10 Things You Didn't Know About The Descent
1. The Actors Didn't Know What The Crawlers Looked Like... Until It Was Time To Shoot With Them
One of the most important features of The Descent for Neil Marshall was establishing the fact that the Crawlers weren't just another mindless group of monsters terrorising some women in a horror film. They were an ancient race of cave dwellers with their own looks, mannerisms and social structures, which was why Marshall chose to have them played by actors rather than stunt performers.
As mentioned earlier, the looks of the Crawlers were designed by Paul Hyett and took over three hours to get ready for shooting. However, in order to make sure the terror conveyed on screen was as natural as possible, Marshall instructed that the make up for the creatures be kept away from the actors at all times.
That meant that the first time the women saw the Crawlers for the first time on screen, it was legitimately the first time they had seen them before.
According to Natalie Mendoza: "When the moment came, I nearly wet my pants! I was running around afterwards, laughing in this hysterical way and trying to hide the fact that I was pretty freaked out. Even after that scene, we never really felt comfortable with them."
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