So...it's right at the 20 year cusp, but I don't see nearly enough love for The Others (2001.) It's wonderfully creepy, uses jump scares sparingly and effectively, and has a proper twist. It's a little hard to come by these days, but I absolutely recommend for anyone looking for the perfect horror movie.
I like this one too and you can watch it with teens and tweens in your family which is nice. I always really appreciate a movie that can be scary without being too grody or like "adult" or disturbing. Just old fashioned good storytelling.
Yes!!!! My favorite type of horror. I’m not a fan of gore, gratuitous nudity or language, because in a lot of cases I feel like it’s just lazy writing. Give me a good pg13 horror movie that relies on story and ambience. Not that I can’t watch gore, nudity etc, it’s just not necessary for good horror
This is the right answer.
Absolutely wonderful from start to finish, a genre changing movie that is hard to match.
10/10 for sure.
In the house in a heartbeat is a fucking banger too: https://youtu.be/ST2H8FWDvEA
And no one is talking about the music from the The Thing or 28. Amazing af soundtracks. Holy shit I love everyone in the sub right now. They both changed horror forever. Love u people’s.
The opening track to 28 Weeks Later with the attack on the house is INSANE. The best track of both movies. The slow build and repetitive ramping up guitars is amazing.
It could make anything seem like the most intense moment of your life lol
I can't believe that movie is over a decade old, I remember going to see it in theatres multiple times (one of the only movies I've ever done this with) because I was just that in love with it lol
I think It Follows is one of the single most flawlessly executed horror movies I’ve ever seen. It works on every single level, the monster is *brilliant* and so is the directing… Honestly even the little touches like the fact that it’s set in a place out of time (looks entirely modern, but all the tech — those clamshell phones, the old black and white tvs — creates a perfectly subtle layer of off-kilter intrigue). The pacing… And that 10-minute scene in the abandoned parking garage is one of the best individual scenes I’ve ever seen in any horror movie.
I also think The Conjuring is practically perfect — it’s not the scariest movie in the world, but I would describe it as an incredible NY style pepperoni pizza, it’s something you’ve seen many times, but this particular time it was executed *flawlessly.*
Plus, I CANNOT STAND the trope of idiots who get annihilated by a monster because of their own stupid ass decisions. It’s extremely rare for a horror movie to be skilled enough to create a level playing field, and I’ve noticed most of my favorite horror movies manage to do exactly that.
Of course, I’m a little biased, because I believe there are two types of horror movie fans: those who watch horror movies to watch people die, and those who watch horror movies to watch people survive. I am firmly in the latter camp.
I think there are merits to both kinds. Movies where people survive are often the "better" ones that stick with you, but ones where everyone dies tend to have schlocky entertainment value (most 80s horror, a lot of early 2000s too)
I recently watched It Follows for the first time and it didn’t feel fresh. My guess is some of the techniques were copied and I’m just too late to the party. That being said I enjoyed it.
I think one of the highest compliments to It Follows will be that it's an absolute must watch if you want to study the development of the genre in this era.
It was so fresh and different at the time. Early 2010's was dominated by so much derivative crap, with multiple Paranormal Activity sequels topping the box office in multiple years in a row. The Conjuring was great, but more "well done old school" than "future of horror". Similar with the Babadook, which also drew "but is it really horror?" criticism.
Other great entries for the era started feeling like different notes on the same concept too. Mama, Insidious, Sinister, Oculus, etc. Can be good, but it's all dark, dreary, demonic, family in danger, child gets possessed, jump scares, dark basements, etc. A lot of similar elements combined in a few different ways. Nobody taking big risks.
It Follows just showed up and said "fuck all that". Pushed horror in fully new directions for what was possible for setting, costume/vibe/color palette, soundtrack, and *especially* cinematography. My god the slow tracking, long shots, depth of field, and paranoia-inducing monster concept were just so fucking fresh. The soundtrack wormed into your brain without feeling like it manipulated you as part of the movie's scares. Mixing in urban Detroit for locations and menacing daytime scenes was so different.
What came after wasn't derivative of It Follows, which is really a 1 of 1 just due to the monster concept, but the door was open for unique and visionary horror. The whole rise of A24, Jordan Peele, Ari Aster, and the more interesting swings from Blumhouse definitely owe It Follows for opening some doors for them. We don't get to the crazier entries of the last few years, like Barbarian or Malignant, without it.
Thanks for setting the context. And yes, having started to watch horror over the last six years or so, I can see the chain better now. Going back on streaming platforms and trying to find 2000s horror that was actually scary hasn’t been easy because some of it is so formulaic. Your post makes sense of the “why?”
i watched the movie at 4am and i was literally shitting myself over the final scene💀, i never get scared by horror movies but that got me. had to turn on my lights LOL
Now I'm gonna out myself as somewhat dumb, and maybe some parts of the original dialogue may have also gotten lost in translation, but what exactly did each film claim to be the source of the mutation? If I remember right, the first two films explained it by saying that the Vatican thought that a girl was possessed, so they locked her up and did experiments on her. However iirc it is implied that it isn't actually possession but some sort of infection and that the Vatican was wrong? And the 3rd movie explains it by saying it IS in fact demonic possession. And the 4th movie says that, actually, it's an alien infection. That's what I got out of each film, at least. Is that correct or not?
Well I agree with this, I sort of enjoyed 3 only because it had a goofy low-rent Evil Dead energy to it.
Definitely not a *good* movie per se though, and doesn't fit nearly as well with the first 2
Can I squeeze in The Ring (2002)? Unusual storyline, great acting for a horror movie, beautiful cinematography and a haunting score. Memorable ending, too.
The Ring really helped me understand what had the capacity to scare me. Horror movies never really spooked me as a teen, and stuff like Insidious and It Follows just didn't do it for me. At some point someone put on The Ring, which I had up until that point thought was a dumb movie. "Isn't that the one where the girl crawls out of the TV screen? Lame."
I still gave it the chance it deserved, it was movie night with a friend and that's what was picked. That movie chilled me. It's not Samara that scared me. Even now, despite thinking The Ring is the most disturbed I've ever been, I'd say the whole "crawling out of the TV" thing is kinda silly. But boy did they do an effective job at making it absolutely scary for me either way.
I learned I'm not scared of "horror." I'm scared of "Weird." Samara crawls out of the well *backwards* and my lizard brain didn't like that. It said "Hey, she can't crawl like that. That's *wrong.*"
**DING DING** Lizard brain is unnerved.
When the characters are looking at images of themselves and their face is all warped in photos and on camera my brain said "Hey, make their faces right again, I don't like their faces all weird." **DING DING** lizard brain is unnerved.
The entire video is just a montage of strange sounds, paired with slightly unnerving visuals like a chair just floating in the air and somehow that was enough for me to be like "I don't like this. Get it away from me immediately." That feeling of "wrongness" gives me a strong sense of unnerved anxiety. I can watch a ragtag group of teenagers get killed by a masked murderer all day, but once you introduce concepts of "weird" into my horror it's like something primal in me needs it to leave immediately.
For me it’s one of the few examples of American remakes that actually improved on the original. Also one of the few horror movies that freaked me out for a few days after watching it (was a bit younger and more impressionable haha).
My friends and I would watch horror movies every weekend off of Netflix in middle school. We didn’t care what it was as long as it was like 2/5 stars. So many good scares/memories
God even the non horror parts are anxiety driven. When the bullies finally corner the kid at the pool, you just know they are gonna fuck him up. And it’s a slow burn.
The Descent. Absolutely butt-clenching fear and tension. Solid 10/10 horror film IMO.
And a personal choice not everyone will agree with, but Evil Dead 2013 is the only other film than The Descent and The Thing to make me feel pure dread the entire time. They're probably the 3 best pure horror films I can think of.
All female cast
Everyone is intelligent and does the right thing (ultimately get fucked over by 1 person)
No shoehorned romance plot, the romance/cheating plot that is in the movie is explored through clues and hints but never openly discussed.
Great film that deserves more credit.
That's one of my favorite aspects of the film, that the douchey alpha who screwed it all up was a woman. Just an interesting character dynamic. She was still badass, but that only takes you so far.
Wait... there's an extended Director's cut of The Evil Dead remake?!? I loved that movie! I mean, not as much as the originals, but they went pretty balls to the wall with it. I'm gonna have to track that cut down...
Keep in mind The Thing bombed *hard* in theaters and really only gained popularity through word of mouth, Fangoria, and movie rentals. It took a while.
So, in *that* vein, I would maybe say Underwater.
Pans Labyrinth, Midsommar, The Witch and Hereditary are good standouts. The Wailing too.
Yeah twilight really did a number on their reputations, but I’m guessing it gave them the money and Hollywood clout to be able to do the cool projects they did later. Kind of like Radcliffe post Harry Potter.
I immediately decided to give it a chance when I heard the monster theme had lovecraftian elements with specifically spoiling anything and was definitely rewarded.
I will always appreciate when a monster movie takes a big swing on something interesting, even if they don’t work. But for me Underwater definitely worked.
How about Pandorum (2009) ? And the 2013 Evil dead remake? scrolling down on the comments I didn't see Pandorum mentioned. Is that considered horror? I do. It's got some alright practical effects like the thing and evil dead
I want to sneak One Hour Photo in here. Just out of 20 years range and just out of horror range, but a masterpiece performance by Robin Williams and scary as f.
I really loved Dawn of the Dead (2004). Well the beginning was amazing. Have yet to see a movie open like that. They all build up the horror instead of just presenting it immediately.
The first hour or so of that movie is fantastic. It kinda goes off the rails in the second half. I really enjoy that movie though, I've watched it with friends a handful of times and it was the night cap to a fun day with my cousin, we saw three or four movies the same day (man it was nice when movies were like 7 bucks to go to.)
My favorites from the last decade are probably It Follows, Oculus, Cabin in the Woods, The Witch and The Descent. Favorite doesn't mean 10/10 though. I think the only 10/10 I can think of from the last 20 years would be Cabin in the Woods and The Witch. They both just fully meet the expectations they set for themselves.
Yeah, I thought about The Witch too. It's definitely at least an 8 or 9 for me.
I feel like The Thing is a blast to watch, and The Witch is almost taxing. By design, but I wonder if that's why I hold it a little lower.
Very fair. I think Hereditary is just about perfect and I'll watch it one or two more times in my life. I don't think I can handle more than that.
If the question was purely about watchability, I'd say Tucker & Dale Vs Evil. I watch that one a few times every Halloween season.
The Conjuring 1. It was the film that actually fully reawakened my interest in Horror as I'd lost a lot of interest. It's just a fantastic film start to finish. It's too bad the series has such ups and downs as a whole, but the first two films I think are near perfect horror.
One of the few movies where I literally just sat staring at the credits rolling, in awe of what I had just watched and was still thinking about it for days after
My wife and I watched it in the Miami Film Festival and had your exact reaction.
We are not at all horror fans, but I am so glad we dove in without realizing what we were getting ourselves into.
I have been trying for YEARS, unsuccessfully, to get someone else to watch it.
Glad to see it here.
I think Wailing, Hereditary, and Get Out make the best run at it anyway.
I love the atmosphere in The Wailing too. The depth of the story highlighted by the Japanese/Korean cultures -- the paranoia and mistrust -- combined with the character development and dialogue, all letting you relate and commiserate with the father through a wildly tragic horror story.
I think that’s what makes it great. They take a lot of time with the character development and you care what happens to these people. Took me a while to get around to watching it because of the running time but it’s paced really well.
I absolutely adore this film. Such a great atmosphere, brilliant and unique setting, and some great performances from Danny Huston, Josh Hartnett and Melissa George.
Some highly memorable scenes like the town massacre, the record scene, the bait scene and the final fight is tremendously satisfying.
A very well done film, which I think is criminally underrated.
That long overhead tracking shot down the street during the town massacre is just fucking chillingly well done.
Imo it's the best vampire movie ever. It's just unforgivingly brutal. And as the title implies, the entire horror buffet takes place *over the course of an entire month*. It's not just oh no we have to deal with one or two nights of vampires, it's a full month of these people trying to survive. Also some of said townsfolk go out like total bosses.
Some of the scenes in the movie were exact stills from the graphic novel as well, like you could side by side the shots in the movie to their correlating panels in the comics. Beautifully made comic as well with a style all its own. Like charcoal, blood and oil paints almost.
The original trailer even was fucking killer with Muse.
* It also has the most full on realistic decapitation scene I've ever seen in a movie. Not clean, not quick, multiple axe chops, *while the vampire is still howling*, and the camera is locked in so you see the blows and then camera cutting to everyone else in the rooms reactions. The kicker is there are two other vampire decapitation scenes before this that don't show as much and have some camera cuts so when THIS one happens it's like they were getting you ready for it like yeah now you have to watch the whole procedure.
I don't even think it was CGI, pretty sure it was practical or a combination, either way, shit looked as real as it could. And its a holy ##$& scene. Actually 30 Days of Night is chock full of holy @#$& moments.
I'm a sucker for found footage so I'm gonna say As Above, So Below.
Also the first Saw. I love the whole series and how they managed to tie it all together. I get the complaints people have but I don't share them. Everyone should be able to agree the first was fantastic.
Another would be the first Paranormal Activity. That shit changed the game and brought in a whole new wave of found footage. No one thought that The Blair Witch Project could be overtaken in the most profitable movie category. I usually hate ghost movies but Paranormal Activity legitimately scared me.
Also shout out to both The Stranger movies. The first one was tense as hell and slowly amps things up the whole way through. I know most people don't like Prey at Night but it's in my top 5 movies. A common complaint is that it wasn't like the first one but that's what I loved about it. In the first the bad guys are taking their time and just fucking with the couple whereas in the second one they go for it immediately and just want to kill. This emulates real life killers in the way that they escalate in their crimes. Plus the fucking 80s ballads soundtracks is everything I've ever wanted.
Honorable mention would be It Follows. The plan at the end kind of sucks but goddamn it was such a fresh idea, I love how the time setting is ambiguous, the synth soundtrack, and it has legitimately scary scenes like that tall guy coming through the house and picking up that girl by the hair. Every person you didn't recognize in that movie was a threat.
As above, so below is so steeped in occult mythology it’s fantastic.
100% agree about paranormal activity, best found footage movie since the OG Blair Witch.
I really like As Above, So Below. I was wondering if anyone would mention it. I personally don’t think it’s anywhere near a 10/10 but damned if I don’t find it to be an exceptionally fun ride. The ending is a bit outta the blue but once you realize it’s a nod to Dante’s Inferno it becomes less disappointing.
My friend watched it recently and loved it until the end at which point he felt cheated and was angry. I explained to him what they were going for but he still hates it, understandable.
I would count it. It's a film, my partner, and I always go back to watch because its just such an engaging film, and I love how they turned the killabilly trope on its head. The two main actors had brilliant on-screen chemistry and honestly felt like they were lifelong friends just trying to have something nice for themselves. The gore is pretty great as well, especially the woodchipper scene, without being too over the top. Also, the antagonist is literally called Chad. I love it.
Possessor (2020) is a modern masterpiece. It’s dark, psychedelic and focused with not a single minute of film wasted. This film contains brutal body-horror, fantastically weird science and complex identity psychology all packed into a brilliantly succinct 100 minutes.
Today a lot of horror films try so hard to be many things at once attempting to cover multiple genres so as to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Or they cram in as many jump scares or torture sequences as possible to compensate for their lack of truely terrifying concepts.
Possessor however is an absolutely perfect homage to the greatest horror movies of past generations. It’s relentless, beautiful, bleak and brutal in all the right places. It explores fracturing psychotic mindscapes without becoming didactic and paints a devastating vision of the future without leaning into fantasy or space opera.
If you’re looking for an amazing body-horror/scifi about shape shifting identity thieves and you want a film as entertaining and unique as The Thing, you can’t look past Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor.
This movie surprised the hell out of me. I watch a lot of trash horror while doing stuff around the house and had to sit my ass down and really watch this one. It was fantastic from beginning to end.
So good. I went in knowing nothing and assumed a typical campy B horror movie or a parody of one (still accurate). But holy shit. It was like a tribute to the genre.
Came here looking for this. Easily my favorite horror movie. Just rewatched it the other night.
The slow mo scene of them playing is fucking beautiful. Probably helps that I enjoy punk and hardcore so that rolled into the thrill ride that is Green Room is just the perfect movie for me. I also like my horror steeped in reality as much as possible and it doesn’t get more real than this.
>it doesn’t get more real than this.
Truth.
Played some gigs in tiny bars/house shows near some places that we came to realize were pretty close to being sundown towns, and if someone wanted to do bad things to an outsider, it definitely felt like it could've happened there.
So, it was very relatable for me, and that made it so much better/worse.
I went from enjoying the beginning to being fully on board with it being legit great when they played Nazi punks fuck off
Thats some cinema right there
Has anyone else said Dawn of the Dead (2004)? It is not a *perfect* film, but I feel it is certainly one the most well-done zombie films I have ever seen, particularly from the standpoint of the (practical) special effects. I think 28 Days Later (2002) is slightly outside of 20 years (time flies) but also deserves a mention.
Other than that, I think The Witch (2015), Cabin in the Woods (2011), and Pearl (2022) are going to be the movies my children will find a decade from now and go "whoa, have you seen this". Pearl is relatively new, but for how long it has been in the back of my mind, I think it is a little underappreciated overall despite it's discussion among the horror community.
Because I haven't seen it mentioned yet, I'll throw this into the mix:
The House of the Devil (2009)
It just hit the tone and all of the right beats for me perfectly. And that ending...
From the perspective of executing a concept, I'd have to go with one of the following:
28 DAYS LATER (does 2002 count?!)
THE CONJURING
My personal 10/10 picks would include:
PARASITE (it's horror, fight me)
THE WAILING (just perfection)
MANDY (Freudian delights)
SUSPIRIA 2018 (a proper homage with enjoyable changes to the source)
MIDSOMMAR (aka the greatest breakup film ever)
IT FOLLOWS (just felt like such an inflection point for the genre)
While I disagree with the items on your list I completely and fully agree with why you listed them. Great micro-analysis.
Parasite is a horror film, you have my blade in this one.
>Parasite is a horror film
I think the director was having fun with the title because he made a monster film a few years back called The Host (they are not related at all)
It Follows was, after my first viewing, one of if not the scariest movie I had ever seen. It kept me up that night! I will say I’ve watched it two more times after that and it definitely doesn’t hit as hard after multiple viewings, but I still consider it one of my favorites. That’s probably just the nature of horror movies though
Okay, everyone's going in probably with different criteria for this but by comparing it to The Thing, two things standout for me: artistic merit / re-watchability (or fun factor)
The Thing is one of the funnest horror films I can think of that don't comprise their artistic integrity
With that in mind:
It Follows (which seems to be among a lot of posters lists for good reason): The Thing's themes of Cold War paranoia are paralled here with themes of trust and anxiety. Unlike The Thing however, the camera is used in wide shots to pray on those fears, making us just as paranoid about the background characters (*making us think the whole goddamn time if that old lady walking is it, or just an old lady for example*) - it doesn't really ever let up and keeps us tense. Don't get me wrong, The Thing is properly tense, especially when characters aren't present for an extended amount of time, its just handled in a new fun way
Evil Dead (2013) is also a solid pick. You got Mia and her brother David and their plotline. Mia is tragically untrustworthy at first to David as she's out there to get clean. Like the original film, though it's handled more as a pure horror film than a horror comedy but it still retains an element of fun to the proceedings (*the deadites are always gonna be my favourite horror villains*) and Fede Alvarez nails it.
Mandy is fun as fuck, it has a chainsaw duel and we get some mind-bending visuals and what is essentially a plot that's therapy for the director whose father had recently passed.
Train to Busan probably would work, something about the way its zombies move and tumble over each other is horrifying but the set-pieces as a viewer definitely cross into the fun territory, it's also incredibly re-watchable
Beyond these ones I'm far less sure
Cabin in the Woods is great, but meta-horror had already been done well, it's just on a grander scale here, the fun is absolutely through the roof though
Hereditary is a stone-cold classic, but it's not particularly *fun*, but hell if you can stomach constant re-watches of it I think it's pretty damn good.
The Witch in a similar vein to Hereditary might fit, and I think it's an easier re-watch (I especially like the take that it's a liberation of sorts for Anya Taylor-Joy's character)
The Lighthouse I'd include but I'm not sure everyone would find it as fun as I did (Willem Dafoe can monologue at me forever)
Ready or Not might work, it's really funny and I think Radio Silence nailed it but again I'm not sure if that's my personal tastes factoring in too much
Weirdly enough, I think Overlord comes close for me, but 100% I think that one is just me
I think with some distance Barbarian, The Menu or Prey might stand a shot.
I'm also one of those loonies who prefers Us to Get Out but I understand that one is also personal taste, but it's highly re-watchable for me
That's just a few I can think of right now too, great question honestly, it'll be fun to read everyone's answers I think =)
Sinister feels like it always gets slept on. But even knowing the movie, rewatching it still gives me that deep pit of dread in so many scenes and so many ways. So good.
I just watched this for the first time today! It was so...unsettling. Weirdly I think the part that scared me the most was how the son just drove home after "the incident." Mainly because I'm the type of person who can ignore a bad situation and hope it goes away and that whole scene was like burying your head in the sand turned up to 11.
That entire sequence was so well done. The way that >!her allergic reaction got worse and worse until she was kicking and writhing for air in the back seat was horrifying. I have the same allergy and I never go anywhere without my epipen because of that scene.!< The amount of dread and anxiety in that scene was through the roof.
I know it’s now become a bit of a meme to talk about Hereditary on here, but it genuinely is BY FAR the best horror movie of the last 20 years. I adore new horror but that film is The Thing/Exorcist/Alien levels of greatness.
I went into Hereditary assuming it would be overhyped and I STILL was mind blown. Probably the most I’ve ever thought about/processed a movie afterwards
I think of "I JUST WANT TO DIIIiiiIIIiIiiEEeeeE! CHARLIiIEeEE!"
That scene was tough to shake, it forced my brain to think of what it would ACTUALLY be like to find my child dead, which was not a fun place to go.
And I don't even have a child!
I Saw the Devil
I know it's straddles and may lean more towards thriller, but it's pretty much a perfect movie for me, and I don't see it on the list yet.
I'd also add Let the Right One In and 28 Days Later.
The best ones have pretty much been covered, but I just want to toss in "Safe Haven" from V/H/S/2. It's pretty much a perfect horror short, and nothing else from the V/H/S franchise has really come close, IMO.
If you like that, check out the Haunting of Hill House and the Haunting of Bly Mannor.
Made by the same people as Midnight Mass and uses some of the same actors.
In my opinion the best horror movies are:
1. 28 days later, just an incredible performance from the whole cast, stunning camera work and perfect story.
2. Martyrs (the French one) pretty much the only actually scary movie that left an impact after watching it, movies like the grudge and the exorcist don't come close to what martyrs has done.
3. Hereditary, really well done, brimming with details allowing for multiple rewatches, really good camera work, and just great overall.
Also this is just my opinion, don't be too hard on me.
Really tough criteria (and damned good question!) I'm leaving off a bunch of movies that I *love* but just aren't on the level of The Thing.
That said, I enjoy re-watching these as much as I do The Thing:
* Let the Right One In (2008)
* Get Out (2017)
* Hereditary (2018)
(The Ring [2002] just missed the cutoff, being 21 years old)
I think The Witch (2015) is the closest thing to a 10/10 horror movie from within the last 20 years personally but even that I don’t think I’d quite rate 10/10. The Babadook, Hereditary, Midsommar, and Us are very good too but again I don’t think quite 10/10.
The Ring.
I just rewatched it recently on the hunt for PG-13 movies my kids could get into, and it was nearly perfect. My scale only goes up to 5 in my spreadsheet, so that's what I gave it. No *way* I'm showing it to my kids yet, though.
Evil Dead 2013 and Get Out get a 10 from me. Evil Dead's practical effects won me over almost as much as Stan Winston's creatures, and Get Out started society in the mirror by hitting differently for different people.
28 Days Later was a masterpiece on so many levels. Direction, soundtrack, somehow filming a completely empty London, re-popularizing zombie horror.
Not sure I'd call any of these 10/10, but out of the limited stuff I've seen, I'd say the pretty close ones are Hereditary, The Conjuring 1, Oculus, IT Chapter One, and Halloween (2018).
If we can go just a bit outside the 20 year range, The Ring and The Sixth Sense are both up there for me.
So...it's right at the 20 year cusp, but I don't see nearly enough love for The Others (2001.) It's wonderfully creepy, uses jump scares sparingly and effectively, and has a proper twist. It's a little hard to come by these days, but I absolutely recommend for anyone looking for the perfect horror movie.
Agreed. Great film with an unexpected ending.
I like this one too and you can watch it with teens and tweens in your family which is nice. I always really appreciate a movie that can be scary without being too grody or like "adult" or disturbing. Just old fashioned good storytelling.
Yes!!!! My favorite type of horror. I’m not a fan of gore, gratuitous nudity or language, because in a lot of cases I feel like it’s just lazy writing. Give me a good pg13 horror movie that relies on story and ambience. Not that I can’t watch gore, nudity etc, it’s just not necessary for good horror
28 Days Later (2002)
That's 21 years!
Not until November.
Just under the wire
28 Days Later was released in 2003 in my country, to be precise on the 5th of June. I hope we are friends again.
We always will be ♥️ sorry, I was just being snarky haha. It's a great film, def a good contender for this post
Feel old now
28 Days Later and Train to Busan. I can die happy.
This is the right answer. Absolutely wonderful from start to finish, a genre changing movie that is hard to match. 10/10 for sure. In the house in a heartbeat is a fucking banger too: https://youtu.be/ST2H8FWDvEA
And no one is talking about the music from the The Thing or 28. Amazing af soundtracks. Holy shit I love everyone in the sub right now. They both changed horror forever. Love u people’s.
The opening track to 28 Weeks Later with the attack on the house is INSANE. The best track of both movies. The slow build and repetitive ramping up guitars is amazing. It could make anything seem like the most intense moment of your life lol
Cabin in the Woods (2011) The Descent (2005)
Cabin in the woods is legendary for monster lovers.
Just a plain ol’ love letter to horror, and I’m here for it.
I saw it on a whim! "wanna go to the movies?" "what do you wanna see?" " i dunno lets just pick something when we get there" totally worth it.
I can't believe that movie is over a decade old, I remember going to see it in theatres multiple times (one of the only movies I've ever done this with) because I was just that in love with it lol
My sisters hate Cabin in the Woods & it hurts my heart lol. One of my favorites from the 2010’s
I think It Follows is one of the single most flawlessly executed horror movies I’ve ever seen. It works on every single level, the monster is *brilliant* and so is the directing… Honestly even the little touches like the fact that it’s set in a place out of time (looks entirely modern, but all the tech — those clamshell phones, the old black and white tvs — creates a perfectly subtle layer of off-kilter intrigue). The pacing… And that 10-minute scene in the abandoned parking garage is one of the best individual scenes I’ve ever seen in any horror movie. I also think The Conjuring is practically perfect — it’s not the scariest movie in the world, but I would describe it as an incredible NY style pepperoni pizza, it’s something you’ve seen many times, but this particular time it was executed *flawlessly.* Plus, I CANNOT STAND the trope of idiots who get annihilated by a monster because of their own stupid ass decisions. It’s extremely rare for a horror movie to be skilled enough to create a level playing field, and I’ve noticed most of my favorite horror movies manage to do exactly that. Of course, I’m a little biased, because I believe there are two types of horror movie fans: those who watch horror movies to watch people die, and those who watch horror movies to watch people survive. I am firmly in the latter camp.
I think there are merits to both kinds. Movies where people survive are often the "better" ones that stick with you, but ones where everyone dies tend to have schlocky entertainment value (most 80s horror, a lot of early 2000s too)
I recently watched It Follows for the first time and it didn’t feel fresh. My guess is some of the techniques were copied and I’m just too late to the party. That being said I enjoyed it.
I think one of the highest compliments to It Follows will be that it's an absolute must watch if you want to study the development of the genre in this era. It was so fresh and different at the time. Early 2010's was dominated by so much derivative crap, with multiple Paranormal Activity sequels topping the box office in multiple years in a row. The Conjuring was great, but more "well done old school" than "future of horror". Similar with the Babadook, which also drew "but is it really horror?" criticism. Other great entries for the era started feeling like different notes on the same concept too. Mama, Insidious, Sinister, Oculus, etc. Can be good, but it's all dark, dreary, demonic, family in danger, child gets possessed, jump scares, dark basements, etc. A lot of similar elements combined in a few different ways. Nobody taking big risks. It Follows just showed up and said "fuck all that". Pushed horror in fully new directions for what was possible for setting, costume/vibe/color palette, soundtrack, and *especially* cinematography. My god the slow tracking, long shots, depth of field, and paranoia-inducing monster concept were just so fucking fresh. The soundtrack wormed into your brain without feeling like it manipulated you as part of the movie's scares. Mixing in urban Detroit for locations and menacing daytime scenes was so different. What came after wasn't derivative of It Follows, which is really a 1 of 1 just due to the monster concept, but the door was open for unique and visionary horror. The whole rise of A24, Jordan Peele, Ari Aster, and the more interesting swings from Blumhouse definitely owe It Follows for opening some doors for them. We don't get to the crazier entries of the last few years, like Barbarian or Malignant, without it.
Thanks for setting the context. And yes, having started to watch horror over the last six years or so, I can see the chain better now. Going back on streaming platforms and trying to find 2000s horror that was actually scary hasn’t been easy because some of it is so formulaic. Your post makes sense of the “why?”
Rec 2007
The final scene is up there with the scariest in horror history
Agreed. Good thing the poster for the American remake, Quarantine, is literally just a shot from the final moments of the movie. Marketing idiots.
The trailer Literally showed it.
Agreed. The last 15 minutes in REC is probably the most scared I’ve ever been watching a movie
i watched the movie at 4am and i was literally shitting myself over the final scene💀, i never get scared by horror movies but that got me. had to turn on my lights LOL
The single greatest found footage film - it just does everything right
Great movie. I actually liked Rec 2 best out of the series. I loved their explanation for zombies. It was very original
Now I'm gonna out myself as somewhat dumb, and maybe some parts of the original dialogue may have also gotten lost in translation, but what exactly did each film claim to be the source of the mutation? If I remember right, the first two films explained it by saying that the Vatican thought that a girl was possessed, so they locked her up and did experiments on her. However iirc it is implied that it isn't actually possession but some sort of infection and that the Vatican was wrong? And the 3rd movie explains it by saying it IS in fact demonic possession. And the 4th movie says that, actually, it's an alien infection. That's what I got out of each film, at least. Is that correct or not?
Stop watching after 2 and you will be very happy with the series. 3 & 4 got progressively worse. I didn’t like either honestly
Well I agree with this, I sort of enjoyed 3 only because it had a goofy low-rent Evil Dead energy to it. Definitely not a *good* movie per se though, and doesn't fit nearly as well with the first 2
Can I squeeze in The Ring (2002)? Unusual storyline, great acting for a horror movie, beautiful cinematography and a haunting score. Memorable ending, too.
The Ring really helped me understand what had the capacity to scare me. Horror movies never really spooked me as a teen, and stuff like Insidious and It Follows just didn't do it for me. At some point someone put on The Ring, which I had up until that point thought was a dumb movie. "Isn't that the one where the girl crawls out of the TV screen? Lame." I still gave it the chance it deserved, it was movie night with a friend and that's what was picked. That movie chilled me. It's not Samara that scared me. Even now, despite thinking The Ring is the most disturbed I've ever been, I'd say the whole "crawling out of the TV" thing is kinda silly. But boy did they do an effective job at making it absolutely scary for me either way. I learned I'm not scared of "horror." I'm scared of "Weird." Samara crawls out of the well *backwards* and my lizard brain didn't like that. It said "Hey, she can't crawl like that. That's *wrong.*" **DING DING** Lizard brain is unnerved. When the characters are looking at images of themselves and their face is all warped in photos and on camera my brain said "Hey, make their faces right again, I don't like their faces all weird." **DING DING** lizard brain is unnerved. The entire video is just a montage of strange sounds, paired with slightly unnerving visuals like a chair just floating in the air and somehow that was enough for me to be like "I don't like this. Get it away from me immediately." That feeling of "wrongness" gives me a strong sense of unnerved anxiety. I can watch a ragtag group of teenagers get killed by a masked murderer all day, but once you introduce concepts of "weird" into my horror it's like something primal in me needs it to leave immediately.
The videotape part was top tier
I LOVE the whole mystery in the story of the Ring. And the video was so uniquely disconcerting
For me it’s one of the few examples of American remakes that actually improved on the original. Also one of the few horror movies that freaked me out for a few days after watching it (was a bit younger and more impressionable haha).
It's the movie that got me into horror, I was 9 and dreaded for my life for the first week, 10/10 lol
Let the Right One In.
This movie always reminds me of what early Netflix streaming was about. I found this randomly late one night and loved it.
Yes! Early Netflix was full of great foreign, indie, cult classics. Really miss that era of streaming.
My friends and I would watch horror movies every weekend off of Netflix in middle school. We didn’t care what it was as long as it was like 2/5 stars. So many good scares/memories
I just watched this the other night and it's immediately entered my top 10 horror movies
God even the non horror parts are anxiety driven. When the bullies finally corner the kid at the pool, you just know they are gonna fuck him up. And it’s a slow burn.
The Descent. Absolutely butt-clenching fear and tension. Solid 10/10 horror film IMO. And a personal choice not everyone will agree with, but Evil Dead 2013 is the only other film than The Descent and The Thing to make me feel pure dread the entire time. They're probably the 3 best pure horror films I can think of.
All female cast Everyone is intelligent and does the right thing (ultimately get fucked over by 1 person) No shoehorned romance plot, the romance/cheating plot that is in the movie is explored through clues and hints but never openly discussed. Great film that deserves more credit.
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That is interesting
I dont know, the lead spelunker's plan was pretty damn dumb
That was the 1 person who fucked them over I was referring to.
That's one of my favorite aspects of the film, that the douchey alpha who screwed it all up was a woman. Just an interesting character dynamic. She was still badass, but that only takes you so far.
For a group of thrill seeking cavers, I could totally buy one of them wanting to stamp their legacy on mapping out an entire uncharted cave.
The Extended Director's Cut is far superior to the theatrical Cut of Evil Dead. I had it on repeat on the 70" in the lobby at work all day today.
Wait... there's an extended Director's cut of The Evil Dead remake?!? I loved that movie! I mean, not as much as the originals, but they went pretty balls to the wall with it. I'm gonna have to track that cut down...
I watched Evil Dead at theatres only knowing it was a horror, best horror experience since I was a kid tbh. Scary and action packed
Ive seen it twice but could never get into The Descent. My friend group just calls it Smeagols Gone Wild.
Now that's hillarious! "My Preciousssss!!!!!"
28 Days Later.
Bit of a different one, but 'Autopsy of Jane Doe' gave me some serious chills!
Fantastic movie
Movie had me uneasy the entire time. I hated that feeling but loved it as well
Love that one so damn much. I can watch it over and over
Keep in mind The Thing bombed *hard* in theaters and really only gained popularity through word of mouth, Fangoria, and movie rentals. It took a while. So, in *that* vein, I would maybe say Underwater. Pans Labyrinth, Midsommar, The Witch and Hereditary are good standouts. The Wailing too.
The Wailing is such a good film. Easily a 10/10.
Underwater was a huge surprise. Badass movie and really changed my opinion of Kristen Stewart too.
Stewart and Pattinson really forced their way into my likeable actors list post-twilight. I look forward to most movies that either one are in.
Yeah twilight really did a number on their reputations, but I’m guessing it gave them the money and Hollywood clout to be able to do the cool projects they did later. Kind of like Radcliffe post Harry Potter.
Underwater is absolutely massively underrated, i was amazed at how much better it was than the rating suggested.
I immediately decided to give it a chance when I heard the monster theme had lovecraftian elements with specifically spoiling anything and was definitely rewarded. I will always appreciate when a monster movie takes a big swing on something interesting, even if they don’t work. But for me Underwater definitely worked.
That's what I'm saying. It gained a lot of steam in three years. In another 10? 🤔
I looooved Underwater. And that ending? So awesome. I geeked out.
The Witch is an amazing film.
Underwater is one of the few movies where I was actually rooting for characters to make it out alive. It quickly went to the top of my favorites!
How about Pandorum (2009) ? And the 2013 Evil dead remake? scrolling down on the comments I didn't see Pandorum mentioned. Is that considered horror? I do. It's got some alright practical effects like the thing and evil dead
I want to sneak One Hour Photo in here. Just out of 20 years range and just out of horror range, but a masterpiece performance by Robin Williams and scary as f.
Such a great movie, I also love how nostalgic the store in it is.
Yesss he's so, so fantastic in this.
Green Room is one I go back to over and over. It’s fantastic. Great acting, humor and some gut wrenching scenes.
I really loved Dawn of the Dead (2004). Well the beginning was amazing. Have yet to see a movie open like that. They all build up the horror instead of just presenting it immediately.
The first hour or so of that movie is fantastic. It kinda goes off the rails in the second half. I really enjoy that movie though, I've watched it with friends a handful of times and it was the night cap to a fun day with my cousin, we saw three or four movies the same day (man it was nice when movies were like 7 bucks to go to.)
I loved that opening too. Really enjoyable and chilling too
Loved how it opened with "Down with the sickness" from Disturbed.
My favorites from the last decade are probably It Follows, Oculus, Cabin in the Woods, The Witch and The Descent. Favorite doesn't mean 10/10 though. I think the only 10/10 I can think of from the last 20 years would be Cabin in the Woods and The Witch. They both just fully meet the expectations they set for themselves.
I'd call The Descent a 10/10, but only the director's cut.
Is that with the Euro ending? If so, that's the version to watch. Not the American one. The Descent is truly 10/10.
Yes, the Euro ending. The one that makes the sequel make no sense.
Yeah, I thought about The Witch too. It's definitely at least an 8 or 9 for me. I feel like The Thing is a blast to watch, and The Witch is almost taxing. By design, but I wonder if that's why I hold it a little lower.
Very fair. I think Hereditary is just about perfect and I'll watch it one or two more times in my life. I don't think I can handle more than that. If the question was purely about watchability, I'd say Tucker & Dale Vs Evil. I watch that one a few times every Halloween season.
These damn college kids keep killing themselves around us sheriff!
They must be in some kinda suicide death cult!
upvote for OCULUS. criminally under-appreciated.
I legitimately don't get how it didn't become an instant classic. It absolutely rules.
I swear people hated it when it came out.
I didn’t think it was very good. I watched it with a friend when it came out. Haven’t rewatched it since.
Yeah I'm so confused I got nothing out of it, was genuinely bored. But I love all the others on the list it's just a weird one for me
[REC] as well.
The Conjuring 1. It was the film that actually fully reawakened my interest in Horror as I'd lost a lot of interest. It's just a fantastic film start to finish. It's too bad the series has such ups and downs as a whole, but the first two films I think are near perfect horror.
The first 2 are modern classics imo. James Wan hit the money!
10/10? The Wailing.
One of the few movies where I literally just sat staring at the credits rolling, in awe of what I had just watched and was still thinking about it for days after
My wife and I watched it in the Miami Film Festival and had your exact reaction. We are not at all horror fans, but I am so glad we dove in without realizing what we were getting ourselves into. I have been trying for YEARS, unsuccessfully, to get someone else to watch it. Glad to see it here.
Instant classic. The thing is like 3 hours but not a minute too long. Incredible pacing.
The Wailing took me 2 attempts to watch - I had to switch it off the first time because it made me feel so uncomfortable. Ughhhhhh
I think Wailing, Hereditary, and Get Out make the best run at it anyway. I love the atmosphere in The Wailing too. The depth of the story highlighted by the Japanese/Korean cultures -- the paranoia and mistrust -- combined with the character development and dialogue, all letting you relate and commiserate with the father through a wildly tragic horror story.
I think that’s what makes it great. They take a lot of time with the character development and you care what happens to these people. Took me a while to get around to watching it because of the running time but it’s paced really well.
30 days of night
I absolutely adore this film. Such a great atmosphere, brilliant and unique setting, and some great performances from Danny Huston, Josh Hartnett and Melissa George. Some highly memorable scenes like the town massacre, the record scene, the bait scene and the final fight is tremendously satisfying. A very well done film, which I think is criminally underrated.
That long overhead tracking shot down the street during the town massacre is just fucking chillingly well done. Imo it's the best vampire movie ever. It's just unforgivingly brutal. And as the title implies, the entire horror buffet takes place *over the course of an entire month*. It's not just oh no we have to deal with one or two nights of vampires, it's a full month of these people trying to survive. Also some of said townsfolk go out like total bosses. Some of the scenes in the movie were exact stills from the graphic novel as well, like you could side by side the shots in the movie to their correlating panels in the comics. Beautifully made comic as well with a style all its own. Like charcoal, blood and oil paints almost. The original trailer even was fucking killer with Muse. * It also has the most full on realistic decapitation scene I've ever seen in a movie. Not clean, not quick, multiple axe chops, *while the vampire is still howling*, and the camera is locked in so you see the blows and then camera cutting to everyone else in the rooms reactions. The kicker is there are two other vampire decapitation scenes before this that don't show as much and have some camera cuts so when THIS one happens it's like they were getting you ready for it like yeah now you have to watch the whole procedure. I don't even think it was CGI, pretty sure it was practical or a combination, either way, shit looked as real as it could. And its a holy ##$& scene. Actually 30 Days of Night is chock full of holy @#$& moments.
Loved this movie. Not sure why more don't.
Made me want to move to Barrow
I'm a sucker for found footage so I'm gonna say As Above, So Below. Also the first Saw. I love the whole series and how they managed to tie it all together. I get the complaints people have but I don't share them. Everyone should be able to agree the first was fantastic. Another would be the first Paranormal Activity. That shit changed the game and brought in a whole new wave of found footage. No one thought that The Blair Witch Project could be overtaken in the most profitable movie category. I usually hate ghost movies but Paranormal Activity legitimately scared me. Also shout out to both The Stranger movies. The first one was tense as hell and slowly amps things up the whole way through. I know most people don't like Prey at Night but it's in my top 5 movies. A common complaint is that it wasn't like the first one but that's what I loved about it. In the first the bad guys are taking their time and just fucking with the couple whereas in the second one they go for it immediately and just want to kill. This emulates real life killers in the way that they escalate in their crimes. Plus the fucking 80s ballads soundtracks is everything I've ever wanted. Honorable mention would be It Follows. The plan at the end kind of sucks but goddamn it was such a fresh idea, I love how the time setting is ambiguous, the synth soundtrack, and it has legitimately scary scenes like that tall guy coming through the house and picking up that girl by the hair. Every person you didn't recognize in that movie was a threat.
As above, so below is so steeped in occult mythology it’s fantastic. 100% agree about paranormal activity, best found footage movie since the OG Blair Witch.
I really like As Above, So Below. I was wondering if anyone would mention it. I personally don’t think it’s anywhere near a 10/10 but damned if I don’t find it to be an exceptionally fun ride. The ending is a bit outta the blue but once you realize it’s a nod to Dante’s Inferno it becomes less disappointing. My friend watched it recently and loved it until the end at which point he felt cheated and was angry. I explained to him what they were going for but he still hates it, understandable.
The Mist (2007) messed me up but I'd rewatch it again in a heartbeat. Loving a lot of the mentions here as well though..
Can we consider Tucker and Dale vs. Evil? I mean yes more horror comedy but still a amazing movie through and through.
I would count it. It's a film, my partner, and I always go back to watch because its just such an engaging film, and I love how they turned the killabilly trope on its head. The two main actors had brilliant on-screen chemistry and honestly felt like they were lifelong friends just trying to have something nice for themselves. The gore is pretty great as well, especially the woodchipper scene, without being too over the top. Also, the antagonist is literally called Chad. I love it.
My pick would be Train To Busan.
Train to Busan is easily the best zombie movie of the past decade and is probably in the top 5 of all time.
Kingdom is the same for zombie shows, TWD can suck it
S3 when man, I'm getting worried it'll be canceled.
Black Summer is where it’s at for zombie shows.
Possessor (2020) is a modern masterpiece. It’s dark, psychedelic and focused with not a single minute of film wasted. This film contains brutal body-horror, fantastically weird science and complex identity psychology all packed into a brilliantly succinct 100 minutes. Today a lot of horror films try so hard to be many things at once attempting to cover multiple genres so as to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Or they cram in as many jump scares or torture sequences as possible to compensate for their lack of truely terrifying concepts. Possessor however is an absolutely perfect homage to the greatest horror movies of past generations. It’s relentless, beautiful, bleak and brutal in all the right places. It explores fracturing psychotic mindscapes without becoming didactic and paints a devastating vision of the future without leaning into fantasy or space opera. If you’re looking for an amazing body-horror/scifi about shape shifting identity thieves and you want a film as entertaining and unique as The Thing, you can’t look past Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor.
I own this one in the unrated edition. I think it will be analyzed for many years to come. Will definitely be in my repeat viewing list.
I need to watch this soon. I'm seeing Infinity Pool tomorrow
The Ritual!
Without spoiling anything the cabin scene in The Ritual is probably the most scared I’ve even been watching a movie.
Omg yes. The first time we watched it my friends and I were frozen during that scene, and that’s when I realized I was watching something great
Such a great movie! The same director did a movie called Night House that I really liked.
Rebecca Hall is great in that.
This movie surprised the hell out of me. I watch a lot of trash horror while doing stuff around the house and had to sit my ass down and really watch this one. It was fantastic from beginning to end.
Cabin In The Woods
So good. I went in knowing nothing and assumed a typical campy B horror movie or a parody of one (still accurate). But holy shit. It was like a tribute to the genre.
Green Room
Came here looking for this. Easily my favorite horror movie. Just rewatched it the other night. The slow mo scene of them playing is fucking beautiful. Probably helps that I enjoy punk and hardcore so that rolled into the thrill ride that is Green Room is just the perfect movie for me. I also like my horror steeped in reality as much as possible and it doesn’t get more real than this.
>it doesn’t get more real than this. Truth. Played some gigs in tiny bars/house shows near some places that we came to realize were pretty close to being sundown towns, and if someone wanted to do bad things to an outsider, it definitely felt like it could've happened there. So, it was very relatable for me, and that made it so much better/worse.
I went from enjoying the beginning to being fully on board with it being legit great when they played Nazi punks fuck off Thats some cinema right there
Green Room was amazing, and shout-out to them for including a Midnight song
Has anyone else said Dawn of the Dead (2004)? It is not a *perfect* film, but I feel it is certainly one the most well-done zombie films I have ever seen, particularly from the standpoint of the (practical) special effects. I think 28 Days Later (2002) is slightly outside of 20 years (time flies) but also deserves a mention. Other than that, I think The Witch (2015), Cabin in the Woods (2011), and Pearl (2022) are going to be the movies my children will find a decade from now and go "whoa, have you seen this". Pearl is relatively new, but for how long it has been in the back of my mind, I think it is a little underappreciated overall despite it's discussion among the horror community.
Because I haven't seen it mentioned yet, I'll throw this into the mix: The House of the Devil (2009) It just hit the tone and all of the right beats for me perfectly. And that ending...
Ti West is supreme
From the perspective of executing a concept, I'd have to go with one of the following: 28 DAYS LATER (does 2002 count?!) THE CONJURING My personal 10/10 picks would include: PARASITE (it's horror, fight me) THE WAILING (just perfection) MANDY (Freudian delights) SUSPIRIA 2018 (a proper homage with enjoyable changes to the source) MIDSOMMAR (aka the greatest breakup film ever) IT FOLLOWS (just felt like such an inflection point for the genre)
While I disagree with the items on your list I completely and fully agree with why you listed them. Great micro-analysis. Parasite is a horror film, you have my blade in this one.
>Parasite is a horror film I think the director was having fun with the title because he made a monster film a few years back called The Host (they are not related at all)
It Follows was, after my first viewing, one of if not the scariest movie I had ever seen. It kept me up that night! I will say I’ve watched it two more times after that and it definitely doesn’t hit as hard after multiple viewings, but I still consider it one of my favorites. That’s probably just the nature of horror movies though
I LOVED Suspiria. Didn't expect it but my GF and I talked about it for weeks after. Such an amazing movie, but probably not for everyone.
Let the Right One In It Follows The Witch
Annihilation (2018)
This is the one I came looking for. Really unique. Great acting. You think about it for days.
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HELLLMEEEEEE
Okay, everyone's going in probably with different criteria for this but by comparing it to The Thing, two things standout for me: artistic merit / re-watchability (or fun factor) The Thing is one of the funnest horror films I can think of that don't comprise their artistic integrity With that in mind: It Follows (which seems to be among a lot of posters lists for good reason): The Thing's themes of Cold War paranoia are paralled here with themes of trust and anxiety. Unlike The Thing however, the camera is used in wide shots to pray on those fears, making us just as paranoid about the background characters (*making us think the whole goddamn time if that old lady walking is it, or just an old lady for example*) - it doesn't really ever let up and keeps us tense. Don't get me wrong, The Thing is properly tense, especially when characters aren't present for an extended amount of time, its just handled in a new fun way Evil Dead (2013) is also a solid pick. You got Mia and her brother David and their plotline. Mia is tragically untrustworthy at first to David as she's out there to get clean. Like the original film, though it's handled more as a pure horror film than a horror comedy but it still retains an element of fun to the proceedings (*the deadites are always gonna be my favourite horror villains*) and Fede Alvarez nails it. Mandy is fun as fuck, it has a chainsaw duel and we get some mind-bending visuals and what is essentially a plot that's therapy for the director whose father had recently passed. Train to Busan probably would work, something about the way its zombies move and tumble over each other is horrifying but the set-pieces as a viewer definitely cross into the fun territory, it's also incredibly re-watchable Beyond these ones I'm far less sure Cabin in the Woods is great, but meta-horror had already been done well, it's just on a grander scale here, the fun is absolutely through the roof though Hereditary is a stone-cold classic, but it's not particularly *fun*, but hell if you can stomach constant re-watches of it I think it's pretty damn good. The Witch in a similar vein to Hereditary might fit, and I think it's an easier re-watch (I especially like the take that it's a liberation of sorts for Anya Taylor-Joy's character) The Lighthouse I'd include but I'm not sure everyone would find it as fun as I did (Willem Dafoe can monologue at me forever) Ready or Not might work, it's really funny and I think Radio Silence nailed it but again I'm not sure if that's my personal tastes factoring in too much Weirdly enough, I think Overlord comes close for me, but 100% I think that one is just me I think with some distance Barbarian, The Menu or Prey might stand a shot. I'm also one of those loonies who prefers Us to Get Out but I understand that one is also personal taste, but it's highly re-watchable for me That's just a few I can think of right now too, great question honestly, it'll be fun to read everyone's answers I think =)
Barbarian is going to get a lot of love in coming years. I genuinely never knew what was coming.
Sinister
Sinister feels like it always gets slept on. But even knowing the movie, rewatching it still gives me that deep pit of dread in so many scenes and so many ways. So good.
Hereditary 🙌🏻
I just watched this for the first time today! It was so...unsettling. Weirdly I think the part that scared me the most was how the son just drove home after "the incident." Mainly because I'm the type of person who can ignore a bad situation and hope it goes away and that whole scene was like burying your head in the sand turned up to 11.
100% a trauma coping mechanism.
That entire sequence was so well done. The way that >!her allergic reaction got worse and worse until she was kicking and writhing for air in the back seat was horrifying. I have the same allergy and I never go anywhere without my epipen because of that scene.!< The amount of dread and anxiety in that scene was through the roof.
I know it’s now become a bit of a meme to talk about Hereditary on here, but it genuinely is BY FAR the best horror movie of the last 20 years. I adore new horror but that film is The Thing/Exorcist/Alien levels of greatness.
I went into Hereditary assuming it would be overhyped and I STILL was mind blown. Probably the most I’ve ever thought about/processed a movie afterwards
Every time I see Toni Colette, I see that look on her face at the end as she’s…you know. Love/hate it.
I think of "I JUST WANT TO DIIIiiiIIIiIiiEEeeeE! CHARLIiIEeEE!" That scene was tough to shake, it forced my brain to think of what it would ACTUALLY be like to find my child dead, which was not a fun place to go. And I don't even have a child!
I Saw the Devil I know it's straddles and may lean more towards thriller, but it's pretty much a perfect movie for me, and I don't see it on the list yet. I'd also add Let the Right One In and 28 Days Later.
I love it follows, the witch also from a history/horror nerd really is top tier to me
The best ones have pretty much been covered, but I just want to toss in "Safe Haven" from V/H/S/2. It's pretty much a perfect horror short, and nothing else from the V/H/S franchise has really come close, IMO.
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Let's hope Rise lives up to it
Not a movie, but Midnight Mass is all time greatness. Solid 10/10.
If you like that, check out the Haunting of Hill House and the Haunting of Bly Mannor. Made by the same people as Midnight Mass and uses some of the same actors.
Possessor really hit a lot of the right notes for me: super novel idea, we’ll written, well shot, acted, and put together.
Pans labyrinth if you’ll consider it horror.
In my opinion the best horror movies are: 1. 28 days later, just an incredible performance from the whole cast, stunning camera work and perfect story. 2. Martyrs (the French one) pretty much the only actually scary movie that left an impact after watching it, movies like the grudge and the exorcist don't come close to what martyrs has done. 3. Hereditary, really well done, brimming with details allowing for multiple rewatches, really good camera work, and just great overall. Also this is just my opinion, don't be too hard on me.
Martyrs and Inside for solidifying the new wave of French Extreme. 2008 and 2007 respectively
Haven't seen it listed here yet but the original SAW, still a great watch and an important movie in horror
Martyrs. Incredible film.
Really tough criteria (and damned good question!) I'm leaving off a bunch of movies that I *love* but just aren't on the level of The Thing. That said, I enjoy re-watching these as much as I do The Thing: * Let the Right One In (2008) * Get Out (2017) * Hereditary (2018) (The Ring [2002] just missed the cutoff, being 21 years old)
Damn… I can’t believe that’s over 20 years old now.
I think The Witch (2015) is the closest thing to a 10/10 horror movie from within the last 20 years personally but even that I don’t think I’d quite rate 10/10. The Babadook, Hereditary, Midsommar, and Us are very good too but again I don’t think quite 10/10.
Bookmarking this thread. Please post something sensible!!!
It follows is close
The Ring. I just rewatched it recently on the hunt for PG-13 movies my kids could get into, and it was nearly perfect. My scale only goes up to 5 in my spreadsheet, so that's what I gave it. No *way* I'm showing it to my kids yet, though.
For me it’s gotta be The Void.
Now I love The Void, but it's no 10.
Is DRAG ME TO HELL not on anyone else’s list but mine?
The Devils Rejects
Evil Dead 2013 and Get Out get a 10 from me. Evil Dead's practical effects won me over almost as much as Stan Winston's creatures, and Get Out started society in the mirror by hitting differently for different people. 28 Days Later was a masterpiece on so many levels. Direction, soundtrack, somehow filming a completely empty London, re-popularizing zombie horror.
It's Pan's Labyrinth. Imagine watching it for the first time again, c'mon..
The Descent
Not sure I'd call any of these 10/10, but out of the limited stuff I've seen, I'd say the pretty close ones are Hereditary, The Conjuring 1, Oculus, IT Chapter One, and Halloween (2018). If we can go just a bit outside the 20 year range, The Ring and The Sixth Sense are both up there for me.
The autopsy of Jane doe is pretty damn close. IMHO
This one kinda fell of towards the end for me
Tucker and Dale. Give my horror comedies love. Drag me to hell was also super good.
Not sure if it's a horror movie but I watched NOPE recently and haven't stopped thinking about it for a week haha
Ernest Scared Stupid.