(Photo by Lions Gate/courtesy Everett Collection)
Welcome to the new millennium. The decade horror came home to America. The decade horror went global. Welcome to the 100 Best Horror Movies of the 2000s.
If horror movies reflect the fears and concerns of a people, it’s notable that America claimed torture-porn as their de rigueur subgenre. Something in Saw and its ilk’s slow-roasted dismantling of human flesh appealed to a nation consumed by post-9/11 paranoia and a bombardment of wartime images and atrocity. But while torture-porn movies made a killing at the box office, none were ever particularly well-reviewed; only Hostel arrives here. Recovering from the ’90s doldrums, the best horror movies came from overseas, as digital cameras lowered the cost to film and the rise of the internet made knowledge and dissemination of these movies as simple as a mouse click. In fact, of the top 10 movies here (which includes the likes of Pan’s Labyrinth and The Host), only two were shot in America. Other trends seen during this decade: Asian originals and occasional remakes (The Ring, Thirst), found footage (Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield), the return of the living dead (Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later), and nostalgic throwbacks (Slither, Death Proof).
Time to add some scary MIDIs to your MySpace and set AIM status to away (FOREVER), because here comes the best scary 2000s movies! —Alex Vo
#1
Adjusted Score: 105695%
Critics Consensus: Let the Right One In reinvigorates the seemingly tired vampire genre by effectively mixing scares with intelligent storytelling.
#2
Adjusted Score: 105022%
Critics Consensus: Pan’s Labyrinth is Alice in Wonderland for grown-ups, with the horrors of both reality and fantasy blended together into an extraordinary, spellbinding fable.
#3
Adjusted Score: 99031%
Critics Consensus: As populace pleasing as it is intellectually satisfying, The Host combines scares, laughs, and satire into a riveting, monster movie.
#4
Adjusted Score: 96982%
Critics Consensus: Creepily atmospheric and haunting, The Devil’s Backbone is both a potent ghost story and an intelligent political allegory.
#5
Adjusted Score: 102889%
Critics Consensus: Sam Raimi returns to top form with Drag Me to Hell, a frightening, hilarious, delightfully campy thrill ride.
#6
Adjusted Score: 99146%
Critics Consensus: Shaun of the Dead cleverly balances scares and witty satire, making for a bloody good zombie movie with loads of wit.
#7
Adjusted Score: 91665%
Critics Consensus: The strong female cast and biting satire of teenage life makes Ginger Snaps far more memorable than your average werewolf movie — or teen flick.
#8
Adjusted Score: 90811%
Critics Consensus: Plunging viewers into the nightmarish hellscape of an apartment complex under siege, [Rec] proves that found footage can still be used as an effective delivery mechanism for sparse, economic horror.
#9
Adjusted Score: 99449%
Critics Consensus: Wickedly funny and featuring plenty of gore, Zombieland is proof that the zombie subgenre is far from dead.
#10
Adjusted Score: 95045%
Critics Consensus: Kinetically directed by Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later is both a terrifying zombie movie and a sharp political allegory.
#11
Adjusted Score: 93869%
Critics Consensus: Deeply unnerving and surprisingly poignant, The Orphanage is an atmospheric, beautifully crafted haunted house horror film that earns scares with a minimum of blood.
#12
Adjusted Score: 88348%
Critics Consensus: Guy Maddin’s film is a richly sensuous and dreamy interpretation of Dracula that reinvigorates the genre.
#13
Adjusted Score: 93861%
Critics Consensus: Deft direction and strong performances from its all-female cast guide The Descent, a riveting, claustrophobic horror film.
#14
Adjusted Score: 92441%
Critics Consensus: A slimy, B-movie homage oozing with affection for low-budget horror films, Slither is creepy and funny — if you’ve got the stomach for it.
#15
Adjusted Score: 87620%
Critics Consensus: This anthology contains brutal, powerful horror stories by three of Asia’s top directors.
#16
Adjusted Score: 87488%
Critics Consensus: Restrained but disturbing, A Tale of Two Sisters is a creepily effective, if at times confusing, horror movie.
#17
Adjusted Score: 88447%
Critics Consensus: Though its underlying themes are familiar, House of the Devil effectively sheds the loud and gory cliches of contemporary horror to deliver a tense, slowly building throwback to the fright flicks of decades past.
#18
Adjusted Score: 89958%
Critics Consensus: The Others is a spooky thriller that reminds us that a movie doesn’t need expensive special effects to be creepy.
#19
Adjusted Score: 86855%
Critics Consensus: Witty and restrained but still taut and funny, this Pontypool is a different breed of low-budget zombie film.
#20
Adjusted Score: 91284%
Critics Consensus: Using its low-budget effects and mockumentary method to great result, Paranormal Activity turns a simple haunted house story into 90 minutes of relentless suspense.
#21
Adjusted Score: 86323%
Critics Consensus: Shadow of the Vampire is frightening, compelling, and funny, and features an excellent performance by Willem Dafoe.
#22
Adjusted Score: 82132%
Critics Consensus: Surreal and visually striking, Taxidermia is, at times, graphic and difficult to watch, but creatively touches on disturbing subjects with imagination and wit.
#23
Adjusted Score: 85240%
Critics Consensus: The stylish Thirst packs plenty of bloody thrills to satisfy fans of both vampire films and director Chan Wook Park.
#24
Adjusted Score: 81636%
Critics Consensus: Frightening, funny, and packed with action, Dog Soldiers is well worth checking out for genre fans — and marks writer-director Neil Marshall as a talent to keep an eye on.
#25
Adjusted Score: 82137%
Critics Consensus: Smart, original, and horrifically funny, Teeth puts a fresh feminist spin on horror movie tropes.
#26
Adjusted Score: 86825%
Critics Consensus: Relying on psychological tension rather than overt violence and gore, 1408 is a genuinely creepy thriller with a strong lead performance by John Cusack.
#27
Adjusted Score: 82003%
Critics Consensus: The best movie to star both the King and JFK.
#28
Adjusted Score: 86726%
Critics Consensus: A sort of Blair Witch Project crossed with Godzilla, Cloverfield is economically paced, stylistically clever, and filled with scares.
#29
Adjusted Score: 77313%
Critics Consensus: The Last Winter creatively and effectively uses horror tactics — fear, tension, anticipation, and just enough gore — to shock, but never repulse, its audience.
#30
Adjusted Score: 82287%
Critics Consensus: A kinetic, violent and surprisingly worthy remake of George Romero’s horror classic that pays homage to the original while working on its own terms.
#31
Adjusted Score: 76907%
Critics Consensus: A smart mockumentary that presents a gory, funny, and obviously affectionate skewering of the slasher genre.
#32
Adjusted Score: 79966%
Critics Consensus: Creepy and disturbing, Frailty is well-crafted, low-key horror.
#33
Adjusted Score: 80487%
Critics Consensus: George A. Romero’s latest entry in his much-vaunted Dead series is not as fresh as his genre-inventing original, Night of the Living Dead. But Land of the Dead does deliver on the gore and zombies-feasting-on-flesh action.
#34
Adjusted Score: 74048%
Critics Consensus: This French animated horror portmanteau is monochrome and minimalist, visually stunning, but light on scares.
#35
Adjusted Score: 72017%
Critics Consensus: A horror comedy that’s almost as chilling as it is funny, I Sell the Dead relies on its dark humor and offbeat charm to overcome its low budget shortcomings.
#36
Adjusted Score: 96031%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#37
Adjusted Score: 86633%
Critics Consensus: This harrowing, naturalistic drama holds you in its grip through Huller’s intense performance.
#38
Adjusted Score: 82459%
Critics Consensus: A deftly crafted tribute to Halloween legends, Trick ‘r’ Treat hits all the genre marks with gusto and old fashioned suspense.
#39
Adjusted Score: 81144%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#40
Adjusted Score: 80345%
Critics Consensus: A brutal and effective British hoodie-horror that, despite the clichés, stays on the right side of scary.
#41
Adjusted Score: 77320%
Critics Consensus: A cool and hip grindhouse throwback, Planet Terror is an unpredictable zombie thrillride.
#42
Adjusted Score: 76658%
Critics Consensus: Never taking itself too seriously, Splinter scores as a fast-paced, fun thriller with more than enough scares.
#43
Adjusted Score: 52539%
Critics Consensus: Hair High isn’t first-tier Plympton, but like the rest of the animator’s work, this is an assuredly odd tale that should resonate with fans of strange cinema.
#44
Adjusted Score: 77394%
Critics Consensus: Brotherhood of the Wolf mixes its genres with little logic, but the end result is wildly entertaining.
#45
Adjusted Score: 73578%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#46
Adjusted Score: 78676%
Critics Consensus: Frank Darabont’s impressive camerawork and politically incisive script make The Mist a truly frightening experience.
#47
Adjusted Score: 74446%
Critics Consensus: Making the most of its thin premise, Fido is an occasionally touching satire that provides big laughs and enough blood and guts to please gorehounds.
#48
Adjusted Score: 79798%
Critics Consensus: While 28 Weeks Later lacks the humanism that made 28 Days Later a classic, it’s made up with fantastic atmosphere and punchy direction.
#49
Adjusted Score: 73251%
Critics Consensus: Miike continues his run of compellingly bizarre flicks.
#50
Adjusted Score: 75342%
Critics Consensus: With an outrageous premise played completely straight, Black Sheep is a violent, grotesque, and very funny movie that takes B-movie lunacy to a delirious extreme.
#51
Adjusted Score: 72409%
Critics Consensus: Though not entirely effective as a conventional horror flick, Grace is still a graphic, disturbing, and artful exploration of twisted maternal instinct.
#52
Adjusted Score: 71524%
Critics Consensus: A creative and energetic adaptation of a Clive Barker short story, with enough scares and thrills to be a potential cult classic.
#53
Adjusted Score: 77968%
Critics Consensus: With little gore and a lot of creepy visuals, The Ring gets under your skin, thanks to director Gore Verbinski’s haunting sense of atmosphere and an impassioned performance from Naomi Watts.
#54
Adjusted Score: 77741%
Critics Consensus: A low budget thriller with some intense moments.
#55
Adjusted Score: 70490%
Critics Consensus: Vampire Hunter D‘s gothic charms may be lost on those unfamiliar with the anime series that spawned it, but the crisp action and nightmarish style will satiate horror aficionados’ bloodlust.
#56
Adjusted Score: 71694%
Critics Consensus: Above average slasher flick.
#57
Adjusted Score: 61971%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#58
Adjusted Score: 76165%
Critics Consensus: Snakes on a Plane lives up to its title, featuring snakes on a plane. It isn’t perfect, but then again, it doesn’t need to be.
#59
Adjusted Score: 69317%
Critics Consensus: If nothing else, Happiness of the Katakuris scores points for its delirious, over-the-top originality.
#60
Adjusted Score: 69264%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#61
Adjusted Score: 75352%
Critics Consensus: Competently made, but everything is a bit too familiar.
#62
Adjusted Score: 74869%
Critics Consensus: Though it arrives during an unfortunate glut of vampire movies, Daybreakers offers enough dark sci-fi thrills — and enough of a unique twist on the genre — to satisfy filmgoers.
#63
Adjusted Score: 68629%
Critics Consensus: It relies too heavily on American slasher cliches, but Tormented is a timely, funny, and even somewhat touching entry in the high school horror genre.
#64
Adjusted Score: 73955%
Critics Consensus: If it falls short of the deadly satire of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel, American Psycho still finds its own blend of horror and humor, thanks in part to a fittingly creepy performance by Christian Bale.
#65
Adjusted Score: 70303%
Critics Consensus: Though it doesn’t cover new ground, Dead Snow is an entertaining mix of camp, scares, and blood and guts.
#66
Adjusted Score: 44400%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#67
Adjusted Score: 69086%
Critics Consensus: Relying more on atmosphere than gore, Session 9 is effectively creepy.
#68
Adjusted Score: 69128%
Critics Consensus: A twisted and bloody spoof on office life, Severance nicely balances comedy and nasty horror.
#69
Adjusted Score: 66694%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#70
Adjusted Score: 65408%
Critics Consensus: A Svankmajer movie is not for everyone, but he displays his usual creative flair for surreal imagery.
#71
Adjusted Score: 65793%
Critics Consensus: A real polarising movie, this Gallic torture-porn is graphic, brutal, nasty and gruesome and not to everyone’s taste.
#72
Adjusted Score: 65647%
Critics Consensus: Ichi The Killer is a thoroughly shocking gorefest that will surely entertain those with strong stomachs and a penchant for brutal violence.
#73
Adjusted Score: 64717%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#74
Adjusted Score: 68095%
Critics Consensus: In this creepy story of a man and his rodents, Glover seems born to play the oddball title character.
#75
Adjusted Score: 66926%
Critics Consensus: Conventional ghost tale with a few genuine scares.
#76
Adjusted Score: 64134%
Critics Consensus: Poultrygeist may be relentlessly tasteless and juvenile, but it’s also a lively slice of schlocky fun.
#77
Adjusted Score: 68714%
Critics Consensus: Identity is a film that will divide audiences — the twists of its plot will either impress or exasperate you.
#78
Adjusted Score: 66355%
Critics Consensus: Day Watch is frequently cheesy but it offers enough twists, surprises, and inventive action sequences to maintain viewer interest.
#79
Adjusted Score: 64313%
Critics Consensus: Suspenseful and tense from start to finish, the French horror film Them proves that a lack of gore doesn’t mean a dearth of scares.
#80
Adjusted Score: 66427%
Critics Consensus: More gory than scary, Cabin Fever is satisfied with paying homage to genre conventions rather than reinventing them.
#81
Adjusted Score: 65791%
Critics Consensus: As Diary of the Dead proves, time hasn’t subdued George A. Romero’s affection for mixing politics with gore, nor has it given him cinematic grace or subtlety.
#82
Adjusted Score: 64800%
Critics Consensus: This gory, senses-assaulting slasher film is an unpretentious, effective mix of old-school horror stylings and modern 3D technology.
#83
Adjusted Score: 63858%
Critics Consensus: This Russian horror/fantasy film pits darkness and light against each other using snazzy CGI visuals to create an extraordinary atmosphere of a dank, gloomy city wrestling with dread.
#84
Adjusted Score: 61181%
Critics Consensus: An artsy horror flick, Wendigo effectively creates an eerie atmosphere.
#85
Adjusted Score: 62534%
Critics Consensus: Featuring lots of guts and gore, Hostel is a wildly entertaining corpse-filled journey — assuming one is entertained by corpses, guts, and gore, that is.
#86
Adjusted Score: 62258%
Critics Consensus: Visually impressive, but this latest Ripper tale is dull and far from scary.
#87
Adjusted Score: 59781%
Critics Consensus: Zombie has improved as a filmmaker since “House of 1000 Corpses” and will please fans of the genre, but beware — the horror is nasty, relentless, and sadistic.
#88
Adjusted Score: 57350%
Critics Consensus: Faster paced for today’s audiences, this Hills remake ratchets up the gore for the hardcore horror fans, but will turn away casual audiences.
#89
Adjusted Score: 56985%
Critics Consensus: While 30 Days of Night offers a few thrills, it ultimately succumbs to erratic execution.
#90
Adjusted Score: 56212%
Critics Consensus: Saw ensnares audiences with a deceptively clever plot and a myriad of memorable, nasty set pieces, but its lofty ambitions are undercut by a nihilistic streak that feels more mean than profound.
#91
Adjusted Score: 53384%
Critics Consensus: This sequel is little more than an excuse to stage elaborate, gory scenes of characters getting killed off.
#92
Adjusted Score: 55351%
Critics Consensus: The Strangers has a handful of genuinely scary moments, but they’re not enough to elevate the end results above standard slasher fare.
#93
Adjusted Score: 51691%
Critics Consensus: Robert Zemeckis is unable to salvage an uncompelling and unoriginal film.
#94
Adjusted Score: 54423%
Critics Consensus: Jennifer’s Body features occasionally clever dialogue, but its horror/comedy premise ultimately fails to be consistently funny or scary enough to satisfy.
#95
Adjusted Score: 47262%
Critics Consensus: Final Destination 3 is more of the same: gory and pointless, with nowhere new to go.
#96
Adjusted Score: 45091%
Critics Consensus: There’s some creepy imagery to be found, but not much in the way of logic or truly jarring scares.
#97
Adjusted Score: 41158%
Critics Consensus: Saw II is likely to please the gore-happy fans of the original, though it may be too gruesome for those not familiar with first film’s premise.
#98
Adjusted Score: 39391%
Critics Consensus: Despite a panel of X-Files’ alums at the helm and a promising premise, flighty performances and poor execution keep Final Destination from ever taking off.
#99
Adjusted Score: 36853%
Critics Consensus: Silent Hill is visually impressive, but as with many video game adaptations, it’s plagued by inane dialogue, a muddled plot, and an overlong runtime.
#100
Adjusted Score: 36437%
Critics Consensus: Though stylish to look at, Underworld is tedious and derivative.