marshall’s THE DESCENT (released theatrically in the UK last summer and on disc last November). If not, you’ll be able to see it on the big screen when Lionsgate releases the DOG SOLDIERS director’s subterranean exercise in terror this August in the U.S.—but you’ll witness an alternate cut of the film. Rumors have been flying around the web that Lionsgate has trimmed THE DESCENT’s final haunting minutes for Stateside audiences—and they’re not wrong. Early test screenings, and a recent screening at Sundance, have proven that the new cut with a different conclusion has been favorably received—but why tamper with the film in the first place?
For the first time, Lionsgate president of production Peter Block talks exclusively to Fango about the decision-making process behind the new ending, which had the wholehearted blessing and involvement of Marshall himself. “When Neil wrote the script for THE DESCENT, even he wasn’t sure where he wanted to end the movie, because there are two very emotional beats [that close the film],” says Block. “He [originally] ended it in a way that gives it an intellectual and downbeat approach, but he always wondered how it would play with an ending that had a different impact.”
Borrowing some inspiration from Fox’s handling of 28 DAYS LATER—on which a post-end-credits alternate finale surfaced in theaters weeks after the film’s initial release—Lionsgate offered Marshall the opportunity to tinker with THE DESCENT’s conclusion while the studio mulled over a release time frame. “Neil thought it would be cool to see how the other way would play; rarely does a director get this chance,” Block says. “If you add on a scene, it feels like you’re giving a film something extra; if you cut a little bit earlier, it’s not necessarily taking away from the experience, it’s just changing it slightly.”
This experimentation led to a palpable contrast in overall audience reaction. “Neil found that although people loved THE DESCENT, they spent a long time talking about the end of the movie and not the movie itself, and without the last shot, there’s far more discussion of the film as a whole rather than the ambiguity one is left with from the last moment.”
U.S. horror fans sans the Region 2 DVD won’t be completely left in the dark. Lionsgate aims, of course, to release THE DESCENT’s original ending on American disc when that time arrives. “The one thing I can guarantee you is that losing the last shot does not change at all how the film plays,” Block says.
“It’s such a well-made film, and one that needs to be experienced in the dark of a theater. We’d never do anything Neil didn’t want us to do—and this is something he did want to do, and we’re happy to accommodate him.” —Ryan Rotten
http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=5749
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AndyDursin
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Carlson2005
It's certainly very different in tone. Where Dog Soldiers was basically Zulu-with-werewolves-and-wisecracks, he ain’t joking in The Descent. Unlike overhyped, undernourished recent local efforts like glorified TV pilot 28 Days Later, this is a real movie made by someone who knows exactly what he’s doing, and who does it well. More importantly, he’s not afraid to take his time to ground the story and the characters before getting to the main course. There are a couple of hokey false alarms before his heroines find themselves trapped in an unexplored cave system, but the first two thirds are a pretty good survival story in their own right, making you wonder if he really needs to give the gals company down there: big mistake, because when they finally do meet the locals, the film shifts into high gear that makes Cameron and Sigourney look like wimps. But it's definitely best seen on the big screen first, where the darkness really helps with the claustrophobic mood.
DESCENT is amazing! I can't remember being that scared for a long time Friends hated me for recommending this movie, because they couldn't sleep the night afterwards anymore. Im not kidding!!! It is not a joke when people compare this to ALIEN... it's an impressive horror movie with incredible tension even long before the monsters appear and shocks you won't see coming. I rarely get jump in the seat but there were at least 2 major jumps.
Fantastic score by David Julyan which is one of the bests of last year. The CD come finally out on May 1st in the UK.
You should definitely watch the movie in the theatres, though when the ending is cut in the US I don't see really what the point is then... the ending is amazing and beyond anything you would expect. To cut off before the last frame is killing one of the greatest moments in horror history. Brrrrrrrrrrrr....
)))
Fantastic score by David Julyan which is one of the bests of last year. The CD come finally out on May 1st in the UK.
You should definitely watch the movie in the theatres, though when the ending is cut in the US I don't see really what the point is then... the ending is amazing and beyond anything you would expect. To cut off before the last frame is killing one of the greatest moments in horror history. Brrrrrrrrrrrr....
)))-
AndyDursin
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SPOILERSromanD wrote:DESCENT is amazing! I can't remember being that scared for a long time Friends hated me for recommending this movie, because they couldn't sleep the night afterwards anymore. Im not kidding!!! It is not a joke when people compare this to ALIEN... it's an impressive horror movie with incredible tension even long before the monsters appear and shocks you won't see coming. I rarely get jump in the seat but there were at least 2 major jumps.
Fantastic score by David Julyan which is one of the bests of last year. The CD come finally out on May 1st in the UK.
You should definitely watch the movie in the theatres, though when the ending is cut in the US I don't see really what the point is then... the ending is amazing and beyond anything you would expect. To cut off before the last frame is killing one of the greatest moments in horror history. Brrrrrrrrrrrr....
From what I gather, though, they're not cutting it from the frame I think you're referring to Roman. It's being re-edited (with the director's involvement) but the intention is more or less the same. BTW I saw the movie last night, enjoyed it a great deal, but I wouldn't go so far as to say the ending was one of the great moments in horror film history...how many times have we see that kind of "fake escape then reality sets in" kind of finish? And to think I watched An Incident At Owl Creek Bridge via the Twilight Zone a month ago, and this is basically the second time in as many weeks I've seen a movie finish with a variation on that theme.
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Carlson2005
In a way it's a variation on the stormtrooper nightmare from American Werewolf, which goes that one extra cut beyond. But there is an important difference here, and not just the emotional angle. The false ending is pretty much a staple now - we expect it, and we also expect the logical real ending to be the Carrie one - that's it's really all over even if the heroine is screwed up forever by it. By cutting the last scene, it simply is the same ending that every horror film has these days.
I think the original ending gives the movie something special. Many people have differentinterpretations of it, so it is not like the INCIDENT...
SPOILER
Is she mad? Did she kill all by herself? Did she just give up, but the monsters are real?
I think the first, because if you watch it again there are some hints.. like she forgets to take her medicine with her for example.
That's more than you can say about other horror movie endings in a long time... and not only is it making you think or turning everything upside down, I thought it is also beautiful, sad and scary... I love this ending and that it is cut off in the US is absolutely stupid...
SPOILER
Is she mad? Did she kill all by herself? Did she just give up, but the monsters are real?
I think the first, because if you watch it again there are some hints.. like she forgets to take her medicine with her for example.
That's more than you can say about other horror movie endings in a long time... and not only is it making you think or turning everything upside down, I thought it is also beautiful, sad and scary... I love this ending and that it is cut off in the US is absolutely stupid...
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AndyDursin
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Sure I suppose it's "gutsy" because it's a downer, but on the same hand, after sitting through that whole movie I found it fully unsastifying. Look she's escaped! Oh no she hasn't! Or wait, she ISN'T trapped, but she is mentally, so the cave is possibly representative of her mental state.....I just didn't care for it because I felt like it was jerking me around, not because it was a downer. Am I supposed to have emotionally invested in the character so that the requisite shot of her with her daughter is something that's supposed to really pack a dramatic punch? I guess it did for some viewers, but it did nothing for me at all. That last shot is a grand, somewhat pretentious "ooo look, we've got you now!" kind of pull-back, but I didn't feel as if the story had done nearly enough to warrant that kind of "grand reveal" as it were.romanD wrote:I think the original ending gives the movie something special. Many people have differentinterpretations of it, so it is not like the INCIDENT...
SPOILER
Is she mad? Did she kill all by herself? Did she just give up, but the monsters are real?
I think the first, because if you watch it again there are some hints.. like she forgets to take her medicine with her for example.
That's more than you can say about other horror movie endings in a long time... and not only is it making you think or turning everything upside down, I thought it is also beautiful, sad and scary... I love this ending and that it is cut off in the US is absolutely stupid...
The rest of the movie is skillfully done, no question, but on balance, the story just didn't work for me -- I didn't really care one way or another how it turned out, and while it has some effective scares and was stylishly presented, I didn't have any rooting interest in the characters and the whole piece left me cold. It's definitely better than THE CAVE but one of the best horror movies of all-time?? As good as ALIEN?? I just don't see that...at all.
But that's just my two cents.