The Making of The Descent
Published by Telos Publishing, 2025. 184 pages.
By Janine Pipe and Neil Marshall
Back in 2005, I didn’t think I was claustrophobic. Then I watched Neil Marshall’s The Descent and quickly realized just how much tight spaces affected me. Just the first half of the film, I was on pins and needles, as these women crawled their way through incredibly tight passages, under water, and even getting stuck at one point. Oh yeah, and then the monsters show up!
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Sausages: The Making of Dog Soliders
Published by Encyclopocalypse Publications, 2022. 307 pages.
By Janine Pipe
I picked up this book some time ago, but like most of the books I buy, they each anxiously await to be read. When you buy as many as I do, sometimes that can be a long wait. But due to another book coming out about a movie directed by Neil Marshall, and co-written by the same author here, I figured it was about time to dig into this.
Right off the bat, the thing that I really enjoy about Pipe’s writing is that it comes across like talking with another fan. Her love and passion for the subject is front and center, which can’t help but engulf the reader in it. This isn’t just a fan gushing about a favorite movie, but so much more. In fact, it was Marshall himself that suggested the idea to Pipe about tackling this book project. Pipe has interviewed so many people involved, from most of the major cast, and plenty of the crew, with each of them gives insight into their little part of this world that Marshall had created. Working all together, they have left us with one of the best werewolf films with practical effects since the early ’80s, that still holds up after two decades.
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Back in 2002, Neil Marshal did something that not many directors could do. And that was getting a film to premiere on the Sci-Fi Channel that was actually a damn good movie! That film was Dog Soldiers. And then, in 2005, he broke another rule by making a movie about spelunking . . . and making it damn good as well! That film was The Descent, which is about a group of women out on a cave exploring vacation that end up not only getting stuck underground but then come across something else living down there.
In 2022, author Janine Pipe gave us Sausages: The Making of Dog Soldiers, but now she is back giving us another book on Marshall’s second feature film, The Descent, this time with Marshall working alongside Pipe. The title is simply called The Making of The Descent and is the definitive book that contains extensive interviews with the cast and crew, with plenty of photographs and illustrations, Marshall’s notes and memories of the film, and much more.
This 176-page hardcover edition will be available in August, being published by Telos Publishing, priced at £34.99, or about $47. For a film that director Guillermo del Toro calls a “bona fide top-tier horror film”, I’m sure this book with be more than worthy of any film fan’s library.
One of the best werewolf movies to come out in the new millennium was Neil Marshall’s debut film, Dog Soldiers, which came out in 2002. That’s right, this is the 20-year anniversary and it’s great to see it get some more (much deserved) attention!
With such a great story, incredible cast, and some of the best-looking werewolves on film, it still remains a favorite amongst werewolf movie fans, and for good reason. Now, two decades later, we get a book that details the making of this modern monster classic with Janine Pipe’s book Sausages: The Making of Dog Soldiers!
Within this volume, that runs close to 400 pages, you’ll hear insights about the film from interviews with the cast and crew, never seen before photos, excepts from the script, and plenty more. It will also include a foreword from Joe Dante and afterword from John Landis, two directors that kind of set the standards for modern-day werewolf films.
Published by Encyclopocalypse Publications, and available in both hardcover ($22.99) and softcover ($15.99) editions, I know this title will soon be on the shelves in my own library.
(2002)
Directed by Neil Marshall
Starring Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Liam Cunningham, Emma Cleasby, Thomas Lockyer, Darren Morfitt,
Chris Robson, Leslie Simpson
Back when this first came out, I ignored it. The reason was that it debuted on the Sci-Fi channel, and fans quickly learned that whatever made their debut on there was going to stink. For example, Cherry Falls (2000), Wishmaster 2 (1999), or Vampires: Los Muertos (2002). Now, not to knock anybody who likes those films, I would say they are not that well made. So when I heard of this new werewolf movie that was going to debut there, I paid no attention to it. A couple of months later, when it hit DVD, I started hearing from friends on how it is actually pretty damn good. So I gave it a whirl and was just blown away. Sure, it could be because my expectations were so low, or it could have been because it was just a well made horror flick, with an amazing cast, and some of the best practical werewolf creatures I’ve seen since The Howling (1982). Continue reading
The Descent (2005)
Directed by Neil Marshall
Starring Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring, Nora-Jane Noone
Early in his career, director Marshall broke not one, but two well documented theories. The first one was that if a film premiered the Sci-Fi Channel before hitting theaters or video, it meant that it wasn’t going to be that good. Such as Cherry Falls (2000) or Beyond Re-Animator (2003). So when I heard that this new werewolf movie called Dog Soldiers was going to make its debut on there, I never bothered with it. But once it hit DVD, and quite a few people were giving it quite a bit of praise, I decided to take that risky chance and give it a rent. I went out and bought the DVD the next day. That’s how impress I was with it. Continue reading
The Music Box of Horrors has unleashed its final lineup for this year’s 24-hour marathon. And as always, they have gathered together one hell of lineup with some amazing titles in there, as well as a couple of great guests. Director John Hancock will be on hand for a screening of his highly underrated film Let’s Scare Jessica to Death. Very creepy and a must see. They will also be screening Dog Soldiers, one of the best werewolf movies to come out in the last two decades, with director Neil Marshall in attendance!
Taking place on Saturday, Oct. 19th, starting at noon and running to noon on Sunday the 20th. As we mentioned before, this will be the very first Music Box marathon that we will be missing and it really bums me out. But I’m guarantying those that come out to this will have a great time, just like the previous years. Continue reading
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