Neil Marshall

Universal has finally set a date for the DVD release of Neil Marshall’s Doomsday (review), a movie that, at best, divided fans as to its validity since it was really one big homage. But damnit, it was done the right way if you ask me!
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Mon, 05/05/2008 - 4:31pm.

While I’m not exactly looking forward to The Descent 2 (I refuse to use their weird lettering) without Neil Marshall on board, when he discussed the sequel at Fear Fest he seemed pretty confident that editor-turned-director Jon Harris would do a good job with it. So where does that leave us for The Descent 3?
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 8:04am.

Johnny Butane Starring Rhona Mitra, Malcolm McDowell, Craig Conway, Bob Hoskins Directed by Neil Marshall (interview)
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Sun, 03/16/2008 - 1:59am.

We've all been counting down. We knew this day would come. Doomsday (review here) is finally here, and to celebrate (and who wouldn't celebrate the apocalypse?), we've got a battery of interviews for you!
Submitted by Uncle Creepy on Fri, 03/14/2008 - 8:38am.

How weird is this? I was just with Doomsday director Neil Marshall all weekend at Fear Fest and never once did we get a peep about a film called Sacrilege...
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Tue, 03/11/2008 - 6:24am.

Our world is coming to an end. The signs are all there; gas prices are on the rise, Rosemary's Baby is being remade and so on. Just how long will it take before we reach ... Doomsday? If you were in Hollywood this week then you probably saw it happening.
Submitted by Kryten Syxx on Thu, 03/06/2008 - 1:45am.

Neil Marshall’s final pre-release Doomsday blog just appeared over on his MySpace page, featuring a ton of new pics from the film including the one you see on your right. That’s his wife, Axelle, in one of her two roles in Doomsday.
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 12:12pm.

All right, just under a month left before Neil Marshall’s Doomsday hits theaters (be sure to check out our ass-kicking contest for it right here) and finally the film’s official site has opened up beyond just the trailer.
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Sat, 02/23/2008 - 1:48pm.

Doomsday is coming, we all know when (“Doomsday Gets a Date!” – January 2008) ... but what will it look like? What will the epic plague on Earth leave in its wake? Will the people who survived outside of the containment zone retain their humanity? Will the disease that drove the human race to near extinction be cured?
Submitted by Kryten Syxx on Tue, 01/15/2008 - 9:38pm.

I really can’t wait for Doomsday. Neil Marshall’s track record to date has shown us a director who loves working in our genre and knows how to do it right and even though Doomsday isn't horror, it is post-apocalyptic and in my book, that’s close enough.
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Fri, 01/04/2008 - 12:49am.

While Neil Marshall is putting the finishing touches on his next film, Doomsday, which I’m sure is going to blow us all away (check out our Comic Con interviews for a look at why), movement is still happening on The Descent 2 (which may or may not be replacing its “s” with a “2”), which, as we first told you
Submitted by Undeadmin on Thu, 08/30/2007 - 1:14am.

Starring Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Jackson Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring Directed by Neil Marshall Distributed by Lionsgate
Submitted by Uncle Creepy on Wed, 12/20/2006 - 6:00am.

Interview by: Johnny Butane One of the coolest things we got lined up to do while at Comic Con was sit down with the director of both Dog Soldiers and The Descent (which opens nationwide on Friday, August 4th), Neil Marshall. Though originally it was going to be on-camera, too much other stuff got in the way and I ended up sitting with Neil in a nice, quiet conference room solo. To say I was excited to meet the man is an understatement; here’s the guy who directed what I see as one of the best true horror films of the last 20 years. And I would only get 10 minutes with him. Damn. We discussed the ending of the film, changed for the forthcoming U.S. release, its origins, and where the proposed sequel can go. Enjoy! Johnny Butane: Let’s get the elephant out of the room first and foremost and talk about the ending. Neil Marshall: Okay... JB: First of all if was your decision to change it and if so why… NM: There are many conspiracy theories abounding, but yes, it is my choice; I thought we should give it a try. I don’t have a favorite ending, actually, if you asked me I couldn’t pick between the two. I don’t think the U.S. ending makes it any less ambiguous, it’s certainly not a happier ending; it’s just different. One point of view is that the UK ending is actually a bit happier (editor’s note: you’ll have to see it to know what he means, I will reveal nothing). I compare it to Brazil, actually, in terms of the ambiguousness of the end. Plus it’s been over a year since it’s been released in the UK and I’ve almost been given a second chance at releasing it with the U.S. We had toyed with both endings in the editing room, to the point where we were really wondering which we would use. So we stuck with the scripted ending for the UK and the rest of the world, but when the opportunity came to release it again I thought we should give it a shot. Also, the response to the ending in the UK totally split audiences 50/50, some people loved and some hated it, so why not see how this one does? JB: But the UK ending will be on the DVD here, correct? NM: I can practically guarantee it. Just from Lionsgate’s point of view they’re going to want to get as much on the disc as possible. JB: All right, so back to the origins of the film; what made you decide to feature women as the main characters? NM: I just wanted to try something different, and I didn’t want to do it as just a counterpoint to Dog Soldiers specifically, either. Originally the story had a mixed group of people, but someone suggested it all be women, and I thought that was brilliant. I’d never seen that before, and certainly not in this kind of film. I really hate the concept of chick flicks, and since we made this kind of film with all women it was really an “up yours” to that whole concept. It’s all women, but it’s not about the fact that it’s all women. I wanted to treat them as what they are, which is cavers. I wanted to make sure that these women weren’t just gung-ho adventure junkies, either, but rather strong, contemporary women. They all have more dimensions to them, which I though was very cool and made them a more realistic bunch. JB: How was the casting process? NM: In some cases it was very difficult and in other cases it was very easy. We never looked at any one else for the role of Holly, Nora-Jane Noone. As soon as I saw her I knew I wanted to get her in for an audition and as soon as she came in I knew it was her. So that was easy! The characters of Sarah and Juno were a lot harder. Sarah especially because in the beginning there was a lot of pressure to put more of a name in the part but I didn’t want to go with that. Shauna (MacDonald) who got the part was very desperate for it; she fought tooth and nail for it, she even auditioned four times. She was the only one who came with reams of questions and I knew I wanted her for it, and finally everyone agreed. Then Juno was a different matter all together because we met so many different people for the part. JB: That’s understandable; she’s a very complex character. NM: Yeah, she is. When Natalie (Jackson Mendoza) came in for the audition and she was chewing on an apple… just biting this apple all the way through it. She was the only person to bring a prop, and I was watching it and saying “Well, that is quite sexy… that works for me!” and we ended up including that in the film, too. She just has a real presence about her, both visually and physically. JB: When did you first see her do the leg trick (you’ll know what I mean when you see the film, trust me)? NM: She didn’t do it in the audition, but after we cast her. In the first script I had written that the character of Holly was trying to outdo the character of Juno, to always try and do something every more impressive than Juno, so I asked Natalie what she could do and she did the leg thing. So I was like, "Okay… I have to re-write the script now..." (laughs) But it worked out anyway because it was a nice comedy moment in the final film. JB: It seems like you had a really good grasp on the characters when they were both written and put on screen, which is something that’s way to rare in horror films; you really care about the people. NM: I learned that from Dog Soldiers more than anything; if you pile on the layers and depth to these characters it pays off. If you care about them then you’re going to be in the situation with them; if you don’t give a shit then why are you going to get scared? It occurred to me that working with six women could have been a complete mess, if they all turned out to be cold bitches it would’ve been awful, but they certainly weren’t. They all turned out to be so supportive of each other, and me as well. They’re all a close-knit bunch of friends now, so it definitely paid off. JB: How did the film do in the UK when it was released originally? NM: It did pretty well... I’m not sure if you’re aware of the history that it opened the day after the terrorist bombings. We had the premiere on a Wednesday night. On Thursday morning when we all had hangovers we started getting the calls the bombs had gone off and some people from the premiere were missing, so it was chaos. Luckily no one was involved, however. The film opened the day after, then, and people were still trapped underground in reality, so no one really wanted to go see a film about people trapped underground. Also, one of the big posters for The Descent was on the side of a buss that blew up, and all that was left on the side of the bus was a quote from it saying "outright terror" with Shauna’s face; the title was wiped out. Shauna was pretty upset about it; it was on newspapers all across the county. So I would say it about halfed the business we could have done, put people still went the cinema; actually War of the Worlds did really well that weekend, which was a bit odd. It was just that central London didn’t do as well. So that affected us quite badly, I really think we would have done twice as well. At this point I got the "one more question" notice, so of course I had to ask two; JB: I heard you’re going to have some involvement in Dog Soldiers 2? NM: I was at one point but I’m not anymore, no. JB: All right, so what about The Descent 2? NM: That is happening, though I won’t be directing or writing it, but I will be overseeing it. We just had a treatment delivered this week and we’ll be commissioning a script after that. JB: Can you tell me anything about it? NM: Not really because I haven’t read the treatment yet! (laughs) I came up with my kind of story and we’ve had some writers modify some ideas and come up with their own ideas. I’m really only interested in doing it if it opens up the world underground. I just don’t want it to be a rehash of the first. JB: And what ending are you going to go off of? NM: Well, that does create a problem, and I think the writers may have solved it, but we’ll see! Big thanks to Lionsgate for setting up the interview and to Mr. Marshall for participating! Be sure to head out to see The Descent next weekend to show your support and find out if it’s actually worth the hype we’ve been giving it (it is). The official U.S. site is right here where you can see a lot more about the film.
Submitted by Undeadmin on Sun, 07/30/2006 - 6:13pm.

Interview by: Johnny Butane I've seen The Descent four times now in various settings, from being by myself to being in a room full of people, and it still never fails to creep me out. That's no easy task for any horror film considering how many of them I’ve seen and how used to watching them I am, but Neil Marshall managed to pull it off with is second feature. It’s a beautiful thing. Our foreign correspondent Axelle recently got the chance to sit down with Marshall and have a one-on-one about his fantastic film, and the results should be enough to get you slavering to see this even more. As you know, Lionsgate will be releasing the film theatrically this summer, but there’s a Region 2 disc already out in the UK that is more than worth getting. Enjoy the interview and if you haven’t seen it yet beware off SPOILERS! (don't worry, they're well marked -Johnny) Axelle Carolyn: The Descent is your second horror film, yet you don't want to be known as a horror director... Neil Marshall: I don’t want to be just a horror director; I love doing horror films but I don’t want to be pigeonholed. I’ve done two horror films back-to-back now, very different to my mind anyway: one, Dog Soldiers, is a sort of black comedy horror film. The Descent is a darker film. Now I want to go and do something totally different; I’m directing a science fiction film next and exploring some other genres, other stories and characters and then come back to doing horror films! I love horror films and I think secretly I love scaring the audience.AC: Where did the idea of The Descent come from? NM: I’d read articles and books and seen documentaries about caving. I’d never gone caving myself but it sounded pretty scary so I thought I’d come up with a story set in a cave. It was ideal for a horror film to utilize an environment that is about darkness and shadows. I remember when I was ten or eleven years old I went on a school trip and we went in a mine. We all gathered together and the guide said, "I want you to turn all your torches off", and for the first time in my life I experienced pitch black. It’s not like when you’re at home and the lights are off, when you have streetlight coming in or the stars or whatever; it’s pitch black. You can move your hand in front of your face and you can’t see anything. It made me cling to my torch; out in the world it is just a torch but in there it’s your whole life. As part of research for the film I did go caving and yea, it’s intense, I thoroughly enjoyed it but I don’t think I’d like to do it again… So I was really interested in that idea, and it’s a friend of mine who said, why not make them all women? I thought, that’s inspired, that’s genius, why not? AC: Well, maybe because it makes it more difficult for you to write it… NM: It was certainly more of a challenge for me as a writer, but it’s a contemporary idea and more importantly for me, the story was is no way dependent on the fact that they were women, they just are and you accept that. And nobody ever made an all female ensemble in a horror film. AC: Going back to the idea of the cave, it is a perfect setting for a horror movie, but at the same time it sounds quite impossible to film… NM: Totally. And for that reason we made the decision very early on that we wouldn’t be filming in a real cave. The main reason, obviously, was how dangerous and impractical it would be coming into the cave with the material; it’s just far too risky. But also we had very specific action within the script and we had to find a real cave that fit the bill. Finding all of that in one cave would have been impossible, and finding it in a bunch of caves was an unrealistic possibility. So we built everything, there isn’t a single real cave in the film, everything’s faked. There’s a matte painting, miniatures, and 98% of it are sets we built in Pinewood. Our production designer and my director of photography both did a fantastic job of making these caves look incredibly real. We used the same set, a sort of corridor thing, something like twelve times! We just made it look different every time. Also, we only used the light sources that the girls carry down into the darkness with them. There should be no extraneous sources of light because that’s cheating, that’s how it is in the dark. AC: I guess you used all sorts of reflective boards to use the light to its maximum? NM: Yes, reflective boards hidden in different places. We used every trick in the book. It was kind of fun trying to solve all these problems. And since the actresses were using their own lights, the lighting was never the same twice, which also helped us make the sets look different. AC: What kind of budget did you have? NM: It was 3.5 million pounds… like 6 or 7 million dollars. The TV company who made "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" made a fortune. Paul Smith, the guy who runs it, wanted to get into filmmaking and a couple of years ago he created Salvador Films; their first production was Dirty Pretty Things and The Descent was their second film. They were the sole source of financing; it’s a really unique thing in the UK because I only had the producer and the executive producer to deal with, it was ideal. AC: How did you cast the actresses? NM: Some were easy, like Holly; but for Sarah, we looked at so many people for that part. Shauna came back again and again and again. Every time we had an audition we’d bring Shauna back. We were doing all sorts of things, we were lining chairs in a row, because one of the scenes we auditioned with was the bit where she gets stuck in the tunnel and collapses, and you can’t do that just sitting in a room. So we had them crawl underneath the chairs and I filmed them with a camcorder. It really helped with the whole audition process. AC: Did you also make them audition together? NM: If we passed somebody, we’d ask her to come back in and play with the others. I wanted everybody to be visually and physically different. I wanted them to sound different because they would be filmed in the dark; I wanted them to be very accomplished actors; that was the most important thing. They had to be physically capable of what we were gonna put them through; everybody was warned very early on that it was gonna be an incredibly difficult shoot and they all said yes. They were great, they were true to their word, none of them complained that we made them suffer. They all went to climbing training, rafting training, caving training before the shoot, and the shoot itself was physical. The guys in Dog Soldiers, it was a walk in the park for them; they just had to sit in the house. These girls had to lie in freezing cold water all day… They all had cuts and bruises by the end of the shoot. AC: Did any of them know anything about caving before? NM: No. Shauna [MacDonald] had gone climbing before, but she’d never gone caving and we discovered that she was really claustrophobic. But that helped her play the character. AC: Why did you decide to shoot the film in sequence? NM: It was the only way we could do it. They never revisit the same cave twice and we only had a certain amount of sets, so what we had to do was use the set then pull it apart and rebuild something else. That’s the way we had to do it; the characters make a physical and mental journey through the cave, and it’s better for them to film it in story order and it’s better for us. The only thing that we didn’t shoot in sequence was the bit of the film where she comes back out of the ground. AC: But you did start with the rafting sequence? It looks like one of the most difficult scenes to shoot though… NM: Yes, it was the first day of shooting and the most difficult part for me. We were filming in Scotland in December when it gets light at 10 am and dark at 4pm, we had six hours to do the entire sequence! Luckily we had five cameras to cover it and the girls were so adapted to rafting the stunt guys said they could go on their own, they would be fine.AC: The opening sequence is a great introduction to the characters and to the atmosphere of the movie. Where did the idea come from? NM: It was two things. First it was an homage to Deliverance, which is one of my favorite films of all time and a huge inspiration for this film. Also, just to show that these girls are strong and independent, they like to do adventurous sports. Someone suggested skydiving at first but I thought it was a bit too nice, with blue skies… I wanted something a bit messier and I thought rafting would be good for that. AC: How did you design the creatures? NM: I did some ideas on my computer, initial concepts, but then when we got the actors and the designers came in we came up with different ideas and it evolved from one thing to the other. I always wanted them to be as human as possible and to have evolved in that environment logically; their eyes are blind and have gone bigger, they use their senses in a different kind of way to us, but they are essentially human. It was a lot of fun designing that one. AC: There have been rumors about another ending for the US version… **SPOILERS**NM: Yes, the American distributor decided to change it. There won’t be anything new; the only difference is that when she climbs out of the cave and she gets in the car and she drives along, it cuts back to her being in the cave: that’s what they’ve cut. So she’s in the car, Juno sits next to her and she screams and that’s it. All it really does is it suggests that she does make it out of the cave. She’s still bad, but she’s out. They tested both endings and it played a lot better without the last bit. For whatever reason they preferred the idea that she made it out of the cave. Fair enough, she’s killed all her friends but she’s out of the cave, so it’s ok! (Laughs.) My original ending has been seen in the UK, has been seen worldwide, everybody else is going to get to see that, but well. It’s a totally different mindset; I can’t get my head around it, but whatever. They’re going to get to see the complete ending on DVD anyway. **END SPOILERS** AC: What are you working on now? NM: I’m doing a project called Doomsday. It’s a break from horror; but it’s still gonna be pretty dark, full of action and violence, but it’s more of a tribute to films like Mad Max and Escape From New York. I’m not just a horror fan, I love all sorts of films and I’ve always wanted to make a sort of science fiction, post-apocalyptic adventure. It’s all set in the UK and we should be shooting that this summer. I’m going to try to get the same team from The Descent back. AC: So you have no intention to leave the UK? NM: No, I have no interest in doing anything in L.A. I don’t want to be making films with happy endings! Big thanks to Axelle for allowing us access to the interview and of course to Neil for making it happen in the first place! Lionsgate has big plans for The Descent this August, likely giving it a huge promotional push, and I hope that you'll head out and see if when it’s here, you won’t be sorry. Keep it here for more on the film! Discuss The Descent in our forums!
Submitted by Undeadmin on Sat, 03/18/2006 - 1:01pm.

Interview by: Johnny Butane Like most people who worked on Doomsday, this wasn’t the first time Production Designer Simon Bowles worked alongside director Neil Marshall. Along with being a fantastic director, Marshall inspires a lot of loyalty in everyone who makes movies with him. The unique challenges of Doomsday are what really got Bowles interested in seeing how it could be pulled off, we discovered through an e-mail interview with him. Check it out below to learn how Doomsday got its unique look! Johnny Butane: What was your first official gig as a production designer? Simon Bowles: The first feature film I designed was Edgar Wright's spoof western “A Fistful of Fingers” in 1994. I had an Art Department budget of £100 and came in £1 under, which the Producer gave me on the final day of the shoot. Since then the budgets have been going up, my Doomsday Art Department budget was nearly $4 million dollars. Weirdly, it doesn’t matter how much you have, it’s just never enough. We’re asked to make ever more impressive films on tighter budgets. This was one of the reasons we shot Doomsday in Cape Town, costs are cheaper, there are experienced teams and the climate is superb. JB: How much has changed in the industry since then? SB: These days the choice of country to shoot in is often based on tax incentives, good exchange rate and economic pay scale, these considerations are often as important as where the script is set. I’ve shot Cape Town as Glasgow, Luxembourg as Scotland and Canada, London as Washington and Italy, Morocco as Egypt and London. My skill is to make sure the audience would never know. JB: How did you and Neil Marshall end up working with one another? SB:: Before first meeting Neil I held the position of Senior Art Director for a production company in Luxembourg. A film came up called Dog Soldiers for which I and other experienced Production Designers interviewed for. I met the two DS Producers and Neil and we got on really well together. I got the job and together we collaborated to make the film look dynamic and action-packed. We also worked hard to retain a sense of realism to keep the audience from questioning what they’re witnessing. JB: What are the differences between DS, Descent and now Doomsday when it comes to challenging design? SB: I’ve been so lucky to work with Neil, he writes films in which the sets really are key characters in the story; in Dog Soldiers it was the Scottish cottage, which I built both the exterior, interior and a miniature to blow up, The Descent I designed and built the labyrinth of caves, and now Doomsday designing futuristic London, hardcore military vehicles and an overgrown Glasgow! I now have the reputation for giving the films I design a look of twice the budget. All the movies I work on are so totally different, that’s the beauty for a designer, there are no similarities. JB: Why is Neil obsessed with making “D” movies? SB; Neil is the Demon Dare-Devil Director of Dread and Disorder! JB: When you sat down to look at Doomsday what did you think would be the most difficult setting to pull off? SB: The Producers primarily wanted to know how I’d build the 40-foot high, 80 mile long steel wall that is erected in the story to divide Scotland and England. Of course the big wide shots could use CGI, but there were many scenes with vehicles driving through the huge doors, soldiers running along its parapet and Scottish civilians rushing up begging for release. Yes, it could have been a massive green screen, but Neil and I really like as much realism as possible on a set. There are limits to the ability of computer-generated objects and a modern audience is only too aware of them. It really was spine chilling seeing a couple of hundred extras running towards the huge closing metal doors and I think that comes across in the film. Beyond that, making the streets of Cape Town look like massively overgrown Glasgow was going to be a challenge too, especially as there were some iconic Cape Town locations that we had only a few hours to dress. Under pressure in the middle of a meeting with the producers I came up with an idea to buy large 50 foot square sheets of fine black netting, wire on trails of plastic creepers, fix them onto the top of the buildings on these roads and drop them down, quickly transforming the buildings and also covering up signage such as “Cape Town Quick-E-Mart”. The process was reversed when we wrapped at the end of the shooting day. JB: Did you draw inspirations from other post-apocalypse movies or did you try and keep it as original as possible? SB: Any project has its similarities to other films, it’s impossible not to be effected by them, but I always set out to design a look that is new and exciting to enhance the action and envelop the audience. JB: Should we, as the audience, be looking for any subtle nods to other films? SB: As with all Neil’s films there are nods to other movies within the dialogue, action and sets, but they’re not for me to point out, more for the fans to spot and list on the IMDB, no spoilers here mate! JB: The IMDB lists you as PD on Descent 2 … is that by default or are you actually working on it? SB: I’m working with the Descent 2 Director Jon Harris, (editor on the first film) and his scriptwriters to develop a script for the sequel. We’re eagerly waiting for the project to be green-lit, due any day. JB: Any director’s you would really like to work under? SB: As a huge Raiders, Star Wars and Alien fan I’d really love to get the chance to design for Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas and Ridley Scott on their astounding films. But truly, I’d love to keep working with Neil, I’ve had a sneak preview of the other scripts he’s developing and they’re all fantastic! He’s got so many ideas spewing from his fingertips! Q: What’s next for you? SB: My wife and I recently had a baby boy, little Indy Bowles. I turned down work to be around for his birth and to see him through his first few months. I’m now reading scripts and meeting directors to discuss their projects. I don’t think an audience could ever guess just how much time and passion it takes Directors and Producers to get funding for their films, so I freely offer any design advice I can give to help get their films made. The future? I really love working on horror films, but one day I must design a child friendly film for Indy and a beautiful period film that’ll make my dear pacifist parents proud. Thanks to Simon for taking the time to chat with us! Look for more Doomsday interviews as we approach the release date, Friday March 14th and be sure to visit the official Doomsday site to learn more about the movie! You can learn more about Bowles and the other films he's worked on at his official site, as well! Discuss this interview in the Dread Central forums!
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Tue, 11/30/1999 - 5:00am.