20 Best Horror Movies Since 2000

The gold standard for festive horror movies might still be Joe Dante's 80s masterpiece Gremlins, but if any film is going to come close to knocking its crown off, it's Michael Dougherty's Krampus. Inspired by the Austro-Bavarian folklore, it's a wonderful homage to B-movies perfect for the holiday season.

Krampus is the anti-Santa Claus, tracking down the naughty children who have lost their faith in the Christmas spirit and punishing them for their bad deeds and thoughts. Dougherty's movie is a vibrant, sharply paced affair which pits a dysfunctional family against the eponymous creature and his legions of minions, which include murderous gingerbread men and a wonderfully demonic jack-in-the-box with an insatiable appetite.

With an excellent cast including Toni Colette, Adam Scott and David Koechner, Krampus marks another high point from Dougherty with the visual inventiveness of the best fun horror films of the 1980s. Critics might have met Krampus with a lukewarm reception, but for fans of horror it became an instant classic.