If there is one thing we know about the upcoming Lionsgate horror The Descent is that it will feature lots of blood. A big hit in the UK, the British horror is on its way to the states but in a slightly edited version. What part would Lionsgate feel the need to edit before the domestic release of The Descent? The ending? What!
The Descent Ending
'April' has alerted us that Entertainment Weekly recently confirmed in their last issue that the ending of The Descent has indeed been changed in preparation for domestic release. How so? EW doesn't really say, but does admit that the body count is less.
With the eye gouging, disembowelments, and pickaxes to the neck, the upcoming British gorefest The Descent doesn't leave much to the imagination. But there's one thing you won't see in the theater on Aug. 4: the horror flick's original ending. While our friends in the U.K.—where The Descent has already come, gone, grossed $5 million, and been released on DVD—loved the film, they weren't digging its überhopeless finale. So when the U.S. debut rolled around, Lionsgate decided to release Neil Marshall's Deliverance-style tale about six female cave explorers slaughtered by a cadre of creepy crawlers without the downbeat finale. (What happens in the original? We're not going to spoil it for you, but let's just say the body count is different.)
''It's a visceral ride, and by the time you get to the ending you're drained,'' says Lionsgate marketing chief Tim Palen. ''Marshall had a number of endings in mind when he shot the film, so he was open [to making a switch].'' The director's ultimate solution? Sub in one of his alternate shots, and cut the last minute or so of the movie. Of course, both scenarios are expected to make it to DVD, giving fans an opportunity—à la 28 Days Later—to choose the heroine's fate for themselves. And if you decide to check out The Descent in theaters, remember: Even though the story has been perked up, that doesn't mean everything is sunshine and lollipops. In fact, Marshall likens the denouement to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: ''Just because she gets away, does that make it a happy ending?''
I guess we will have to discover the difference ourselves when The Descent opens to theatres this Friday, August 4th.
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