The Next Wave in 'Chick Flicks': All-Female Horror

Aug. 3, 2006 — -- Women will head to theaters to watch any Harry meet his Sally. They'll watch John Cusack "Say Anything." Now a new brand of chick flick that's descending on theaters shuns the girl-meets-boy template. The fierce females of the "The Descent" don't meet any boys because there aren't any in the film.

While blood-and-guts-slasher action has always been considered the box-office recipe that draws a male audience, Lions Gate -- the studio behind "The Descent" and the "Saw" franchise -- notes that more women under 25 bought tickets for ''Saw II'' than did their male counterparts.

As "The Descent" opens Friday, audiences will see what Lions Gate hopes is a movie that breaks the mold for horror adventure flicks, which have been so successful in recent years.

With the exception of a single scene at the outset, six unknown actresses who play cave-plunging spelunkers carry all the action. They offer blood-curdling screams, which women tend to emit when attacked by slimy, cave-dwelling monsters, but they aren't waiting to be rescued like typical damsels in distress.

Another thing you won't see is the gratuitous sex. Perhaps the only purpose women filled in earlier horror films was as eye candy. But you won't find the camera conspicuously lingering over the bodies of these actresses.

"There's never really been an all-female brutal action horror movie before," said Neil Marshall, who wrote and directed the film. "I thought, 'There's no reason for them to have a token man along.'"

As the bold, brave sextet of women plunges into an Appalachian cavern, they're imbued with girl power but soon realize they're not the only life form plodding around in the dark.

"You're getting covered in mud and blood and snot and sweat and excrement," said Shauna McDonald, who stars as the troubled Sarah. "But we're physically strong and we're mentally strong and we don't give up."

These women are resilient rock climbers and seasoned athletes but are nevertheless trapped underground. Marshall shows them very little mercy, presenting the ladies with claustrophobic tunnels (among other obstacles) in thick, maddening darkness. The British director subjects his characters to so much distress that a fan at one New York screening jokingly accused him of hating women.

The British director said he's not a misogynist, just a horror buff with lofty goals.

"What I really want to do is to terrify people," he said. "I want to make something ... like 'The Shining' or 'Deliverance.'"

Of course, those cinematic classics feature manly men like Jack Nicholson and Jon Voight, and they were made in the 1970s and early 1980s, an era when horror filmmakers still seemed to believe there was a weaker sex. Token bombshells often played wives and girlfriends, yelping helplessly and providing eye candy for male moviegoers.