Well that ending might make the movie look silly and dumb. Why would she appear in the car?! is not that kind of horror movie. The dream is obviously much better.

its a shame that the american version ends that way, because its pretty clear that the escape scene plays out like a dream, when i watched it i knew that the director would have a twist in store for us. getting rid of that twist destroys the intention of the preceding escape scene. i am not a fan of the original ending, but they shouldnt have changed it that way. well i guess it was the cheapest and easiest way.

I don't know... I actually don't mind either ending. It's not like one would dramatically alter the film. One's a bit more downbeat, yes, but not necessarily better. That cliché of Hollywood execs insisting on happy endings being tacked onto films where there clearly shouldn't be one doesn't really apply here. It's not like the ending of Seven where being downbeat is necessary for the plot. It's the denouement.

Actually, now I've thought about it (in the time it took me to write the above paragraph), I have a feeling I might even prefer the American ending. I remember feeling profoundly disappointed that Sarah hadn't escaped when I first saw the film. In a way, given her journey throughout the film, it was cathartic and felt like a natural resolution. That in reality she'd lapsed into insanity and was still stuck in the cave felt kind of unsatisfying.

Terrifying film. Like, really, I haven't been so creeped out by a horror film in a couple of years. The first half is kind of slow, but it's redeemed by a superb second half of blood and scares. Loved it.

The international ending sounds better than what I saw, though.

A-

I think both endings fit quite well. While she escapes in the American version, it's obvious she's completely fucking nuts at this point. I'd hardly call it happy.

Onto the film -- I'm incredibly happy I resisted temptation enough to actually wait until it was released in theaters. The psychological effects are everything here. Early on, I felt a little disconnected -- not the film's fault, but as I saw the trailer (wish I hadn't) and knew there were actual "monsters," I kind of expected it to go the generic, pick 'em off one-by-one route, and I was just waiting for that to happen. Once I tossed that notion out and got really comfortable with the cave situation (around the point in which they have to make it over the "drop"), I was very into it and the monsters only made it more terrifying.

A

Oh, and though many may disagree, it wasn't Alien that I was thinking of while watching this. The paranoia, "who to trust?", plot reminded me so very much of John Carpenter's The Thing. And I use that as the highest of compliments.

I really, really wish I would have waited on this one. It's the type of film that was made to be experienced in theaters.

After this, I'm not importing horror DVDs anymore. It's just not worth missing out on the excitement to see it a couple of months early.

Glad you like it although i pretty much knew you were going to

Seconded

I'm glad I resisted with the import DVD as well. I've had it literally sitting on my desk since May, and it's just been staring at me ever since. I almost just turned it on a few days back, but I waited. 'Twas worth the wait. It has to be seen in theaters.

Well that was a very thorough horror movie.

In the sub-genre of it-could-happen-to-you horror movies, along with such recent classics as Hostel and Open Water -- The Descent is a super nifty multi-combo consisting of:

1. An extreme grrrrrl power movie

2. A psychological thriller (complete with the most alarming birth imagery in recent memory)

3. A dark movie (seldom attempted, and even more rarely successful due to the limited palette available to the director)

4. An anthropological movie

5. The aforementioned it-could-happen-to-you horror movie

It is almost entirely excellent, only not scoring a higher grade from me, due to the difficulty I had following the finer points of the story through the last third. Upon re-watching it, I hope to be even more thoroughly frightened...

5 out of 5.

Even better in theaters. A

One note, I didn't think the new ending was so bad, because it still makes you wonder, leaves it a bit more open ended. Maybe I saw it differently because I have seen both versions though.

The movie is loosely based on Wrong Turn. Very uneven and poorly acted. The last scene made me laugh. Wasted 2 hours on this.

C+

Quite dissapointed. For the first 45-50 minutes never would suspect that but sadly, after that it was almost awful. C

wow, what a great movie. i loved the clausterphobic feeling, and it had some nice gore scenes to boot.

A-

Grr, I am not a fan of the American ending. If they were going to end it with her actually escaping, they shouldn't have made it out to end like a ghost movie (Yeah she's clearly kinda bonkers but I wish they had ended it with her seeing that, then realizing she was still just in the woods by herself then drive off. All it would've taken was a little bit of clever footage recycling and a two-day reshoot with a different actress.)

Grr, I am not a fan of the American ending. If they were going to end it with her actually escaping, they shouldn't have made it out to end like a ghost movie. Yeah she's clearly kinda bonkers but I wish they had ended it with her seeing that, then realizing she was still just in the woods by herself then drive off. All it would've taken was a little bit of clever footage recycling and a two-day reshoot with a different actress.

Loved the movie. Best horror of the year and one of the creepiest and suspensful since The Thing. The ending though felt extremely confusing though

A-/B+

Nice, BKB! But no, don't rent The Cave. It's basically like another version of Anaconda, and I'm pretty sure you didn't like that either. And it sucks.

BKB likes. Sweet.

C-

Didnt like this movie that much. Thought the movie characters were very cliche. There was the crazy one. the whiny ones, the warrior one, the short hair Extreme radical one and so on so on.. The mutants and the setting were very good though it's the only reason im not giving this and F.

Loved the movie.

Anyone know if the original ending (The one they got in Britain) is available online somewhere?

Try any Bittorent website or a P2P program. Or wait for the DVD which will likely have both endings.

Found it in the BKB thread about which movie to see.

heres the Non-US ending

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