The Descent Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Earlier today we brought you Rotten Tomatoes' list of the 100 worst reviewed films of the decade. Now, though it might be a little premature (considering that we still have a little while to go before we hit our next decade), the good folks over at I Heart Chaos have decided to get the ball rolling on those end-of-decade lists by shoveling out what they believe are the Top 50 Movies of the 2000's. Usually these kinds of things start to gain in popularity towards the end of the year, but I guess the early bird does get the worm, so let's get right to the chase and find out who made the cut.

When you've got a a list of 50, there is plenty of wiggle room, and it's a pretty comprehensive list that manages to find room for cult faves and foreign flicks. But I'll admit, even though Chaos has put together a solid list, I was a little surprised that the #1 film for this decade is Quentin Tarantino's Samurai/Cowboy epic, Kill Bill -- though that's the beauty of a list, everyone wants to have a little friendly debate, I guess. You can read the entire list over at Chaos, but rounding out the top five are The Dark Knight, No Country for Old Men, and Kinji Fukasaku's adaptation of Battle Royale.

The great thing about a long list like Chaos' is that it makes room for all kinds of movies that sometimes you just don't have room for in streamlined lists of five or ten entries. But I love a challenge, so I decided to put together a list of my top films of the 2000s ... although I've cheated just a little.

After the jump: my nominations for the top films of the 2000s...

As a service to our weekend readers, I offer chapter 4 of Elisabeth Rappe's descent into horror cinema madness. For the rest of the pieces, hit HorrorSquad!
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Hey Scott,


I finally have my Internet access again! The cabin was out in the middle of nowhere, and not even the iphone was getting a signal.

The trip hasn't gone so well. When I got to the cabin, everyone was already here, and a bit wasted. I felt a bit out of place – I really only know Rebecca of the bunch, and I haven't seen her since I was in London two years ago, the rest of them I've only met once or twice. Apparently, plans changed while I was on my way out here, and they decided to go caving instead of camping. Everyone's a hardcore climber, and I guess they thought that since I was born and raised in the Colorado Rockies, I must be too. But I told them my only experience with mountain climbing was watching The Eiger Sanction and Cliffhanger. My inexperience pissed off Holly and Juno because, you know, it's all my fault. So, needless to say, I didn't go caving. I didn't even get a chance to really reconsider going, as by the time I got up, they had all left, and there was a note from Juno asking if I'd have dinner ready for when they got back. Even though I was freezing and more than a little depressed at being all alone, I made the most of it, and explored the woods a little bit. It's really pretty out here. It looks just like The Last of the Mohicans.

Anyway, no one showed up for dinner, but I figured they decided to drive into town to celebrate or something. It must have been 9 or 10 when I finally heard the car pull up. Here's where the story gets creepy – no one came in. The car just sat out there, lights on, running. Finally I went outside to see what the hell was up.

My principles may be crumbling, just a little. Neil Marshall (pictured) is in talks to direct Predators, according to Bloody Disgusting, citing an anonymous tipster. At this point, it's very much a rumor -- for all we know, Marshall was visiting a friend in the commissary at 20th Century Fox and was seen in close proximity to an executive -- but of all the possible candidates to helm a sequel to the alien hunter franchise, I'd definitely be down with Marshall.

He has three features to his credit: The Descent is the best and most widely-acclaimed, a feverish nightmare in which a group of women explore a cave and discover deadly denizens, to their dismay. I got a huge kick out of the bloody, funny, pulse-pounding Dog Soldiers, featuring Scottish soldiers on a training run who encounter werewolves, and, though I was decidedly in the minority, really enjoyed the post-Apocalyptic action epic Doomsday. The latter was his first with a Hollywood studio (Rogue Pictures). Upcoming is his "old-style swords 'n' armor action epic" Centurion, which looks promising but doesn't yet have US distribution.

Robert Rodriguez is on board to produce. Predators is already set to be released on July 7, 2010, so Fox will have to make a decision soon. Marshall has always written his own scripts; if this rumor proves to be true, either he'll have to pound out a rewrite in a hurry or take what Fox gives him. Considering the track records of Marshall and Fox, there's reason for both optimism ... and despair.

Some of the fondest memories of my misspent youth were the hours I wasted watching bad '80s horror with my girlfriends. Sure, as we aged they became drinking games, but I digress. In spite of growing up as a proud little feminist (think Lisa Simpson with a lower grade point average), I learned to accept the sad truth that a girl's role in horror is usually as cannon fodder -- unless you look very closely. Listed below are some horror flicks that not only give us gals something to do other than scream and occasionally take a shower, but have given me that much-needed boost of 'bad-ass' that all girls could use from time to time.

1) High Tension / Haute Tension
Alexandre Aja's High Tension usually goes to the top of the list for a feminist horror critique. Some critics have been insulted by the film's seeming judgements on sexuality and gender, while others have praised it for attempting to breathe new life into the 'Chainsaw Massacre' formula. It all starts with college friends Marie (Cécile de France) and Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco) heading out for a weekend in the country. But, when a serial killer comes knocking it becomes a fight to the death for Marie to not only keep herself alive, but save her friend. Regardless of what you might think of Tension's twist ending (and I won't spoil it here), you can't deny that this flick has a lot to say about love, sex, and violence. But even if gender wars aren't your thing, there is still plenty to recommend in this story of two women being stalked by a vicious killer -- there is just something about a gal wielding a concrete saw, isn't there?

As someone initially unimpressed with the teaser trailer for next weekend's horror offering, Mirrors, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the unpleasantries on display in the film's restricted trailer, among them the sight of Amy Smart ripping her own jaw off (what can I say, I'm a man of simple taste).

However, I then wondered if that particular moment wasn't the best that the film had to offer. Sure, you don't want to spoil too much before a film opens, but it's a scene that has become the focus of most TV spots and -- in hindsight -- the poster, and as a plot development, I'm almost certain that it'll happen before the film hits its hour mark (a matter that no one will be able to confirm until late Thursday evening, which is its own little omen). But it fell on me to watch that part and find my interest piqued.

Warning: This post contains some spoilers for the original Descent.

It's been a while since we've heard anything about the promised sequel to Neil Marshall's The Descent, and fans of the film who rolled their eyes at the initial announcement may have gotten their hopes up. But no: the sequel is still going forward with Descent editor Jon Harris making his directorial debut, and James Watkins (My Little Eye), who had nothing to do with the first film, writing the screenplay. The new info is that Shauna McDonald and Natalie Mendoza, who played protagonists Sarah and Juno, will reprise their roles in the sequel. The cast will also have some Y chromosomes this time around, in the form of Gavan O'Herlihy, Joshua Dallas and Douglas Hodge.

The plot will involve "the survivor" -- that would be Sarah -- "forced back into the system of caves she battled her way out of in the first film, in a bid to locate the rest of her group." Shockingly, this probably means that the sequel will take the American "Lionsgate ending" (in which Sarah gets out) as canon, rather than the original ending, where Sarah's escape is a dream sequence and the final shot shows her remaining in the cave. I suppose this could be explained to overseas viewers (who were, after all, responsible for more than half of the first film's $57 million box-office) by claiming that she got out later, in some other way. But it'll be tough.

You'll think I'm shamelessly name-dropping but it's a relevant (and amusing) story, so here goes: I once got to sit down with director Neil Marshall during a one-on-one interview at the Sundance Film Festival. (I agreed to the interview because I'd seen both of the guy's movies and was very enthusiastic about both. Ask Kim or James how often I do interviews. I can't stand 'em.) Anyway, more than eight months later I was in London to visit the 28 Weeks Later set, and one night a bunch of us horror nerds went out drinking. "My friend Neil is going to meet us here," said the lovely Axelle Caroyln of Fangoria Magazine. So imagine my surprise when "Neil" turned out to be not only Neil Marshall -- but also that the guy actually remembered dorky ol' me from that Sundance sit-down!

So yeah, the director of Dog Soldiers and The Descent is every bit the low-key, good-natured, horror-addicted movie freak you might suspect, and the whole bunch of us spent about three hours in a dingy pub discussing the guy's next movie. The script was called Doomsday, the conversation was off the record, and (needless to say) the night was a drunken hoot.

So now that Mr. Marshall's Doomsday is finished production in London, Scotland and South Africa, and marching firmly into the realm of internet marketing, I thought it was time to take a closer look at a project I know only from one lengthy and beer-filled conversation. (See? I told you that anecdote was relevant!) So far we know that Doomsday will be a gritty futuristic action thriller that stars Rhona Mitra, Malcolm McDowell, Bob Hoskins and the awesome Sean Pertwee. So far so good. The story deals with a Britain that's been walled up and infected for three full decades -- until someone has to re-enter the danger zone for a very important reason. (Yes, I'm still trying to remain relatively spoiler-free.)

Focus Features/Rogue Pictures has just sent Cinematical two images from Neil Marshall's Doomsday; an upcoming action-thriller from the guy who brought us the well-received horror flick The Descent. Although I never saw The Descent, our own Kim Voynar loved the film when it was released last summer and Stephen King even placed it on his top ten list of 2006. Thus, I imagine lots of folks are eagerly anticipating Marshall's follow-up film, which looks to mix a little bit of 28 Days Later with Children of Men. And that can't be bad, right?

Here's the plot synopsis we were provided with: "In the action-packed new thriller from writer/director Neil Marshall ("The Descent"), authorities brutally quarantine a country as it succumbs to fear and chaos when a virus strikes. The literal walling-off works for three decades – until the dreaded Reaper virus violently resurfaces in a major city. An elite group of specialists, captained by Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), is urgently dispatched into the still-quarantined country to retrieve a cure by any means necessary. Shut off from the rest of the world, the unit must battle through a landscape that has become a waking nightmare." Aside from Mitra, pic also stars Malcolm McDowell, Bob Hoskins, Nora-Jane Noone and Alexander Siddig. I've also included a pic of Marshall on set after the jump. Currently, there's no official release date, but look for Doomsday to attack theaters early next year.

The last casting announcement we got from the sci-fi thriller Doomsday, was an exclusive from the director Neil Marshall (The Descent), to our own Chris Ullrich. Now Empire Online has reported that Malcolm McDowell is the latest addition to the cast. The story takes place 30 years after a plague has wiped out a good chunk of the population; inspiring a quarantine that mainly entails walling off the infected. Of course, the virus doesn't stay contained for very long and an elite team is put together to stop the disease from spreading. Written and directed by Marshall, the film also stars Bob Hoskins, Rhona Mitra, and Alexander Siddig. McDowell has signed on to play Kane, a global expert on the virus who advises the team on how to fight the spread of the disease.

It seems slightly out of character to have McDowell in a good-guy role in a film. Despite his varied career, nobody can play the steely-eyed villain like McDowell. Well, maybe Paul Bettany, but I guess that example might not really count. McDowell is currently doing his bad-guy best as Linderman on the NBC series Heroes right now, but there is no solid word on whether his work on the show is firmly in the guest star camp, or whether he has signed on for the long haul. Production on Doomsday began back in February, and between his turn as Dr. Loomis in Rob Zombie's Halloween remake later this year and his possible TV commitments, it looks like we will be seeing plenty of McDowell soon.

One of the cool things about working here at Cinematical is that we often get info on films, casting, directors and the like before it gets announced to the rest of the world. Such is the case today with some casting news about director Neil Marshall's latest film, Doomsday. As I reported before, the pic currently stars the super-hot Rhona Mitra, and now, according to our new info, she will be joined in the film by the Oscar-nominated actor Bob Hoskins. The post-apocalyptic pic, also being written by Marshall, concerns a lethal virus that has spread throughout a major country and wiped out most of the populace. To contain the virus, authorities enforce a brutal quarantine by walling-off the infected parts of the country.

This puts an end to the threat, until it resurfaces years later in another major city, forcing an elite team of specialists, led by Eden Sinclair (played by Mitra), to enter the quarantine area on a desperate mission to find a cure. Hoskins will play cop Bill Nelson, who nominates Mitra's character for the perilous mission and monitors her progress while giving, one would assume, nuggets of wisdom and aide along the way. In addition to Hoskins, other cast members include e Alexander Siddig, recently of Fox's 24, as well as previous Marshall alumni such as Sean Pertwee and MyAnna Buring. Production on the film begins February 9.