10 Horror Movies With The Best Monster Reveals

2. The Crawlers - The Descent

The Ritual Moder
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Even though Neil Marshall has had an incredibly diverse career, there's no question The Descent is the British filmmaker at the top of his game. After nearly two decades, the creature feature has lot none of its bite, due to its claustrophobic atmosphere and bone-chilling tension.

But if anything stands out, it has to be the Crawlers. Viewers who haven't revisited The Descent since its release should still remember the outright fear they felt when these subterranean humanoids appeared.

About 40 minutes in, our ensemble discover a den, composed of hundreds of animal skeletons. As they start screaming for help, a Crawler reveals itself before killing one of the characters. Rather than appearing with some big fanfare, the carnivorous cave-dweller pops into shot with no warning.

What really sells this moment is the fact the actresses hadn't a clue what the monsters looked like prior to filming. So, if you thought the characters looked genuinely terrified during this scene, that's because they weren't acting.

Although the Crawlers' design is not spectacular, the way they reveal themselves is among the greatest jump-scares in the history of cinema.

Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows