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Best Horror Films of the Decade

Starbreaker

Starbreaker

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I'm always on the lookout for a genuinely scary film. Here are some of my favorites. Tell me what your favorites are.

The Descent (2006) - in my top 10 films overall, probably the scariest movie I've ever seen
28 Days Later (2002) - I love this movie and watch it a lot.
May (2003) - creepy and original
Cabin Fever (2003)
Paranormal Activity (2007) - a lot better than I would have thought. I HATED Blair Witch
From Hell (2001) - I have a fascination with Jack the Ripper, sue me
The Last House on the Left (2009) - no critical acclaim, but I thought it was really good
The Devil's Rejects (2005)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
The Ruins (2008) - underrated

Honorable Mentions:

28 Weeks Later
Trick 'r Treat (2008)
Hostel (2006)
Wrong Turn (2003)
Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Saw (2004) - the acting really grates on my nerves on repeat viewings
 
For me, The Descent is numero uno. I'll also give props to 28 Days/Weeks Later and Trick 'r Treat, which I actually got to see at a theatrical screening a couple months ago at a horror film festival.

Oh, and at that same festival, I saw a British film called The Children, which I felt was effectively freaky and scary -- not sure if I'd call it one of the best of the decade, but I thought it was pretty good.

Oh, and didn't Paranormal Activity come out this year, not 2007? Unless maybe it's release has been delayed for a while, like with Trick 'r Treat. I may go see Paranormal Activity, I'm not sure... I've kind of been fearing that it'll turn out to be like another Blair Witch Project, which I didn't find scary at all.
 
Starbreaker said:
I'm always on the lookout for a genuinely scary film. Here are some of my favorites. Tell me what your favorites are.

The Descent (2006) - in my top 10 films overall, probably the scariest movie I've ever seen
28 Days Later (2002) - I love this movie and watch it a lot.
May (2003) - creepy and original
Cabin Fever (2003)
Paranormal Activity (2007) - a lot better than I would have thought. I HATED Blair Witch
From Hell (2001) - I have a fascination with Jack the Ripper, sue me
The Last House on the Left (2009) - no critical acclaim, but I thought it was really good
The Devil's Rejects (2005)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
The Ruins (2008) - underrated

Honorable Mentions:

28 Weeks Later
Trick 'r Treat (2008)
Hostel (2006)
Wrong Turn (2003)
Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Saw (2004) - the acting really grates on my nerves on repeat viewings
Click to expand...

"The Descent" is a truly GREAT horror film. I'd have to add "Dog Soldiers", although it's part action/horror, just like the one film that inspired it - "Aliens".

As for the Saw and Hostel drivel - I am just not into torture porn, so, no.
 
Blair Witch, Grudge, Others, Ring, High Tension, Descent, 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead... I don't consider the "SAW" franchise to be traditional horror but I love those movies. It's like a tightly written tv mini-series with clues and foreshadowings and cameo characters becoming important in the next movie, it's great stuff. It's not torture porn at all it actually has a story.
 
A lot of mine are European, I think they are making the best horror films over the past several years.

[rec]
[rec] 2
The Children
Eden Lake
Timecrimes
Inside
Trick R' Treat
 
Wes Craven's 1989 horror film Shocker. I could never understand why their was never a sequel for this great horror movie when Stepfather, Troll, Leprechaun and the likes get an undeserved second and it most movies a third chance for failure. This movie is a cult classic.
 
Another Wes Craven horror movie, People Under the Stairs. Ving Rhames breakout role for me. Sorry I just noticed this decade 2000, my mistake.
 
Last edited:
Starbreaker said:
I forgot to mention The Orphanage... what a great movie.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I came into this thread just to mention that and leave. Not that my opinion matters much as I don't watch a lot of horror films.

And while it may not count as a horror film per se, the Pale Man segment of Pan's Labyrinth was sheer genius and IMHO quite unsettling.

I think I'll also throw in Antichrist. I just found that a deeply uncomfortable viewing experience, though I'm sure one's mileage varies here.
 
Kegg said:
I think I'll also throw in Antichrist. I just found that a deeply uncomfortable viewing experience, though I'm sure one's mileage varies here.
Click to expand...
I'll second that. It found it disturbing. I was glad I watched it but I don't know if I would recommend it to just anyone. That highly stylized opening sequence was beautiful though.
 
No particular order:

Orphan
Saw 1-3
Hostel 1 & 2
Dawn of the Dead
From Hell
28 Days Later
30 Days of Night
The Ring
Halloween
The Devil's Rejects
Wolf Creek
The Hills Have Eyes
High Tension
Wrong Turn
The Mist
Cloverfield
Pandorum

I tried watching The Descent, but I just couldn't get into it. It's always gets high praise so I'm going to give it another shot one day. I'm also curious about Drag Me to Hell. It seemed to do pretty well this past summer but I didn't go see it. Also curious about Paranormal Activity.
 
The Mist
Dawn of the Dead
28 days later

On the lighter side of things, Bubba Ho-Tep is all kinds of greatness.
 
28 Days Later
[Rec]
and possibly The Host. And if Horror/comedy is allowed then shove Bubba-ho-tep and My Name is Bruce onto the list too.
 
Bubba Ho-Tep: The premise of Elvis and Black JFK vs. the Mummy may sound nutty but it's a pretty special little movie. It deals with the issues of aging and there's more there than meets the eye. It actually made my wife cry.

Shaun of the Dead: Really fun movie. I think its the best zombie movie since the original Dawn of the Dead.

High Tension: I figured out the twist long before I was supposed to but it was still really entertaining and original.

The Descent: What made it special for me was the original ending, which of course was changed and dumbed down for the U.S. release.

Them (aka Ils): A French horror film that IMO is the best of the home invasion genre. I really enjoyed this one.

Joshua: It's a slow-burner and probably wouldn't be to everyone's taste. For some reason I found the atmosphere reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby although the stories aren't at all similar.

The Mist: Frank Darabont is one of my favorite filmmakers and this movie was a real departure for him. The movie is fantastic and it has a very powerful ending. One of the few Stephen King projects where the movie surpasses the the book, or in this case, the novella.

American Psycho: I don't know if everyone considers this a horror film, but I do. A great story about the coldness of elitism.
 
From what I've seen this decade here are my favorites:

1. The Ring
2. 28 Days Later
3. Paranormal Activity
4. Cloverfield
5. Dawn of the Dead
6. The Ruins
7. Ju-On: The Grudge
8. Pulse
9. The Mist
10. Quarantine (haven't seen the original film REC but I hear it's superior)

Honorable Mentions:
28 Weeks Later
Slither
Dark Water (original Japanese version)
Dead and Breakfast
Prey
Land of the Dead
The Descent
The Others
Black Sheep
 
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