Descent Keeps Creatures Real

Neil Marshall, who directed the SF horror film The Descent, told SCI FI Wire he didn't reveal the film's scary underground creatures to his all-female cast until they were on set in order to get a genuine fear reaction. "I wasn't sure what their reactions would be, whether they would really come across as frightening, so I waited until we were filming before I even showed it to them," Marshall said in an interview.

In The Descent, a group of adventure-loving friends goes spelunking in an unexplored cave and runs afoul of a race of blind, meat-eating humanoid creatures. Marshall said that he went caving with his stars to prepare them for their parts. And he kept the look of the creatures a surprise until the last moment.

"It was a great moment for them," Marshall said. "It saved up some of the angst for them. The guys were hidden in a corner in the dark. When [the actresses] saw the creatures and screamed, that was the first time they saw them, and those reactions are real. They went running. They were repulsed, and they were screaming. Then, they all started laughing."

The Descent opens Aug. 4 in the United States.

- The Monster