11 Claustrophobic Horror Movies About Caves

The Empty Man was unfortunately released in 2020, so its chances at success were lost with the closures of most theaters during that year. But the film has become a rabid cult favorite among horror fans as a truly macabre and Lovecraftian tale. Directed by David Prior and based on the graphic novel of the same name by Cullen Bunn and Vanesa R. Del Rey, it stars James Badge Dale, Marin Ireland, and Stephen Root. The cave sequence is in the film's stunning opening sequence, which you must see for yourself. It will leave you spooked and with your mouth wide open.

From a technical standpoint, As Above, So Below is set in the catacombs of Paris or ossuaries, which are man-made underground burial grounds rather than actual caves. However, the found footage film is such a fan favorite that we would be remiss if we didn't include it on this list. If you look at photos from the film, the catacombs look like caves, and the scares in the movie have much in common with other cave horror classics. It was directed by John Erick Dowdle and stars Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, and Edwin Hodge. Read more: Review: As Above, So Below.

The sequel to the survival horror film 47 Meters Down adds the danger of a cave system in a drowned Mayan city to the sharks and underwater terror of the first film. It stars Sophie Nélisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju, Sistine Stallone, Nia Long, and John Corbett. The same director, Johannes Roberts, returned for the second film, and it is about a second group who goes to dive in a secluded lagoon in an attempt to have the girls become friends. During the dive, walls collapse, and the only option is to swim through a series of caves to escape, but sharks soon come to pursue them.

Ravenous, directed by Antonia Bird, only has one cave, but it's a big part of the story and one heck of a cave. It happens to be the cave where the cannibal, who has fooled the soldiers of a nearby fort into thinking he needed help, has committed his acts of cannibalism. After luring the soldiers to the cave, he kills most of them and plans to take over the fort to continue to cannibalize travelers trying to realize "manifest destiny." It combines horror and disturbing comedy and stars an excellent cast, including Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, Jeremy Davies, Jeffrey Jones, John Spencer, Neal McDonough, and David Arquette.

The Descent is the original and gripping horror film from director Neil Marshall. The Descent: Part 2 wouldn't have been made without the first film, which is an excellent example of an all-female horror film and the success that it can have. The film was not just financially successful but also critically successful, and it is a benchmark for horror movies set in caves and claustrophobic environments. No one could tell that the film was filmed at Pinewood Studios, not an actual cave because the director considered filming in a cave much too dangerous. The film stars Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, Nora-Jane Noone, and MyAnna Buring. Read more: Review: The Descent.

Ken Russell's dark fantasy comedy horror film The Lair of the White Worm is about a legendary and ancient "worm" that was supposedly killed by the local lord hundreds of years ago. Based on Bram Stoker's novel, the film is about a Scottish archeologist who finds a strange skull and the mysterious Lady Sylvia Marsh, who may have a connection with the ancient legend. The lair of the d’Ampton worm is set in the fictional Stonerich Cavern. The scenes in the fictional cavern were filmed in real-life Thor's Cave. The film stars Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Capaldi, and Sammi Davis.

It might not usually be considered a movie with cave terror, but M. Night Shyamalan's 2021 film Old presents the final challenge to the two survivors of the deadly beach that causes rapid aging. As middle-aged people, rapidly aging beaches will do that to you; they can only escape by swimming through coral tunnels. But even before that, the scene where they, as teenagers, watch the rapid disintegration of Chrystal, who has a disease that causes her bones to break, which happens in one of the caves in the mountain that traps them on the beach. It is one of the most horrific moments in the film. The film stars Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, and Thomasin McKenzie.

A group of explorers and scientists go on an expedition to explore a cave system under a ruined abbey in Carpathia, where a previous team went missing decades earlier. After a cave-in blocks the entrance, they have no choice but to go forward, looking for another exit. But they find that strange parasitic creatures are stalking them. Directed by Bruce Hunt, the film stars Cole Hauser, Morris Chestnut, Eddie Cibrian, Lena Headey, Piper Perabo, and Daniel Dae Kim. Read more: Review: The Cave.

Black Water: Abyss is a sequel to the Australian film Black Water from 2007. It has a different premise and is not based on a real-life story. What it does have in common with the first film is that both have killer crocodiles. In Black Water: Abyss, a group of friends is trapped in a cave system in a remote area after a storm causes the cave to flood. Trapped amid rising waters, things only worsen when a hungry crocodile starts to hunt them, and a love triangle is revealed. The film was directed by Andrew Traucki, who co-directed the first film, and stars Jessica McNamee, Luke Mitchell, and Amali Golden.

The Cavern is different because it is set in a rare locale, Kyzylkum Desert, Kazakhstan. In the film, which has a standard set-up, a group of cavers, an author of books about caving, and two local guides enter a previously unexplored cave system. At the same time, there are flashbacks about a group member who died on a previous expedition in South America. A mysterious creature picks off the cavers one by one until only two are left. Olatunde Osunsanmi directed the film, which stars Sybil Temtchine, Ogy Durham, and Mustafa Shakir.

In this Spanish found footage film set on the Mediterranean island Formentera, which is Spanish territory, a group of friends decides to explore a cave. Fun fact: There are caves on the island, and you can only reach the island via boat from the island of Ibiza. The group members become lost in the caves and, without food, water, or light, react with panic and horror. La Cueva, which means The Cave, was directed by Alfredo Montero and stars Marta Castellote, Xoel Fernández, and Eva García-Vacas. The film's tagline declares that they want to film everything that happens to them so that someone might understand what happened.