Top 10 Horror Movies: 2000s

Our first pick gave us the very long-awaited return of Sam Raimi to the genre that gave him his humble beginnings with “Evil Dead.” The idea came from a script he’d been working on with his brother Ivan throughout the decade during which he was working on the “Spider-Man” trilogy. This morality tale follows a young loan officer who regrettably refuses an extension for an old gypsy woman, who in turn puts a curse on her so that she will be dragged into hell in three days. The director more than delivers all the nasty fun you’d expect from him.

With Nordic noir thrillers on the rise, audiences were not surprised when John Ajvide Lindqvist, Sweden’s answer to Stephen King, became an overnight sensation. There was also no doubt that his screenplay, based on his own novel, was gonna be a hit. But it didn’t only become a hit; it took the world by storm. The big screen adaptation of his atmospheric tale of a young bullied boy who befriends a young vampire was an immense critical and box-office success, winning plenty of awards and immediately green-lighting an American remake. It plays less like a vampire movie and more like a snowy arctic fever dream, though it’s still got plenty of horror elements as well.

During a decade that was drowning in terrible American remakes, this gem easily stood out, mostly because of the talent behind it. With the brilliant director who’d be behind the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and future Oscar-nominated Naomi Watts in the lead role, you had a sure-fire hit. A psychological horror flick about a vengeful ghost who uses a videotape to kill her victims, this is a movie that took everything that was already great about the original and built upon it; more backstory, more human emotion, and more deadly thrills.

Continuing with the J-horror trend, “Ju-on” became the latest franchise to hit Western shores and cause a severe amount of nightmares. The story of an angry ghost with a grudge haunting a house and any of its inhabitants is nothing special, but the talent came from the approach and execution of each terrifying element. “The Grudge” used creativity in everything from its make-up effects, putting a twist on the traditional look of Japanese ghost, to lighting and sound design. That is a kind of growling we will never be able to un-hear.

Here we have another remake that did not insult the original. If you take away the franchise from the granddad of zombie films, George A. Romero, you better put it in worthy hands. Enter the visionary Zack Snyder. After a million zombie flicks, what do you do differently? Make sure it doesn’t lack...brains, human emotion and a nonstop barrage of scares. Add in an all-star cast including acclaimed indie star Sarah Polley, and make sure it truly is entertaining, especially with a shocking apocalyptic opening that grabs you by the throat, and you’ve got this critical and commercial hit.

Amidst the slasher craze, New Line Cinema took it one step further, and turned Death himself into the antagonist. Based on an abandoned “X-Files” script idea, the twisted story follows a group of teens that narrowly escapes a fatal plane explosion. Well, Death is feeling cheated and decides to kill them off anyway in bizarre Rube Goldberg-like ways. With a villain you never see, a cruel moral to the story of never being able to escape death, and some of the most creative cinematic kills, this box office smash gets major props from the horror community.

The YouTube era of horror cinema and its handheld cameras came to life with this box office breakthrough. When someone’s “real” 10-second footage of his door moving on its own became more terrifying than a 2-hour slasher film, creator Oren Peli knew he’d struck gold. An incredibly small budget is all he needed to create this nightmarish voyeuristic experience, as we watch the footage of a young couple trying to catch the ghostly activity in their house on film. Although minimalistic in style, this is one film you do not want to watch alone at night.

Like Stanley Kubrick before him, Danny Boyle is the kind of prolific director that likes playing with different genres. After the major successes of “Trainspotting” and “The Beach,” he set his eyes on horror, and boy did he leave his mark. A different take on the zombie film, “28 Days Later...” is an apocalyptic contagion masterpiece, with a brilliant narrative, haunting opening sequence, and devastating scenarios featuring the breakthrough performance of a young Cillian Murphy. While the virus in question is turning people into violent mutating creatures, it turns us into a blubbering mess behind the couch.

We’re starting to see a pattern: take an established theme, put it in some very talented hands, and watch something refreshing come to life. Rising Spanish horror directors Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero brought the found footage style to a zombie-virus outbreak and gave the world this dizzying roller-coaster ride in which we trail a news crew that has been following the fire department. It all seems like a boring night until they’re locked up in a tenement building where the residents are starting to get a little violent and a little undead.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions.
- “Hostel” (2005)
- “The Strangers” (2008)
- “Ginger Snaps” (2000)
- “The Devil’s Rejects” (2005)
- “The Others” (2001)
- “Trick ‘r Treat” (2007)

The one that started it all. Although torture porn became huge thanks to the “Saw” films, the original independent feature has little to do with its insanely bloody and unnecessarily complicated sequels. “Saw” was more detective thriller than torture porn; more psychological torture than bodily torture. The complex puzzle and mystery behind these two men stuck in a room with a dead body plays out more like a demented Samuel Beckett play. Still, there are tons of cringe-worthy moments, from a brilliant script that keeps you guessing to a jaw-dropping ending you will never forget.

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