The Descent

The Descent (2005) is a horror film upon first appearances directed by Neil Marshall, who had previously had little work with the genre besides the 2002 film, Dog Soldiers. It falls under several categories in terms of subgenre; drama, action-adventure, horror, slasher and most importantly Urbanioa. It was built upon a relatively small budget of £3,500,000, but succeeded spectacularly with the box office and critics, grossing £34,400,00+ worldwide.
The plot of the film is generally simple and generic of the Urbanioa genre, and can be summed up clearly. The main character, Sarah, suffers a tragic loss of her family in the introduction of the film that clearly impairs her mentally. One year later, her friends Beth, Rebecca, Sam and Holly, lead by Juno, to try and repair and return the group to its previous state by first aiding Sarah. They do this buy returning to what they love: sporting, and on this expedition, caving. When they reach a mark of about 3 kilometers underground, however, a rock collapses and blocks the access tunnel, trapping the group inside the cave. With limited supplies, they try to find a way out, but sooner they face an unknown and savage breed of predators.
The Urbanioa genre is a recent phenomenon that deals with the conflict of clashing themes; the past and present/nature and the man-made society. Generically it follows a group or family of modern middle class white characters, each of which fulfilling a trope of sorts. They are usually seeking some sort of recreational holiday, and escape to the wilderness – which is where the characters find a clashing point. As the film proceeds and the family or group remain in the wilderness they are targeted and hunted down by those who are territorial to the area, and usually killed. This triggers conflict between the group itself, and all seems hopeless as the group tears itself apart. Around this time the weakest character will evolve in someway, usually after a provocation and is galvanised into action, managing to harness great strength and power and effectively hunt the hunters. It generally ends with the death of the wilderness ‘monsters’, leaving the sole survivor of the group to return to modern society, scarred by the events.
Examples of the Urbanoia genre can be found in Deliverance (1972), which most likely created the genre and has inspired other films to follow – heavily influencing The Descent. Other examples of the genre can be found in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Friday the Thirteenth (1980), and more recently, Cabin In the Woods (2012).
However, the immediate difference in The Descent and arguably what defines it from the conventions of regular horror is its casting. Its major cast features 6 female leads – 5 of which are structured with the potential to fulfil the final girl theory. This theory states that through masculine traits and characteristics, a female can conquer the monster of the film and manage to escape the setting she has been placed in. It is a popular trope to use with most female characters in horror having limited places, and usually calls for the most character development.
Sarah, surprisingly both to those who are unfamiliar with the genre, and those who are but had larger expectations of Beth or Juno, ends up defeating her weaknesses and almost completes this role.
Throughout the film, after her accident, Sarah is viewed as the weakest character, using her friends as a crutch. She becomes a liability to the group, but their compassion and friendship towards her does not make this a negative thing. Constantly they are checking on her, making sure she is okay. The whole trip was planned around her to accustom her needs and from seeing all of this mollycoddling, the audience assumes the least of her, as her friends do. It creates a strong sense of friendship amongst the group, unfortunately shattered at the end. It is interesting how Sarah’s development and the ‘rebrith’, so to speak, of her character does not actually erase her previous characteristics as many do. Although she does transform from a passive, weak role into a far more tremendous and fearless one, it does not remove her mental illnesses. Her habit of hallucinating is evident with the full ending of the film, which suggests her other implied illnesses (PTSD, depression, paranoia and anxiety) remain as well. The projection of her daughter and the cake also support this idea – it is an image that formed with her mental illnesses in the hospital, and remains with her still.
Juno, who can be viewed as an antagonist in sorts despite being an ally and friend to Sarah in the beginning, is a contrast to her character. Unlike Sarah and her insecurities, Juno provides a powerful and confident aura to audience, if not slightly sly. The expectations of her are more sinister than her actual actions. She seems an authority figure – backed up by Holly, who sees Juno as some sort of trainer- and the first to turn to when the group are stuck in their distressing situation, but through her arrogance she turns out to be the causes. Unlike Sarah, her transformation makes her a more likable and humble character. Her only sin that she knowingly committed, and the reason for betrayal in the climax between the two remaining girls, was her affair with Sarah’s husband, Paul. It does not come as a surprise to the audience as they witnessed the brief interaction Juno and Paul had while Sarah was otherwise occupied. Juno fills out a femme fatale role as such, being the most evidentially feminine and considerably beautiful member of the cast, as well as costumed all in red. However that occurred over a year ago, and since her selfish decision to abandon her best friend while she mourned, she returned with repent for her actions, buried beneath her cockiness and mistakes.
Although the film is Urbanoia and focuses on the Crawlers (wilderness) vs. the girls (modernity), it is also arguable that another theme represented would be gender roles. The Crawlers are in the majority, male characters. The only example of a female we witness is momentarily before she is killed, and she acts only out of maternal instincts. When compared to a cast of 6 strong female characters, all sportswomen, some of higher league than others, doctors, teachers, all seemingly single, some defying heteronormative expectations and a woman of colour, the crawlers seem primitive with only one representation of a female. Their struggles against them can as such be easily interpreted as the struggle for females against repressive regimes and expectations set by men, overexerting masculinity, sexism and rape culture. Men provide the largest threat to women as a whole. One sequence in particular symbolizes this most: Juno is fighting against two crawlers at once, and at one point ends up in the compromising position of being pinned down.
A key point to mention in the discussion of gender roles is that a woman – even as seen in the Descent, which is by standards progressive – cannot be seen as strong character without the obvious influence of masculinity, either in appearance or actions.

Similar to The Woman In Black, it can be said that Sarah’s character helps blur the lines between the ‘hero’ protagonist and the ‘monster’ antagonist. After her emergence, we see clearly she begins to take on the aggressive traits of the Crawlers through her thoughtless attacks and final position – on all fours, surrounded by snarls and almost predatorily at her hallucinations. This transformation is common of the females in Urbanoia films. Even if the woman manages to overcome and survive her threat - an uncertainty for Sarah- their trauma is bound to change them upon their return.
The setting of The Descent, although seemingly unique, is rather conventional to the horror genre. Caves are not common in horror films, and when are featured are usually used as a sanctuary for the characters to remain safe for the time being. The caves are shrouded in darkness, meaning it can easily hide the luring crawlers as it does for the first part of the film where the girls remain blissfully unaware. Once they have been revealed, it creates anxiety. There is no safety in their ignorance anymore, and anxiety of their whereabouts increases.
Obviously using the setting of a cave can create claustrophobia, a fear exploited in many horror films, especially thrillers. The girls are deep underground and excluded from natural light, clear air and at high risk of permanent entrapment. As they first enter the cave one of the characters lists the side effects they could suffer with the intensity of this sport, which obviously emphasizes the risks of venturing down. These risks also serve to excuse the character’s changes in behaviour. Whereas Sarah’s mental state may only be worsened by the environment, it causes dramatic changes with the others and arises to tension and conflict between them.
Another reason for the use of the cave is obviously for its relation to nature. To remove 6 modern females from society immediately disorientates them from regularity and provides a threat away from the safety and protection of modernity. Nature has always been used as a base for horrors because of its isolation and darkness as well. It instantly creates worry.
Blood was heavily used in the film, giving it the title of a slasher sub-genre. It was a vital part of the iconography and used from the open sequence; although Jessica’s death was unseen and Paul’s mostly hidden, there was still the gory imagery of the metal rods protruding through the back of his head and seat, blood soaking through the headrest. While obviously blood relates to death and injuries, it is also seen in correlation with power in the film. Juno, dressed in red from the beginning and as she enters the cave has the lead power role amongst the women. It only increases as she fights the crawlers, blood running down her face and body, and then her friend Beth’s blood splattered upon her as she attacks. Sarah displays it far more obviously – drenched in blood and paying homage to the iconic Carrie (1976), who she also shares traits with in terms of their transformations and aggression.
Another piece of iconography is the omen of death they come across as they make their way towards the cave. A deer lays before them, dead and covered in presumably its own blood, at the first stages of decay. The girls surround it fascinated, questioning it’s death as it does not seem to have been a victim of prey or attack of poachers. They fail to take it as a warning, and continue on with their journey.
Incidentally, there are six prongs to the deer’s antlers, as were six bullets in the signpost upon their arrival. While it arouses suspicion in the viewer, the characters frustratingly fail to notice the foreshadowing of a threat to each of them.