Horror is a particularly tricky genre to get right; it’s seemingly all been done, and so it takes a special type of creative genius to still wow viewers and deliver something that feels fresh and, above all else, terrifying. Though in many ways the genre has largely succeeded with a turn towards comedy, this list aims to (mostly) feature genuine horror rather than comedies, though of course there are a couple of films so good we couldn’t resist including them.
Here are the top 10 horror films of the 21st century.
10. Drag Me to Hell (2009)
Drag Me to Hell was hugely anticipated ahead of its release because it marked the return of horror maestro Sam Raimi to the genre, who had been out making the Spider-Man trilogy among other films in the interceding two-decades since he finished the Evil Dead series. Raimi answered all of our prayers by going back to his campy, wild, hilarious roots with a gleefully wacky horror that might have sacrificed a lot of its scares in the quest for laughs, but he renders an unforgettable experience that knowing horror fans will especially enjoy, given how it lampoons and satirises the more generic, clichéd elements of the genre.
While it’s not on the level of Evil Dead 2, it’s still a fantastic live-action cartoon essentially – complete with a talking goat at one point – making loan officer Christine’s (Alison Lohman) quest to save her own soul one of the more outrageous and daring horror flicks of the century so far, capped by a surprisingly balls-out ending in which, yes, Christine is actually dragged to Hell. After the huge disappointment that was Spider-Man 3, Raimi made it clear he was still a relevant, potent filmmaker.
We are currently seeking Film contributors on WhatCulture. To find out more about the perks of being a Film contributor, click here.
11 Comments
I’m only a small part through the list and some entries have strongly hinted at the ending, while others (like Drag Me to Hell) have outright said what happens. It doesn’t matter how long these films have been out – you shouldn’t be spoiling these.
I haven’t seen all of these yet, so thanks for the list. I’ll have to check them out.
I hated the ending of The Mist. I know it’s a common device in movies to have someone perform a detrimental action that could easily have been avoided, but this one seemed really stupid and contrived to me. I can’t see anyone doing what Thomas Jane’s character did without first verifying he is doing the right thing.
I didn’t see Let the Right One In – instead I saw the American version Let Me In. I really liked Let Me In, so if Let the Right One In is only half as good, I’ll be quite pleased.
Anyway, thanks again for this list.
I think martyrs is one of the finest films of the past 10 years, regardless of genre.
The Burrowers from JT Petty is a bloody underrated gem too.
Behind the mask: the rise of Leslie Vernon too.
Some great choices! Always hard as so many other films I would have included, but all opinion and yours are solid picks!
great list. I’d personally put “A Serbian Film” in there in place of Shaun of the Dead, largely because I don’t like the latter at all (appreciate I’m in the minority though, I rarely meet anyone else that doesn’t enjoy it), but hard to argue with much else. Some fantastic films in there and nice to see that some of the best foreign films of the past ten years made it in there. Let the right one in, Rec, Martyrs and Inside are all fantastic
I’m sorry but ‘Drag Me To Hell’ is just silly, PG-13 fluff and only reminds me of the gaggy elements that dumbed down ‘Army Of Darkness’ so much. ‘The Mist’ is great in the black and white version otherwise the computer-generated monsters look so sadly like just that; computer-generated. And the greatest crime of this list; ignoring ‘The Descent’ which is more than deserving of being on it, if not on top.
good list, although i think Martyrs and Drag Me to Hell are highly over-rated
The mist an asewome movie with a great end.
Shau of the dead the bes movie of this list
Rec the second best movie of this list and a magnific end
The Descent, High Tension, Hard Candy, and 30 Days of Night are shockingly absent from this list.
I love shades of grey but Hard Candy pushed that too far for me, when a character is so pretentiously obnoxious and is played opposite a sex offender you’re left with nobody to root for and it’s hard to get emotionally involved.
What about The House of The Devil..