9 Good Horror Movies Made in the Last 10 Years

I am of the opinion that the late 1960s and early 1970s were the pinnacle of the horror genre.  The 80s and 90s definitely had some good entries, but the endless sequels and copycats drove the genre into the ground.  I have been patiently awaiting a rebirth, but the new trend seems to be producing sacrilegious remakes like Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street, which just makes me feel depressed (and old).  Yet, in the spirit of the season, I present a list of 9 good horror movies made since 2001.  Why only 9?  Because I honestly couldn't think of a 10th.  (Possible spoilers ahead)


Frailty (2001) - A very impressive directorial debut of actor Bill Paxton that looks like it was made by a veteran of the genre.  The beautiful cinematography is full of shadows and masterful compositions, creating an atmosphere of constant dread.  Paxton is fantastic as a schizophrenic who murders people on orders from God with the help of his two young sons, one of whom begins to suspect that his father is not actually talking to the Almighty.  The most impressive thing about Frailty is that Mathew McConaughey does not ruin the movie as the adult version of one of the sons.

Session 9 (2001) - A construction crew takes on the task of removing asbestos from an old abandoned psychiatric hospital.  Do you think everything goes as planned?  Director Brad Anderson shoots on location at the closed-down Danvers State Hospital in Massachusetts where the film is set using hand-held digital cameras.  This, along with the solid performances from Peter Mullan and David Caruso among others, gives the film a raw realism that sets the film apart from more stylized horror films.  Session 9 moves at a deliberate pace, but is never boring and frequently unnerving.


28 Days Later (2002) - Oscar-winner Danny Boyle helmed this modern zombie flick.  A virus has swept through England turning everyone into a blood-spewing monster with a taste for human flesh.  It's an old story, but Boyle is an expert at pacing and the acting from Cillian Murphy (in his first major role) and Naomie Harris add the pathos that other zombie movies tend to gloss over.  Many critics disliked the last third of the film when our heroes hide out in an abandoned mansion with a band of soldiers, but I found this sequence, and the film as a whole, a fun and scary ride.

The Ring  (2002) - This American remake of the Japanese classic Ringu is a triumph of style over substance.  Yes, the film has some excellent jump-out-of-your-seat moments and a solid anchor in Naomi Watts as a reporter investigating a videotape that kills anyone who watches it, but what keeps me coming back to The Ring is the look.  Director Gore Verbinski adds a blue-green tint over the film that blends perfectly with the Pacific Northwest setting.  Every scene is overcast, damp, and beautiful.  The cinematography should have been Oscar-nominated.

Open Water (2003) - A married couple goes scuba-diving and ends up stranded in the middle of the shark-infested ocean.  That's about it for plot.  Just about all 79 minutes of this movie feature two people floating with water in all directions.  And yet this film is absolutely terrifying.  The directors use no-name actors and digital photography to play on fears that everyone experiences at one point or another.  Fear of the ocean, fear of being alone, fear of the dark, fear of sharks.  I dare you to watch this movie and go swimming in the ocean afterwards.

The Descent (2005) - Director Neil Marshall, who has been making intriguing British horror movies for years, finally breaks out with this tale of a group of women who go spelunking and get trapped in a vast underground cave.  This would be scary enough, but then the cave-demons make an appearance.  The first half of the film creates such a claustrophobic atmosphere that I almost needed to leave the theater for fresh air.  The second half is not as good, which makes me wish that the director trusted that the audience wouldn't need a supernatural element to love the film.  No matter.  The Descent delivers the goods.


Wolf Creek (2005) - Roger Ebert famously gave this Australian film a dreaded zero-star review, a designation that he reserves for films that he deems "evil".  I understand his point.  The film moves along well for the first half-hour or so as we get to know three twenty-something protagonists road-tripping through the Outback.  But then it becomes clear that the whole point of the movie is to watch the characters that we have come to love be tortured by a deranged killer.  When it comes to horror, I personally respond to the movies that provoke a physical reaction and I must admit that Wolf Creek got to me as I watched it at home alone in the dark.  I wanted to turn it off at certain points, but the movie was so damn well-made that I couldn't bring myself to do it.  Then I watched it again.


Ils (Them) (2006) - I had never heard of this French film when I added it to my Netflix queue a few years ago.  It turns out that this is a hidden gem - a relentless thriller that may be the best horror movie of the decade.  It's about a couple that lives out in the country who are tormented by a group of mysterious strangers in the middle of the night.  The plot was loosely recycled in the Liv Tyler/Scott Speedman film The Strangers, but Ils is the real deal.  While it basically amounts to a chase film, the director knows how to keep the tension high right up until the fantastic conclusion.

House of the Devil (2009) - Ti West has been anointed the future of horror and I was skeptical until I caught up with this movie on DVD earlier this year.  An affectionate homage to the Satanic horror films of the 80s, House of the Devil gets all of the details just right.  A college student takes a babysitting job to pay for rent.  Warning bells should go off when her employers turn out to be elderly couple who don't seem to have children.  West sets the film in the early 1980s and fittingly eschews the newer trends of horror.  He shoots on 35mm film and uses long takes.  There are no big setpieces - just a slow buildup of suspense.