10 Things You Didn't Know About The Descent
8. The Whitewater Rafting Was All Real
Neil Marshall's attention to detail and insistence on things that audiences would probably never pick up on is one of the biggest reasons why The Descent is so good. From the decision to construct huge practical cave systems, to give the Crawler roles to trained actors rather than stunt performers, to encouraging the main characters to do as much of the shooting as practically as possible, everything in The Descent feels gritty and real and is ultimately what sells the film's immersion so well.
One of the best examples of this is in the film's opening whitewater rafting scene with Sarah, Beth and Juno. Aside from being a fun bit of filmmaking, it also helps show these characters as being skilled and capable in the outdoors.
However, despite what most would probably assume, the whole scene was shot without the use of any stunt doubles or special editing. Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza and Alex Reid all did the entire sequence together, and Marshall's decision to use long wide shots of the trio was not only a testament to their abilities, but helped sell in the key theme of group togetherness and bonds right from the very get go.