The 10 Best Horror Films Between 1999 and 2009

ByPaul Posted on Updated on

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In the past week, I’ve seen the absolute worst in modern horror (I watched the new Friday the 13th remake on DVD) and I’ve seen a preview of what hopefully will be one of the best (Scorsese’s Shutter Island trailer). Both got me thinking as to what the horror genre has evolved (or devolved into) and I set out to find the best this decade has to offer (we’ll look at the worst another time).

Most universally recognized horror classics are from years ago, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm St, Carrie, The Exorcist, Evil Dead, are all antiques by today’s standards, though they were revolutionary at the time and heavily influenced modern horror. But what has been released recently that can compare to such classics? I’ve assembled the ten best selections below, see if you agree. I’m sure you won’t.

10. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

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The Hills Have Eyes is one of those rare horror remakes that actually turned out to be worthwhile. Alexandre Aja is a modern day horror master and you’ll see another project of his higher up on the list, but his crack at Wes Craven’s original tale of hillside mutants is a distinctly memorable experience.

What makes Hills great is that it defies nearly every cliche of the tired horror genre. The victims aren’t teenagers, they’re a family of all shapes and sizes. The aggressors aren’t immortal, mute killing machines, but fragile (albeit deformed) humans with personalities all their own. And most notably, the movie takes place mostly in the day time in wide open spaces, rather than dark cramped houses or log cabins.

The film has all the gore and scares of a traditional horror flick, but it’s anything but formulaic. It’s good to be different, especially in this genre, and Aja can be proud of a remake that actually seemed like something new.

9. 28 Days Later (2002)

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It was a toss up between putting this or Dawn of the Dead at this spot on the list, but ultimately Danny Boyle won out over Zack Snyder. Both films were excellent, but 28 Days came first, and should be credited with sparking the revival of the zombie genre.

Boyle employed the use of “fast zombies” as opposed to the slow, plodding ones that populated George A. Romero’s classic films. This added a new sense of terror to the proceedings, as zombies sprinting at you are much more fearsome than ones power walking toward you.

The film also explored the human side to the zombie apocalypse, showing how mankind can degrade under the physical and mental toll of such an ordeal. The final scene at the makeshift military base remains one of modern horror’s most frightening sequences.

8. Saw (2004)

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It is unfortunate that those behind this franchise got the idea in their head to churn out a new installment every year since the original, no matter what the quality. The series has gone up and down in it’s five installments to date, but more often than not, they’re still smarter than the average horror flick, and that all started with the original.

Saw may have ushered in a briefly dumb era of “torture porn” type movies (Hostel, Captivity, etc.), but the original premise for the film was rock solid, and two men in a rotting bathroom armed only with hacksaws was a chilling setting for a film, and the ending left everyone absolutely floored. The film has close to the lowest budget of anything on this list, and what the writers managed to do with pretty much nothing is simply stunning.

Jigsaw has become a horror icon just as prominent as Freddy, Jason or Michael Myers, but he turned a new page on the horror genre, using mind instead of muscle to rain retribution down on his victims.

7. The Descent (2005)

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Women are understandably frustrated with horror films, as they usually portray them as large chested sorority girls who don’t know enough to not walk into dark rooms alone and unarmed. That’s why The Descent‘s cast made up entirely of badass chicks was a welcome change for the genre, and the film had the story, writing and directing to back them up.

Taking place entirely in an underground cave system, The Descent is extremely claustrophobic and so tense you’ll be sore afterwards. It’s scary enough facing the prospect of being buried alive for eternity, but once the “creatures” show up? Shit gets crazy.

The ending defies the genre as well, and it’s haunting, depressing and strangely satisfying all at the same time.

6. High Tension (2003)

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Alexadre Aja is back on the list with his critically acclaimed slasher, High Tension. On first glance, the film seems like a well-shot, well-written French take on the slasher film, but as the plot unravels, it’s revealed that the film is anything but typical, and does much to set itself apart from a sea of similar premises.

Americans enjoyed the film slightly less than their European counterparts, and were quick to point out plot holes with the film’s twist, but in any case, High Tension is a welcome change for the slasher genre, which features an endless parade of the same movie reworked slightly different ways.

Also, lesbians. Nice.

5. Audition (1999)

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You didn’t think I’d make this list without a Takeshi Miike film right? Well, Audition has to be one of the most ****ed up movies ever made, and if you can get through the absurdity of it, it’s a damn good horror flick as well.

The burlap sack reveal remains one of the most disturbing thoughts ever put into film, and the movie even provoked one woman so much at a screening with Miike, she stood up and yelled “You’re evil!” at him. How’s that for a screen test?

If you haven’t seen Audition, you should, but approach with caution. You might not be the same afterwards.

4. The Sixth Sense (1999)

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We must ignore the laughing stock that M. Night Shyamalan has become in recent years in order to appreciate his original masterpiece, The Sixth Sense. It’s the film that got him nominated for an Oscar, and which made giddy critics start hailing him as the next Alfred Hitchcock. But as we all know, Hitchcock went on to make more than two and a half good horror movies, where Shyamalan, so far, has not.

Horror films are often noted for their twists, and some bend over backwards to try and surprise the audience (see Hide and Seek for a prime example), but The Sixth Sense had the twist to end all twists, and if your asshole buddies didn’t ruin it for you, you were probably blown away like the rest of us.

Shyamalan made a great movie here because he didn’t rely on blood or gore, but rather atmosphere and tension more than anything else, something modern day horror directors should definitely learn from.

Also, this just in: Bruce Willis is dead the whole time.

Sorry, but it’s been 10 years, you’ve lost the right to be surprised.

3. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

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To the layman, The Blair Witch Project is “just a bunch of people running around the woods yelling,” but to those of us with half a brain, the movie is a master class in low budget film making, and should be treated as such.

Part of the appeal of Blair Witch is that it feels real, and to capitalize on this, it was marketed as such. I remember upon its release that some people were buzzing this was actually a true story, and it was all real. That may sound stupid now, but at the time, even a hint of that going into the film made the experience all the more unnerving.

And if you’re upset because they didn’t show the witch at the end, you’re missing the entire point. Go watch Freddy vs. Jason or something.

2. The Ring (2002)

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I know I’ll get a lot of flack for putting The Ring so high up on the list, and leaving the Japanese movie it was based off of, Ringu, off completely. Well, guess what? This is one of the only time where the American’s actually did it better. That’s right, I said it.

The original Ring may have started the concept of the video cassette that kills you via creepy, vengeful long-haired girl, but frankly, it’s just not that great of a movie. The ideas presented are all half formed and unfinished, and in the American adaptation, Gore Verbinski stepped in to take the project from more than merely a solid idea to an excellent film.

I have no regrets about placing The Ring this high, it’s a near perfect blend of classic horror and commercial appeal, and it deserves to be recognized for the modern horror classic that it is. But do NOT mention the sequel, alright?

1. The Orphanage (2007)

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The Orphanage is the best horror film of the last decade because it’s just so damn smart. The entire movie can be read two different ways, depending on how you’d like to interpret it. It can either be a ghost story, full of long-dead children running around the halls of a creepy orphanage, or it can be a psychological thriller, where all the ghosts turn out to be either real or imagined, and I’ve had many people miss this aspect of the film completely.

The movie is absolutely terrifying despite lacking any real gore and only a handful of jump moments. It’s an exercise in what can happen when intelligent people actually get their hands on a horror script, and the reigns are handed to a director who knows that real horror is more about the prelude to the kill than the kill itself. And sometimes there doesn’t even need to be a kill at all.

Runners up that I know you’ll tell me I missed:

Dawn of the Dead – Zack Snyder’s remake of George A. Romero’s classic exceeded everyone’s expectations.

The Midnight Meat Train – A very WTF cast (Vinnie Jones and Bradley Cooper?), but a brilliant horror concept that hopefully gains a cult following someday.

Session 9 – Many proclaim this as an unspoken legend of horror, but honestly I wasn’t that impressed.

Suicide Club – A great concept to be sure, but the film is about three stops past crazytown, and it’s almost too nonsensical for its own good.

Shaun of the Dead – One of my favorite films to be sure, but I didn’t want to include horror-comedy here. Also in this category would be Slither, and some would argue The Host, though I don’t view that as a horror film. Don’t even get me started on Drag Me to Hell.

Battle Royale – Horror? Ehh, maybe. Is “Gore” its own movie category? This gives me an idea for a “10 best movies to play drinking games to” list.

Twilight – Horrifying, but only because of the acting and writing.

I think I'm a part of the first generation of journalists to skip print media entirely, and I've learned a lot these last few years at Forbes. My work has appeared on TVOvermind, IGN, and most importantly, a segment on The Colbert Report at one point.

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343 Comments

  1. I’m glad you mentioned Clive Barker’s Midnight Meat Train. I absolutely loved that movie. Some people didn’t like the heavy use of CGI blood but I thought it fit nicely with the style of the film.

    Clive Barker was also responsible for one of the better horror films ever made…Hellraiser.

    Off to rent Audition…

  2. I didn’t really care for the Hills Have Eyes remake, but the rest of the list is all good. Would have liked to see Session 9 in the top ten, but at least it is on there. I have only made it through Audition once, it is beyond crazy. What about Wolf Creek? Maybe not the top ten, but I think it is worthy of being a runner-up. I would add [Rec] to the list as well. The remake Quarantine was not quite as good, but the Spanish original scared the crap out of me. I was surprisingly impressed with The Mist as well.

  3. I just happened to watch The Orphanage yesterday.
    I like it, but not sure why, maybe because it’s Guillermo Del
    Toro’s.
    There’s still some parts that I don’t like, like the deformed face boy, might be better to keep him under that mask.
    Anyway it gave me a chill toward the end.

    My #1 horror is the Shutter, original one in Thai.
    The remake s*cks bad.
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0440803/
    I still don’t dare to watch it alone at night.

  4. At this point, it’s a stale argument, but the zombie-lover in me HAS to point out that 28 Days Later has not a single zombie in it. It’s just a rage virus. It has almost nothing in common with any take on the zombie mythos.

    That being said, this is a solid list. I’d love to see some links for each movie to IMDb or Netflix, but good stuff.

    -b.

  8. Agree with most of the list (especially like the inclusion of “Audition” and “The Orphanage”).

    Have you watched “Martyrs” yet? The first half is absolutely perfect horror. The second half is more sadistic and sad, with ideas and images that are up for discussion. It would absolutely be in my Top 10.

    “High Tension” is completely overrated. “The Hills Have Eyes” is also questionable (not by association).

    I’d include “May” in honorable mention as well. The last scene is horrifying.

  9. I also forgot to add “The Ruins.” That was a surprisingly well done and original horror movie with good acting and unexpected story developments.

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  11. Once again you fail! The Ring as #2 and you dare have The Blair Witch Project added there? Also, The Sixth Sense is not a horror movie you goddamned idiot. You suck!

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  18. What about “Let the Right One In”? I kept scrolling down the list expecting to see it but nothing. That’s truly a great horror film. I was sad to see it absent from the list.

  19. I have watched the Ring several times, and I still cannot understand what people like about that movie. I wasn’t disturbed or scared in any way. It was just boring to me. I even normally like psychological thrillers more so than slashers, but this movie just doesn’t do anything for me. I will say that it had nice moody atmosphere, at least.

  20. A nice list, however after watching the descent and the grudge (the japanese version, ju-on) in the same night with friends, the grudge was on a completely different level than the descent, I think the descent could have been so much better, If they’d focused more on the fear of tight spaces and the dark, rather than just girls stabbing mutants

  23. Let the Right One In is a good call. That’s the only vampire movies I’ve ever actually liked.

    I need to see The Ruins and May.

    Pan’s Labyrinth is not a horror movie.

    The Sixth Sense IS a horror movie. Idiot.

    High Tension is overrated, I’ll give you that.

    The Ring is awesome.

  26. Really??? The 6th sense??? that is crap. The whole movie sucked until the end revealed that bruce willis was dead. This means that the entire worth of the movie lies solely on the effectiveness of that one plot twist. Everything up until that point doesn’t matter as long as the end twist works. Shyamalan sucks, and to include that in the top 10 modern horror movies while not even mentioning Frontier(s) or Martyrs is insulting to such a list. I also don’t know how I feel about including remakes in a list of the top 10 best modern horror movies. There is nothing original about those. They are remade from previous films, thus the best modern horror films should be originals. Not remakes (foreign-english included).

  27. The movie, “Audition” gave me serious nightmares and it did change me. I had to physically try to stop thinking about it, and i had actually stopped thinking about it until i saw it on the top 10 list. I have never experienced this before, and for the first time ever, i actually wrote a note on the movie when i returned it that they may wish to put a warning on the movie box. Viewer beware.

  29. Twilight was awful… I havn’t seen all of the movies on the list, but its got solid selection from what I can tell. The new Amityville Horror could have been honorable mention, but nice job I will have to watch a few of the ones I’ve missed and get back to you

  30. Gotta say, I’ve never really been horrified by movies (I’m from the Internet, where there are People, and thus Actual Horrifying Things happen all the time) But, 99% of horror movies are stupid, banal, and gore-happy. Or its a Rob Zombie flick, or a remake, or SOMETHING stupid. It takes a REALLY good movie to catch my eye. But by the criteria here, you could have put in a whole bunch more films, that do a much better job with atmosphere, pacing, setting, etc. (they give the real empathy feeling with the characters; instead of yelling ‘Don’t go in the dark doorway, idiot!’ you are simply still, and quiet, and afraid of the unknown). The Host, or Sunshine, for example; they weren’t really meant to be horrifying movies, but they were fantastic films nonetheless.

  33. What a terribly disappointing list. How can you put together the best horror movies of the last ten years and not even mention Rob Zombie’s films?

    At the time of its release The Blair Witch had a lot of hype because it was being touted as a true story but that was debunked immediately and the movie did nothing but cause motion sickness. The only horror it created ended up in a toilet or the persons lap next to you.

  34. My votes would be Frontiers, Inside, Let the Right One In and Martyrs. Europe seems to be producing the most original horror films in recent years.
    I didn’t like Hostel but I thought Cabin Fever was pretty good, although it arguably ends up on the comedy-horror side.

  35. Ok, well the list has some good items on it (Audition and Saw) but you need to expand your viewing. How about Inside, House of a Thousand Corpses, The Strangers and as mentioned by Andy – Wolf Creek. There are so many good titles to watch, it would seem better to have a more limted list or at least a specific genre in horror. Anyway, if you have not watched the movies listed in all these comments. Time to add them to Netflix. I recommend you add some animated/cartoon movies as well. It may help to watch Shrek or something funny after some of these.

  36. With regard to The Blair Witch Project: what kind of pussy gets motion sickness from a movie? Half of you guys would probably slip into a coma from smoking a joint. Jesus.

  37. the french movie “inside” is the best horror film of the last decade. you need to watch it, then rewrite your list accordingly.

  40. i cant believe i forgot inside. what a masterpiece. french horror is the only good horror these days. why is hollywood filled with such unoriginal pussies?

  41. Tom, you’re right about the Descent. If was good, not great, and certainly could have been more about the main character’s “descent” into wanting to live.

  42. I cannot believe you have missed out Let the Right One In. This has got to be one of the most creepy movies. To set such a movie in such an average suburban location is wonderful and its storyline is sublime.

    If you haven’t seen it, WHY NOT???

  43. american ring better? have you even seen the japanese version before writing something like that? it actualy is scarry and creepy contrary to the 90210 version.
    and even mentioning midnight meat train which is one of the biggest heaps of bullcrap on screen lately…
    try writing about 10 of your favorite farm animals or something next time, maybe you’ll do better.

  44. Whomever wrote this has little to no idea what they are talking about. The remake of Ringu was an absolute abomination. There’s are so many great horror films you have missed off your list in favour of ‘blockbuster’ titles. Let me guess, you are American?

  45. The Decent?!?! Really?!?! That movie sucked! It was all filler! The first 3/4 of the movie was just watching a bunch of lame chicks argue and get ready to check out the caves! BORING!

    And don’t even get me started on The Blaire Witch Joke!

    Paul, you really need to go watch some real movies.

  46. You win for most creative comment name.

    I’m definitely not standing alone on The Descent, I know that. And I understand that there’s a contingent of people who will always hate Blair(e) Witch.

    To answer earlier, I have no idea how people can watch the Ringu and The Ring side by side and honestly think Ringu is better. It just isn’t.

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  49. There are horror elitists who feel that the original, no matter what kind of remakes followed, will always be the best, regardless of the actual achievement of the remakes.

    In the end, people should realize that this is just an opinion and yes, your opinion may differ from Paul’s.

    I’m surprised The Strangers or The Mist wasn’t mentioned either, but some people just didn’t like those movies for various reasons.

    In any case, a good list of movies. I thoroughly enjoyed Saw, Blair Witch, and Sixth Sense. I didn’t really enjoy Descent or The Ring.

    Paul is obviously a horror movie fan, and writes like he loves them, so it’s a fantastic article if just for that reason. I’ve never seen Audition or High Tension, but they’re going on my list thanks to this article.

  50. I can’t stand all you uppity people who think that a remake can’t be good. We get it, you’re a film connoisseur because you loved the original. Dawn of the Dead remake was amazing. The Ring remake was great while The Grudge remake was terrible. It’s okay to admit that a remake was made well. You’re like those people who always say the book was better, just to show off that you read the book. It’s such an automated response these days. If it’s a remake, you can guarantee some dicks bashing it because they’re too insecure to accept a different take on a movie. If the internet was around decades ago, you people would probably be screaming about how Scarface was a terrible remake.
    I love foreign films, but sometimes the reimagined versions are better. It doesn’t make you a better judge of films when you mindlessly rant, “the remake sucked” or “it was better in ‘french/japanese etc. ”

    I would add DeathProof to this list. A bit of a stretch as far as being a horror movie, but you could make it count. I love when movies use real stunts, really builds the tension.

    Cheers.

  52. Wow, people are angry about movies. Hats off to all the people that bashed the list and then offered up no suggestions of their own. I would add Martyrs to my comment earlier, but I have a hard time classifying that as a “horror” film. It is in a whole other category of films like Irreversible and Twentynine Palms (the final scenes) . . . they are just so brutal and psychological, I think they transcend the horror genre.

  53. The Ruins is the main one I noticed absent from your list. I’d rate that above a few of your others, but it should definitely be on the list!

  54. The fact that you even considered the Dawn of the dead remake is more than enough reason for you to be shot in the face.

    You should never be allowed to write a horror article again.

    And The Ring should be miles and miles and MILES away from anything about decent films, much less the best.

    Ringu was slighty entertaining, but the ring?

    Rip your eyes out, and get help.

  57. I agree with the conclusion about Twilight. It was an awful movie. The acting was awkward and stiff, the writing of the script was poorly done and the choosing of the characters was even more worse than the acting and writing.

    You can’t tell me that the actress that was chosen to be Rosalie was a good match; Rosalie in the book: Southern Belle, very pale, very blonde. Rosalie in the movie: Dark brown roots with dark skin. Piss poor choice that was.

    The movie butchered an amazing book. Good job all!

  58. I actually rank High Tension as the worst movie I have ever seen. Literally. I cannot name my favorite movie ever, but it doesn’t take more than a moment for me to come up with that for my least favorite. Not scary, dumbly written for the sole purpose of showing gory unnecessary violence, a plot twist that makes absolutely no sense. I really fucking hated that movie.

    I haven’t seen the Orphanage, but if it’s as smart as you say it is I’ll be interested. The ‘jump moments’ in horror films are a turn off, usually (unless done tongue in cheek, as in the fantastic Drag Me To Hell). A great horror film gets in your head and lingers, like Silence of the Lambs. The Sixth Sense did that very well, as did the ring. Blair Witch was overrated, and I wouldn’t put it so high on that list, but that’s just me.

    And how can you say the new Friday the 13th was bad if you liked the old? It’s all the same. What you want in a F13th movie:
    1. Jason killing people.
    2. Blood
    3. Sex and Young people.

    Check, check, and check.

  59. But I agree with everything you said with Saw. It was a great great film. I actually think it suffered by focusing too much on the torture aspect, but it was tame compared to the sequels, which went downhill pretty quickly.

    It also had one of the best twists that I can remember.

  60. This list is excellent. I consider myself very picky for movies in general and the Ring is one of my favorite movies of all time. I have never seen the Orphonage, I skipped your review and immediately put it # 1 in my queue because of the rest of this list.

  63. The Ring? Any credibility you had has immediately been lost at your mention of this movie even qualifying as a horror film, let alone a good one. If that wasn’t bad enough, you ranked it as the 2nd best horror film of the past 10 years. Are you on mind control drugs?

  65. A) Let the Right One In and [Rec] off,
    B) You considered the Dawn of the Dead remake over 28 Days Later (even if you did make the right decision in the end, Zack Snyder has never made a good movie in his life)
    C)The Ring was a piece of shit, regardless of the fact that I haven’t seen the original.
    D) The Orphanage was an alright enough flick, but in the end there was no point to it. It didn’t have any message or reason to exist; just a chick that fucked up and went crazy.

    For the reasons listed above, your taste in horror sucks. I could probably go point-by-point and pick better movies than you, and I don’t even watch that many horror films. The only two that REALLY deserve to be here are Audition and 28 Days Later, and the latter isn’t really even scary, it’s just a good flick.

  66. okay, so i have to agree with a lot of what you said, and i agree that the orphanage was amazing.

    but the descent? really?

    its a complete rip off of a much more scary book with the same title.

    srsly. the descent was crap.

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  72. Watch “the descent” again but this time watch it like this:

    The main character that lives in the end is actually killing all of her friends instead of the creatures. The creatures only exist in her head. In the beginning of the film you see she takes medication (due to the loss of her daughter and husband) and while she gets trapped in the cave, she doesn’t/can’t take her medication, thereby causing her to lose it and kill her friends. The last scene in the movie shows her all by herself in the cave, with the audio of the creatures off in the distance. They are one in the same.

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  76. i’ve seen the sixth sense, so luckily you didn’t just spoil it for me. i must say that you’re an asshole though to spoil it for everyone who hasn’t seen it yet. so i didn’t read another line after that… not interested in reading anything by someone with that much disregard for their readers, thank you very much.

  77. Ok, so i’m a 30 year old grown man who’s life has and always will be about horror and the genre. I will give big credit to this list as a listing of good horror in the last ten years. If this were a listing of good gore or good slasher movies I would have to argue, but it’s not, it’s horror.

    Horror isn’t always the blood and guts aspect. I will say that I do think Silent Hill should be at least mentioned. Everyones opinion is different…

  78. Is there any way to ban retards and kids from having an opinion on this list? 😀

    It’s an excellent list. Obviously not perfect as everyones opinion is different ffs!

    but each film on the list is of high quality in the horror genre. Anyone who disses the descent or the orphanage obviously has the IQ of a 12yr old, whether they are in fact 12 or not.

    lol, wel done m8. a top quality list of films, something that is hard to find in this day and age!

    :):):):)

  79. the list is too short, you should make a top50, as there are too many very good movies which are not mentioned here. where is “eden lake”? or where is “the children”? or the other movies mentioned by previous posts? and what really piss me off is, that there is not a french movie on your list, which shows me that you dont have a clue about good horror movies. you must be an american.

    @monkstar1: the americans had to see a different ending in “the descent”, because there are pussies and mostly like to see happy endings, so they did a alternative ending for the poor americans, which is not the same as in europe.

  80. Reps for mentioning “Inside”. French horror is where it’s at right now. If you want to see a few good french horror movies, start with “Martyrs”, “Frontiers” and the creepy weirdness of “Sheitan”. Fucking brilliance.

  84. ‘Audition’ Isn’t Even Scary. Quite Frankly, It Bored The Shit Out Of Me. And That’s Saying Something Because When I Watched It I Was Already A Bit Scared As I Had Just Watched ‘May’, ‘The Ruins’ And 3 Of The Saw Films.
    I Love JEEPERS CREEPERS!

  88. travthulu, what sort of a name is that?
    If you are thirty, you should be doing a lot more stuff than sitting around telling a bunch of people who dont care how much you LOVE horror movies.

    Why don’t you try a sport?

  89. i Totally agree with hello!

    Again!

    and I Think Most Of You Need To get Out More.
    Your Knowledge Of The Horror Genre Is Slighty Mighty Shitey.
    Basically, You All Know Tooo Much And Should Go Shopping For New Clothes!

    Top Of The Mornin To Ya Ladddddy

  92. dear paul tassi, here a few good horrormovies:

    inside
    martyrs
    the girl next door
    eden lake
    backwoods
    the children
    frontiers
    midnight meat train
    i stand alone
    irreversible

    maybe you can expand your list to a top 20, but i am sure, you dont even know these films, because they are not even mentioned in your review. a view of them, are a really milestone in the horror-genre and i am sure there a planty of horrorfans outthere who would agree with me

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  94. Inside im going to have to watch.
    The ruins sucked plain and simple. Killer plants? (Though i have to admit the one scene where they amputate the guys leg off with the rock made me cringe.
    LTROI is defintely a good horror movie but for some reason i wouldnt consider it so much ahorror movie.
    Anyone seen Murder Cut pieces? That is one messed up movie.
    Also, i agree with the mist.

  95. I thought the Mist was pretty stupid, especially the ending. The Sixth Sense is a good one, I agree, and The Descent. Thanks to that I’m now afraid of trucks carrying pipes. I’m surprised you don’t have The Others up there. One of the most haunting (no pun intended) movies I’ve ever seen. It’s got very little actual grotesqueness but I always get so scared watching it. Very much a psychological horror movie. Also White Noise is not bad. Sort of like the Ring but scarier I think. Well, at least scarier than Ringu.

  96. I’m surprised The Others wasn’t on there. Also, although I haven’t seen it, how about The Abandoned? That movie looked pretty good as well….

  97. The Ring at #2? Really? It was an absolutely shitty movie, watch a video and you wind up dying, and without a decent death scene to accompany it. I am glad I rented this piece of crap, I would have walked out of a theater.

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  99. Uhm…John Carpenter’s little masterpiece called “The Thing”. I’m appauled it isn’t on the list. This movie was truely ahead of it’s time and down right scary to boot. Also, Quarantine (after about 35 minutes in) is damn scary…much more so than High Tension.

  101. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon was a pretty good horror movie from the last ten years. I was really fond of them sticking to all the cliches, but managing to keep it fresh and interesting.

  102. What about Hatchet? Man was that movie over the top with the gore. But yet it started to get played out with all the over the top kills.

    The Orphanage would have been good if it didn’t drag out. That movie seemed it like it took forever to end.

    In a sad way I liked the end of The Ring because that was the only part that really creeped me out. The rest seemed to take forever also.

  103. I just wanted to mention one that may be one of the best horror movies of recent years. Some might attribute it to something else, slasher or thriller or whatever, but one of the best horror films in the last 10 years:

    FRAILTY.

    I thought that film deserves a special award for “kids in horror movies.” I’ve never seen acting of that caliber by youngsters in this type of film. If you haven’t seen it I highly, highly recommend it.

    Also, I completely agree with you about The Ring. Ringu was good but half-baked, and the american version, in spite of its weird conceits (Google-research should not be in a movie ever, can we make that a rule?) was an elegant experience overall. People don’t seem to understand that most of what was changed in that movie was actually improved, which is something that NEVER happens in modern adaptations (i.e.: Juon/The Grudge, the original being another film I’d add to your list).

    Also: MAREBITO is on oft-overlooked masterpiece. Luckily, I doubt it will ever be adapted (read: ruined) for american eyes.

    My first trip to this site, I’m liking it.

  104. @mrgone

    I pretty much agree with you on Frailty. No matter how you classify that movie, it’s hella creepy. I don’t want to spoil anything for people who haven’t seen it, but when you start messing around with God freaks…just real creepy stuff.

  106. I remember watching Saw in theaters with some friends and literally yelled when Jigsaw got up off the floor. I didn’t see that coming…like at all. And man did those movies go downhill from there. At least I thought so.

    I’ve always wanted to see Midnight Meat Train. I’ll have to check it out.

    You know what movie scared the crap out of me? What Lies Beneath. I know it’s not horror, more suspense or thriller I’d say, but still I jumped out of my seat multiple times. And Indiana Jones as a bad guy? What the hell?!

  107. I happen to consider myself somewhat of a horror fanatic and I agree with your list in most parts. The Orphanage is by far the best, most well thought out horror movie I’ve seen in quite a long time. I also loved The Hills Have Eyes remake and I prefer the American version of The Ring to Ringu. However, I hated High Tension. I see the beauty of the surprise ending, but the gore was so absurd it made me laugh out loud in parts. Two movies I would suggest (possibly to take the place of High Tension) is Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects. It was gory, but still amazing to watch. I would also suggest The Strangers for this list because it was very scary without using much gore. Somehow it felt very realistic.

  108. What do you guys think of that upcoming movie “The Orphan?” I think I want to check it out…but I’m going to go out on a limb right now and guess that “Esther” is really an adult who looks like a child. That in and of itself is hella creepy.

  111. I loved the Descent, my ex GF actually came out of it with a panic attack and I saw the entire theater with their heads buried in their knees once it was revealed to be a monster movie out of nowhere. I never had so much fun at a horror movie opening because everyone in the room was suffering from a very real claustrophobic fear.

  112. You know Blair Witch really IS just a bunch of people running around in the woods. Although maybe I didn’t enjoy it because, despite apparently lacking even half a brain, at no point did I ever imagine that it “was actually a true story”. Yes Paul that does sound stupid now, it sounded stupid back then too.

    28 Days Later is decidedly average despite the brilliant innovation of fast zombies.

    Sixth Sense is drivel.

    The U.S. version of Funny Games should be on the list.

  117. I saw The Orphanage recently, following a friend’s advice. That movie went from creepy to horrifying in the blink of an eye, so much so that I ended up calling my friend and berating him for not warning me. Some people might not be as effected as I was, but as a mother of a young boy, I was deeply disturbed.

  118. Impressive list. Though I have come to enjoy reading you all’s lists in general. “Audition”? “High Tension”? “The Decent”? I have a hard time find people who’ve even seen these movies, much less recognize how great they are. I might have included “30 days of Night” because it just looked so cool.

    I have not seen “The Orphanage” I will have to check it out on your recommendation. To me it looked like that movie “The Devil’s Backbone”, which had it’s moments, but I wouldn’t put it on my list.

  119. I’ve seen a lot of the movies on the list and several of those in the comments, and I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas for stuff to add to my Netflix list.

    It’s easy to find bloody, gory, torture flicks full of cheap “OMG!” moments. Those are a dime a dozen.

    It’s damn hard to find a well-made story that’s just genuinely creepy as all hell. Or one that’s a good, fresh twist on the genre that’s not an obvious “we tested the markets and this is what worked best” thing.

  120. Some of the films on the list are good (concerning horror films). Although the film that’s scarier then ANY of the films that have been mentioned (including the terrible acting in Twilight) is ‘Creep’.

    ‘Creep’ is set in the London Underground and although the storyline is interesting, new and pretty scary – admittedly it’s a tad ridiculous. But the creature in this film is probably the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. Definitely beats everything on this list. I recommend you watch it if you want to be scared!

    Also – the stuff about ‘The Ring’ I’d have to say the Japanese version was better, not only that but it was based on a book by a Japanese author and the Japanese film sticks more to that storyline then the American one.

    I don’t think Saw is scary at all, just gore. Blair Witch was alright, but I watched it when I was 10… by myself, so can’t be that bad. As for the comment about the Descent and the creatures not being real (can’t remember who posted it) – that’s bullshit. When the woman isn’t with the others, the others still see the monsters. So uh, deal with the sad ending!

  122. im only 15 but i have been reading these comments for a while now and i thought i should post a comment. at the end of last year i decided i wanted to watch as many horror movies as possible. my DVD store LOVES me cuz i rent like 6 per week.

    i have never even thought about watching foreign horror films. i didn’t know they were any good.

    so keeping in mind that i have only been subjected to modern hollywood horror, this is my list.

    – Halloween (2007)
    – Ginger Snaps
    – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
    – The Hitcher
    – The Grudge
    – The Decent
    – Wolf Creek
    – The Ring
    – Saw
    – The Ruins
    – Cabin Fever
    – The Amityville Horror
    – The hills have eyes

    even though ginger snaps isnt scary, its one of my favourites cause its so different

    The WORST i’ve seen are

    – catacombs
    – Urban ledgend 3: Bloody Mary
    – I know what you did last summer
    – Freddy Vs Jason
    – Wrong turn & wrong turn 2
    – House of wax
    – silent Hill
    – The hills have eyes 2
    – My bloody valentine

    your obviously all going to think this list is gay and amature, but now that i have read everyones comments, im going to try and watch what everyone else has suggested

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  125. Okay The Orphanage was good, but first of all it was not Guillermo Del Toro’s movie, it was simply Guillermo Del Toro presents. And, it pales in comparison to 2 of his actual horror movies, go check out The Devils Backbone, which is very easy to find. Although it wasn’t a real horror movie it was just simply a ghost story, it was a masterpiece! And a very early one which teamed him up with Ron Pearlman the first time around (yes they worked together before Hellboy!!!!!) but it may be a little more difficult to find, (I do know for a fact that Blockbuster online has it, thats where I saw it, and so I’d venture a 99% probability that Netflix will have it too,) called Chronos. It is actually a vampire film more or less (of course with his touch on it anything but your standard vampire flick), and in fact Let The Right One In was good, but I have to say Chronos was much better as vampire flicks go.

  126. wow it looked like it was starting out as a good list then they put the sixth sense alright flick but not one of the best. that dont bother me as much as the blair witch project you have confirmed my suspisions that not a single person working for this website has any taste in movies. i blame assholes like you for the shitty transformers and the viewfinder movie assholes.

  127. High Tension is not overrated, I’m not sure where the hell you get that from.

    Anyway, The Ring and The Sixth Sense are really stupid, otherwise it would of been a really good list.

    Shroomort – Just because someone likes a movie you don’t like doesn’t mean they don’t have a taste in movies. Just don’t being a moron.

  130. Great list here man. Ive not seen the orphanage yet but it’s definitely on my list. I agree with you that The ring is much better than the Japanese version.If you watch closely that movie is loaded with subliminal messages that flash uo real quick.

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  133. In addition to what has been mentioned above, some other good ones:

    A Tale of Two Sisters – Korean
    Close your eyes – suspense more than horror, but still good
    Henry: Portrait of a serial killer – good, not great
    Ichi the Killer – Japanese / manga
    Land of the Dead (2005) – great zombies, story not so much
    Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) – slick remake
    Quarantine – you know…
    30 Days of Night – vampires

    Movies mentioned in this thread that I would definitely NOT recommend–Feast, Jeepers Creepers, Marebito, My Bloody Valentine, Orphan (a mess!), The Ruins.

  134. Good selection, aart from The Sixth Sense, which like I’ve read earlier in the comments, relies soley on one plot twist at the end. I feel as though Silent Hill and, although I usually hate tennage slasher horrors, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning I think is a great film. Only my opinion, though, mainly because of the ending.

  136. Nice list, I added about half the list to my Netflix queue. Just saw Orphanage last night, good call. Wouldn’t be my #1, but definitely deserves mention.

    ***mild Ring spoiler***

    The Ring would be off my list though, simply because of the ending. I don’t get the difference between the girl killing people while she’s in the well, versus her outside the well.

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  141. I just want to add in there 30 days of night as well i know more people have said it in the comments but its not just becaude its a vampire movie but its a completely different kind of vampire they just seem more what a vampire should be to me. Not that gay shit from twilight with the diamonds for skin.

  143. Seriously “The 6th Sense”? C’mon, the movie, apart from the ending was iffy at best…I will agree that it was a great twist. And upon first viewing the movie was great becuase of that ending…BUT, it’s a one shot deal..Once you’ve seen it, or someone’s told you the ending, the movie loses all appeal…Basically, it has no staying power, therefore it cannot be a great movie..

    Sorry, I’m a Zombie buff, but 28 days Later bored the hell out of me…And Blair Witch, Please..It sucked, but if you’re gonna go that far back, why not consider Army of Darkness?

    I’ll try to hold back any further bashing, because most of your list was Hokey at best…and keep away from too many movies already mentioned here, I’d recommend….

    All The Boys Love Mandy Lane, Behind the Mask, or John Carpenter’s Vampires

    The Comedy/Horror stuff should count because Slither, and Jack Brooks Monster Slayer we’re probably better than a few on your list. Maybe Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive too.

    Also worth mentioning is “White Noise 2”. Such a shame it will always be overlooked as a “straigh to dvd sequel” especially since it had nothing to do with the first one. If you were to slap a new title on it and put it in theaters, I’d guarantee it would do quite well.
    and
    Resurrection(with Chistopher Lambert)
    It’s not technically Horror, but if you liked Seven, you should find it to be pretty good.

  145. DDD

    There are a number of choices I disagree with but I’ll accept because of their place in (recent) history. A lot of people liked Audition and Blair Witch and while that in itself isn’t reason enough for me to acquiese I do acknowledge the subjective nature of horror. Liken to comedy for example.

    Judd Apatow is as funny as foreclosure. To my funny bone.

    the Descent? Overated. 28 days Later? I don’t get how people were scared after the first 30 minutes. The sequel is a much better movie. However it’s good to see The Hills Have Eyes remake, Saw and the Orphanage getting the respect they deserve.

    I appreciate the criteria but as a fellow write/blogger/fan I’ve got to howl at your #2 slot.

    The Ring?

    The American Ring?

    You might find this list interesting in comparison:

    http://thrillfiction2009.blogspot.com/2009/05/10-best-horror-films.html

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  150. First off, Drag Me To Hell was a freakin’ joke. I laughed so damned hard I was crying in the theater. I hope you were being facetious about that one. I’m not entirely sure.
    The Ring was plain, boring, not very interesting.
    There should be more classics to this list.
    The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I thought the remake was good too. I personally enjoyed 30 Days of Night, it was generally creepy.
    I’m iffy with The Blair With Project. Obviously, idiots will yell and complain that they never saw the witch, that was never the true point of it. It was all in the mind. So it was decent, but I wouldn’t put it on the top.
    I didn’t like 28 Days Later, it bored the hell out of me and I thought, once again, it was hilarious.
    I agree that The Exorcist should be included too.
    I liked A Clockwork Orange but don’t consider it to be ‘horror’, although it is disturbing enough to be so. But that’s me.

    A lot of this depends on opinion though.

  151. @ Cassie K

    Drag Me to Hell is supposed to be fun and campy. That doesn’t make it a poor horror movie.

    As for Clockwork and The Exorcist, those were made a lot earlier than 10 years ago…

  153. wow…the orphanage was just a fail movie
    i can’t believe you actually enjoyed it

    one…barely scary
    two…main character, horrorendously annoying
    three…THIS COMMENT HAS BEEN EDITED FOR SPOILERS. JERK.
    four…crappy horrible two cent twist in the end…just felt like they threw it in there just because

    that movie was ANNOYING
    not a masterpiece
    *sigh

    but ur up to ur own opinions
    so predictable…damn bitch was so crazy and annoying

  154. I lost all respect whatsoever of the writer’s credibility upon seeing High Tension on the list. If anyone thinks there is even the slightest bit of originality in that movie, I beg to differ. The whole of the movie up to the “twist” is a scene by scene ripoff of the beginning of Intensity (published in 1995), my favorite fiction novel ever by my favorite thriller author, Dean Koontz. That’s the reason there are so many plot holes with the twist. The writers and director of the movie didn’t even bother to edit Koontz’s story enough before filming their ripoff of it to make it fit their sad excuse for an ending, which itself was essentially a ripoff of the concept of much better movies, such as Fight Club and Identity.

  156. Twilight is a great movie.
    You’re fucking stupid for calling it bad.
    You have a horrible taste in horror, by the way.
    Fucking Bambi is scarier that half the shit on there.

  157. Wow, whole lotta bitching on here. 28 days later was a brilliant movie, not really as a zombie movie though. The real drama was mostly formulated from actual crazy ass situations to live through, good acting, and sweet soundtrack. Same goes for the Descent. The human element made it scary, the mutants were kind of unnecessary by the time they showed up. Blair witch was cool for the idea alone. I remember being scared shitless the first time I saw the trailer and thought it was real. All you guys did too, don’t even try to deny it. The ring, honestly I kinda thought it sucked, but the cinematography was quite good in it. Really the only movie I thought got slighted was Rob Zombie’s Halloween and I still haven’t seen Devils Rejects even after EVERYONE telling me how great it was. Thought 1000 corpses blew, so i can’t bring myself to watch it. Wolf Creek was pretty good too. Gotta love an Australian Freddy Kruger psychopath

  158. I’d like to add some oldie but goodie movies that have been forgotten and that had me a wee bit scared, The Mothman Prophecies, 1408, Perfume, Pan’s Labyrinth, Se7en, A Haunting in Connecticut (2002 version), An Inconvenient Truth, Identity, Spider, The Gift, Donnie Darko, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Wicker Man(1973), The Fall of the House of Usher (Vincent Price at his best), John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, The Changeling (1979), to name a few, they may not be all gory but psychologically they did put the “bump in the night” fear for me. Many good choices from other the contributers, I think I’ll try to rent The Orphanage for Halloween

  159. I’d like to add some oldie but goodie movies that have been forgotten and that had me a wee bit scared, The Mothman Prophecies, 1408, Perfume, Pan’s Labyrinth, Se7en, A Haunting in Connecticut (2002 version), An Inconvenient Truth, Identity, Spider, The Gift, Donnie Darko, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Wicker Man(1973), The Fall of the House of Usher (Vincent Price at his best), John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, The Changeling (1979), to name a few, they may not be all gory but psychologically they did put the “bump in the night” fear for me. Many good choices from other the contributers, I think I’ll try to rent The Orphanage for Halloween.

  160. who the hell says that orphanage is the horror movie . if anyone gets horrified after watching that movie than i am sorry to say that u haven’t watched any horror movies , just watch one bollywood movie VASTU SHASTRA and u will understand what horror is about . I really don’t know who the hell puts orphanage in horror movie category . and i am shocked that grudge 1 was nowhere in the category it was a good horror movie

  162. You have to mention the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake (but god not the second one), The Exorcism of Emily Rose because it had great horror scenes and a great plot and never had to show a “monster”, and of course The Omen remake. The Omen is one of my favorite horror films ever. Watch any of those three alone at night.

  163. I agree that Blair Witch used brilliant MARKETING to lure the audience in and suspend disbelief. But the movie itself is not well made, had few actual scares and failed to deliver the hype.

  164. i cannot believe no one mentioned the unborn i thought that topped all of those and i also thought the uninvited should have been on the list too most the ones you put on their were nothing except maybe the orphanage but everyone is entitled to their own opinions people should not be able to complain about that

  165. First I’d like to say you are dead right about Blair witch project being on your list .I don’t kno anyone who didn’t think this movie wasn’t true I kno I was fooled. Haha .I liked the hills have eyes remake as well.guess i’m gonna have to see the orphanage now.lol
    if I could make a recondmendation of something you should see it’s called (dead end) just a scary crazy movie. Good list!

  166. Quite a good list mate,

    but for me id NEED The Mist, after all its the only film ive ever seen in which the whole audience stood up and sarted cheering at someones death (die bitch die) not to mention the ending was exquisitly painful. Its my No.1

    Also Let the Right One In was fantastic but its more of a drama with vampires than horror.

  168. just had to comment saying that listing twilight is a laugh out loud! very wise choice indeed. besides that, thanks for the list. don’t know many good horror films and wanted to watch a good horror film so this list helped narrow down some choices.

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  172. The first time I watched Session 9 is the ideal conditions to watch the movie in-the middle of the night, half-tired, alone, and to be surrounded by absolute darkness(i was surrounded by farmland and everyone else was asleep at 3 a.m.)
    The film just takes on a whole new level of creepy, particularly the parts where the doctor’s interviews are taking place.
    The movie itself only has a couple of jump scenes and a kind of convoluted ending, but the mood created had me jumping at shadows and small noises for at least a week afterwards, not too mention the nightmare I had that same night that prevented me from sleeping until the sun came up the next morning.

  174. list ok but i wouldnt have included ghost stories in a list of horror films just wanted to mention farmhouse since no one else has well worth a watch one that will stick with you for the end scene at least. cheers for some of the other recommendations especially the european ones martyrs etc

  175. I have to say this is a good list.
    Except The Ring, The Sixth Sense, and The Blair Witch Project all = FAIL. no offence to you.
    I have never seen Audition and would like to but cant find it.
    Oh and the twilight comment = EPIC WIN.
    And to all the people who say things like “this list is shit your and idiot for making it this way” must be an idiot this list is an opinion as you see i dont agree with it all but thats my opinion.
    When will people grow up and accept other peoples opinions without saying mean shit?
    Not to mention a lot of these movies in the comments arent horror movies, just saying.
    anyway i talk to much good job on the list though.

  176. okay everyone has differnt taste in horror films. My difenitions of a horror is sick twisted warped gorry anf f***ed up….
    What about :

    Hostle? now that is sick
    Wolf creek,
    Devils reject,
    Freddy vs Jason,
    Texas chainsaw masacare,
    Wroung turn,
    Desent,
    Turistas,
    Friday 13,
    The ruins,
    30 days of nights,
    The last house on the left,
    The strangers

    most of those are not on your top ten now thats a sham

  177. Not a bad list considering its films from the past 10 years, But personally i just felt it was a bit lacking, its proabably personal taste but as soon as i saw the ring from 2002, that piss ant ameriacan remake of a japanese classic i just shook my head in dismay. Its just me but i hate all those american remakes of absolute classics that just do not need to be remade just so an audience that is too dumb to read subtitles can watch it. Its such a slap in the face to one of the greatest horror movies ever made. But oh no, the yanks couldnt just leave the ring alone, they had to destroy The Grudge, The Eye and many others that i am too vexed to mention. Whats next? Audition? Ichi the Killer? bloody americans… but thats just my rant, its not about your list.

    Its hard to make a list of the best horrors from the past 10 years, because lets face it… the pickings are slim. Horror films took a serious dive over the past decade with all too predictable plot twists, and films just aimed at the teen audience. When i was in my youth the slasher films like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Childs Play didnt just have real suspense and horror, but they also had wit and didnt just try to throw tits out there and make you hate the people on screen so much your actually rooting for the killer. But i guess as time goes on and ideas run out they have to resort to remaking these classics. Its just such a shame that its not like it was back in the 80’s when horror films genuinly scared you and gave you a new experiance, it gave you those tense moments at the back of the cinema with your girlfriend squeezing your arm so tight you cant feel your fingers, when you would jump out of your seat because you’re seeing things that you really have never seen before… now its just all the same shit rehashed over and over again untill the genre has nothing more lef to give…. A sad sad day.

    But enough of that, its just a vent but i hope some people out there can see where i’m coming from

  179. well very average list…………

    these movies need inclusion..

    1.martyrs…greatest horror movie in last 2o years
    2.A’l interieur………..close second
    3.ruins
    4.the others….so fcking underated….why i can’t understand
    one of the greatest horror flicks without a single drop of blood
    Happy to see takashii making his presence felt…

  180. All of u guys just watch the latest AND ONE OF THE BEST HORROR release of 2009, the “13B”….. THE BEST SCREEN PLAY AND CINEMATOGRAPHY OF ALL TIMES……. THE 13 B

  183. You americans have a funny taste for horror movies 😛
    I would say that Sixth Sense is a good movie but didnt scared me at all, besides, how can a teen-kind movie like “Saw”, that have a “industry” of sequences like Harry Potter; e.i. 2,3,4,5,6…. dam… well how can those movie are on this list and movies like:
    Alien, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original), The Fly, The Exorcist, arent? there are some good movies on that list like The Descent and The Hill have Eyes (in my opnion the only terror remake that got good as the original)
    For me even the first Chuck movie (Child´s Play) is better than some movies of this list 😛
    sorry my english

  184. Hostle? now that is sick
    Wolf creek, – ok
    Devils reject, – didnt see yet
    Freddy vs Jason – YOU GOTTA BE JOKING RIGHT??? – this movie is for retarded teens… the only jason and freedy that are good are the FIRST ones, and thats it! – golden rule: 99% of the movies that have sequence only the first is good, with rare exceptions like “the fly 2”
    Texas chainsaw masacare, – GOOD MOVIE! (i hope u mean the original….)
    Wroung turn, – didnt saw yet
    Desent, – Good Movie, i agree
    Turistas, – Yeah kind creepy, but TOTTALY BULLSHIT, im from Brasil and can tell you that 🙂
    Friday 13 – indeed, as i said…
    The ruins, – i dont remember if i saw it, but i guess it was ok…
    30 days of nights, – ok
    The last house on the left, – Good movie, the original is better but the remake wasnt sooo bad
    The strangers – Didnt like this movie… but yet is not that bad

    You have a nice taste, except Freedy VS Jason.. man i still hope u joking on this one LoL

  186. The Descent is my no1 of all time, Can`t wait to see part II (trailer is great)

    The Orphan is absolutely fantastic (incredible twist)

    Orpahanage is total rubbish (one of the worst, big dissapoinment)
    Guelmo(not sure spelled right) should stick to fantasy style movies, he is only good at that.

  188. you need to delve into the underground my friend.
    Hollywood movies wont give you everything you need.
    Please see “Let the Right one in” , “Inside” and “Martyrs” and then redo this list without the hills have eyes please.
    and in my opinion Session 9 was better than all of these.

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  192. paranormal activity must be one of the most overrated horrors of the last decade…it is extremely boring, not scary at all and crappy made.

    Though generally your list is quite spot on (though I do absolutely disagree with the orphanage – pretty boring to me) I miss one movie in your list:

    REC (2007)

    Generally the top three should be as follows:
    1) Blair with project – revived the ENTIRE horror genre
    2) 28 days later – revived the zombie genre
    3) REC – a spot-on, very scary and intense movie

  194. I am shocked that no Cabin Fever is on there (not even in honorable mentions?!) – although it is slightly comedic- the whole premise of getting a disease from drinking water that makes your skin rot away is SUPER creepy and psychological. It also had less holes in the plot, than say, The Hills Have Eyes

  195. you want to see something creepy?

    watch LAKE MUNGO. an intense, quiet slow and intelligent movie. with the most creepy and shocking scene i’ve ever seen. my heart almost stopped beating…

  196. Im so glad you included the descent! It’s an excellent film that is both emotionally and gut wrenching. The audition, also is horror at its best. Well chosen.

  199. I would like to see the top 10 scariest horror movie list of the decade. I loved Let the right one in, but it was not scary (the last scene was incredible though). The same for the orphanage. 30 days of night had a dumb ending that ruined everything.

    I could feel my heart beating in High Tension- the scene when the killer enters the house makes the top 10 scariest scenes in history, even if the ending was strange… I agree recent french horror – inside, and frontiers should be on the list- very twisted and scary.

    as much as people hated Blair Witch, I would have liked to talk to them if they saw the first screenings that everyone thought was a documentary. you would not want to go camping for months.

    Rec was cool but seemed too low budget, you could see the makeup on the zombies. The same for Paranormal activity, which could have been great if the acting wasnt so annoying.

    28 days and the sequel were great in my opinion.

    for those experts out there- what should i see that is actually scary? Seems like Asian, Spanish and European Horror are the only one’s worth watching anymore.

  200. Agree with Audition – awesome! But Inside definitely deserved mention as well. And Twilight was never marketed as a horror movie; it was advertised as exactly what it is: a teen romance movie. That said, yeah, it was pretty terrible. I felt humiliated on behalf of the actors because of their performances/involvement in the project at all. I don’t think Blair Witch needs such hate, either. So what if it was marketed as real when it wasn’t? The idea was to make it scarier for audiences, and I personally don’t care what they “make me think” in order to provide me with greater chills. They tried to pull a similar stunt with The Fourth Kind, which I can’t wait to see. The faux-history thing really makes it way more atmospheric and genuine.

  202. not a bad list i dunno if id say these were the best scary movies of the decade though. How about event horizon, or the others, or even blair witch 2 book of shadows (dont judge it by its horrid predecessor). The best would have to go to The Devils Backbone or El espinazo del diablo, i get chills just saying the name……..the devils backbone ……….eeeeeeehhhhwwwoooooo. GOOGLE IT NOW!!!

  203. i wish “let the right one in” was on the list, besides that it isnt an awful list of movies. it is hilarious to me how many people get worked up over somebody’s opinion. haha

  204. Thanks for the list. Always looking for more horror movie titles to rent. I really loved most of the films you mentioned. Martyrs, Inside, Let The Right One In and The Mist were some of my favorites also.

  206. Oh, man. I was going to get Midnight Meat Train, but I ended up getting Signal. Which was a good movie, but now I kinda wish I had gotton MMT. Also, i’m looking forward to watching Audition and The Orphanage.

  207. Decent top 10 man, but does 28 days later and Blair Witch Project really deserve that kind of recognition??? I don’t know about those two. Some movies that definitely make my top 20 that were not mentioned are:
    28 weeks later
    Martyrs
    Dead Girl
    Inside
    Anti Bodies (possibly 1 of the best horror/thriller scripts of all time)
    RZ’s Halloween
    Frontiers
    Texas Chainsaw Massacre : The Beginning
    Eden Lake
    Hostel (2 was quite bad)
    Behind The Mask (surprised no one mentioned this 1)
    Trick R’ Treat
    Orphan (not true horror, but a damn good thriller)
    Wrong Turn

  208. The RING? Really? That’s bad enough, but get the hills have eyes off this list. That movie was nothing but predictable “mutant” attacks. Where’s the plot? Where’s the reason? Mutants everywhere should be offended.
    You get points for sixth sense, that movie was artfully made.
    But still, the RING?

  209. Pingback: The 10 Best Horror Films of the Last 10 Years | WizzBoom!

  210. What about the spanish ‘Rec’? Brilliant!!!And of course I am not referring to the american version which was another failed copycat. Also mainstreaming, I enjoyed the ‘Vacancy’…decent…

  211. This is a excellent list, but this must of came out before Paranormal Activities hit the movies, because it deserves to be on all top horror movie list.

  216. As an horror movie expert,

    I can list my top 10 (for last 10 years) as:

    1- Paranormal Activity
    2- Rec1
    3- The descent
    4- Rec2
    5- The fourth Kind
    6- Shutter
    7- Orphan
    8- The Others
    9- The Grudge
    10 – They

  217. Quite honestly, I found the list great! I havent seen a few of the movies, but they are now on my download list TO watch! There are always going to be “critics”. Just cuz you dont agree with someone’s opinion doesn’t give you the right to bash them! Last I checked, we are all grown ups! CANT WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?!

  218. My all time favourite is A Tale Of Two Sisters (Korean). I am a horror fan of the eerie genre, so this one fits the bill to a tee. It also screws with the mind a bit, in that, the truth will only be unravelled towards the end.
    Others in the same league or almost, include Ju-On, The Ring, The Eye, One Missed Call (Part 1 & 2), Shutter, 4-Bia (a collection of four Thai shorts), Reincarnation, Retribution, Moi (Vietnamese).
    An Asian movie MUST always be watched in its original form and format; when adapted it loses at least 70 per cent of its essence. Everything would without a doubt be diluted or lost in transition.
    It must be the same with European productions;I didn’t enjoy Quarantine one bit, but I will try to get my hands on Rec.
    For horror under the gore and violence category, I enjoyed Audition and Ichi The Killer (although they are excruciatingly slow-moving as hell, as many Korean and Japanese movies tend to be);
    For a more “beautiful, cinematic and almost poignant” horror experience, my choice would have to be Orphanage and The Devil’s Back; In my “twisted” horror category, I choose Oldman as well as the Mr and Lady Vengence Trilogy;
    For comedic horror, I was entertained by The Dorm (Another Thai effort).
    For out right scary horror, it would be Halloween (come on, admit it, we all enjoyed it when it first aired those many years ago); The same goes for Evil Dead (part 1), The Candyman, Freddy Kruger movies, The Exorcist, The Omen franchise.
    For slasher and gore horrors, naturally Friday 13 (again, it was ground-breaking when it first hit the cinemas, right?). I have also enjoyed Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hostel, Saw…
    Suspense horror thrillers with a tinge of eerieness – Six Sense, old movie Susperia, Identity…
    For movies focusing on infected beings and monster-like creatures, Descent, Infection, and Creep entralled me to a certain extent.
    For horror that delves in Black Magic and a measure of intrigue, I enjoyed Skeleton Key, Long Khong (a Thai movie)
    For vampire horrors I enjoyed Lost Boys (then), Salem’s Lot, 30 days of Night, For vampire action horror, I found Underworld, Blade entertaining.
    Movies like Lake Eden are disturbing; more of a society-gone-wrong type horror, which I also enjoy.
    Unfortunately, I have not caught quite a number of movies mentioned here and I will try to import them soon. Cheers!

  220. I agree I thought “The Orphanage” was actually really good although it is in spanish lol.
    I think 28 WEEKS later was pretty bad aswell and I like “The mist” it’s not really scary but its quite gory and its got a good twist I reccomend people to watch it 😀
    Oooh and “The uninvited” is a must-see its amazing!

  221. To be honest I think the list was spot on, but no joke the people bashing it then coming up with ridiculous ideas of their own no offence “let the right one in?” ruuubish sorry. Everyone has their own oppinions, I actually thought the Blaire witch was good, others may not. And the descent and the orphanage were awesom lol.

  224. While appreciative of the effort that has gone into compiling the original list, I must say that I have serious doubts about your taste in horror films if you really think The Ring is better than Ringu. Also, NasserInaSaucer’s defensiveness on this issue is puerile and borders on idiotic. There’s no need to project your insecurities onto other people: if we say that the original or the book is better, thats probably because it is, not because we’re trying to impress you (who are you again?). Right, we’re pretending we read … because reading is so cool these days. Sheesh.

    America is notorious for ruining foreign movies. This opinion is widespread not because we want to tear you down (restrain your egos, Nasser et al) but because your own movie industry does not believe that their domestic audience is open-minded and therefore consciously tries to make movies fit into a tried and true template (subtract scariness, foreigners, moral complexity and add more famous actors, blondes, happier endings, final girls etc). That is why The Ring is inferior to Ringu; just look at how much less creepy the actual videotape is, let alone Sadako. It is no accident that The Descent had two endings amd tjat the more inferior and predictable, but upbeat, ending was released in the US. The fact that Hollywood even feels the need to remake movies that are masterpieces and barely two years old is testament to this dumbing-down phenomenon, for what was The Ring but a less scary, more blonde version of Ringu? (villains are allowed to remain Japanese, but not heroines).

  225. Hellraiser 2 was better than the original and is also just as smart as any. Not to mention it is ALSO a good mix of commercial appeal and classic horror. Brutal, mindfucking, and filled with Cenobites!

  226. Who’s running this Mickey Mouse operation??

    Paranormal Activity… BOMB! Best movie made in a long time…

    Shutter… Pretty good, could have been done better…

    Strangers.. Really well done is in my top ten of the decade…

    Rec… Ridiculously good, probably in the top 5…

    The Blair Witch Project… Agreed brought life back to an otherwise wounded genre…

    The Devils Rejects… Awesome, disturbing but awesome…

    Secret Window… Brilliant, really underrated…

    Halloween (remake)… Instant classic…

    Friday 13th… Again, just as expected instant classic…

    Nightmare on Elm St… Better than the brilliant original….

    The Ringu… Way better than the american version, a must see for any horror film enthusiast…

    Saw I… Have to give it up, good idea perfectly executed, should not have been made into a franchise though…

    All the comedies also know as zombie movies are crap though, haven’t had a good one come out in 20 some odd years… Good list though, obviously it’s all opinions and there’s no right or wrong answer though. Let’s just hope they keep on making horror flicks and agree to disagree… Cheers brother…

  227. audition pshh…
    i watched visitor q by takashi miike
    and that my friend will make your mind different
    i watched visitor q before audition
    and i found audition was not that disturbing
    visitor q isn’t even horror

  228. You claim to be a horror movie expert??? ok everyone is entitled to their own opinion…. but Jesus man an expert??? Your list was made up of mostly all the movies I consider to be the absolute worst horror movies made during my lifetime! There is so much better out there! You have Paranormal Activity as number 1? That alone shows your ignorance………

  229. And I was very happy noone put that god aweful Elm Street remake on here, until just now. I’ve seen some bad movies in my lifetime but that was just terrible. I’d rather watch Killer Klowns From Outer Space! (and I’m not knocking Killer Klowns! Great movie if you’re looking for cheesy.)

  230. I’m with Laura on What Lies Beneath. Perhaps not the typical “horror” movie, but along the same lines as The Orphanage, which made #1. It’s smart, terrifying, intriguing, beautiful… almost Hitchcock-esque (with a Bernard Herrmann-esque score to boot). And yeah… Harrison Ford makes a surprisingly good (hidden) antagonist.

  231. I would like to add Quarantine.

    Only four movies have ever scared me.
    1. The Wizard of Oz (damn flying monkeys)
    2. The Exorcist
    3. Paranormal Activity
    4. Quarantine

  233. I think your list is pretty good… who has the time to watch ALL of the movies listed on this page, anyways? So all of you haters, your pessimistic opinions/attitudes should be kept to yourself. Everyone can critique movies for themselves, so I think it’s awesome that people have added to this list, rather than rudely bashed it.

    Not sure if it’s been mentioned yet, but the French film, “Frontier(s)” is amazing. I had to pause it a few times before managing to finish it.

    Also, I don’t think this one is technically classified as a “horror” movie, but it is a definite must-see. The Korean film, “Oldboy”. It’s incredibly twisted, and well made. All of you should get that one for sure.

    Recently, my room mate and I rented “The Collector”… not sure if we’re just total wimps or not, but we couldn’t even finish watching that one. It’s about a man that collects people… pretty messed up, but really quite terrifying.

    Now I’m about to watch “Martyrs”, “The Signal”, “High Tension”, “Frostbiten”, and “Audition”. I’ve read good things about all of them, and I’m hoping for a good scare.

  234. Someone mentions [REC] and then people comment as though no one ever did. I understand people have different opinions on their top horror movies…but I do not understand why anyone would leave [REC] out.

    But I don’t agree that Sixth Sense should be one the scariest movies even though I think it was pretty good.

  235. 1. This is the “10 Best Horror Films of the Last 10 Years” _not_ the “10 Best Horror Films of Forever”. Why are people recommending things like The Shining? Is reading and comprehension a dead art or something?

    2. I suggest that we strike the term “overrated” from the vocabulary. For the term “overrated” to make any sense, it presumes an objective level of quality that just doesn’t exist, not to mention that it presumes that the person using the term “overrated” has an ability to see that objective quality that other people lack. People use the term “overrated” to mean “I liked the product in question but a number of other people didn’t”. Here’s a secret: it’s okay to like things that other people don’t. Saying “The Ring is better than Ringu” has just as much objective fact as saying “Ringu is better than The Ring”. Their opinions. Unless you decide that popular opinion is the best way to determine the quality of a product, in which case “overrated” still doesn’t make sense.

    3. Speaking of opinions, it turns out that everyone has one (much like an asshole). “Audition is a horrible movie” is an opinion. It’s worthless, because I could probably find someone else who thinks “Audition is the best movie ever”. Useless. “Audition is a horrible movie because it gave up cogent plot for random insanity” is useful. “Hey,” I might say to myself, “this guy didn’t like the movie because he felt it was too ‘random’, but I’m a big David Lynch fan and love nightmare-esque elements. Maybe I’ll like the movie, even though he didn’t?” So, if you dislike or like a movie, comment why. You must have your reasons. That is why I liked this article – even though I might disagree with the writer’s opinion, I found his reasoning useful for deciding whether I might like or dislike the movies he listed.

    So, to sum up:
    -This is about horror films in the last 10 years, not forever.
    -“Overrated” is a meaningless word
    -It’s okay to have an opinion, but in order to be useful say why you have that opinion.

  236. I liked your list 🙂 Just found it while googling best horrors (it’s Friday 13th today hehehe)

    Anyway, although I don’t agree with all your selections, I enjoyed reading all the comments and making a really great list of flicks I had never even heard of!
    So thanks – I think I’m going to have a wicked Friday the 13th!

  237. I thought the Japanese movie “All Night Long” series were great, but I guess it may have been more gore?? or psychological gore genre??? I don’t know, also one Japanese horror movie with a great concept but a lousy presentation was “Carved”, I was so disappointed with this movie!!!

  238. Wow. I totally have to agree with the author on the friday the 13th remake… That was hilarious and not even remotely funny. I also have to add that the Halloween remake was dull. I almost fell asleep during it… And I was watching it in mid afternoon. The descent, sixth sense, and audition were all good. I vote to add the last house on the left to this list. It was great and had some wonderfully drawn characters. Some good scary scenes too. Few cliches.

  239. I just had to write something here about The Audition. There is just not a single good thing I can say about this movie. It was no holds barred THE WORST movie, let alone horror, that I have ever seen. It was dragged out and wayy too long. No action happens untill the last 30 minutes, and there isn’t very much. The “famous” amputation/torture scene looks so fake its ridiculous. Theres nothing scary/creepy about it AT ALL. I absolutely cannot see how anybody could possibly consider this movie a “classic” or scary.

    Watch it if you plan on taking a nap and waking up at the end for a few laughs. On second though, don’t ever watch it.

  240. Pingback: Van’s 13 Horror Movie Favs | netShark

  243. Not sure why people liked “The Ring” I thought it and it’s sequel were kinda lame. Not at all scary. American Horror movies are just not as good as they used to be.

  245. i think “May” should definitely be up on the list as well! it’d fit in perfectly right next to “Audition” 🙂 really great list! i agree with it all! 😀 my favorites are “The Evil Dead” and “The Orphanage”. brilliant films!! :DD

  246. I enjoyed blair witch because it was filmed to look like genuine documentation. Maybe some would argue a horror movie is best when it’s entirely fictional but the things that scare us in movies are all based on some fear that exists or is perceptible.
    In the same genre as the blair witch I enjoy movies that suck you in and make you believe what you’re watching is real. I still love traditional horror movies and particularly have a thing for the supernatural.
    The Mist, although not that scary, left an undeniable impression on me. I still need to see the Orphanage, I’ve heard its scary and it would probably fit my tastes.
    The list looks good though I haven’t seen all the movies on it and will probably struggle to watch some like Audition.

  248. If you are referring to DiCaprio’s Shutter Island, it’s a Thriller, Not Horror. Thrillers are movies of Shock and Awe drama, whereas Horrors are nightmarish stories about sadistic killers and unreal monsters that make you cringe and scream.

    But I think you hit Blair Witch right on. It’s one of those movies that makes you look at a forest or dark brick-and-stone basement and run away. It’s even worse for those of us with overactive imaginations, as we can imagine monsters far worse than what a movie can shows. That sucks for those of limited mental creativity and imagination who have to see the monster to be scared.

  249. Need to read others comments beforehand. There are some interesting movies listed. My list is:

    1. Blair Witch – as stated, a life-wrecker to the over-imaginative.

    2. Stephen King’s IT – gave reason to why people fear clowns. And sinks…

    3. Jaws – say what you want, but the World feared the ocean when this was released. More people feared this one movie than most others combined. Mass hysteria

    4. American Werewolf in London – fear turned obsession really

    5. Stephen King’s Cujo – Made you fear dogs.

    6. House on Haunted Hill – makes me laugh now, but didn’t 12 years ago. The original’s decent.

    7. The Exorcist – Ruined thanks to Scary Movie series

    8. The Shining (1980) – Hereeeeeees Johnny!

    9. Silence of the Lambs – made you think Anthony Hopkins really Was twisted.

    10. The Omen – not babysitting anyone.

    11. The Thing – Underrated, but that crawling decapitated head is quite unsettling

    12. Ringu – yeah, somewhat scary

    13. Natural Born Killers – Not sure if you would call it a horror movie, but it sure acts like one. Woody Harrelson anyone?

    14. Terror Toons – Just… Watch.

    15. Last House On The Left (1972)- Hills have what? Left Turn?
    Others: the Freaks, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), The Freaks, Autopsy, Cannibal Holocaust, Poltergeist, Evil Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Hellraiser, The Howling, Audition, Scream, Candyman, Creepshow Series, The Howling, Ruin, House of 1000 Corpse, Anti-Christ, Pulse(2001), Child’s Play… Really Recommend Autopsy. Can be found in one of the many After Dark Horrorfest Collections at any video rental stores. It’s one of those C-grade movies with A-grade results. Fantastic.

  250. In general, theses sorts of lists are quite comical…

    The bellow films are great films, but its all according what you count as horror ?

    Is it one that shows as much blood as it can (Horrific), or one that has you jumping around like a jumping bean (Scary) ?

    I think films should be labelled properly, instead of being all called horror

    Stigmata
    White Noise
    Silent hill
    1408
    The Children
    Eden Lake
    The Thing
    Silent hill
    Devils Advocate
    Some times they come back
    28 weeks later
    Mirrors
    Flatliners

    Even out of them, only white noise has a real jumpy scene, and Stigmata is a more hair raising film than jumpy.

    A true horror for me is one that s**ts the life out of me (MAKES ME JUMP)… for me, there’s only a few that have done this.

    They rate The exorcist ??????…. that was one of the most laughable films iv ever seen !

    The remake was even worst !

    in the original, they cut all the best bits out before releasing it because they didnt want to scare people ???? whats that about lol.

    Made for generations gone by, when the slightest hint of blood was seen as the most horrific.

    Paranormal activity….OMG…. 1.5 HOURS OF MY LIFE WASTED !

    Blair witch……zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

    The Strangers…. o so scary lol

    Misery…. great film, but again not jumpy….

    Omen… great film, but again not jumpy…

    Alien… great film, but again not jumpy…

    Freddy… Slasher
    Jason….Slasher
    Saw…slasher

    I dunno… maybe i have to much expectations when looking for the fright ?

    With the state of the art film making equipment, its about time they actually made a true Scary horror instead of the films where they warn you well before with the build up of sound.

  251. Just reading through peoples lists…. its interesting to see what different people like…ie

    People whole like paranormal activity, like the strangers, blair witch etc…

    These i don’t like, and it just goes to show that we are all unique, and all have our own tastes, so no list will ever be correct :).

  253. Martyrs is one of the lamest, dumbest, most worthless horror movies ever. I’m not surprised in the least it’s french. I love those types of movies, but Martyrs isn’t even worth mentioning. It’s beyond retarded and a waste of time.

  254. THE best and scariest horror film of ALL time is the 1963 film by Robert Wise – ‘The Haunting’ … no matter how old you are or how many horrors you’ve seen, this will chill you to the bone. no monsters, no maniacs, no gore, just the gentle manipulation of your subconscious – i dare you not to sleep with the light OFF after viewing it …

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq74oz6mf3w

  256. i am a ardent horror fan…and in search for sumthin tht could scare me..
    I hav seen most of the films mentioned here..but u people dont hav to argue on this,share what u hav got..and let them decide..
    Al my favourites are mentiond here…but ring,28 days etc wr not scary..
    Hav to chk out those spanish films mentioned here..
    Cheerz…

  257. the orphanage SUCKED!!!! and they were obviously ghosts seeing as how theyre skeletons were found. so that thing thinking like “oh well they might have been just some kids” is just moot

  258. Frayed was very good!! It’s on Netflix. Honestly, my fiancee hates horror because it’s not as good as it use to be but he thought frayed was awesome and scary!! The strangers was scary as hell too. Insidious scared the shit out of me.

  259. When you say “Those of us with half a brain, get it”, refering to Blair Witch…. You are right. It would take about that much mental capacity to enjoy such utter garbage. I re-made BW myself with two $200 cameras and $6 in duck tape, in which I fastened said cameras to my Labradour Retriever’s head and threw a ball into the woods. Brilliant. Much was made about how it only took $40K to make, and still, for the life of me I cannot see where this amount of money was actually spent. It was by far the worst concept for a motion picture since “Space Balls” (a much better film BTW). I wasn’t upset by not seeing the actual monster(s) in this piece of s**t, I was more upset that I was taled into going to see it. I didn’t even pay for the ticket and I still wanted the money back.

  260. There are some of these I actually have not seen, for some reason or another. I agree with some points and not others here:

    1. This has probably been said already, but 28 days later, while a great movie, is not technically a “Zombie” movie…though does kinda fit in with the zombie apocalypse genre…but still, I’m a zombie purist. You’re not a zombie unless you are a re-animated corpse. The word supposedly comes from Voodoo, in reference to a person brought back from the dead to be a slave. 28 days later = not a zombie movie, but still a great movie.

    2. The first “Saw” scared the crap out of me – but it wasn’t the gore…it was claustrophobia and fear of being trapped that really got to me. I’ve seen a few of the sequels, and they just seem…almost comical. I think the killing contraptions are kinda neat though.

    3. I saw “The Sixth Sense” as more of a thriller than a horror movie. It was pretty good for it’s time, but I don’t think it belongs on THIS list.

    4. The Blair Witch Project…while I appreciated it’s need to be different…it just didn’t do it for me. Same with Paranormal Activity. I literally fell asleep – does no one know the meaning of suspense anymore? They should take a lesson from Dario Argento, maybe?

    5. I do not like to admit it, but the Ring was actually a bit disturbing to me on some level – and I’m really not sure why.

  262. Glad somebody else liked the remake of Dawn of the Dead besides me. I saw the Romero classic, and while I have huge respect for the creator of the genre, it didn’t terrify me. (Day of the Dead was better inho.)

    Romero was more into the social message, and while his special effects were great for the day, they were low-budget.

    Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later really sold me on the reality of their apocalypse and had me tense the entire movie through. That is what great horror is supposed to do.

    Another movie that I really appreciated was The Orphan. I thought it was hugely underrated.

  265. THE best and scariest horror film of ALL time is the 1963 film by Robert Wise – ‘The Haunting’ … no matter how old you are or how many horrors you’ve seen, this will chill you to the bone. no monsters, no maniacs, no gore, just the gentle manipulation of your subconscious – i dare you not to sleep with the light OFF after viewing it …@……..@….@

  266. i liked a serten few but for me micheal myers is the ultimate killer in halloween its just remarkable and also the ring made me jump to.

  267. Okay, holy sh*t. Whoever is saying “Inside” is the greatest horror movie is on some kind of hard core drug. I came to this list looking for some great horror movies that maybe I had missed in the last few years, every other person was saying “Inside” and a few other French movies are must sees so I watch it. And I’m pretty pissed I lost that hour and a half of my life. The concept was good, and I had high hopes as soon as the murderer started doing her thing, but then the end was like the writer just said, “aaand I’m spent, just finish ‘er up” and made a dead cop come back from the dead to reel it in for the climax. REALLY!?!? A F**KING ZOMBIE COP!?!?! Bottom line, this list is pretty solid and these a**holes trying to turn up their nose and suggest even sh*ttier foreign movies should kill themselves.

  268. @ Asia

    There is NO zombie in Inside. **Spoilers** The cop got shot in the head with some kind of anti riot gun. Became blind and couldn’t see the difference between the women.

  270. I think that Donnie Darko should be up there. I really liked the Orphanage and alot of the movies up there, but Donnie Darko is the best twist movie I have EVER seen. I also think it deserves being in horror because come on, he does see a demonic bunny that tells him the worlds going to end?

  272. I admit its a decent list of horror movies. It beat most of the crap i seen posted on previous blogger sites and such but 1 movie i was disappointed in not seeing in your top 10 list that just totally ruined it for me is DEADLY SILENCE! How in the hell could you not include that movie. Great story line, suspenseful and some jump out your seat scenes dude. It beats all the rest of the movies in your list except for decent.
    I spit on your grave is also good

    I was glad to see the decent and mid night meat train in there since most people i come across don’t know about those movies and claim they are horror fanatics.

    Right now I’m on the search for some really good horrors. I never saw the orphanage and high tension so I’ll take a look .

    O you could have also mentioned insidious

  273. I loved My Bloody Valentine and I was disappointed it wasn’t on here. Also, the Halloween remake was really great, it took a whole new spin on things, where Micheal became a Anti-Hero instead of a villain. Scream 3 was the best of the series and definitely deserves a spot on this list. Where’s Final Destination? That was a movie that redirected Horror films.I will agree the new Friday The 13th was the worst horror film of Modern times. It was just painful to get through. 30 Days And Nights was awesome to. One last one would be Aliens Vs. Predators. That was just a fun movie. I really don’t agree with alot of them, I’m gonna watch Audtion tonight. I like to see other peoples opinions though.

  274. This was actually an excellent choice of modern horror movies..Although I would also like to add: Martyrs, the Others(genius), Ju-on , Antichrist..and the only vampire movie I apprecite and adore at the same time, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN…

  275. You sir I COMPLETELY agree with.
    My god you have a good list here, slightly disappointed to not see “Dog Soldiers” up there but oh well.
    Excellent, bloody excellent choice!
    – Labrat,
    Secondary School Student and horror fanatic.

  278. I would put “The Strangers” on this list. The way the people fucked with them throughout the whole movie, and entirely because “you were home” was creepy as hell.

  279. The exclusion of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Don’t Look Now with Donald Sutherland and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is inexcusable. This list was obviously concocted by a very young person. I am 24, but have seen a wide variety of horror flicks. The golden age of horror is long gone, with the exceptions of a few gems like Blair Witch Project (awesome). Nowadays its just nudity, gore and brainless plots like Saw and Slasher#X.

  280. Watching The Ring today isn’t very scary. But did any of you see it as a kid? Hell, a teenager?! (As it was rated PG-13 T_T) It was the single most terrifying experiences of my childhood. I developed premature bags under my eyes from staring at the television till daylight for months to come

  281. Finally someone who thinks like I do! So very glad to see The Orphanage as #1. I’ve been trying to get people to see this movie for a long time. It is sheer brilliance 🙂

  283. Pingback: The Ten Best Horror Movies You Haven’t Seen |

  284. Hallo. I know this has been going on forever, but is is still going on. Horror is especially open to different tastes and different reasons for liking movies, so one’s faves might suck to another.

    My tastes have changed a lot over the years – used to like gore, slasher, more explicit, psycho, and weird stuff. Now I like weird, paranormal, creepy, ghostly, and odd things that make my mind twitch. I still always look for a horror film, especially when I am sleepy (they are like weird old friends. I saw The Ring before Ringu, and liked it – creepy. Was dying to see Ringu, but it didn’t have the flavor/impact I liked. Same with The Grudge vs Ju-on. However, I thought that the original One Missed Calls, Shutter, and Eye films were super and the remakes not terribly good. Several other Japanese, Korean, and Chinese films have been great! Creepy.

    I guess I liked The Cave better than The Descent. Really enjoyed Insidious. 28 Days later was good, and Pulse (both the American and original ?Japanese? versions have strengths. Liked The Ruins, The Thing, Alien, Silent Hill, and might like some of the docudrama films if the jiggling cameras did not make me seasick, like Quarantine (REC probably too), etc. John Carpenter’s film Prince of Darkness, though older, really is both B-movie and odd.weird.

    Nice chatting with you!

  285. oh my god . its a good list but i find it so funny how people are writing shit like “you suck” i just came here to find some good horror movies .. But really . go wank to world of war craft stop being a troll and move outta your mums house! but yer good list the ring surprised me being quite high up but its still a good film.

  287. I have to disagree with you on the remake of Friday the 13th. That was probably the best horror movie made in the past ten years. I screened the movie at my place, with several people, and it was really well received. Most of us are probably older than you, and maybe that’s why… but most modern movies just aren’t scary, they are either disturbing or gory… but that’s all. Friday the 13th was actually scary, but held true to the series use of wit. It was a much better remake that Nightmare, where they tried to make the story deeper than it was, losing the trademark humor, and why the hell did they make him a pedophile? Anyway… some of the movied you listed here aren’t bad… but I don’t know, horror just isn’t the same as it used to be… maybe it’s just that I prefer the campy stuff.

  288. Oh, and I just want to add… Saw? Really? Not only was that not scary…. it just sucked. You gotta watch more movies! Saw… pssh… it is nothing but torture porn. Speaking of things sucking, check out the movie “Suck” which was @#!$ing phenomenal!

  289. 1 audition
    2 oldboy
    3 I saw the devil
    4 thirst
    5 let the right one in
    6 martyrs
    7 fragile
    8 the shining
    9 exorcist
    10 event horizon
    11 alien
    12 the others
    13 1408
    14 the mist
    15 fragile
    16 seven
    17 jacobs ladder
    18 rec
    19 funny games
    20 high school musical(really scared the shite out of me)
    Ok some old some new and some may be considered thrillers, don’t get your panties in a bunch and just recommend something for us all. I was going to mention Omen 1 and 2 since they filmed it at a school I went to(Northwestern Military Academy) and Damiens home was a couple of blocks from our house.

  290. @Ricky
    a man after my own heart I was going to mention those movies!! and Human Centipede which is just beyond sick High Tension by the way was SHIT!! the plot ‘twist’ made no damn sense how the fuck is she going to have bruises from a car accident that NEVER happened?!! nor can a woman who only weighs 109 pounds decapitate a man with a fucking dresser and who the fuck was she chasing if SHE was the one who kidnapped her friend in the first place HUH?!! the assholes in Blair Witch were so ugly stupid and annoying I was HAPPY when they died and seriously Yogie what crack are you smoking?!! either that or you don’t know SHIT about good horror speaking of which I wonder why Magic with Anthony Hopkins is never on anyone’s list. the same with Twisted Nerve starring Hayley Mills fucked up British people are just scary by default cough Wicker Man cough. and Watership Down scared me like nobody’s business that big ugly bunny with one eye was freaky as hell also I loved Pamela Franklin in And Soon the Darkness good thriller they ruined with a shitty remake. but the one film that gives me chills EVERY time I watch it is Lord of the Flies that Jack is one fucked up ass kid I knew he was trouble when I heard that music when they were coming up the beach another honrable mention Animal Farm the animated version from the 50’s

  291. You should credit The Ring / The Grudge for starting the Onryo trend (google it if you don’t know).

    Most horror films in the past decade, both asian and western, are all featuring a woman in white clothes with pale white face, long, unkempt hair and awkward movement.

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  296. American Ring better than the Oringinal Ringu?!?!?! you’re fucking out of your mind! the american version is so fucking shit! the original version really captured the audience by its use of music and the way they portrayed the stories, the american one is just some fucked up remake for western audience that screams at anything in a horror movie

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  298. Ok, decent list. But here I go:

    The Ring is good, but not #2.

    The Hills Have Eyes keeps getting dissed, but I loved it. Blasting the pregnant girl was so sad and horrible (in a good way).

    Why didn’t we see Texas Chainsaw Massacre on here?

    The Grudge scared the shit out of me..anyone else?

    How about A Tale of Two Sisters?? That was fucking CREEPY!

    The Dawn of the Dead remake sucked. Sorry.

    High Tension kicked ass…until the end. That twist was forced. Total letdown.

    The Descent had great potential.

    Finally, in 1984, A Nightmare on Elm Street was so damn scary! It still is.

    Thanks!

  299. A decent enough list here. Except the order is basically completely backwards and the Orphanage shouldn’t even be on the list. That movie was just complete garbage.

  301. The Orphanage was horrible. The Sixth Sense is not horror. The Blair Witch Project was garbage. Drag Me To Hell kicked ass. You totally forgot Let The Right One In (foreign version).

  304. Actually, the best ever was a film i saw at the cinema in Bangkok.
    Bhuppa Rahtree – The ressurection 9thats the 3rd one). Becuase it contains real horror and stupid commedy. One minute your laughing your head off the next your in mortal terror. With most horrors you can brace yourself and get into the right state of mind. But with this you cant. A must see for any horror fanatic!!!!!

  305. THE EXORCIST WILL ALWAYS BE THE SCARIEST ,BEST EST,HORRIFIC ,BAD EST,SCARIEST, HORROR – THRILLER SCARY MOVIE OF ALL TIMES,,ITS THE GODFATHER OF HORROR. MY LIST

    1. THE EXORCIST!!

  306. 1408, Insidious, The Ring, Woman in Black, Rose Red, Seconds Apart, The Others, Case 39, Se7en, Devil Doll (1964), The Shining, The Haunting of Molly Hartley, The Messengers, The Grudge, The Exorcist

    Scariest book = The Omen

  308. I don’t watch a lot of horror (I’ve only seen 5/10 of this list), but I really liked these that aren’t on here.

    Pan’s Labyrinth, Wolf Creek, [Rec], The Devil’s Backbone, The Call of Cthulhu, Let the Right One In,

    More comedy than horror, but Dale and Tucker versus Evil was great.

    Nods for creature features – The Host, Trollhunter

  309. I have to agree that the orphanage is right at the top spot, that film freaked me out massively, I only watched it to help improve my Spanish but it has become one of my all time favourite films and del toro one of my favourite directors, I saw Tomás everywhere for months.

  313. Horror movie that left me the most disturbed that’s not being mentioned here is poughkeppsie tapes. I haven’t watched a horror movie since. I challenge others to watch it and give me their opinion you can email me at doitbig7414@yahoo.com

    I also enjoyed Audition(weird, disturbing and disgusting)
    Hills have eyes remake(pregnant woman scene shocked me)
    High Tension(suspenseful with a twist)
    Texas Chainsaw 1974(Disturbing)
    Omen(Pure Evil)
    Nightmare on elm st(Creepy and original)
    Day of the dead 1982(great zombie movie)
    Shaun of the dead(funny and unique)
    Dawn of the dead 1968(creepy,suspenseful and gory)
    Diary of the dead(great pov zombie movie)
    Quarintine(good suspense and pov action that made me jump)
    The Thing 1982(Ive never seen anything like that lol)
    The whole 28 days collection(great infected movies)

    Those are just a few I can remember but here are other movies that aren’t really scary or disturbing but should be mentioned.

    Devils Rejects
    House of 1000 corpses
    Trick or Treat
    The Orphan
    Wolf Creek
    The Descent
    Kidnapped
    Re-Animator
    Basket Case
    Blair Witch(It was OK)
    Sixth Sense
    Last house on the left
    Haunting in Connecticut
    Amityville

  314. 2 things:

    1. Takashi not Takeshi.
    2. The people in 28 days later were not zombies. They were infected with rage (like rabies). They didn’t really eat people as much as they just mauled them.

  315. killer plants…really. If you say the ruins is a good movie thats like saying the happening was decent. The Descent was solid, better than the cave, if you like the whole stuck in cave and creepy creatures are going to kill me any second thing. Id definitely recommend Pitch Black for that though. Im totally an exorcist of emily rose girl, but if your scared of the true story possibility than rec 2 is a must. It has a killer religious twist from rec. And hostel should be included but not hostel 3, that one was just for the sake of killing people for no reason, I just love the plot behind 1 and 2, mostly 1 though

  316. in my opinion people are being to harsh to paul, hes just posting his opinion. in my eyes these were all good movies, except the blair witch project…but i think the movie Necronomicon: book of the dead the best horror movie of all time, and if youve seen it i know its 19 years old but its set in the lovecraftian universe and is a perfect example of horror based on lovecrafts writing.

  319. How on earth people say that -Let the Right One In- is horror when actually it’s a boring lovedrama. Ok, it’s a matter of taste but still. Usually in horror you’re afraid of or for something/someone, but in -Let the Right One In- you only wonder if the vampire is a boy/girl and does the kid try to bone him/her,

  320. seriously? you need to get out more, these all sucked. I could name a dozen (mostly asian horror films) that were infinitely better.. at which Audition is somewhere near the bottom.

  321. The best films are missing: “Silent Hill”, “[REC]” and “Let The Right One In”.

    The Ring, 28 Days Later, The Sixth Sense and The Decent are good. All else on that list is crap. The first five minutes of that “Dawn Of The Dead” remake alone do piss on half of the films on that list.

    The Hills Have Eyes? Saw? Battle Royale? Audition? That’s not horror, it’s not even cinema. It’s torture and rape porn for a braindead audience.

    “The Crazies” is criminally overlooked as well, great film.

    Everyone go watch Silent Hill and REC, these are two of the best horror films EVER made.

  322. i have to COMPLETELY DISAGREE with the descent and the hills have eyes. i have watched a whole lot of horror movies and those 2 have to be the ones that i regret wasting my time with the most. it’s insane how famous they are, considering how difficult they are to watch. if they qualify as top 10 then you might as well put dead silence.

    by the way, WHERE IS THE GRUDGE? THAT SHOULD BE IN THE TOP 5.

  326. I love “The Ring” and totally respect you for putting it up this high on the list. I never really understood what was so great about “Audition” though–it’s overrated to me. Just a campy mess. Kudos for “High Tension” and “Hills Have Eyes.” Now just fit “REC” in there somewhere. 😉

  327. Pretty solid list.

    I only have one question :

    Where is ” Silent Hill ” ?

    I was surprised to see you have not included ” Silent Hill ” as it is the Best ” supernatural Horror movie ” of the past few years.

    I was very pleased to see you included ” High Tension ” and ” Clive Barker ‘s The Midnight Train ”.

  328. I actually am one of the people who likes your list, though you left a lot of good stuff:

    – The Loved Ones (Totally shocked me, I thought it’s just one of those graphic movies)

    – The Road (2012), (Really creepy and the cinematography is pure LOVE, it’s in the same vein as The Orphanage)

    – White Noise (Very simple yet very effective. The critics trashed it but I can assure that it’s a really well-made supernatural movie)

    – Ils (Them), (Watch this instead of The Strangers)

    – Ginger Snaps, (an odd but cool teen-wolf movie, it has a surprising depth too)

  329. There is a lot of horror flicks that others and I have said should be at the top. Such as: “Thirteen Ghosts”, “House on Haunted Hill”, “Silent Hill” and more. I think slasher flicks are overrated and way too predictable. To be a good horror, the effects should be awesome concluding in one horrifying, twisted movie, causing even the experienced horror fanatic to have nightmares after viewing it.

  330. Most of my favourites over the years have been European or Japanese, to be honest. Nearly every horror film has plot holes or convenient coincidences, it is almost unavoidable, so it is pointless arguing about characters’ choices, etc, etc, in these movies.

    Not sure how any list cannot contain the excellent French film, Inside. For me, the best horror film for many a year. Absolute classic, almost entirely set in one location, it still manages to be interesting and with a clever twist towards the end of the film.

    Others that I would have to include would be Rec and Rec2, as well as Martyrs, another with a great twist in the middle, this time. Ju-On would definitely be in my list. Personally, I think the Strangers is a superior film to ‘Them’ but I think they are both worth watching. I liked the mist, and the fact that most of the horror came from the people in the supermarket, so am ok to have that on a top 10. I also enjoyed Sinister recently and would include that over a lot of films in the last 10 years, nothing spectacular but solid enough to make a top 10.

    So, I suppose my top 10 of the (approximately) last 10 years would be
    (definitely first) Inside,
    Rec
    Rec 2
    Martyrs
    Strangers
    Ju-On
    Funny Games
    Sinister
    Ringu
    Antichrist is listed as horror on imdb, do that will do for me.

    Definitely none of this horror ‘lite’, such as paranormal activity, sixth sense or blair witch, if i want to see films like that, I’d take my nephews and nieces. I doubt these films would even creep them out.

  334. I think there are big differences between horror, torture and bloody thrillers etc etc. A lot of the films previously mentioned are good in their own rights. My list has a mixture of the above and indeed some of you will say that they dont belong in the horror section. Well you go tell that to all the video stores out there!!!

    Not necessarily in any order but mine are:

    The Descent parts 1 & 2 (hopefully a 3rd coming out)
    Rec 1 & 2 (also didnt mind the US versions Quarantine 1 & 2)
    Severance (comic horror)
    The Ring
    Hostel 1 & 2
    Rogue
    Wolfs Creek
    Black Water
    Eden Lake
    The Last House on the Left (remake)
    Frontiers
    The Cabin in the Woods
    The Host (Gwoemul)
    The Crazies

  335. The Sixth Sense is not a horror movie. Period. Good flick, not scary. If the ring was any good I would have seen it again. Saw is as close to it really. The Descent is bad ass. Watch it alone at 2,3 am. Horror is as hard to make as anything script wise and to put on screen.

  336. Dude, thanks a shit-ton (or, if we were in Europe, a metric shit-ton) for putting this article up. I’ve seen a couple of these movies, but never even heard of all of them.

  338. Dude can I point out that saying “lesbians, nice” about High Tension is really fucked up since the one girl on girl kiss happens after the one girl systematically kills the other’s entire family and nearly chainsaws her her head off and the other is covered in other peoples blood. You sound really fucking legitimate now dudebro.

  339. “28 Days Later” is not a “zombie” flick. These people have not died and come back to life. They are humans who have been infected with a hybrid of rabies, and they can be killed anyway that a human can be killed including exposure, starvation and dehydration. They are not “fast zombies.” Please take note of the difference between an infected person who is very much alive, and a former human that has rose from the dead.

  341. The Blair Witch Project sucked. But The Orphanage was by far the best horror film I’ve ever seen. I swear to God, it’s perfection. The right amount of creepy with minimal jump scares. It’s disturbing and somehow beautiful at the same time. The ending almost made me cry.

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