To mark an anniversary of the 2005 cave horror film The Descent, cast and crew members spoke to the Guardian about how the low-budget British production was made, from its writer-director Neil Marshall to lead actress Shauna Macdonald. The film, about a group of women trapped in an unmapped cave system with monstrous "crawlers", became a cult horror classic partly because of its commitment to realism and its refusal to sexualise its all-female cast, at a time when lads' mag culture dominated.

Marshall developed the concept after an earlier pitch about zombies on an oil rig proved too costly, drawing inspiration from a school trip to a lead mine where total darkness left a lasting impression. The production used no real caves, relying instead on elaborate sets, matte paintings and miniatures (including salt standing in for waterfall water), while a strict lighting scheme tied specific light sources to specific characters. The crawlers were designed as a hybrid of Nosferatu and Iggy Pop with spider-like movement, and actors were deliberately kept from seeing them beforehand to heighten their genuine fear during filming.