10 Horror Movies That Only Work In The Cinema

4. The Descent

Claustrophobia is a very powerful tool in a filmmaker's arsenal. The fear of being trapped in a small space with no way out taps into something deep within the human psyche, a primordial sense of danger that comes from our days as wild animals.

Cinemas are, by their nature, claustrophobic spaces. They literally keep audiences stuck in a box for around two hours at a time, with the price of escape being the loss of immersion in the action on screen.

Put this feeling together with a film set in an underground cave network overrun with monsters and that is a recipe for scary success.

The Descent is about a group of thrillseeker friends who decide to go caving. After a rockslide blocks the only known exit to the cave, the women find themselves trapped underground with no idea of how to get out and only mysterious, flesh-eating creatures for company.

The enclosed environment of the big screen creates a parallel to the protagonists' plight in The Descent. You almost feel like you're also trapped underground, constantly checking over your shoulder to see if something is chasing you.