The Daily Stream becomes the Daily Scream for spooky season!
One of my most memorable experiences watching a film as a professional is of sitting in a screening room with around 25 other critics, all of the rest of them men, and… Friends, lemme tell ya, the whimpering that 2005’s The Descent’s elicited! From hardened guys who’d seen it all (moviewise, at least). I don’t usually find monster movies scary, but what British director Neil Marshall does here is something special. Something terrifying.
When a group of women spelunking in Appalachia get trapped by a cave-in, they discover that they are not alone, and the things they’re not alone with are hunting them. Think Alien, but underground, so: a neverending anticipation that awful things are waiting around every bend in the relentless, claustrophobic darkness (and they usually are). This is the sort of movie that makes you wanna pull your legs up onto the seat lest something hideous reach out from underneath and grab your ankles. (Read my 2006 review.)
US: stream on Max (via Prime); rent/buy on Prime and Apple TV
UK: rent/buy on Prime
See The Descent at Letterboxd for more viewing options.
