I've never been a big fan of the horror genre, because so often it's a boring, cliche gorefest that isn't written, acted, or shot very well, and fails to invoke any real scares.
But the first movie I watched in 2007 is the best horror movie I've seen in years. The Descent starts off with an incredible sense of dread and clostrophobia, and finishes with a "shit-hits-the-fan" bloody panic. But all the while, interesting characters and themes are woven throughout. It's been awhile since a horror movie actually made me scream, but this one got me. It got me good.
And yes, I saw the original UK ending.
What did you guys think?
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I haven't seen it yet, but Stephen King has put it as one of the best films of 2006 (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1569937_1%7C%7C472578_0_,00.html):
Quote5. The Descent: The best horror movie of the year, beyond doubt. Possibly because the main characters are all adults, for a change? The sense of doom-laden claustrophobia this movie generates is intense and remarkable.
-Stephen King
-Rude
Personally, I didn't like the ending, even though I thought it was appropriate. The scariest bits for me were when they were actually going through the really tight tunnels. I'm not claustrophobic by any means, but those scenes freaked me out a little. ;D
Overall though, I thought the film was very good, shitting all over the other cave-dwellers movie "The Cave".
I liked it very much. The tight tunnel scenes bothered me the most as I am a bit claustrophobic but I thought it was well done. Is the UNRATED version that is available in the States the original UK ending?
Quote from: MrTorso on January 03, 2007, 12:23:02 PM
Is the UNRATED version that is available in the States the original UK ending?
Yep, the unrated version is the "original" version. The US "R rated" cut of the film
ends when Sara is in the truck, and sees Juno sitting next to her. They cut out the last scene where she wakes up back in the cave, never having escaped.The DVD contains an interview with the director and he talks about why there were two endings. Basically, the US ending tested better with test audiences. Is it just me, or are "test audiences" almost always wrong?
***SPOILER ALERT!!!!!***
The British ending is different from the US ending.
US Ending>> The main character gets out of the cave after ambushing Juno with the monsters. She then gets in a truck and drives as far away as posible before barfing her lungs out. An oncoming vehicle almost clips her, and she jumps back, only to see a ghostly-zombie Juno i nthe car staring at her.
UK Ending>> She gets out of the cave, into the truck and flees. Same stuff happens as listed up above. But then, she wakes up as if from a dream and finds herself back in the cave, and the underworld creatures are right behind her. it is hinted that she dies as well.
I liek the UK version more just cuz it isn't as distant from the storyline.
Sweet awesome.
I assumed that would be the difference between the two versions.
Was the unrated also gorier than the theatrical?
I dunno....
Did anyone else find Juno to be incredibly hot????
Quote from: J-Proof on January 03, 2007, 05:06:18 PM
I dunno....
Did anyone else find Juno to be incredibly hot????
(https://forum.rifftrax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sarahdunn.com%2Fimages%2FSCAN07.jpg&hash=61272d5ddcedffd08c1c2b8d066dad63639ee58c)
Yes. ;D
Quote from: J-Proof on January 03, 2007, 01:09:58 PM
I liek the UK version more just cuz it isn't as distant from the storyline.
Wow. The U.S. ending sounds...
crap. So she survives all that and accidentally winds up in The Grudge? Yeah, that makes sense.
Quote from: MrTorso on January 03, 2007, 03:14:02 PM
Was the unrated also gorier than the theatrical?
According to this review (http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=25780), there is more gore and even an additional major subplot in the unrated. It's hard to imagine the movie without said subplot...so much so that I think he may be mistaken. Either way, the unrated version seems to be the way to go.
I got a copy of this a bit over a year before this hit theaters in the US since it came out in the UK first. Very enjoyable.
In the extra features the Director can't even justify the trimmed US ending other than to say that it tested better with US audiences. But he still tries to go to bat for it. Even he says he prefers the UK ending.
The US ending doesn't make any sense and feels completely removed from the rest of the movie. All of the sudden its a ghost story?
Quote from: Smilin Jack Ross on January 03, 2007, 12:31:00 PM
Is it just me, or are "test audiences" almost always wrong?
One notable exception I can think of is Final Destination 1. The original had a happy ending that test audiences hated. So they went with bleak and it did very well. There's a special feature on the DVD that talks about that process.
But yes, oftentimes test audiences are like another hundred voices adding to the script which often makes movies just incoherent rather than better. Kind of like studio producers yanking final cut from directors ala Ultraviolet, Brazil, etc.
I love having a region-free DVD player. I got the UK version of this on DVD the week before it hit theaters in the US. Excellent little atmospheric thriller. It was a pretty good year for horror movies in 2006, what with The Descent, The Hills Have Eyes, and Slither all being particularly good variations on the genre.
To me, Hills Have Eyes was enjoyable because it became a zombie vs. human American Gladiator showdown..... flippin' awesome
Horror's my favourite genre and this movie was my favourite of 2005. Just LOVED it.
Quote from: Ogami Daigoro on January 05, 2007, 02:57:23 PM
Quote from: Smilin Jack Ross on January 03, 2007, 12:31:00 PM
Is it just me, or are "test audiences" almost always wrong?
One notable exception I can think of is Final Destination 1. The original had a happy ending that test audiences hated. So they went with bleak and it did very well. There's a special feature on the DVD that talks about that process.
IIRC, Dodgeball's original ending had Ben Stiller's team winning. Oddly enough, the bad guys winning at the end of a comedy didn't test well.
Quote from: Compound on January 09, 2007, 09:36:31 PM
IIRC, Dodgeball's original ending had Ben Stiller's team winning. Oddly enough, the bad guys winning at the end of a comedy didn't test well.
Are you talking about that ending that is on the DVD? I think that was just a gag for the DVD. It stops right as the ball hits Vaughn's face and goes to the credit crawl.
Quote from: PsypherPunk on January 04, 2007, 04:46:44 AM
Quote from: J-Proof on January 03, 2007, 01:09:58 PM
I liek the UK version more just cuz it isn't as distant from the storyline.
Wow. The U.S. ending sounds...crap. So she survives all that and accidentally winds up in The Grudge? Yeah, that makes sense.
i took it (the US ending) to mean she ends up insane,not that she's haunted.
anywho, i really liked this movie. genuinely scary. and it's one of the few movies that i think could have been longer. (more battling the creatures stuff...)
was a pretty good movie, but I didnt like that she murders the asian chick at the end, not a very nice thing for a hero to do, therefore she deserves a grudge ;)
Also I agree with davo it was in her head
Incredible film. It isn't one of the best films of 2006, though. Mostly because it had already been released in Britian in 05. King's list has a few movies from 05 on it.