“The rules are simple, just pick your favorite horror film for each day! However, you can’t pick the same horror film more [than] once. So once you pick say THE EXORCIST for your favorite horror film involving the powers of Hell, you can’t [pick] it again for any other day [whatsoever,] including favorite horror film.”

Source: Dollar Bin Horror

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Day 30 – Your favorite horror film of all time
Film: The Descent (2005) – dir. Neil Marshall

Thirty days later, and we have finally reached the big question: what is my favorite horror film of all-time?  It was tough keeping this film available until today, but I planned ahead (which is probably cheating again).

Neil Marshall first appeared on this list all the way back on Day 4 (favorite werewolf film).  Much like Dog Soldiers, The Descent is an underrated masterpiece of horror cinema.  Seeing this in theatres back in 2005 had me closing my eyes and holding on to my friend for dear life.  The Descent mixes badass violence, claustrophobic settings, and brooding tension to scare the living hell out of viewers.

I knew it was love when I showed my current girlfriend this film when we started dating, and she literally screamed in terror (she has never screamed out loud in any other horror film we have watched since, and that number is staggering).

What makes The Descent unique is that the main characters are all women.  In fact, there is only 1 man in the cast that isn’t one of the cave dwelling creatures, and he is barely in the film at all.  It is rare to see such strong female characters travel in a group in this genre (usually it is one lone female kicking ass, if there are any).  These women are on a caving expedition when they become trapped.  The group doesn’t immediately panic because they think that when they don’t show up at night, the rangers will come looking for them because one of the women told them where they were climbing.  Things take a turn for the worse when it is revealed that they were not climbing the tourist attraction spot, but rather unexplored caves.  If the caves really are unexplored, then the women have nothing to worry about, right?  Thankfully this is a horror movie.

I can’t praise The Descent, and Neil Marshall, enough.  If you pick only one film from the 30 I’ve listed the past 30-days, The Descent needs to be that film.  It is the epitome of the graphic horror movement of the 2000s.  At last check, the Blu-ray version was only $11 at Amazon. Do yourself the favor and pick one up.  Whatever you do, be sure to watch the unrated original cut and not the US Theatrical version!  The ending is much better in the original.

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That’s it!  30-days, 30 horror films.  Hope you all enjoyed coming along for my month long journey through my favorites.  I’ve just found out there is a sequel to this challenge (like any good horror movie requires) that deals with the characters of horror, and I may attempt that in the coming months.  Thanks for following along.

Branden Chowen

Branden has been a film fan since he was young, roaming the halls of Blockbuster Video, trying to find the grossest, scariest looking VHS covers to rent and watch alone in the basement. It wasn’t until recently, though, that Branden started seeking out the classics of cinema, and began to develop his true passion for the art form. Branden approaches each film with the unique perspective of having studied the art from the inside, having both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in acting. He has been a film critic since 2010, and has previously written for Inside Pulse Movies, We Love Cult, and Diehard Gamefan. His biggest achievement as a film critic, to date, has been founding Cinefessions and turning it from a personal blog to a true film website, housing hundreds of film and television reviews, and dozens of podcasts.