In 2003, six women disappeared in the Appalachian Mountains while on a caving expedition. In 2005 their footage was found. That’s the tagline you didn’t see on this film, but easily could have. Nor is there any “based on real events” caption at the beginning, possibly a choice by director Neil Marshall to avoid accusations of exploiting his subject matter. But there is another, darker theory: that Marshall was pressured by the American government to present the film as entirely fictional, and to keep silent about what he knew.
Twenty years ago, Neil Marshall’s film, THE DESCENT was released, building on the success and praise of his previous movie, DOG SOLDIERS. “This is the fresh, exciting summer movie I’ve been wanting for months. Or for years, it seems,”said Jim Emerson, reviewing on behalf of Roger Ebert for the Chicago-Sun Tribune. Now, author, Kate Probert pulls on her safety gear and descends into the darkness, to explore what made the film such a thrilling, perfect horror movie.
Michael Sauers is the Director of Logan Library in Logan, UT. Prior to this he was one of the founding staff and Technology Manager for Do Space in Omaha, NE. After earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany's School of Information Science and Policy Michael spent his first 20 years as a librarian training other librarians in technology along with time as a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, a technology consultant, and a bookseller. He has written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and has published 14 books ranging from library technology, blogging, Web design, and an index to a popular horror magazine. In his spare time, he blogs at TravelinLibrarian.info, runs The Collector's Guide to Dean Koontz website at CollectingKoontz.com, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
Unless otherwise stated, all opinions are my own and are not to be considered those of the City of Logan, UT.
View all posts by Michael Sauers
