By Chris Snellgrove | Published
If you watch enough horror films, a funny thing happens: ironically, it becomes harder and harder to find a film that does that Really scares you. That’s because so few scary movies have truly original ideas, and far too many modern scary movies disappear into a smug miasma of Whedonesque references and cutesy jokes. Luckily, there’s a terrifying modern monster classic you can stream for free: The descentnow available on Tubi.
The descent into terror
Even by horror standards The descent has a straightforward narrative and focuses on the misadventures of a group of women who decide to go spelunking in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. The trip might be just the thing to distract our protagonist from the grief of the tragic loss of her husband and daughter the year before, but things go wrong when everyone ends up in an unknown cave system. But soon everyone has a lot more than just trauma and lostness to worry about when they encounter terrifying goblin-like creatures waiting to kill everything they can get their hands on.
Part of what makes up The descent What’s interesting as a horror film is that (apart from the monstrous “crawlers”) all the characters are played by women. This also includes Shauna Macdonald (known from the TV show). Ghosts) and Natalie Mendoza (known from the TV show Hotel Babylon). The film also stars Alex Reid (previously known for the TV show). Ultimate power), MyAnna Buring (known for her appearances in the Twilight films and the Witcher Series).
From a box office perspective The descent is one of those scary movies that was made on a relatively low budget and made a big profit (relative to the cost). The film was made on an estimated budget of £3.5 million (or just over $4.3 million) and grossed a massive $57.1 million at the box office. That was enough to warrant a sequel, however The descent 2 ended as a critical and commercial flop.
Fortunately, the original film is beloved by critics and audiences alike. On rotten tomatoes, The descent has a critical rating of 87 percent, with critics generally praising the film’s strong performances and extremely claustrophobic atmosphere. According to Popcornmeter, the film also has an audience rating of 76 percent, proving that this isn’t one of those horror films that critics love and audiences defy (like pretty much every other “upscale horror” film).
Serious nightmares
As for me, I loved it The descent For many of the same reasons… the all-female cast may sound like a boast, but it was done to set this film apart from other horror films (like director Neil Marshall’s previous film). Dog soldiers). Throughout the film, the characters truly feel like friends whose bond is continually tested by the strange situation they find themselves in. And while these aren’t exactly household names, each character feels unique thanks to the cast’s creative efforts.
But that real Reason to watch The descent is that it’s genuinely terrifying and manages to deliver visceral terror by simply refining a few classic horror formulas into something that feels exciting and new. We have characters who are trapped, but in a cave in the mountains rather than a cabin in the woods; We have monsters that look like Gollum’s third cousin, but they are treated with deadly seriousness. Add to that the horrific beginning and the bleak ending (especially in the unrated version), and you have a film that’s guaranteed to haunt you… a film that we really wouldn’t recommend watching before bed , unless you are ready for it serious Nightmares.
You will find The descent as scary as I am, or is this a movie you’d rather drop into an unexplored cave system? You won’t know until you take the step yourself. But be warned once this claustrophobic classic gets into your claws: you won’t be able to look away, and you will never forget what you see.