The Best Horror Films of the Decade
Time to countdown the decade's best horror films. Remember, these are just based on horror flicks that I personally saw, so if you feel that one is left out, I might not have seen it...or I just didn't like it.
And be sure to check out my other year end videos: KUNG TAI TED: "Bruce Lee Vs. Gay Power," The Worst Films of the Decade, and The 10 Best Cinema Snob Moments of 2009.
And be sure to check out my other year end videos: KUNG TAI TED: "Bruce Lee Vs. Gay Power," The Worst Films of the Decade, and The 10 Best Cinema Snob Moments of 2009.
Awesome picks
have you checked out Trick R Treat yet?
I would totally hold that up there with the best of the decade, and if you haven't checked it out yet, you're in for a treat
Reply to this
Great video. Did you happen to see Pulse? I thought that was a very creepy movie.
Reply to this
You know that The Girl Next Door is based on a true story, and the truth was much more horrific than what's on the film. Makes you even more depressed.
Reply to this
To be a bit pedantic, Ketchum was INSPIRED by that case, but it's not a direct recreation of it.
Also, the book is possibly the most devastating, heart-wrenching thing I've ever read.
I was an utter wreck by the end of it, and I vowed that I would never watch the movie because I knew there was no concievable way it could live up to the impact of the novel.
Reply to this
My Top Ten of the Decade:
1. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
2. PAN'S LABYRINTH
3. A TALE OF TWO SISTERS
4. THE DESCENT
5. INSIDE
6. MARTYRS
7. THE OTHERS
8. HAUTE TENSION
9. THE MIST
10. KAIRO
Reply to this
Awsome list. i wouldn't really consider pand labyrith horror though
Reply to this
pretty much the same with me
Reply to this
Drage me to hell?
Inside?
Mother of tears?
you missed a lot
Reply to this
"Drag Me To Hell" is on the list. I didn't see "Inside" or "Mother of Tears."
Reply to this
I'm suprised you didn't see Mother of Tears, it's Argento's sequell to Suspiria and Inferno. And Inside is the best French horror film iv'e seen, better than High Tension
Reply to this
My personal favorite was Takeshi Miike's Gozu. Others were Let the Right One In, Antichrist (I know), A Tale of Two Sisters, The Devil's Backbone, Martyrs. Ones that you mentioned that I love are Session 9, Grindhouse and Wolf Creek.
Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door is also on my list as I've never seen something so disturbing this decade. AS you said, I've lost sleep over that one.
Reply to this
„Versus‟ is one of my favourite horror-comedies. I could hardly summarise it in a just way, so just check out IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275773/
Reply to this
I guess im the only one who was a bit disappointed with drag me to hell. So many people built it up to be the new evil dead but i didnt think it came anywhere near. Still enjoyed it though, so it might have been more like a matter of what i expected. I also seem to be in the minority on the devils rejects, which is one of the few movies that actually made me angry, thats how much i hated it. I also cant agree on land of the dead.
Im still gonna check out some of the other movies on your list.
Reply to this
Wolf Creek, Session 9, Paranormal Activity??? Brad give me your critic card YOUR BANNED FROM THE VIDEO STORE! p.s Cant we all just get BEYOND REANIMATOR? BOOOYAH!!!!
Reply to this
Man I Fucking Hated The Girl Next Door That Movie Was So Fucking Disturbing I Didn't Even Make It Half Way Through That Thing It Made Me Sick To My Stomach.
Reply to this
Maybe it was technically "sci-fi", but I quite liked Pitch Black. The sequel is definately more action hero/less horror, I admit, but the first had a feeling of being trapped on a hostile world.
Others I would throw out... Antibodies for one. German, bloody, and different.
Final Destination. I hated most of the sequels, but the original was a neat idea. Particularly the way they filmed "death", in that it reminded me of the Return of the Living Dead, where the smoke was treated like a cast member. Death was a malevolence that is observed, despite being invisible.
Also "May" was interesting. Lucky McGee is still green, but there was a surreal and awkward feeling to the movie that was engaging. Distinctly low budget and with more than a few questionable performances, Angela Bettis managed to convey a socially stunted and fragile nature very well.
Finally, Sauna. Definately worth a look.
Otherwise... Paranormal Activity? For serious?
Reply to this
Yes, Sauna. Had to agree with that. One of my top favorites for the decade.
Reply to this
I agree with you on wolf creek, but I feel Audition and Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon should be on there
Reply to this
Good call on The Girl Next Door. Brilliant movie but it left me feeling utterly destroyed. It managed to convey the cruelty of the situation so well.
As for a possible tip.. Did you see Martyrs and Kairo?
Reply to this
like your list minus Strangers and Wolf creek. have you seen Inside,Martyrs or Ichi the Killer? tose would all be on mine
Reply to this
Wow, this is a shock, someone else who defends The Strangers AND Wolf Creek. I liked both a lot.
I don't know if it belongs on a "Best of the Decade" list, but have you seen Eden Lake? It's sort of like The Strangers in the woods. A couple go camping by a lake, and a group of local teenagers start terrorizing them.
A lot of people seemed to not like the movie, and the characters do make a few stupid choices, but overall I really loved it. Very dark ending too, great British horror flick.
Reply to this
if u liked wolf creek u might like greg mcleans more recent film rogue
Reply to this
Never seen Wolf Creek but Rogue is indeed cool. I usually hate CGI but that croc was pretty real looking. Good thing too they kept it in the shadows most of the time. That really worked to its advantage.
Reply to this
yeah it was cgi used well, very realistically animated croc, slow paced and psycological and outstanding cinematography all on location in nothern australia.
Reply to this
Thanks to you, I just watched "The Girl Next Door." I can safely say that I'm never watching it again. It made me utterly depressed.
Reply to this
The only movie that ever genuinely depressed me is an anime called GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES.
Even REMEMBERING that movie makes me sad.
Reply to this
So fucking awesome that you put "Beyond Re-Animator" on the list! One movie that came out more recently that was just one of the creepiest movies I've seen but I really liked was "Parasomnia", and would definitely recommend it.
Reply to this
I have a hatred for High Tension that rivals movies that are legitimately shitty. And that's because for 2/3's of High Tension, I fucking loved it so much. The first "horror" scene in the house was all time great creepy. Legitimately great stuff. Then the scene with Muse playing as they drove the car around. It was great. And then they hit me with the shitty fucking Tyler Durden ending. How many movies were ruined this decade with that shit? A fucking lot. And this one, as you even admit, didn't even make sense. Lazy and hack. Fuck that movie.
Reply to this
The ending IS contentious but you're right... everything up to that point is utterly superb. Despite the first act being almost a carbon-copy of Dean Koontz's novel INTENSITY.
And that movie actually made me a Muse fan, so I've got that to thank it for.
Reply to this
im glad someone else picked up on the intensity ripoff
Reply to this
That issue is still pretty cloudy.
I think someone may have gotten an admission from Aja that he at least KNEW of the book.
Reply to this
still, anyone who read or had seen intensity would have known exactly how haute tension was gonna play out, right from the beginning, which was unfortunate for me. If it was a genuine coincidence, then so be it, but the movie was already spoilt for me when i realized where it was gonna go(not that it was a bad movie though).
Reply to this
Still, it could possibly be considered the first and ONLY decent Koontz adaptation since DEMON SEED.
Especially considering how badly they fucked up adaptation of great books like WATCHERS and PHANTOMS.
Reply to this
I have a hatred for High Tension that rivals movies that are legitimately shitty. And that's because for 2/3's of High Tension, I fucking loved it so much. The first "horror" scene in that house was all time great creepy. Legitimately great stuff. Then the scene with Muse playing as they drove the car around. It was great. And then they hit me with the fucking Tyler Durden ending. How many movies were ruined this decade with that shit? A fucking lot. And this one, as you even admit, didn't even make sense. Lazy and hack. Fuck that movie.
Reply to this
I have read practically all of Jack Ketchum's novels. Off-season, Red, The Girl Next Door, The Lost, Peacable Kingdom... these are all remarkably well-done books although I can't say I would recommend them to anyone because they truly are disturbing pieces of literature.
I might get some hate for this but a film that deserves it's place on this list I would have to say is Micheal Haneke's 2007 remake of "Funny Games". It's uncompromising, unsettling, unpleasant but a very important piece of work.
Reply to this
I dont even put Funny Games on a best of the decade list because to me its one of the best ever made for the reason that my parents and sister DESPISE ALL HORROR films as degenerate filth that is "of the devil".
But i was awoken one night by them all screaming at the TV and low and behold what were they watching ,with the most fevered attention, Funny Games offcourse...
The Non-Gore factor drew them in and the tension kept them there till the end.
Its "Funny" how Haneke is able to make a movie that basically condemns its own audience and genre and yet that same audience can watch it and enjoy it.
What other movie can do that...
But trust me your not alone in Loving this film.
That look in the last scene pretty much sums up the whole movie "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?"
Reply to this
My main problem with Funny Games (the 2007 version mostly, although I'm also not a great lover of the original), is that it sets out to analyze and play with the expectations of people who watch movies that people would describe as Torture Porn. Now, THAT in itself isn't what I disike about this flick. I have no problem with a movie making me think about why I'm enjoying something, especially something morally frowned-upon in real life. More movies should fuck around with their audience, if anything. The problem I had was, the people who it should be asking this question... most of them aren't going to watch this film, and the ones that are probably aren't going to like it enough to think about it. The audience for this movie seemed to be predominantly people who had already made up their minds about those kinds of films, and liked that someone had made something that they could watch whilst nodding along to and bemoaning the fate of today's youth.
Now, if you made this exact film, with these exact themes and questions, and maybe even the exact same characters, but made it in the style of, say the Saw movies, THEN you'd have something infinitely more subversive, AND could reach an audience beyond the converted it's already preaching to.
Reply to this
"the people who it should be asking this question" did you mean "people who it should be asking this question of?"
if so what people do you mean?
Consumers of all things violent from football to action movies to horror etc.?
and again "the audience its preaching to?"
in your opinion which audience is that?
I honestly dont see how putting everything into the saw framework/style could make it more "subversive" and reach a wider audience.
Why change it?
I mean the whole family/people being "cuttoff from society" and terrorized by the crazed killer/killers is the standard cliche style choice. Thats obviously why Haneke used it because its the ultimate horror cliche that we all can instantly identify with. What has a wider audience than that?
please explain.
Why is its style inneffective as it is presented?
in other words why would you say change it to a saw style?
Why would the saw style more fitting?
Jigsaw is an infinitely more interesting killer. A killer with a sense of morality always give you more mass appeal because it makes him human. You can actually partially understand his actions even if youd never partake in them. That definitely speaks to an audience "beyond the converted" (by that i mean horror fans) as well.
i just want to understand what your saying and where your coming from honestly
not trying to be a dick lol
Reply to this
several times i had visited this site each and every time i find interesting aspects.
Reply to this
several times i had visited this site each and every times i find interesting facts
Reply to this
Identity (2003).
Reply to this
You may already know this but, Borderland is actually loosely based off of real events of a cult lead by Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo in Mexico City.
Reply to this
Really Brad, do you ever get scared in a movie anymore?
Reply to this
Definitely should have included Behind the mask : the rise of leslie vernon somewhere on there, it was such an under rated movie, and its basically 2 movies in one, a mockumentary followed by a slasher, and its got a great twist too.
Reply to this
1. Strange Circus (gotta love bizarre J- horrors)
2. 1408 (a huge SH4 ripoff, but I never liked SH4 so it's k)
3. Haute Tension (or it's uk title, Switchblade Romance<- awesome)
4.LTROI (it's in the comments a couple times, but hey, its one of the most depressing movies I've seen in a long while :O)
5. Devils Rejects (obviously)
Reply to this
Just thought you should know, 1408 was written well before SH4 was ever made by Stephen King. One of his short stories that was adapted to film. From my recollection they took liberties with the film but ya.... its not a rip off of SH4. On that note, I like SH4 even though most dont, the concept horrifies me to begin with (being trapped in a room).
Reply to this
The Ring
Reply to this
I love the look of this movie and think it's very well-directed and shot.
But it still doesn't come anywhere near the raw sense of stygian dread that Nakata's original had.
Reply to this
The Girl Next Door is based on the Sylvia Likens murder, but is a fictional adaption. I've only seen An American Crime, which is the movie based on the real crime and following trial, but it provoked the exact same feelings in me. From what I've heard TGND went more for shock value, while AAC was more emotional. Also I absolutely adore Ellen Page. What really made me so sad and angry about the movie was the fact, that it was real. Real names, real people, real crimes. I don't know if a fictional adaptation would have had the same impact on me.
An American Crime is a horrible and depressing movie, but one of the most important films of the decade. Be warned, it is emotionally very disturbing and unsettling.
Reply to this
Great list Brad, allot of good horror movie that I didn't see this decade are in your list, mostly because I did the mistake to see the most hyped horror movies which were shit but also because I wanted to see allot of old horror movies.
I didn't think The Strangers was scary because: Liv Tyler's heavy breathing like a maniac when she was trying to sneak from the killers, the shotgun scene when the boyfriend doesn't check who is coming when he hides with the girlfriend although he clearly knew the attackers don't have guns so he could have checked to see who was coming, also they never explained why they were so distant(it was kind of made the big thing at the start, but maybe they wanted to say survival makes you forget your petty problems) and also it's another hillbillies are murderers movie. Shawn of the Dead always bothered me because I don't think they handled to well the comedy/serious horror movie aspect but I commented that on your Zombieland review about that issue.
Paranormal activity is pretty scary especially at night but it bothered me that the movie had a major plot hole: all the scares started from the opened door and when the boyfriend saw that the girlfriend was sleepwalking he had no excuse to not lock the door so she didn't leave again.
The old horror movie that I liked and saw this year: Deadly Friend, Zombi 2, The Re-Animator Trilogy(you mentioned the third but I think it was the weakest but still it was in the spirit of the first 2), Return Of The Living Dead, Play Misty For Me, re-saw Child's Play and it really aged well, all the Hellraiser movies except Hellworld which I don't think I'll have the patience to see.
Again great list and hope to get to see those movies because it kind of was disappointing this decade for the horror genre ( torture porn anyone) but this movies maybe will do them justice. Also I recently tracked down the never released to DVD 1983 horror movie The Keep, hope this is the year I get to watch it because the controversy or criticism towards it is pretty interesting to make me watch it.
Reply to this
I'm glad you included Session 9 on the list. It's an overlooked horror gem.
IMHO, The 2004 Dawn of the Dead "remake" deserves a spot on the list. It was much better than Land of the Dead.
I wish they hadn't used the "Dawn of the Dead" title. Except for the shopping mall, the movie was not a remake at all and could have stood on its own with a different title.
Reply to this
Are you a fan of the Troma serie? okay I guess they don't really count as horror movies but Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead came out in 2006 and it was pretty good in my opinion... this movie is just insane & hilarious and quite gory too.
Reply to this
I've got to say, I freaking loved the first part of The Descent, but they completely lost me when the monsters started attacking. I thought the film was going to show us the monsters, but never making them interact directly with the girls (or only with the one who was going crazy) so we are left to wonder if they are real or not. Once they started attacking, I didn't find the movie scary or suspenseful anymore.
Otherwise, I kind of liked "Land", but I thought the characters were impossibly boring and that the fact the zombies evolved so much overnight was kind of silly. I wouldn't call it a great film, but it was entertaining. Oh, and they used CGI blood in a couple of occasions, didn't they?
Reply to this
Did you see the American or the European version of The Descent? The European version has a different(better) ending that sheds more light onto the mental state of the remaining girl.
Reply to this
I really don't know, but it ended with the girl waking up after a hallucination or something. If that's the European version, well that's the one I saw and it didn't really made things better, in my opinion.
Reply to this
I need to check some of these out.
I don't know if you've commented on "Slither"... that would be one of my best of the decade picks. Also, "Let the Right One In".
Totally agree with you on "28 Days Later". It holds up pretty well. "28 Weeks Later" had it's moments, but played itself more as a straight action movie. Still good, just not nearly as good as "Days".
Glad to see a little love for "Land of the Dead".
Reply to this
Good list, I agree with the majority of these. I was disappointed with Drag Me to Hell and didn't think Paranormal Activity was scary (slightly creepy in spots but that's it), however.
Ah, the Girl Next Door. Right up there with Hubert Selby's The Room in its ability to disturb.
One that I would add is the French flick "Frontier(s)." I think it was part of the after dark horrorfest series. It's one of the few in the torture-happy genre that I actually thought was worthwhile.
Reply to this
Blah...Frontière was just another Texas Chainsaw Massacre copycat, with a racist anti-France underdone.
Reply to this
The absolute ferocity of the movie is what impressed me... yes it borrowed ideas from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but stylistically it was more frenetic and brutal. I dug it. As for the racist undertone, you may have a point there. I interpreted as a satire of the rise in French fascism, but I may be wrong.
Reply to this
"Frontière(s)" is a FRENCH, and not anti-French, movie, although some French people might find it offensive, due to the fact that the French people is utterly nationalist. But the point that "Frontière(s)" wanted to make is terribly political, and terribly true: how the French society repulses 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants, even those who should actually be French 100% due to the "Ius Solis", and how strongly the extreme right-wing ideologies can take on the French public opinion, due to the above-mentioned utterly nationalistic attitude of the French people.
Reply to this
Seriously? NO AUDITION?! I cant believe it was not atleast mentioned in the DISTURBING STUFF category. Did you just not see the film Brad? or was their some basis for excluding it from the list? Love to get your opinion on the film if youve seen it. Its Personally my favorite of the decade. Both truly DEEPLY scary as well as one of the best grossout moments maybe in all of movie history. My only gripe is that if you see the trailer or the dvd boxcover before hand it can substantially takes away some of the movies power, but other than that no complaints.
Reply to this
Audition is from 1999, so it doesn't quite qualify, as Brad's list is ony for post-nintes releases. Good movie though; I would have added it to my list had it come out a year later.
Reply to this
Okay, don't remember exactly WHO suggested "Mother of Tears", but well, he'd better swallow it, 'cause it sucks pretty pretty bad!!!
Reply to this
MOTHER OF TEARS was appalling, but so amusingly bad you could probably get drunk with some friends and have a good laugh at it.
Reply to this
Man, you got it right. That movie is BAD. Amusingly bad, according to some, okay, but I am Italian, and as an Italian, I can only CRY in establishing how down low our national horror master (Dario Argento) has fallen.
Reply to this
I need to check some of these out.
I don't know if you've commented on "Slither"... that would be one of my best of the decade picks. Also, "Let the Right One In".
Totally agree with you on "28 Days Later". It holds up pretty well. "28 Weeks Later" had it's moments, but played itself more as a straight action movie. Still good, just not nearly as good as "Days".
Glad to see a little love for "Land of the Dead".
Reply to this
i fear Brad's missing most of the glory that is Takashi Miike, though if i were to make a best horror movie list, the only movie of his i'd include is Imprint, as it's the only one i've seen that truly is, through and through, a horror movie.
fuckin' hated Drag Me To Hell, The Strangers, Wolf Creek (though the point about innocence is VERY interesting, i just don't think it was executed well enough to save the film), 28 Weeks Later (big disappointment after Days), and Devil's Rejects (couldn't even watch the whole thing, which isn't fair, but i found it utterly intolerable).
rest of the list was great, as are the suggestions in the comments, and as a fan of depressing, disturbing stuff, i'm really looking forward to watching The Girl Next Door.
Reply to this
I cant say what I thought are the best horror films of the decade because I forget about them, my memory is shit. The only one I can remember is Philosophy Of A Knife. Its not a film but a documentary. Its the most graphically violent and disturbing film i've ever seen.
Reply to this
"Audition" has a release date of 1999, which is why I didn't put it on the list. Otherwise, it would have been #1
Reply to this
A lot of people might disagree with me but I think Hannibal should've been there (by Hannibal I mean the 2001 Ridley Scott film, NOT that piece of crap Hannibal Rising)
Reply to this
I enjoyed HANNIBAL for the 'grand guignol' of the story, Gary Oldman's performance and Ridley Scott's gothic stylings.
But the source material was weak and Julianne Morre was just terrible.
Reply to this
I'd have to say I strongly agree with Shawn, Paranormal, and Planet Terror. However, the ones I could have used are Believe, Gravedancers, and Salvage.
Salvage, shot on videotape had a strong story. Low production values, yet still telling a Twilight Zone like story.
Gravedancers was the best of the 8 films to die for IMO. After a funeral, a group of thirty-somethings get drunk and dance on the graves of serial killers and their ghosts come out for revenge.
Believe was a kids ghost movie that was spooky enough. Direct to VHS and highly enjoyable. A very well done version of the boy who goes to live with his grandpa in a haunted house.
Reply to this
Nooooo not Gravedancers! I liked the idea but the execution... oh man. The giant CGI head at the end had me laughing long into the night.
Reply to this
Here would be my list:
10.Hostel 2
9. Cabin Fever
8. Shawn of the Dead
7. Paranormal Activity
6. Grindhouse
5. Gravedancers
4. Devil's Rejects
3. Salvage
2. Believe
1. The Mist
Reply to this
Have you seen severence or dead snow?
I like severence for it's smart and tongue-in-cheek humor and dead snow had a slow build up but absolutely kicks ass in the last half hour.
If you haven't seen any of them ,you should check them out
Reply to this
I hated 28 weeks later and The Cottage.
Here two better horror movie for the 2000's severence and jesus camp
Reply to this
I pretty much agree with everything on your list. I would have included; Feast, Martyrs, Slither, Pontypool, Bubba Ho-Tep, and The Ring.
Reply to this
I didn't like '28 Weeks Later' and 'Land Of The Dead'. Just a lot of things in them I didn't buy. I loved 'Shaun Of The Dead' for the same reasons. I loved the 'Dawn Of The Dead' remake, especially the opening. Just imagine going to bed one night and everythings normal, then waking up to THAT! And you only have a minute to realize whats going on and get your shit together before you're food.
I don't know if this counts as horror, but 'Zodiac' had some good creepy scenes in it.
Reply to this
A couple of my favourites not mentioned were Pontypool, and Martyrs. Of the most well-done, utterly depressing and downright frustrating of horrors to watch, I'd put Eden Lake. Most flat-out scary I can recall affecting my sleep at least... probably Isolation.
Was nice to see Fido brought up.. I had nearly forgotten about that one.
Reply to this
Like The Girl Next Door, an italian film "Irreversible" is horrific and can only be watched once imo.
Reply to this
...err, French film (2002)
Reply to this
My list is as follows...
May: This is the reason I'm a Angela Bettis fan! May has such a innocence that you just can't help but love, even when she's carving people into coleslaw.
Versus: I had no idea what the hell was going on, but it was awesome!
Ichi The Killer: My first Miike movie (but not my last).
Poultrygiest: Night Of The Chicken Dead: I can't help but to love this movie; it's my no-brow sense of humor.
Visitor Q: 'Teorema' meets 'Pink Flamingos' in a film by Takashi Miike. For adventurous movie-goers only.
Grindhouse: I didn't think that eather movie was strong enough to stand on it's own, but as a old-fashioned drive-in style double-feature it was brilliant! I hope the complete version comes to DVD soon.
High Tension: I was actually hoping not to like this one because there was a guy I used to knew whom I disliked quite a bit. He was (is) a fan of this movie, and I was hoping to hate it so that I could make fun of it while he was around, as I knew that would be an effective way of pissing him off. Unfortunately, I did like it, and that pisses ME off! Oh well, I guess there's really nothing I can do about it (damn).
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat: Funny parody of/sequal to, 1963's 'Blood Feast.' Directed by H. G. Lewis.
Let The Right One In: A very moving vampire drama.
Ginger Snaps: Lycanthropy used as a metaphor for female puberty. Has some "Why do smart characters act so stupidly?" moments, but a really good movie overall.
House Of 1000 Corpses: I know there are many people who hated this one, but to hell with them; I really liked this movie! Especially the ironic use of Film and television clips. Like when the protagonists' car breaks down in the rain storm and it cuts to a clip of 'Old Dark House,' or when grandpa and Ottis are arguing while 'The Munsters' plays on TV. Also, the Bette Davis joke was pretty damn funny. (I have not yet seen 'Devil's Rejects')
Hatchet: Really stupid, but a lot of fun. GREAT GORE!
Teeth: I like it. Sue me.
The Devil's Backbone: I'm glad that I like this one because it means that I actually get to be in the majority for once.
Gozu: See: My comment for 'Versus.'
Reply to this
Best horror with some elements of action and comedy of the decade, next to Shawn is Dog Soldiers (2002) (let's say Evil Dead 2 with werewolves ) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280609/. Also Dead Birds (2004) wasn't too bad http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377749/ for a western horror but it's pretty straightforward (let's say Pitch Black without action or hero characters).
Reply to this
i love Evil dead 1st and 2nd as one of the best horror movie i love it a lot
Reply to this
I would have thrown THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL on the list, along with DEAD SNOW.
Because I enjoyed it on the most adolescent level, FREDDY VS JASON.
Also, my favorite werewolf of all time, GINGER SNAPS as well as the sequel, GINGER SNAPS 2. Both very good and very different horror movies.
I enjoyed DEAD AND BREAKFAST as well, which very few people have seen.
Loved that you had HAUTE TENSION on the list and that you liked the twist (although I have a theory about why it makes complete sense).
I also loved that you liked LAND OF THE DEAD. It was roundly dinged by a lot of horror movie critics, but I found it to be a very classic Romero story.
Keep up the amazing work, Brad.
Reply to this
"The Girl Next Door" was a grisly flick indeed. I needed a shower after that one.
If I had to pick my favorite horror film of the decade, I'd go with either "28 Days Later", "Ichi The Killer", "The Mist", or "Mysterious Skin". The last one is a bit noteworthy, as, while it definitely is a very disturbing and horrific film, is more a movie that belongs in the genre of drama than "horror" really. Nevertheless, it deals with pedophilia and sexual abuse much in the same way as "The Girl Next Door" does, so I tend to at least parcially classify it as a horror movie. Very, very disturbing, kudos to any Icarus intend on watching it.
Thanks for the video, Brad, really enjoyed it.
Reply to this
Mysterious Skin was excellent. Good call.
Reply to this
Mysterious Skin is a brilliant movie I agree but so much NOT a horror movie. It's drama all the way.
Reply to this
My thoughts on "The girl next door" :
The fact it's disturbing and hard to watch kinda distracts the viewers so they don't see gigantic plot holes and improbability of such a story. First of all - if boy wanted to help her so much, why didn't he tell hes parents? Or any other adult? We have some serious "Home alone" style psychology going on here. Why didn't anyone do something? You think people are so cruel? Sure, some of them are, but again - so many in one place? Only for hitting the little boy one time? I mean yes - aunt had her own reasons, but not the children. And aunt isn't worried at all that someone will tell their parents about this? Why? This is more improbable and overdone than "Salo." Sorry guys, it isn't a masterpiece, it isn't "the truthful story" and I'm not really sure if you could call this a horror movie, again, coming back to "Salo" - it doesn't have "horror" genre attached in it's description, but it's ten times more disturbing than this flick. The only positive thing I would have to say - the movie is really well directed and built it just doesn't have credible enough story to go with that.
Reply to this
I'm sorry but read this:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/likens/1.html
This is what the movie is based on.
Reply to this
I knew it. So what? You can slap "based on" on practically any movie ever made, it doesn't give it any more credibility and besides the ending note trust me, it doesn't have anything to do with the story of this movie. I'm sure book explains it much better and maybe even give credible motives and environment, but the movie just felt too rushed and didn't gave viewers minds any credible material to work with. It's not happening by the means it was described here, it just doesn't, in movie or any kind of logic.
Reply to this
Yes it's romanticized but you're claiming that people in real life wouldn't act that way. Well they did.
Rushed the movie may be but if they had covered every single detail then it would have had the same problem An American Crime had. That movie was more truthful to the original story but also suffered from a lack of inpact because it got bogged down on details and boring court sequences.
Reply to this
I said people wouldn't act that way without a motive aka someones powerful influence, which wasn't shown here and it's the main problem and gap of the movie, which in my opinion takes any kind of credibility from it. The only reasoning here would be that they all were seriously messed up before the movie even began, but that though kinda takes out all the steam from this particular story and still leaves the Home alone psychology style of our main hero, which I can't get as rational by any means.
Reply to this
That's why I can't imagine a movie doing the book justice.
The novel is written in the first person from the point of view of the boy. In fact it's book-ended by him in the present day trying to come to terms with what happened and how he didn't stop it.
The novel paints a disturbingly plausible picture of the power adults have over children. And the in-depth psychological processes that the boy goes through are brilliant rendered in Ketchum's novel.
Also, I heard the movie changed the ending to some kind of lame 'villain fight'. The ending of the book was a real gut-punch.
SO no, I still have no desire to see the movie. I can imagine it would only work on a gratuitous, shock level, rather than a deeply sad story of a young boy in love and facing the most vile evil imaginable.
Reply to this
Movie has the same ending and intro as you described from the novel. There was "a villain fight" at the end though too and really lame one I'd have to say. I haven't red the book, but I haven't felt any kind of "power adults have over children" thingy going on which you emphasized here, because most of the children here were shown probably even more sick and disturbed than the aunt, which made this movie even more improbable.
Reply to this
...Borderland? You're kidding, right? My Dad and I watched it two Halloweens ago and thought it was the dumbest movie ever. I guess it's one of those movies that's more for exploitation/gore fans than anything else.
Reply to this
Good list, I would def. have added poultrygeist. One of the best horror movies of the decade IMO.
Reply to this
"Poultrygeist! Poultrygeist! These chickens ain't cool, these chickens ain't nice. Listen mister, take my advice; you'd better stay away from Poultrygeist..."
Reply to this
AWWWW NO! I'd Put Land Of The Dead In My Worst Movies Of The Decade. It's Fucking Horrible.
Reply to this
Nice list, there's a few on there I've not seen, and I'd never even heard of Girl next Door.
I liked your comments about films being creepy, rather than just gory, because after years of watching every gore film under the sun, I'm now pretty bored with it all.
The other night I saw The Children, which magaes to be both utterly under-your-skin creepy, and incredibly gory.
It was certainly the best horror I've seen in the last 12 months, and well worth a look.
Reply to this
brad, if you're into exploitation stuff you should also check out "Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!(2008)" documentary one of my favourite films/docos of 2008. You should ne able to find it on DVD in the US now i think?(though not sure).
Reply to this
Amazing documentary. Extremely fun and well-produced. And essential viewing for any fan of worldwide genre cinema.
And as an Australian myself, I felt a deep shame that I didn't know about a lot of these movies.
Although quite a few of them, like BMX BANDITS and RAZORBACK, were childhood classics.
Reply to this
same here though thanks to the doco i went and bought Mad Dog Morgan, razorback and Turkey Shoot(real dud)and added them to my collection.
Reply to this
The way you described The Girl Next Door not only made me really want to see it, from interest, bu tit reminded me of a recent movie I watched called An American Crime with Ellen Page lol. It was actually a good movie, but this one sounds darker and like something, not that I would want to see, but something to see. What did you think of Irreversible? Since we are on the subject of fucked up movies!
Reply to this
Slither, Let the Right One In, and Grindhouse (the whole thing) are my picks. Slither is underrated imo and not a lot of people seem to talk about it.
Frank Henenlotter's Bad Biology and House of the Devil could be seen as 2008/2009 films respectively as they circulated at film festivals, but are not getting DVD releases until within this month. Could a review by Brad be on the horizon for both?
Reply to this
SLITHER was cool.
That picture should have made Nathan Fillion a star. But Universal's retarded publicity fools wouldn't market the picture properly.
Much like they failed to do with LAND OF THE DEAD.
Reply to this
I was happy to see HAUTE TENSION getting some love here, btw. While I am sympathetic to viewers who did not like the "twist" I have my own view of it that, in fact, makes it all make entire sense. I have discussed it with people who do not like the twist and their view of it after I explain it usually that they still don't like it, but that my version makes more sense.
Reply to this
Let The Right One In and Pan's Labyrinth need to be here (Pan's Labyrinth isn't exactly horror but hey ...)
Also, 28 Weeks later was bullshit.
Reply to this
Some very good choices. I haven't seen The Strangers, but I know that it is a remake of the french horrorfilm " Them ". If you haven't seen it yet you probably should watch it some time. I strongly recommend it.
Reply to this
Wasn't 'Them' the giant ant movie?
Reply to this
yes. The French film Percilitor is refering to is officially called Ils, but the international title is Them.
Reply to this
Watching Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door right now. So far, it's making me feel uncomfortable.
I do have one recommendation, and I'm sure you've gotten this a lot. I would check out "Let the Right One In." That's the 2008 vampire movie that people should have gone out to see instead of that other 2008 vampire movie...
Reply to this
I'm so glad that someone FINALLY sticks up for Land Of The Dead.
It's amazing how many people that I know of claim that they hated that movie so much, and then proceed to describe WHY this was, as if they didn't even watch any more than 11 seconds of the whole fucking film.
It's one of those things that just convinces me that people just blindly hate everything simply because everyone 'else' says it's terrible, so they go along with it, just to hop on a bandwagon, even though they clearly didn't understand the movie, didn't watch it or even seemingly pay attention to it.
However, I have to say the same thing about the Friday the 13th remake and was sad to see that this wasn't on the list.
Simply for the fact that if you set out to remake a movie, THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT.
It took everything that was wrong, stupid, pointless, bad, and worthless about the original Friday 13th films and just completely threw that stuff out, leaving you only with what was GOOD, what works, and what you really paid to see.
One of those rare remakes that succeeds in every possible way at being FAR BETTER than the originals. Every single one.
Because the original movies suffer from many problems that truly earn their place as horribly made films, in that they keep trying to make the films about irrelevant bullshit that no one fucking cares about, through pointless, dead weight sequel after sequel.
The series took 3 WHOLE films to find it's way to a decent formula that would eventually root it as a significant cultural icon, and then spent nearly every movie since, trying to go off on stupid tangents about the kid that escaped Jason, the stupid girl with the telekinetic powers, even a movie where Jason himself only appears in it for 5 fucking minutes, in a series of poorly made trashy films that have no idea where they want to go.
The remake of Friday the 13th, just did everything right, fixed everything that was wrong, finally gives people what they paid for, and basically gave credibility and integrity to a series of badly made, nonsensical, stupidly pointless, boring films that never had any to begin with.
It certainly is the greatest horror remake of all time. I left the theater after the Friday remake just feeling very good that such a film came along and fixed everything that was ever wrong about Jason Voorhees in the most masterful way I'd ever seen anyone do. Especially Derek Mears who re-invented the role to perfection and is far and away the best Jason ever put on film. Especially better than that pretentious, asshole, method actor fucktwit Kane Hodder.
It was rare to me, to see a movie that just fixed all of the series glaring flaws and understood it's audience, and gave them the best movie with the Jason Voorhees name ever produced.
...and then everyone shit on it due to their blind fucking nostalgia overwriting their better sense.
It was, in short, an antidote for everything that the original films failed at. ...so of course halfwits put it down.
Reply to this
I don;t know why people hate on LAND OF THE DEAD either.
I think it has good production values and a lot of aMbition.
It also has Asia Argento aT heR Euro-trash HOTTEST, so you can't dismiss THAT.
For me I actually found DIARY OF THE DEAD nigh-on unwatchable, with its atrocious acting and sledgehammer 'message;.
Epic fail, George! And for one I'm not talking about 'Lucas'.
Reply to this
I'm not a big fan of Land of the Dead. It was interesting for the reasons you mentioned but I didn't like the single, random intelligent zombie or the acting. Specifically the guy who once played Luigi in that god awful Mario Bros. movie. In fact, that might be a big reason, every single time I see him, it reminds of that piece of crap and it just remains in my mind for the whole duration that he's on screen. Nonetheless it wasn't terrible, just not one of my favourites.
I would've like to see Pan's Labyrinth on the list and definitely Sweeney Todd. Such a great cast, awesome music and every time Johnny Depp slits a throat, I felt a need to hold my own to make sure 30 gallons of blood wasn't spewing out of it.
Reply to this
I'm not a big fan of Land of the Dead. It was interesting for the reasons you mentioned but I didn't like the single, random intelligent zombie or the acting. Specifically the guy who once played Luigi in that god awful Mario Bros. movie. In fact, that might be a big reason, every single time I see him, it reminds of that piece of crap and it just remains in my mind for the whole duration that he's on screen. Nonetheless it wasn't terrible, just not one of my favourites.
I would've like to see Pan's Labyrinth on the list and definitely Sweeney Todd. Such a great cast, awesome music and every time Johnny Depp slits a throat, I felt a need to hold my own to make sure 30 gallons of blood wasn't spewing out of it.
Also really glad someone else has seen Fido. That movie is just great. Totally different and unexpected take on zombies.
Reply to this
You should watch Splinter
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1031280/
god damn creepy
Reply to this
I second this. I watched this last night. It's very oldschool in execution. Bunch of people trapped in the middle of nowhere while some kind of unknown lifeform is trying to kill them.
Surprisingly effective little horror movie.
Reply to this
Just had to chip in with my top 12. Sorry but 10 was just way too tough. So in no particular order:
Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Beginning (best of the series).
Martyrs (So traumatic it wore me out)
Frontiers (More trauma for the soul,and superbly made)
Wolf Creek (Your review hit the nail on the head)
Descent (Again as per your review. The claustrophobia really got to me big time way before the creatures )
Dead End ( Great horror/comedy. Hilarious and creepy)
Feast (As above,but with action and gore)
Dog Soldiers (Just fantastic fun )
The Strangers (Seems so rare to feel the kind of creepyness that you get from this movie)
Paranormal Activity (As above. Has to be watched alone in the dark just before bedtime. But if the wife/girlfriend insists on watching it with you,make sure that on that night she`s sleeping on the side of the bed nearest the door,and insist it`s left ajar.)
The Mist ( Best ending of the decade )
Storm Warning (Love the way the characters creep me out in this)
Cheers,I`m off to watch Rogue on DVD now,followed by Black Water.......It`s a saturday night Croco-phon!
Reply to this
hi man, i just recently found your cinema snob show on youtube when searching terminator 2, love the website, alot of realy cool and funny shows uve made man, but in response to the top horror films of the decade, ont know if you saw Dead Set or not from over here in the uk, it was a miniseries but has been released as a film in some places. Also the french film Irreversable with vincent cassel and monica belluci was easily one of the most horrific films of the decade. would you not call the mist a horror film? or would it be more of a sci-fi? i would definately put the swedish zombie-nazi horror comedy from 2009 Dead Snow in my list dude but i dont know if you guys saw that over in the U.S. p.s. ive got an ideal film for you to review for the cinema snob, Leprechaun:Back 2 the hood. Thanks your your consideration.
Reply to this
As a fellow critic, I would have to include OTIS, a disturbing black comedy type of horror movie; Trick R Treat, a great little anthology piece that finally does my favorite day justice and BEHIND THE MASK, one of the smartest horror movies I've ever seen
Reply to this
My sister and I saw "Land of the dead" and absolutely HATED it.. We left the theater actually laughing at the performances of the zombies and shockingly, Dennis Hopper. I love his work and think he's a great actor but this film is probably one of my least favorites in the Romero series.
I feel bad because you seemed to enjoy it so much. Now I'm feeling like it deserves another watch!
Reply to this
The Swedish film "Let the Right One In." It is an amazing film, not a full horror film like you mentioned, more of Horror-Drama, but very good. I would highly recommend it and I'd kind of like to know how you feel about it if you see it.
There is also a japanese film called "Battle Royale" which is pretty awsome, very Lord of the Flies esque. "American Psycho" was also pretty fun.
Reply to this
I'm glad you included paranormal activity. I thought I was the only one who liked that movie. I was genuinely terrified after I watched that movie. I guess it didn't help that I watched it alone and I have a two story house.
The Girl Next Door WAS very disturbing. I thought it was great. It motivated me to read some of Jack Ketchum. He's a truly sick person and I love him for it.
I think I'll be coming back here often. I like your take on horror which is why I'm gonna watch the movies on your list that I have yet to see.
Reply to this
this isn't a good horror movie just a suggestion. u should review Demonic by tom savini. kind of like a more modern shot in shitteo with a little higher budget. if u were to show clips there'd be ALOT of censor cause the guy in a way made a softcore porn horror movie. if u get the dvd suggest watching the audition tapes XD entertaining movie in a its got hot women with nice tits goin for it and thats it. plus the opening credit scene is like 10 min long
Reply to this
I really liked The Hamiltons, and also Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Both are on the funny side, but all the others I like are already mentioned here I think. Anyway, those are the ones I could think of right now at least
Reply to this
The one movie I can think of at the moment that should have been on the list but wasn't would have to be Ichi the Killer. This was a movie that could be just purely disgusting, horrific and twisted, then be outrageous and even hilarious. More than once they actually cross the streams mixing shocking, intense violence with humor and a pinch of camp. I love that movie.
Reply to this
I must say that the girl next door really took me in, emotionally, and i could'nt get it out of my head afterwards. Although it is not one of my favoritye movies, mainly because it is so dumb in several ways (I still recommend it though)
-!!!!Spoiler alert!!!!-
Ok, so we have this protagonist, David, that likes the girl and wants to help her. But... Why doesn't he just go show where Meg is to the police. I don't quite remember it, but I think he did tell the police and then the policeman came but was told that the girls were out shopping. Okay then, could'nt David have been more specific when he reported the crime and say that she was in the basement? And what's up with the policeman. He was just told that Meg was being used as a boxing bag but is ok with the explanation that she is just out shopping with the sister and leaves. I mean.. WTF. He makes Chief Wigum and Officer Barbrady seem like competemt law enforcers!
Futhermore it really PISSES ME OFF that he doesn't say anything to his parents. It would be cool if he was a sadistic bastard like the other, but he shows throughout the whole movie that he cares about Meg SO WHY DIDN'T HE TELL THEM INSTEAD OF GOING ALONE ON A RESCUE MISSION! I kinda like the idea with the protagonist who wants to help the girl but I just don't think the way the story was written makes any sense. Maybe it is better explained in the book why David is so passive when it comes to asking for help?
Also i think that the movie gets physical too quicky, I would have liked to have more psychological build-up. The shift seems very abrupt to me. I am going to see the real true story tonight (An american Crime) maybe it is more of my taste
Reply to this
As disturbing as some people might find the movie version of The Girl Next Door, it left me utterly disappointed in the end. I can't say anything about the acting, as it's some time since I watched it, and unless it's terrible, it's not something I pay a lot of attention to. But... the ending of the movie...
Not long before I watched the movie I had read the book, and I really liked the ending. This book had managed to anger me (and for a book to provoke any emotions from me, good or bad, is a rare thing,) and I really wanted to hit the aunt. The end, on the other hand, almost managed to make me feel sad, and... the movie did neither. Yes, they show some cruelty and emotions, but the ending, to me, was just so bland. It left no impact on me at all, and that's a pity considering the source.
I found it to be an okay movie, but if you like it (maybe even if you hate it), I wholeheartedly recommend the book. It is far superior to the movie in many, if not all ways
Reply to this
Great choises!
I would have chosen:
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Dread
Inside
Rec
Irreversible
The Devils rejecs
The Children
Shaun of The Dead
Planet Terror
Saw
Reply to this
The many people built it up to be the new evil dead but i didnt think it came anywhere near. Still enjoyed it though, so it might have been more like a matter of what i expected. I also seem to be in the minority on the devils rejects, which is one of the few movies that actually made me angry, thats how much i hated it. I also cant agree on land of the dead.
Reply to this
hey wheres the host
Reply to this
flooding juicy ring struck hardest in such replica longines residential areas as Gentilly and iwc pilot's watch spitfire the Lower Ninth Wardre. tissot titanium watches While the waters largely spared jaeger le coultre replica the Central Business District and patek 24 the French Quarter, more then omega seamaster watches
Reply to this
I liked the Host a lot. I would probably rank that in my top 10 of the decade for horror flicks.
Reply to this
Well, I finally saw 'The Descent' and you were right. That movie is going to be a classic!
I also saw 'The Descent 2.' Unfortunately, you were also right about that one.
Reply to this
Great site. This could probably have the refactoring tag added t it.
Reply to this
i actually just watched the girl next door yesterday what you said pretty much felt after watching it i agree with it being on your top defiantly is on mine
Reply to this
28 days later is my favorite Zombie FIlm of all time. It is a piece of art demonstrating the class and human decisions that can go into suriving the apocalypse. And I love Christopher Eccleston. :3
Agree with all the other movies you mentioned that I saw, I saw the Descent yesterday and loved it. :3
As for Drag me to Hell though, I like it but I didn't exactly love it or anything. In someway I think it's far from the next Evil Dead series. But I watched the regular version, maybe the director's cut is better.
Reply to this
A little late I know, but,
I strongly agree that The Girl Next Door is awesome, it's a great film. But I don't see how you can praise (?) it (if that's what you are doing), and call it great, then turn around and hate on A Serbian Film.
Anyways, I think you should have put Let The Right One In up there, and Malefique (extremely obscure French horror flick, well, for you, probably not that obscure lol), and August Underground Mordum (sheerly for being disturbing, it tops Girl Next Door; but it is shitty, I admit), and Slaughtered Vomit Dolls (shit; but, again, more straightup disturbing than Girl Next Door), and the Roth films (well, maybe not, but I certainly like Roth a lot more than you and Phelous), 1408 and/or the Mist (I like 1408 a lot more, but a lot of people seem to put one or both of these on their lists, for good reason - a GOOD King adaptation?), and the House of the Devil (I am surprise this was not on your list, it was a direct 80s transplant, and I know you love the 80s and much as I love the 70s, you mentioned in your Cabin Fever 2 review that you like the director, Ti West, who made both of these films), American Psycho (if you count it as horror), The Hills Have Eyes, My Bloody Valentine 3D (examples of GOOD remakes), and probably more.
And I disagree with Paranormal Activity, I am in the 1/2 of horror fans who FUCKING HATE IT, and you are apparently in the 1/2 of horror fans who FUCKING LOVE IT. How could a movie be that divisive?
I was glad to see Saw not on the list, I don't like Saw at all, I'd much rather watch Hostel.
Reply to this
POULTRYGEIST - NIGHT OF THE CHICKEN DEAD, GUTTERBALLS and BAD BIOLOGY should have made the list.
Reply to this
Hi!
There are a few questions on your site.
How can I contact the administration?
Reply to this
now pitch black I really liked the sequels not so much so,, jut the way they filmed it was relaly cool, I found the last of the series a bit dissapointing actually
Reply to this
It fires me up that the whole "It voice activates or executes with words" thing (which is only logical if the world is populated by robots & the virus is a malware program.) doesn't seem to bother people, but plants spraying neurotoxins in the wind in The Happening is where they draw the line on suspension of disbelief.
Reply to this
Really, the paranormal activity series, come on. If I'm going to watch faked ghost/demonic activity, I will go watch the assholes on Ghost Adventures first. It would save me the 4 to 6 dollars. Haute Tension, I hate to say, the ending pulling the fight club shit was uncalled for. I mean please, there's homage and then there's rip off, and Haute Tension does it. I kind of liked The Strangers, never watched Wolf Creek (didn't interest me). Unlike Brad, I didn't hate 30 days of night too much, I mean any vampire flick now these days that actually has scary vampires in it. Not gay sparkly vampires named Edward Cullen. Is okay in my book. Funny Games, I absolutely hate in any version, the english one especially. I mean I hope Niaomi Watts and Tim Roth get flogged for that piece of utter shit. From the director who detests violence, yet is a massive hypocrite. Two, I so didn't appreciate the playing with the emotions of the audience thing with the deux machina of the fucking remote. I mean in a way I just felt miserable watching it, give me Transformers 2, its much better than watching these two pasty face dicks get away with murder on the likeable Niaomi Watts and Tim Roth. And I know the two murderers were suppose to be cruel and unmerciless. But there's also a point when they are compeletely annoying and I just wished for their deaths to happen quickly. YET HANEKE KEEPS THEM ALIVE DUE TO HIS STUPID DEUX ES MACHINA FUCK SHIT, I WANTED THEM DEAD, GODDAMIT. I KNOW HANEKE YOU ARE JUST PLAYING WITH MY EMOTIONS IN THIS STUPID MOVIE, AND YOU KNOW WHAT FUCK YOU HANEKE FUCK YOU, YOU MAKE FUCKING MICHAEL BAY LOOK TOLERABLE. That is why Funny games is one of the worst movies I have ever seen, because the director insults our intelligence worst than Michael Bay.
Reply to this