It’s rare for a horror movie, even the most acclaimed, to terrify the audience from start to finish, but Neil Marshall’s 2005 masterclass in horror filmmaking The Descent manages to do just that. Steeped in dread from the very opening scene, The Descent is equal parts brutal, thought-provoking, and nerve-wracking for the viewer. It follows a group of women as they embark on a spelunking expedition as a way to reconnect and distract one member of their group, Sarah, after the tragic deaths of her husband and daughter.

It’s been 20 years since its release, but The Descent remains a celebrated monster movie in addition to acting as a gold standard in horror film-craft thanks to the anxiety-inducing claustrophobia it manages to evoke. The cast is light on A-listers, but the actresses who star in the movie give riveting performances, which helps elevate the terror and believability of the entire incident at the movie’s center. In addition to being a tremendous creature feature, The Descent is riddled with elements of a psychological thriller, making it one of the most complete achievements in the horror genre from the 2000s.

The Descent Is Scary From The First Moment To The Last

It Begins With Shocking Opening And Never Relents

The Descent sets the stage for its visceral onslaught of terror from the first scene of the movie. The main character, Sarah, is driving back from a whitewater rafting trip with her friends (the same ones she will later head into the unmapped cave system with) along with her husband and daughter, when tragedy strikes. Her husband smashes into a construction vehicle while distracted, sending a metal rod flying through the car, which impales both her husband and her daughter sitting behind him. It’s completely unexpected and rattles the viewers’ nerves early in the movie.

Once the group of women enters the cave system, the terror simply doesn’t stop. As they slowly realize they’re not alone in the caves, they have to navigate a gauntlet of non-creature horrors, including extreme heights, claustrophobia, and entombing darkness. By the time the group is separated and picked off by the cave-dwelling humanoids known as “Crawlers”, the audience is already entrenched in a nightmare. The final scenes manage to pack in two terrifying jump scares en route to a grim, hopeless ending, ensuring the terror doesn’t stop until the credits roll.

Why The Descent’s Ability To Terrify Hasn’t Dulled With Age

The Things That Make It Scary Hold Up Incredibly Well

Horror movies in particular can be susceptible to poor aging, especially as special effects improve; what was once scary can dull over time and new strides are made in horror. However, that is not the case with The Descent, which holds up thanks to the filmmaking techniques that the terror is derived from. The cast is stalked by monsters, but what makes them so terrifying is that the operate in the darkness. Neil Marshall makes the darkness of the cave system itself a living, breathing enтιтy, using its smothering weight to create non-stop claustrophobia.

On top of that, the psychological elements of the movie are no less potent now than they were in 2005. The movie’s protagonist Sarah is the victim of grief and loneliness, which slowly evolves into paranoia and distrust over the course of the movie. Her unfortunate path to the cave’s exit is marked by her mind steadily breaking under the weight of her terror and desperation, making her experience particularly resonant with the viewer. The Descent remains an all-time great horror movie thanks to its never-yielding commitment to terror in many forms.