British director Neil Marshall followed up his 2002 chiller Dog Soldiers with The Descent. It's a "grisly and gripping" account of a caving expedition that leads six girls into the dark lair of flesh-hungry predators. Talking of which, those nasty old movie critics loved it and while Marshall had some tough competition in the shape of Tom Cruise (War Of The Worlds) and Christian Bale (Batman Begins), this low-budget horror scared up good business at the UK box office.

Going Underground

"I always wanted to do a horror film set in a cave," explains Marshall in a fairly meaty making of documentary on disc two. Obviously our fear of darkness is a primal thing and as he puts it, "You can't get any more dark than this." Of course the descent into the caves is also a metaphor for the descent into madness - or as Saskia Mulder (who plays Rebecca) explains, "You can see the fracturing of friendships and the fracturing of minds."

Marshall was intent on fleshing out the characters in more ways than one. He talks about the "flaky pastry" principle of stripping down characters in multiple layers while the make-up and effects people reveal how they did the gory bits. We also get up-close-and-personal with Stephen Lamb as the Crawler and there's a nose around the sets where the bulk of the film was shot. Plenty of behind-the-scenes footage reflects a convivial atmosphere among the carnage.

Deeper Down

Marshall cites influences from The Shining, Deliverance and Alien in two commentaries on disc one. In the first track he's joined by the all-female cast who frowned on bits of Carry On dialogue about "squeezing through tight wet cracks". Thankfully the offending lines were cut although Marshall still laughs about it. He's much more serious in a commentary with the crew, which includes producer Christian Colson. They do most of the talking in what turns out to be a rather dry and cumbersome trawl through the film. Still, budding screenwriters may find a few useful tips with regard to story structure, eg the perfect point at which to reveal the monster was a key issue in development.

One of nine deleted/extended scenes finds the girls kicking back with a beer before the expedition. This helps to establish the dynamics between them otherwise the footage is just more screaming, crying and occasional vomiting. Elsewhere the outtakes reel throws in a chorus of burping for good measure.

Rounding off the extras menu are storyboards and stills galleries, plus biographies for this largely unknown cast (and crew!). While it doesn't cover all the bases, this DVD is still worth looking into - just mind your fingers...

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