CC: THE DESCENT 2: FIRST LOOK

As you can see above, the first image from The Descent 2 has popped up online thanks to the good folks over at Fangoria. Doesn’t look like a whole lot has changed in the way of creature make-up, which in my opinion is a good thing. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I say.

The only drawback is that Neil Marshall, I’m sure you’ve heard, didn’t return to direct this one, at least not in a full-time capacity. Marshall has stepped aside this time around, while the editor of The Descent, Jon Harris, took over calling the shots. Marshall, however, is still involved; he’s the executive producer, and he’s returned to direct some flashback sequences from the first movie, so you can expect to see all of the beauties from the first one in this next chapter.

Now that production has wrapped, the first bit of news regarding the storyline is beginning to leak out. The Descent 2 picks up where the first move ended, with Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) escaping from the mountain warrens, seeking assistance from the the staff at a rural gas station. With her being so distraught, she’s then immediately rushed to the closest hospital where it’s discovered she’s suffering from amnesia. Too much trauma for the old brain to handle, I guess.Whilst having a nightmare about her dear departed daughter, Sarah’s subconscious gets the better of her, realizing Juno (Natalie Mendoza) may still be alive.  Following this, Sarah snaps out of her stupor state and talks to the local fuzz, who, naturally, have a hard time buying her little tale from the crypt since it’s completely muddled, with only patches of coherence here and there. Of course, the boys in blue and the hapless Sarah go back into the bowels of the earth in search of answers and any possible survivors.

“What the fuck?” I bet some of you are asking, right? Didn’t Sarah die at the end of the first movie?

Well, not exactly. That depends on what cut of the film you saw. In the British cut, she remained in the cave, totally out of her mind, somewhat content to stay in the darkness. In the North American cut, she got out of the cave, but she was a basket case after surviving the ordeal. Just to set the record straight, Shauna Macdonald (Sarah) gave Fango the straight dope on Sarah’s prognosis: 

“No matter what ending you saw, either in America or internationally, Sarah didn’t die,” Macdonald says. “I want to clear that up so no one thinks I’ve merely been resurrected for an easy sequel. I was scared when they first mentioned the idea, because I don’t want to let any DESCENT fans down. So Jon Harris made quite sure I was involved in the story development process for some control over Sarah’s actions. For example, simply being dazed at the beginning was not enough reason to get her back in the caves. Sarah having amnesia so she couldn’t remember the horrors, or what she did to her friends, made more sense. Having Sarah’s actions be as real and truthful as possible was vital to me. If the first film was Sarah’s soul descent, the sequel is her redemptive ascent.”