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An error has ocurred. Please try againAfter the poor 90s the Zeros have been a great decade for horror movies! There was a real boom of fresh new horror, and it was really hard to pick the top 100 as there are simply too many good horror movies in the 2000s years. I also included a few movies from end 90s because either they were released (or widely known) later, or made some genre-defining entry into the new decade.
Great Horror directors who arose from this decade: Guillermo del Toro, Jaume Balagueró, Lucky McKee, Christopher Smith and above all Alexandre Aja and James Wan
Landmarks of the 00s Horror:
* The discovery of Asian Horror made an enormous impact, thanks to movies like Ringu, Audition or Battle Royale
* The Blair Witch Project brought us the birth of a new subgenre: The Found Footage Film
* M. Night Shyamalan made his remarkable debut with The Sixth Sense
* The Spanish Horror establishes as a very strong constant in the genre, with directors like Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro Amenábar and Jaume Balagueró.
* Daniel Boyle gave us the new breed of fast moving Zombies with 28 days later.
* The New French Extremity wave of hardcore horror shook the genre up for good, thanks to High Tension, Inside and Martyrs. But mainly it was Gaspar Noé with his Irréversible who started the buzz.
* James Wan surprised us with the big success of Saw, which spawned so many sequels
* Eli Roth initiated the onset of the questionable subgenre of Torture Porn with his movie Hostel.
* The British Horror is back - with a vengeance! Absolute Delights for the Horror Fan were The Descent, Eden Lake and Triangle.
* Paranormal Activity was a big surprise hit with many successors
* And finally Sam Raimi delighted us again with Drag Me to Hell
My personal Top Ten Horror movies from this Decade:
1) The Descent 2) Drag me to Hell 3) Blair Witch Project 4) Rec 5) Ringu or The Eye or Shutter (can't decide) 6) Triangle 7) Jeepers Creepers 8) Dead End 9) High Tension 10) Eden Lake
Special nods to: Bubba Ho Tep, Cabin Fever, Frailty, The Mist, Mirrors, The Host and of course Shaun of the Dead! + Very big nod to Donnie Darko!
It's no secret that the 1990s were a seriously bad decade for Horror Movies. To make it to 100 on this list, i had to include also rather mediocre movies (and some only for their trash value) - so don't expect only great movies on this list.
But gladly this decade had also some very good things to offer for the Horror Connoisseur!
Key figures of 90s Horror:
One cannot deny that the Horror of the 1990s was ruled by Stephen King, not only in books but also in movies. Besides tons of King adaptations the 90s brought us the introduction of some real masters of cinema: Peter Jackon, Alex de la Iglesia and David Fincher.
Although David Lynch dropped some masterpieces since the 70s, it was in the 90s when he really rose to the king of dark & disturbing nightmare movies.
Last not least Darren Aronofsky made his entry into the scene, a brilliant filmmaker and master of psychological horror.
Landmarks for the Horror Movie in the 90s:
* James Cameron brought us T2 and with it the birth of breathtaking CGI Special Effects. Shortly after, Jurassic Park manifested those awesome Effects in all our minds.
* Peter Jackson dropped the Atomic Bomb of Splatter History with Braindead, my absolute favourite splatter movie of all times.
* David Lynch opened new dimensions in TV Series with his brilliant Twin Peaks.
* Sam Raimi back in full effect with the hilarious Army of Darkness.
* Francis Ford Coppola delivered one of the most beautiful dark movies ever with Dracula.
* The much beloved cult Series 'The X Files'.
* Oliver Stone screwed our minds with the controversial Natural Born Killers, which was hated a lot at that time - nevertheless today a classic.
* Wes Craven revived the Slashermovie with Scream, which triggered an avalanche of similar movies and sequels.
* David Fincher turned on a really dark tune with his masterpiece Seven.
* Michael Haneke came to international attention with his very disturbing Funny Games, although he already had an impact in Europe with Benny's Video.
* Although Quentin Tarantino is not really a Horror director, his arrival into the world of cinema branded the 90s like no one else did.
My personal Top Ten Horror movies from this Decade :
1) Braindead (Dead Alive) 2) Bride of Chucky 3) El dia de la bestia 4) Army of darkness 5) Dracula 6) In the mouth of madness 7) Mimic 8) Nightwatch 9) Starship Troopers 10) Cure
Some Special nods to: From dusk till dawn, Candyman, Cube and of course The Silence of the Lambs.
This is my personal list of the biggest affronts to movie lovers.
If you have an original movie that is a flawless masterpiece or a cult classic - why touch it at all? And if you feel the need to do a remake, have the decency to put some effort in it to make it a great movie, or at least add something fresh or original to it.
I also made a list of movies that actually achieved this, f.e. The Thing or The Fly.
So the remakes on this list are either just plain bad movies who make the idea of a remake totally pointless, or who really are an insult to the original movie.
I did not include all remakes of asian horror movies like the grudge, one missed call, pulse, shutter, the eye, etc. because simply they ALL deserve to be in this list
This does not mean it has to be better than the Original, but it can give you a fresh and original update of the old movie.
This is my personal choice of good movies that happen to be remakes
Those were the days! The 1980s were the real breakthrough decade for the Horror Movie.
This is the Decade that gave us all our great Horror Icons: Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, Pinhead and Chucky!
It was also a great time for Monster Movies, especially little creatures like Gremlins, Critters, Ghoulies, Creeps and Trolls. But also the Big Ones: Alien and The Predator.
Key Elements of the 80s Horror:
Mainly the 80s Horror was dominated by the Slasher Movie in the vein of Friday the 13th, and a very large number of the 80s Horrormovies were just copying this formula.
Thanks to the new market of Home Video Entertainment the underground of B-movies was flourishing, and due to the big success of movies like Dawn of the Dead a new type of movies entered the scene: The Gore Movie.
The most prominent examples of that time were the Italian Zombie and Cannibal Movies like Anthropophagus, Zombi 2, Hell of the Living Dead, Nightmare City, House by the Cemetery and of course Cannibal Holocaust.
The brutal violence and graphic splatter effects of this movies even led to banning in some countries, resulting in the infamous 'Video Nasties' list in the UK.
Besides the already mentioned movies this list contained most notoriously The Evil Dead, which was considered one of the most violent films of its time, but soon became an absolute cult favourite.
The 80s were also the Heyday of the Practical Special Effects. Movies like The Thing, Scanners, American Werewolf or The Fly were real showcases of this professional craftwork.
The Masters of Horror:
While Stephen King was already established as the King of Horror, a new dark lord entered the scene: Clive Barker. Not only were his books a real treat for the Horror Fans, but also is his movie Hellraiser a very underrated masterpiece and one of the best serious Horror Movies of the Decade.
But regarding Movies there can only be one true Master of 80s Horror: John Carpenter. To me The Thing is the Best Horror Movie of All Time, but I also fancy The Fog and Prince of Darkness very much. As a Horror Fan you just have to love his atmospheric and stylish Classic Horror Films.
Another great Master of dark cinema who bloomed in the 80s is David Cronenberg. Also known as the King of Venereal Horror, his films have a very unique mood and always deal with some kind of mutation or transformation - Best Example: The Fly.
Further important key figures of Horror cinema in the 80s were: George A. Romero, Wes Craven, Stuart Gordon, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Tom Holland and Ken Russell.
Not to forget that the 80s also gave us these 2 brilliant directors: James Cameron and Michael Mann
My personal Top Ten Horror movies from this Decade:
1) The Thing 2) Re-Animator 3) Fright Night 4) The Blob 5) The Fly 6) Prince of Darkness 7) Hellraiser 8) Night of the Creeps 9) Creepshow 10) Evil Dead
Special Nods to: Nightmare, The Hitcher, House 2, Return of the Living Dead, The Keep and of course ALIENS!
Reviews
A Warning to the Curious (1972)
The Curious get rewarded
This is really a hidden gem in the spooky department, a real pearl of a ghost story.
I did not expect too much when i came across this while searching for good old ghost stories, all the more surprised i was how good this little chiller is.
The dark setting, the sinister atmosphere and the desolate landscapes give the perfect not-of-this-world feeling, something that reminded me of the old Japanese ghost movies. This was really done by people who know their craft, especially the ghost scenes are very effective and eerie.
Now this is what i call a piece of fine arts. God save the British Horror!
Horror (2003)
Beautiful crap is still CRAP
First of all I must say that this is definitely NO HORROR movie, and it's not an art-house movie either... so what is it?
If this was a student's high school film project I would be impressed, but this is supposed to be the work of a "indie-maestro" director??? Oh my...
The "story", if you can find one, has absolutely no coherence and is really totally confusing. And in this case that is NOT a good thing! You do not WANT to think (or care) about what is going on in this senseless mess. If you are into weird confusing plots that make you think - go Lynch!
Can't say a good word about the "acting" either, i totally agree with one reviewer who said that the best actor was the goat! LOL
The visuals... OK let's give him some points in that area. The cinematography is quite well done, there are some quite nice shots and it is really obvious that the director is into "eye-candy". But he's far too hard TRYING to be surreal and artistic, and ends up only RIDICULOUS. If you're into psychedelic visuals and surreal/symbolic Horror - go Argento or Ken Russel.
There are also a lot of references to genre classics, which are really dilettantish or blatantly stolen.
Unfortunately I also cannot agree to any comedy value, but i have to admit that i was laughing when the Jack-O'-Lantern "Demons" first appeared - unbelievable that this was meant serious!! Oh my...
According to the director the movie is about eternal damnation, it's meant to be a nightmare that never ends - its not true - it ends when this shitty movie is finally OVER - thank god!!!
This is just a "wannabe" pretentious NOTHING...
I also suppose the very obvious correlation to massive drug abuse means you have to be in the same state to "understand" or really appreciate the director's visions...
I rather would NOT, thank you!
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
what the **** ???
i can't believe i bought this crap according to all the enthusiastic reviews... Oh my, i am a horror movie fan over 30 years now and i really have seen hundreds of movies, but this...
this is surely one of the WORST movies i've ever seen!
There is absolutely no suspense, no tension, nothing scary or frightening. The strange "funny" music over the gore-scenes makes everything totally ridiculous, and the "bad guy" actors are so over the top that it is not even funny! What the hell should that 1 minute still execution scene mean? äähhhh??? The "cinematographic" style is nothing but annoying and seems like some jerky teenagers dreams of "lets make a horror movie!"
I find it really blasphemic to call this concoction "a homage to 70s horror", or even compare it to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The only thing disturbing about this movie is its unbelievable stupidity! It is so uninspired, incomprehensible, unintelligent and really just dumb, dumb, dumb!
Summary: compared to this, BLOOD FEAST looks like an intelligent art-movie!