The Descent has a shot at being the best British horror film since 28 Days Later, with which it bears comparison its a grim, unrelenting survivalist drama, very different from director Neil Marshalls earlier Dog Soldiers (2002). Released in the UK shortly before The Cave, The Descent tells a very similar story about trapped explorers, but does so with more verve and conviction. Here, the characters dont have cannon fodder written all over them, and since we care about whether or not they live, Marshalls able to ratchet up the tension to almost unbearable levels. In the US theatrical cut, the film ended abruptly and bizarrely, with Shauna Macdonald escaping the cavern and returning to her car, only to run into one of her supposedly dead friends. The original British ending, where Macdonalds escape was revealed to have been a dream, makes more sense, even if it borrows heavily from Ambrose Bierces An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'