10 Terrifying Horror Monsters That Only Need A Second To Scar You

9. The Crawlers -- The Descent (2005)

UK director Neil Marshall’s home-grown scary spelunking movie may not seem like much on the surface (pun intended), but it managed to transcend its basic premise, its indie origins and the limitations of its £3.5 million budget to become one of the noughties’ most revered horror flicks.

Car-crash widow Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) heads out with pals Juno and Beth (Natalie Mendoza and Alex Reid) and a couple other girlies for a cave-diving adventure in the Appalachian Mountains. But what begins as a nice, moderate-adrenaline adventure holiday turns into a fight for their lives, when the underground system of tunnels and caves they uncover turns out to be less uninhabited than first thought.

The thing that made The Descent such a success was its monster – or monsters. The so-called Crawlers are albino, humanoid things that echolocate, hunt in the dark and enjoy a bit of human meat when it wanders so willingly into their midst… And it doesn’t take them long to get under our skin. Making tactical use of the darkness and creative shots, including extreme closeups and night vision, Marshall gives us a creature experience that is quick, violent and consistently shocking every time they show up, leaving us watching the women get their necks opened and stomachs torn out one by one.

Note to self: no cave holidays from now on.