GOING DEEPER UNDERGROUND

TWENTY YEARS AFTER IT TERRIFIED AUDIENCES, WE DISCUSS CLAUSTROPHOBIC CAVING HORROR THE DESCENT WITH LEAD ACTRESS SHAUNA MACDONALD

- OLIVER PFEIFFER

BY THE EARLY NOUGHTIES, “people in peril” survival horror films were ubiquitous. It took the might of British director Neil Marshall, who struck survival horror gold with his 2002 squaddies-in-peril debut Dog Soldiers, and an enthusiastic cast of largely unknown young female actors to breathe new, terrifying life into the subgenre. The result was The Descent, an intensely claustrophobic chiller that follows six friends as they explore an uncharted cave system beneath the Appalachian Mountains and are hunted by a breed of ravenous humanoid creatures.

“It was really clever casting, because nobody was a name, and we had nothing to lose and everything to gain - so we just threw ourselves into it,” Shauna Macdonald, who played the lead character, Sarah, tells SFX. “Everyone was early on in their careers and wanted this to be the best British horror movie of all time.”

With a tip of the hat to Alien, The Descent establishes a team of credible characters you spend considerable time with before any bloodsucking monsters come crawling their way. “Neil was really committed to creating realistic people and putting them in an unrealistic situation. He wanted us to be complex but likeable, because you've got to care whether your characters live or die,” continues Macdonald.

To enhance camaraderie among the all-female cast, Marshall organised three weeks of rehearsals and training that included rock climbing, whitewater rafting and caving expeditions, which helped build a natural bond and trust among the group. “When it was time to shoot, and luckily we started with the log cabin and whitewater rafting scenes first, we were already friends and understood the dynamics of the group,” says Macdonald.