Sinister Cinema: The 00's

This was the decade of my teen years, which means it's definitely one that has a warm place in my horror heart. I spent a lot of weekends renting scary movies from Blockbuster or sneaking into R-rated slasher flicks with my friends. For the most part, the sinister cinema of this decade was pretty good. The 00's were a huge improvement from the hit-or-miss 90's, and while they're not as frightening as the 70's or memorable as the 80's, the first 10 years of the new millennium offers plenty of great flicks to sink your teeth into.

2000's 

15.) The Others (2001): Directed to eerie perfection by Alejandro Amenabar and bolstered by a perfectly cast Nicole Kidman, The Others is a throwback to simpler times, when haunted house movies like The Haunting or The Legend of Hell House were enough to keep audiences engaged. It's a great film, and if you like a good twist ending, it's not one to miss.

14.) The Grudge (2004): Part of the early 00's obsession with remaking Asian horror movies, The Grudge stands out for two reasons. One? The original film's director is at the helm (Takashi Shimizu) and it was produced by Sam Raimi. Two? For only being a PG-13 film, it has some of the creepiest screen moments of the decade.

13.) Drag Me to Hell (2009): Speaking of Sam Raimi, with Drag Me to Hell he shrugs off the big budget constraints of the Spider-Man trilogy and dives headfirst back into the genre that made him famous. This thing is bananas, with gypsy curses and demonic goats and, yes, plenty of hell-dragging. It is as silly as it is sensational.

12.) Joyride (2001): What is essentially a combo/remake of both Duel and The Hitcher, Joyride manages to conjure tension out of nowhere and build steadily to a relentless finale. I won't say it's perfect (there are moments where it feels hopelessly dated), but overall, it is an efficient and energetic movie.

11.) Saw (2004): Yeah, I know - many of you probably have strong feelings about this one, ranging from disgusted to indifferent. But ignoring the many (so many!) sequels, 2004's Saw is pretty great. Some of the performances are lacking (Cary Elwes and Danny Glover clearly don't want to be there), but the script is twisty and the overall concept is awesome. Bonus points are awarded for the creation of Jigsaw, who became the decade's only true horror icon.

10.) Slither (2006): With Slither, writer/director James Gunn (of Guardians of the Galaxy fame) gives us a movie that is gross, glib, and glorious. As usual, Nathan Fillion's performance as the hero is wonderful, balancing wit and heroism perfectly. But the real star here is the throwback vibe - it feels like a hokey B-movie from the 50's was struck by lightning and reanimated for modern audiences.

9.) Antichrist (2009): This is a terrific film, but it's also a grueling one. Much like Audition or Carpenter's The Thing, it's a movie that separates casual fans from the fully-initiated horror hounds. I'm not going to say much about it; just know that it is unquestionably the gnarliest movie of the decade. It is bleak and brutal.

8.) The Host (2006): South Korean director Bong Joon-ho is one of the most talented directors working today, and my love affair for his style started here with The Host. It's a monster movie, yes, but it's also one of the quirkiest big budget productions I've ever seen. The tension is real, the scares are effective, and the whole thing is just plain fun.

7.) The Descent (2005): To anyone claustrophobic or afraid of the dark, this movie will feel like a plummet straight to hell. Because most of the action takes place in an unexplored cave system, shot with tight angles and close-ups, you'll be uncomfortable at best and suffocated at worst. And watch out for that ending. It's a real corker.

6.) Trick 'r Treat (2007): In the pantheon of Halloween themed horror films, there are really only two options: 1978's Halloween and 2007's Trick 'r Treat. It's an anthology movie (I love those), and each story touches on a different horror archetype. They link together in intriguing, unexpected ways, but the best part of the movie is Sam - an impish child (?) with a burlap sack over his head and macabre mischief in his heart.

5.) 1408 (2007): And again we have a movie based on a Stephen King property - this time it's a short story that first appeared in the collection Everything's Eventual. Starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, 1408 is a lean, uncomplicated thriller. In a decade dominated by the grisly gore of the Saw and Hostel franchises, 1408 takes a simple concept with humble scares and manages to outshine most of its peers. It easily could've been made thirty years earlier, which is great. The plot adheres to genre conventions, which results in a timeless aura, free from zeitgeist or pop trappings. Cusack absolutely carries the movie; it's a testament to his screen presence that viewers buy into the cliched premise with such ease.

4.) Signs (2002): Lots of people hate this movie and I honestly don't know why. Aside from a pretty dull "twist" ending, everything else is great. Signs is a tremendously satisfying chiller, with standout performances, music, and cinematography. It's not just an alien (demon?) invasion story; it's also a story about lost faith, lost love, and destined redemption. Lots of this is communicated through the score, which is superb - an eerie three-note motif dominates the composition, evolving along with the tone of the script. But, like I mentioned before, the film's most rousing success is the acting. Abigail Breslin and Joaquin Phoenix are both great, but this movie belongs to Mel Gibson. His character is Graham Hess, an embittered former minister trying to protect his family. Every choice Gibson makes speaks volumes about life and loss. So I guess what I'm saying is - don't let the haters fool you. Signs is spectacular.

3.) [REC] (2007): I've always been a fan of found footage movies, but I recognize that most of them suck. They have to absolutely nail it in the realism department, and this usually comes down to the acting and script. Movies like The Blair Witch Project and Willow Creek work because they come across as convincingly human. This is where [REC] succeeds brilliantly. It's the story of a TV journalist who unwittingly becomes trapped in an apartment building full of zombies. It sounds cliche, but the razor sharp writing and three-dimensional performances make it...well, real. The scrambling, frantic tone makes it all the more frightening. (You should check out the sequel, too. It's just about as exciting and maybe twice as scary. But skip the so-so American remake, Quarantine.)

2.) The House of the Devil (2009): If you're a horror fan and have never heard of writer/director Ti West, then consider this a formal admonition. He's too gifted to be unknown. His biggest strength? Squeezing every drop of tension from worn-out genre tropes. Movies like The Sacrament and The Innkeepers take old ideas and make them new, but his hands-down best film has to be 2009's The House of the Devil. It's a classic scenario: a young babysitter, a strange old house, the things that go bump in the night. Even the execution is classic. West takes a distinctly Tarantinoan approach, defining the movie's style as if it were the late 1970's. This direction gives it a campy grindhouse appeal, but I promise - the horrors that lie in wait are unshakable.

1.) The Mist (2007): Overlooked upon release and widely ignored by general audiences, The Mist has since garnered retrospective praise and an impressive cult following. Why? Well, there are a lot of reasons for this. Unfortunately, the movie had ineffective marketing and lacked star power, rendering it pretty invisible next to other flicks at the time (Disney juggernaut Enchanted and indie darling I'm Not There were released on the same day to much more success). It's also easy to view The Mist as "just another Stephen King movie," and yeah, I get that. But put all that aside. With fresh eyes it's easy to see how truly horrific this film is. The basic premise alone is haunting, but the individual moments solidify the entire production as fearless and peerless. The acting is top-notch, the pace is propulsive, the direction by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) is artsy yet effective, and the scares are formidable. But it's hard to talk about this movie without touching on the gut-punch finale. It's...wow - up there with Rosemary's Baby as one of the most shocking conclusions in cinema history. My advice? Watch the whole thing in black and white. I'm not sure why, but it somehow makes this fantastic movie even better.