A grisly and gripping horror movie, The Descent follows six friends on a hellish trip underground. Arranged to help Sarah (Shona Macdonald) overcome personal tragedy, the caving expedition goes awry when they're trapped in the dark and realise they're not alone. What unfolds plays like Aliens meets Deliverance, with the action bloody, brutal and relentless. Dog Soldiers director Neil Marshall grabs the audience by the throat and just won't let go.

This movie plays on every primal fear: of darkness, claustrophobia, deformity, drowning and, um, being ripped limb from bloody limb by creatures with very pointy teeth. Dog Soldiers was playfully gory. This is a much darker, more intense horror affair.

"AN AIR OF MENACE THAT NEVER LETS UP"

From early on, the film unsettles. The impactful opening proves anything can happen. But where many modern horror movies, afraid of boring the audience, splurge their money shots straight away, The Descent takes its own sweet time, with an air of menace that never lets up. Perhaps there are one too many "it's only a cat"-style jumps, but this pays off brilliantly in the picture's most horrifying scene, when Juno (Natalie Mendoza) is scrapping with the ‘crawlers'.

Scrambling around the dark caves and tunnels, the cast nails the atmosphere of fear and panic. All impress, but Mendoza is a standout, giving her ambiguous character nuance. Macdonald, tasked with giving the butchery real-world emotion, is also excellent; like a young Sissy Spacek, with added sex appeal. She provides genuine sorrow amid the scares of the horror film of the year.