I wouldn't throw such a bold accusation out without some proof. So word has it that Lions Gate...sorry, Lionsgate has changed the ending to Neil Marshall's THE DESCENT. Here is what Lionsgate head Peter Block told Fangoria about it:

Okay, sounds cool. The Fango article even claims they have Marshall's blessing.

http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=5749

But my friend Jon Kitley listened to both audio commentaries on the import disc of the film and posted on his site what Marshall actually says about the ending:

http://www.kitleyskrypt.com/mainmenu.htm

It doesn't come off as a guy unsure of his ending to me. So now it appears Lionsgate wants to go with an ending they find tested better because things are easier resolved.

I picked up the Region 2 DVD at Kim's in NYC this past week, mostly out of fear that the US distributor would do exactly what it seems that they intend to do.

It's a fabulous horror movie (fixing the few problems that I had with Dog Soldiers)and the downbeat ending couldn't be less arbitrary - there are a few plot points that really pulled the rug out from under me, and make a happy ending all but impossible.

Grrrrr.... Arrrgghhhh.... Grrrahhhhh....

Sorry, I had to vent. Bad enough that I have to wait forever and a day for Movie Distribution Traffic Control to figure out what year they will be releasing this film in the US, while everyone online is lauding the best thing to happen to horror movies since karo syrup. Now, LyingsGrate is monkeying with the ending, thus ensuring an orgy of online spoiler discussions. This company earned my bad graces ever since they messed up the CRONOS DVD subtitles and jerked me around on the phone for months denying it. I wish they would stop trying to grow a creative brain by pretending to be filmmakers instead of distributors.

I'm sure my fellow Mobians overseas, who regularly are stuck on the other end of the distribution game with American films, will be nodding their heads or politely wishing I'd stop grousing. But, changing the ending particularly annoys me.

When situations like this happen, I always think of the line in GREMLINS 2 heard over the PA system:

"Tonight on TV - Casablanca, now in colour and with a happy ending."

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

The Descent actually gives us "two endings" so it would be quite possible for Lionsgate to "remove" one of them without having to shoot any additional footage.

I did find the film's ending a bit of a cop out and ended up listening to the commentaries (quoted above) for some enlightenment only to find none.

Changeing endings of British films for American audiences now seems to be the vogue following 28 Days later and also Pride and Prejudice.

What was changed in the ending of 28 Days Later?

From the IMDB:

"Fox Searchlight attached an alternate downbeat ending to all 1,400 US prints of the film, while it was still in U.S. release. The revised ending was the one that appeared in the original script, but the script's ending was ditched in favor of a grimmer conclusion after it did not test well. Director Danny Boyle decided "We can't do this to people, because it was such a tough journey anyway." It's quite rare to change a movie's ending after it's been released to theaters -- see the trivia entry for 'Shining, The (1980)'."


MAJOR SPOILER

















I have not seen this alternate ending (I saw the UK theatrical version) but I believe that the main male character dies in it.

About a month into its US theatrical release, Fox Searchlights added a previously cut downbeat ending after the end credits. They then proceeded to run an amazingly misleading campaign tell potential viewers that it now contained an ending that will "scare you to death" or something.

I never saw 28 Days Later theatrically (I live in the UK), but the (R2) DVD I picked up has a "happy" ending.

Some thoughts can be found here (although I readily dispute the claim that British food is bland!)

28 Days Later Ending

Lions Gate has released the theatrical one-sheet for THE DECENT.

I LOVE that they're really trying something design-wise. If any horror movie screamed for a succession of bust shots of the lead characters, this is it. I mean, they're all chicks with nice busts.

Having said that, design-wise, it's kind of a disaster.

http://www.horrorchannel.com/dread/index.p...rticle&sid=5006

Looks exactly like the little skull in the SILENCE OF THE LAMBS artwork. I hope someone isn't patting themselves on the back too hard for that.

I went to a screening of this last week and really liked it. Properly handled, it could become a summer sleeper. The press notes say that it was Marshall who decided what ending to go with in the States, and not Lionsgate itself. I don't think there was much testing beyond the Sundance screening. [The US ending is not a happy one, if that's what's bugging everyone, and I'm sure both will be available on a R1 DVD--but you really want to see this one in a theater.]

Here's the notes:

"Marshall’s open-mindedness and willingness to experiment has also led him to the enviable position of getting to see his film released theatrically with two different endings. From the beginning of the filmmaking process, filmmakers toyed with two optional endings that were very similar—in fact only seconds of footage apart from one another—but that each made a different and equally powerful statement. The longer version of the ending was written and shot in order to still allow for both options to be edited, and ultimately Marshall decided to release the film in the U.K. with the longer ending in place.

When the U.S. theatrical release became a reality, the decision to release the alternate version of the ending was simple for Marshall. “It’s like having your cake and eating it too,” explains Marshall. “Usually a filmmaker has to wait for a special DVD release to show audiences the additional ideas they’d conceived of in the course of filmmaking. But it was such a thrill to get to watch the other version of my film with an audience and on the big screen at Sundance. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive. I’m very pleased with our decision to release both versions.""

Opens August in a cave near you. [The IMDb sort of "spoils" the UK ending if you're curious, and there's a lot of discussion about the film as well.]

Yikes. I agree that you've got to give Lionsgate brownie points for at least trying something different, but that poster is just plain horrendous. I've seen The Descent and I can't imagine that this poster is going to get butts in seats. They need something a little more visceral. Between this and the prospect of a changed ending Lionsgate has done nothing but fumble the release of this excellent movie.

Now maybe if it was about a team of synchronized swimmers that go cave dwelling it might work.

I should be fair and ammend my point about it ripping off the SILENCE OF THE LAMBS art because that was originally inspired by a photograph from the 1950s by Philippe Halsman.

See it here (contains nudity)

Didn't Lion's Gate have a similar note from Alexandre Aja on the HIGH TENSION website where he said something to the effect that he loved that the film was dubbed and cut for an R-rating so it could reach a wider audience? Yeah, I really believed those were his sincere thoughts on the matter, and NOT studio spin at all, just as I totally believe that Neil Marshall really, really, REALLY wanted to change the ending of THE DESCENT, but only for the U.S., mind you.

Yup, makes perfect sense.

Uh huh.

Right.

Vincent

Read the Marshall quotes I posted at the top of the thread and you can see it is all studio spin. Whatever floats their boat I guess.

Y'know, If I had no idea what the movie was (a Brazilian release?)...I'd refuse to see it just because of that poster. Hopefully it's just a teaser poster.

Give me a half hour on Photoshop and I could do better...and I'm not that great.

I can't divine anyone's intentions here, but perhaps Marshall recorded his R2 commentary before he saw how the US ending played with the Sundance crowd? I can't believe Lionsgate dragooned Marshall and Aja into making (or at least approving) their respective quotes (and edits), and if they're that unhappy with these alterations maybe they should have found a more simpatico US distributor in the first place.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the way the film ends. It's not a last-minute rescue or a romantic clinch or something sappy. It's organic to the story (and is fully in keeping with DELIVERANCE, its model). Though, of course, knowing that there is another ending out there, it's going to register as somehow inferior if you're already planning on being let down. [Maybe it's Marshall's fault--had he shot just one, and only one, ending, we wouldn't be having this chat, would we? :) ]

If anything, the UK ending (which I have not seen, but have read about), while climaxing the film on a note of symmetry, adds a little pretentiousness to the mix, as if Marshall wanted to make something more "ambiguous" than a straight-on monster film. THE TURN OF THE SCREW this is not. I'd be disappointed in an ending that tip-toed away from the story I'd been watching--I have been disappointed in the past by alternate endings that didn't live up to what I'd read about them--but, then again, I haven't seen it.

But I have seen what we're getting in August, and I can say that to skip the film due to a change in the last 30 seconds of the story--it may be less than that--and its curious poster, is cutting your nose off to spite your face.

Why can't you believe it? It's always in filmmakers' best interests to keep their distributors happy. Filmmaking is often a game of compromise- I have no doubt that Aja and Marshall probably felt their compromises with Lion's Gate might benefit their films in the U.S. market, but I sincerely doubt that either of them were actually head-over-heels happy with the changes.

He DID shoot one ending. It's on the original release. As I understand it, the U.S. version simply lops the actual ending off, and ends the film earlier. Or am I mistaken?

Having actually SEEN the original ending, "pretentious" it is not. Ambiguous? Open to interpretation? Sure, but "pretentious"? Nope, not at all. It's the pitch-perfect ending to the film.

I'll still see this horror masterpiece theatrically, in spite of the altered, seemingly dumbed-down ending, but I doubt many others will based on that horrifically bad poster. Unless they revamp it, or release a truly brilliant trailer, I'd imagine seeing the current poster would lead most folks to write off THE DESCENT as being little more than a really cheap, direct-to-video quality effort at best.

Vincent

Okay, I finally caved in (boooooo!) and watched THE DESCENT tonight. I found it to be amazing and I was glad to finally see a horror film live up to the hype. Just a great, great horror film.

Now onto the editing of the ending. Here is what I know

MAJOR SPOILERS

the US version cuts out the bit with Sarah waking up in the cave and seeing her daughter. The film ends with her getting scared in the car. What bothers me soooooo much about cutting that bit out is that the way the US one ends, it implies that Sarah has made it out alive. To me, that changes everything and wipes out the solid downbeat punch that the film's original ending gives. Lionsgate can spin it however they want but it is obvious they wanted things ending in a way that can be interpreted as pessimistic.

END SPOILERS

I really liked the UK ending when I saw it in theatre. I can't imagine the film having the same impact with the missing coda. That said, I'll make a note to learn exactly where the US movie stops. Next time I watch the UK DVD (I bought it recently but haven't watched it since the cinema screening several months ago), I can simply press NEXT CHAPTER button at that point so that the film jumps past the UK ending and directly to the end credits. If I wait a while before doing this, I might get a reasonable understanding of how the movie will play to US audiences. I wonder if the US DVD will have the extended ending as an extra (likely) or simply release the film unrated as per marketing trends. If in time, the shorter ending was favoured, at least the UK release allows for an easy DIY solution so Region-Free Mobians should pick up the nifty 2-disc SE.

Victor.

But doesn't it also suggest that Sarah will be forever haunted by her complicity in one of the deaths--that, in essence, she has not escaped intact? If that's a compromise, I really don't think it's that bad a one.

The downbeat ending gives a symmetry to the angst she was suffering in the beginning of the film and deepens the catharsis, it's very similar to the Japanese version of DARK WATERS. Obviously the d00dz at LIONS GRATE feel that being plugged by films like SORE is more satisfying for the public and their box-office receipts, and plugging the ending of the very skilful 'scares' horror of THE DESCENT will work the same way, since the film has very big box-office potential for the US racket, I mean market.

I thought of that but, to me, being alive and crazy is still better than dying a lonely death. After all, she could possibly be cured and put those things behind her. You can't cure death (unless the sequel features Jeffrey Combs).

Here is the US trailer. Nice of Lionsgate to ruin the film's biggest scare in the trailer! Obviously don't watch it if you don't want it to be spoiled.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/thedescent/

My personal response to the Hollywood studio's decision was simple as soon as I heard what they were doing. I finally plopped down the coin to buy the British DVD. I was tired of waiting for a US release and then getting screwed. Typical American thinking. Typical Hollywood meat grinder. It's how Jackie Chan went from making movies like the POLICE STORY films to making movies like THE TUXEDO. How George Romero went from making the detailed and depth-filled DAWN OF THE DEAD to the light and breezy romp with trendy political overtones that LAND OF THE DEAD became.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm experiencing a major case of Hollywood burnout these days.

Well, a better poster has arrived. Martin Sheen eat your heart out!

Well, it is the most obvious money shot in the movie (for a poster)...I was surprised they didn't go with it at first.

And it's red/black.

For anyone that wants to see the exclusive advance Fangoria screenings going on you can buy tickets here:
http://www.fangoria.com/descent/

I think these screenings will be fun seeing unsuspecting audiences get themselves scared silly... since many will go in unalarmed due to so many horror films being so void of making the audience uncomfortable or scream out loud.

There are two interesting Neil Marshall interviews (both where he talks about the new ending) in the latest issues of Fangoria and Rue Morgue.

I'm attending an Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow screening of this film next weekend at Longhorn Caverns where they are showing the film down in a cave. I'm really looking forward to it since most attending will not have seen it. I'm really interested to see what the US cut looks like as the German steelbook DVD release I have differed from the UK film cut I saw last year.

Marshall is taking the film to Lincoln Center next week...

THE DESCENT at Lincoln Center

Interesting, what's different about the German version compared to the British one?

Vincent

I just got back from the Lincoln Center screening with the Marshall Q & A. I am utterly pleased to report that the film lives up to the hype and then some. My God, I haven't seen a horror film this effective, brutal, superbly acted, and so excellently directed in a while. The intensity of the gore and the scares will be too much for your average moviegoer. This film tops 28 DAYS LATER in both departments. I am so floored by this film and so happy to rave like a fool about it. Mobians, THIS is the movie to see...THIS is the monster flick we've been waiting for! See it! See it! SEE IT!

Marshall was a very pleasant guy during the Q & A. He didn't care to reveal the UK ending, but talked obliquely about it. Both endings were initially considered in the editing room and Marshall indicated some hesitancy during post-production as to which ending suited the film more. He said he felt he understood what UK audiences wanted more than US audiences. When I asked my question, I encouraged him to stick around for the opening weekend in NYC to see how the Times Square crowd would react.


SPOILERS ABOUT THE ENDING(S)...




After finding it increasingly difficult to find out what exactly was cut from the UK version, I found this site:
http://www.ruinedendings.com/film5135ending
The longer ending sounds very intriguing to me, especially in the doomy way it wraps up the daughter subplot. It would be cool if the US DVD had a branching option to choose which version to watch... but, oh wait, it's Lionsgate... never mind. Seeing the US version first and being ignorant of the longer ending's contents until now, I have to say I liked the US ending. After all that intensity, much like with 28 DAYS LATER, I wanted some kind of happy ending, that at least one character would persevere after going through so much hell. As was pointed out earlier in this thread, I felt the shock ending implied that Sarah is marked by the cruel punishment she gave Juno, perhaps permenantly. The article I linked above also says that Juno was sleeping with Sarah's husband. When did they establish this, other than a little flirty behavior at the rapids sequence?

Anyway... ending-schmending... it's a real go for the throat, genuinely nerve-racking monster movie with nary a serial killer basement torture room in sight. And I am so grateful for it.

MEGA SPOILERS

That is the whole necklace thing. It has some sort of inscription on it from the husband to Juno. And it serves as a great piece of business to reveal that Juno killed the other girl by accident. Talk about double guilt! Also, there are bits like Juno crying and leaving the hospital at the beginning ("She didn't stick around long" says on character) and her saying later, "We all lost something that day" regarding the accident.

SPOILERS


Yeah, they never explicitly stated the Juno/husband thing, but it was pretty clear. Did they remove that subplot in the American version?

SPOILERS


Thanks for the info. Everything you mention was in the US version, I believe, but may have been subtle enough to sail clear over my head.

At the US official site, they say the husband also died in the car accident. Really? Then this was another subtle implication I missed. I guess I needed some birthday party dream sequences with the husband too.


END SPOILERS

I read over at DVDManiacs that the UK 2-disc set has a high bit rate DTS soundtrack. Holy stalagmites! Region-free, here I come!

I was hoping some devious sort would post the original ending on YouTube, but no luck. What I did find was an early American radio drama from the 1940s that I'd heard before, which resembles THE DESCENT in a couple ways. It's an episode of the old anthology chiller The Mysterious Traveler called "Behind The Locked Door", about cave explorers trapped in darkness with the strange decendants of a lost wagon train. Very hokey old radio stuff, but also rather chilling. You can listen to it streaming at this link:
http://www.themonsterclub.com/show28.htm

I'll throw that on there for you when I get home tonight. Just let me know where the US version ends (I assume it is in the car).

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MASSIVE SPOILERS...WARNING, HERE YE FIND SPOILERS!!!!
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Yeah, the US version ends with puking and a sudden Juno.



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SPOILERS END

Thanks a bunch, WSW. The more I read about it, the more I am liking the version of this extra ending I've filmed in my head. I'd love to see Marshall's version.

Damn...I disliked that ending too...

SPOILER

I would have been more than happy if they'd cut it back to her just walking up towards the light of the mouth of the cave. Solid, not silly tricks.

*SPOILERS*

I now wonder if the U.S. version also suffered some MPAA cuts, because the husband's death is very clear and VERY graphic in the British release. It's the first big bloody moment of the movie.

Vincent

This has always been one of my favorite MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER episodes and it would make my shortlist for 25 best OTR horror episodes (search out QUIET PLEASE's episode THE THING ON THE FOURBLE BOARD for another great one)