10 Things You Didn't Know About The Descent
6. It Was Meant To Have Male Characters
One of the most remembered features of The Descent is the all-female cast. Not only is it refreshing to see a group of smart and resourceful females leading the way in a horror film, but it provides a completely different dimension to how a group behaves in such a film.
However, the original plan was for the film to include a more mixed cast of characters, with a couple of male characters making it as far as a couple opening drafts for the film.
When Neil Marshall was told that there were hardly any horror films featuring just women, he swapped these out for female characters and chose to give them all different backgrounds, nationalities and personalities of their own.
Marshall even took the time to consult with all of his female friends to better understand the typical tropes and cliches horror writers in particular tended to employ, just so he could produce a script that felt less like just another scary film and was instead far more of a character-driven tale.
The actors were all given the opportunity to inject their own spin on their lines and tweak the ones that they didn't sounded authentic enough, such was the bond between the group.