Not mine, but you can read ScriptDirect’s highly-detailed coverage of The Descent sequel’s screenplay HERE. While I have many gripes with the original film (namely all the parts with uh, talking), I was absolutely wowed by Neil Marshall’s direction.
The screenplay is credited to James Watkins (My Little Eye) and will serve as the feature debut of Jon Harris (Editor on The Descent, Stardust, Snatch)
Major spoilers after the jump:
OPEN in the Appalachian mountains, just where the original film ended. We hear the voicemail messages of the six girls who went spelunking in the caves there and were never heard from again. A mountain RANGER’s voice messages reveals that the girls are missing. Did they forget to call in? Or are they in trouble? CUT TO the rescue team outside the Boreham Caverns: there’s DAN, the leader, with GREG, 22, and CATH, 27, working as volunteers. They head down into the caves, noting the dangerous outcroppings and sheer rockfaces. They emerge from the cave with no clues, glowering at Chief Deputy VAINES, who is pressured to get some kind of search party going. But where to start?
Suddenly, a woman staggers into the window of a roadhouse café, smearing it with blood. This is SARAH, one of the cavers! She collapses and is taken to the hospital, where Vaines and his younger partner, the female RIOS, try to question her. Rios tries the soft touch, but Sarah is clearly traumatized, hearing ‘click’ sounds everywhere, fearing for her life … and unable or unwilling to talk. Believing that Sarah’s memory is the key to finding the others, Vaines finally takes over and decides to take Sarah with them into the caves. Her memory will certainly be jogged, and maybe she can help them locate the other lost girls before time runs out.
Sarah allows herself to be taken to the mines. She sits there, numb, totally shut down. Vaines, Rios, Dan, Greg, and Cath accompany her down in the creaky elevator, where Sarah gets more and more nervous. Realizing where she is going, she finally lashes out, screaming, “Don’t go down! There’s something down there!” but it’s too late – they are halfway down into the caves. Sarah is restrained. They reach the bottom and begin looking for the lost girls as Sarah’s fear becomes nearly overwhelming. Rios tries to soothe her, but down in the dark caves, with collapsing ceilings, drips and clicks and echoes everywhere … it’s very creepy. Dan watches Sarah’s reaction and regrets allowing Vaines to bring her down.
Suddenly the group comes upon a horse skeleton on the floor. Claw marks on the walls. Sarah shrinks in fear. They then find a snaplight and boot – from a caver! When Cath shouts out for the girls, Sarah tries to smother her into silence. She admits that there are “creatures” down there. Then they find the body of a girl (REBECCA from the first film). Half of her face is missing; a rat slips out of her mouth. Should Sarah be considered a suspect?
The radios stop working, and the group is clearly lost. Dan and Cath veer off alone. When Cath is trapped after a ceiling collapse, Dan tries to calm her and promises to return, but he wonders if he’ll ever see her again. He comes upon BETH’s (from first film) smashed face while several feet away, Rios sees Holly’s body, eviscerated. Dan can’t believe Sarah would do that, and Rios points out the savageness of the wounds. Sarah dashes off alone into one of the honeycomb tunnels. In the distance, Greg screams. Sarah turns off her flashlight and ducks down, quiet, then traces a drip of water. Then Dan and Rios find the cavers’ camcorder, which plays back the scenes of their laughter and fun. The replay shows them entering this very spot of the cave, seeing the animals’ bones. Then the shadow of a CRAWLER is visible, and as Rios struggles to rewind it, a Crawler appears right before them, hisses … and Rios drops the camcorder. As Dan fumbles about the sudden darkness for it, Sarah grabs Rios and covers her mouth just as a
Crawler appears, sniffing around. Sarah refuses to warn Dan. Dan finds the camera and lifts its light just in time to see Sarah holding Rios – and then bam! He is attacked, eaten, but Sarah and Rios are safe as the Crawler drags Dan’s body away. Rios is horrified that Sarah just let Dan die, but Sarah won’t stay around to be scolded. She takes Dan’s left-behind flares, flashlight, maps and tools and heads out. Rios follows, freaked out. CUT TO Cath, still trapped, hearing the sinister clicks, thinking Dan is approaching. But of course it’s a Crawler, whom Cath manages to slam in the face with a sharp rock, dislodging the rest of the ceiling. As it falls, the Crawler is killed and Cath escapes before being buried. She scurries down the tunnels and finds herself in a Crawler Catacomb. Cath bumps into Greg. They are relieved to be together.
Meanwhile Vaines comes upon Dan’s body and assumes Sarah killed him. He tries to contact Cath and Greg via the radio, but his message is barely audible. Cath and Greg keep running and come upon SAM’s body (from the first film), dangling upside down from a rope, her innards chewed away. The duo is chased by Crawlers; Cath swings at it with her pick but is pulled down, and devoured. Meanwhile Sarah climbs and swims through numerous tunnels and poor Rios, out of her depth, struggles to keep up. Sarah risks her life to save Rios. The two women form a bond as they nearly drown, are decapitated, and chased by Crawlers. They struggle to find a way out. Rios records a last message on her phone for her little daughter while Sarah remembers hers (now dead). They have a narrow escape from a hungry Crawler.
In another part of the cave, Greg is attacked by two smaller Crawlers but is attacked by its MOTHER and eventually kills himself on his own whirring drill. CUT TO Vaines, who thinks he’s being attacked by Crawlers but comes face to face with JUNO – one of the girls lost in the cave! She is filthy, feral, and up for a fight. Vaines still believes Sarah is to blame, and Juno (who remembers killing Beth) is disinclined to change his mind with the facts. But then Vaines catches sight of a Crawler and stares in utter disbelief. Juno kills it. Vaines now blames Sarah for leaving Juno and the others for dead. Juno senses the Crawlers advancing and attacks with her teeth.
Tons more, including expert analysis at ScriptDirect’s review page
Sounds like they should have left well enough alone.
Dig this,
Eoh.
[Insert snide remark from Brian]
Not much to say, really.
Oh, good call.
“When one guy jokes, respond by being serious. And vice versa.” – Rhetoric 101.
the movie sounds like it going to be good once the action starts but seems that it is going to have another stupid intro like the 1st one. I really liked the 1st one but I thought the intro was stupid and slow.I was almost ready to change it until sarahs leg got caught in the rock.
I hate when directors do cheesy tactics to get the action going.its like he had all the good ideas for the action and suspense but didn’t think to much about the beginning. it sound stupid to me that sarah is even going back into the cave. let alone willingly…wow
Wow Juno survived? ASIF.
From 1, Juno was stabbed in the leg by Sarah, she would have died from loss of blood by now, or hardly be able to move..let along fight the crawlers by herself.
but then i love Juno’s char. she was so strong and tough.
I actually found the “stupid intro” to be pretty vital in making the movie that much more disturbing. Sure, it was slow, but it set up and showed us how good of friends they all were… friends soon to see each other torn apart. If it was just a bunch of chix being torn apart, it wouldn’t be classy.
Imagine what’s more terrifying. Seeing someone you hardly care about getting eaten alive by those things or your best friends. Actually both really suck haha but you get the point.
That’s what the intro accomplished
Well,why do people bring ice tools caving?anyone?
Ok, wait so at the end Juno attacks a Crawler with her teeth?? Shes been there a day, doesnt that insinuate that shes becoming one of the Crawlers?
I think the original movie stood well enough on its own, especially with the original UK ending (which sort of derails the whole attempt at a sequel anyway).
Yes, I loved Juno and Sarah and the others; but this just seems like an attempt to capitalize for money, rather than a reasonable continuation of the first story.
I actually loved the dialogue and interaction in the first movie — it plays a nice contrast to Marshall’s earlier work Dog Soldiers, which shone a light on male bonding in war situations — and the soundtrack by David Julyan (who’s done a lot of work for Christopher Nolan) really accentuated the movie’s melancholy and impending sense of loss.
I loved the first movie. it made me scream alot and there was lots of scenes which just made you jump. The second movie was good as well but i find it a bit boing, too much like the first one, ust different characters, that are looking for the girls. but it was still good, i have nothing gainst it :)
but the ony part i dont get in the 2nd movie is, how did Juno survive?
1. She got stabbed by Sarah in the leg and 2. she was attacked by a group of crawlers, how could she possibly survive that? but overall, the movie was great.
i have never been so scared, i agree it was pretty cheesy but damn.. i had goosebumps….