Metascore
71 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 30
  2. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. It's the most intense, unpredictable and thrilling cinematic experience I've had the pleasure to squirm through in ages.
  2. The director of The Descent is savvy enough to suggest even more than he shows. And he's old-school enough to load up on glimpses of good, clean, gruesome gore.
  3. A nasty little tube of frozen horror concentrate.
  4. Neil Marshall's horrifically terrific The Descent cannily recasts 1972's "Deliverance" as a female-bonding thriller with some "Hills Have Eyes"-style mutant terror tossed in for truly harrowing effect.
  5. 88
    Though the film's downbeat ending was softened for U.S. release, it's still a long way from happy.
  6. The most exhilaratingly horrifying movie to come out in years.
  7. 83
    The Descent sustains a level of intensity that most horror films can barely muster for five minutes.
  8. Reviewed by: Dan Jolin
    80
    Brutal, bloody, terrifying, astonishing... And so tense it'll leave you aching. The most significant Brit chiller since "28 Days Later."
  9. 75
    Prepare to be scared senseless, and then, when you think you have it figured, your certainty will be shaken by scenes built to scare you even more.
  10. This is one of the scariest movies featuring female heroines since the "Alien" series, and what makes it uniquely scary is where these women are -- in tunnels two miles under ground -- when they realize they are not alone.
  11. 75
    Easily the summer's scariest movie.
  12. Reviewed by: Tirdad Derakhshani
    75
    Amid this unrelenting ferocity, Marshall gives his characters emotional depth, and elicits terrific performances from the cast.
  13. Marshall takes a modest budget and a concept that isn't all that original and produces a frightening, intelligent and sexy thriller.
  14. 75
    A cult classic is born.
  15. 75
    This one is a creepy white-knuckle excursion into horror, where even the "boo!" moments are so well developed that they cause a jolt.
  16. 75
    The Descent is bloody, disturbing, and genuinely frightening--you'll be very happy to leave that dark theater.
  17. For those who like their horror served straight up with no ironic chaser, The Descent is a tasty cup of torment.
  18. At the heart of the film, beyond the human/crawler conflict, is the suppressed tension between Sarah and Juno. That Marshall bothered to include such a fillip sets him apart from run-of-the-mill scaremongers; it makes me want to see what else he's done and will do.
  19. Reviewed by: Jeremy Knox
    70
    All in all, this is an accessible art house horror film whose trailer and premise do not do justice to the end result.
  20. 70
    While the women's battle with the cave creatures has fine jump-from-your-seat moments, it gradually becomes the same chase flick horror fans have seen dozens of times. OK, it's a darn good one in most respects.
  21. Reviewed by: Rob Nelson
    70
    In the great B tradition, Marshall gets a lot out of nothing.
  22. What follows is a sensationally entertaining escalation of frights, the kind that make you wiggle and squirm as you alternately laugh at your own gullibility and marvel at the filmmaker's cunning and craft.
  23. Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    70
    The chills and spills keep comin' to agreeable effect in Brit-made scarefest The Descent.
  24. Marshall keeps the film lean and focused. He does have a nice taste for horror imagery.
  25. 67
    The Descent may not be everything you've heard, but man, it's also a lot of things you haven't.
  26. You either go for a movie like this or you don't. But though I didn't like it much, I've got to admit that The Descent is a nerve-jangler.
  27. 63
    Eventually, though, the monsters come out -- blind, snarling cave-dwellers, looking much like Gollum's bigger kin -- and The Descent becomes a simple exercise in guessing who, if anyone, will survive.
  28. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    50
    It's made expressly for fans of unmitigated gore.
  29. 50
    Compulsively watchable, with its fair share of effective sledgehammer shocks; it just isn't very good.
  30. This intermittently effective UK horror thriller carefully establishes the psychological relationships among the women, then squanders this calibrated and generally plausible setup with a series of crude, implausible, and scattershot horror effects.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 209 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 92 out of 120
  2. Negative: 16 out of 120
  1. The best horror movie ever !
  2. To be honest, maybe one of the best horror films i have ever seen. It was very unpredictable and gory. I do admit I had to cover my eyes from one death scene, but other than that I was very impressed with the filming and the sets. A definite must see! Full Review »
  3. 2
    Ok, what can I say? First, that I am puzzled...I just cant get how people think this is the 'best horror movie ever' , a 'classic', seriously? Well, I never felt it. Classics and good: films like The Omen, Carrie, The Birds, The Exorcist, TCM, and others...this...for God's sake...has to be a joke! I strongly believe his is bad. Incredibly overrated. Many also also say the performances are great. As someone who has worked in performing arts (Mostly in theatre, which is what I truly love), let me tell you that the performances are terrible! At least that is my opinion as someone who has seen a lot of both good and bad acting. When I rented this movie I expected something different, smart horror, opportune gore. After 25 minutes -that are unnecessarily slow- I started feeling sleepy...30, 40 minutes...well I basically gave up. I don't care if there was gore after, or monsters, or whatever. It is just so frivolous. I felt no empathy for the characters. Not that it was required for this type of film, of course; but there is no real development of their personalities...it is all pretty shallow. The photography was good, and the idea interesting indeed; but that is not enough to make a movie good. Tension? Almost none. If blood is all you want...you will get there, but only after the first 45 min; have a nap before! For those who do not share my point of view, fair enough; but sincerely, I hoped to watch a decent film, and what I found is something flat, less than mediocre that I will never recommend to anyone and I have no intentions to watch it again...perhaps I will finish watching the last half. I shall do that, while I am having a nice glass of a great sauvignon blanc from the Malbourough region (NZ) and a creamy Tasmanian brie cheese... that I guess, will make it more bearable. Full Review »