Article Contains Spoilers

The Descent is a horror movie directed by Neil Marshall and released in 2005. The plot involves a woman named Sarah who lost her daughter in a car accident and was left by her husband. A year later she goes on a hiking trip with a group of her friends exploring a cave system. They hadn't seen each other for a while and felt this trip would help Sarah cope with her daughter's death.

Almost immediately, things got weird. Sarah struggled with anxiety and started hearing things. One of her friends fell and broke her leg badly, essentially trapping them in the darkness. Making the experience even worse, they realize they aren't alone; there were monsters down there with them in the dark. 

The monsters, violent and disgusting hunters relying on movement and smell, start attacking and killing the friends. Disoriented and lost, the group of friends were easily picked off one at a time. Quick camera and character movements combined with the low contrast lighting made the descent into the cave tense and shocking. The monsters were hidden in the darkness and were revealed in flashes of movement and light making the fear intense.

Neil Marshall's use of sound made The Descent even more scary. The use of contrapuntal sound in the accident scene that started the film made the daughter's death unexpected. Parallel sounds of rocks collapsing and bones breaking inside the cave during the monster attacks effectively had the audience at the edge of their seat. When Sarah eventually emerges from the cave, the only survivor, the audience is finally given a break from the tension, is finally able to sit back in their seats.

Overall, The Descent is very interesting. It wasn’t the scariest movie, but it was scary enough to keep me from watching it at night by myself. Anyone that likes scary movies in general would enjoy this, especially if you enjoy nightmares.