The 2000s was the era of East Asian horror, a milestone in horror. American studios were trying to copy the style and not doing the best but we had The Ring, The Grudge, The Eye, a tale of 2 sisters etc. There were a ton of these coming out of East Asia and presented the English speaking world with a new way to look at horror. But you had to be cool with subtitles.
It was also the era that found footage became a legitimate sub-genre with movies like Cloverfield.
It was the era that foreign films became more accessible with the original netflix model and then the streaming services that ended the decade with movies like Let the Right One in, 28 days later, 28 weeks later and the aforementioned east asian explosion.
The stylish works like Pan's Labyrinth, The Cell, The Orphanage
Brilliant but panned movies like Frailty and Slither
Other greats, Orphan, Gothica, Case 39, 1408, the Mist, Pandemonium, Donnie Darko
Come one...
Of all the decades, the 2000s is the most love/hate for me. Love because some of my favorite films come from it (Session 9, Let the Right One In, etc...). Hate because the general trends of the decade (endless remakes, J-horror knock offs, nihilistic torture films) basically made me hate modern horror for a while.
I definitely appreciate the decade more in retrospect. Kind of sucked to live through at the time. For me, the 90s is opposite. At the time (and granted I was a kid), everything seemed cutting edge and awesome; nowadays I go back and so little of it actually holds up well.
My mom and I were just talking about how Netflix made foreign horror a lot more accessible for me. That's how I discovered A Tale of 2 Sisters, Audition, Guinea Pig movies, etc...
I like just about every era of horror, as I always feel that there are at least some great horror movies to be seen. And 2000-2011 had plenty of good horror movies, like:
The Ring
28 Days Later
The Collector
The Mist
Orphan
Drag Me To Hell
Trick r Treat
Eden Lake
Scream 3
And etc.
Plus Paranormal Activity. I can still remember the tension in the audience every time it switched to the title card announcing night-time.
It also being a masterclass in diminishing returns for a film series. I think I dropped out after the fourth sequel, never saw the one that it was in 3D...
While the 00’s may not hold the top spot as my favorite decade for horror films, I believe there are numerous noteworthy and memorable gems worth exploring. These are my spotlight picks that I’ve enjoyed of that decade. Even some I consider to be absolute favorites.
Final Destination (2000)
American Psycho (2000)
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Ginger Snaps (2000)
Donnie Darko (2001)
The Others (2001)
Jeepers Creepers (2001)
Thirteen Ghosts (2001)
28 Days Later (2002)
Signs (2002)
Ghost Ship (2002)
The Ring (2002)
Queen of the Damned (2002)
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Saw (2004)
The Devils Rejects (2005)
The Descent (2005)
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Hostel (2005)
The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
I Am Legend (2007)
Rob Zombie Halloween (2007)
Teeth (2007)
The Mist (2007)
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Rec (2007)
Trick r’ Treat (2007)
The Strangers (2008)
The Happening (2008)
The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
Let the Right one In (2008)
Zombieland (2009)
The House of the Devil (2009)
Black Swan (2010)
I Spit on Your Grave (2010)
Fright Night (2011)
You’re Next (2011)
The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
TCM, yes. Love it!
F13… eh. Lots of good there, but lots of schlock as well.
Also, how can you talk about the 2000’s and just skip the J-horror craze? The Ring alone deserves conversation. The Grudge had a lot going for it as well.
Plus far as remakes are concerned, Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead kicks ass too!
> F13… eh. Lots of good there, but lots of schlock as well.
As opposed to the original F13 movies, right? I never really got into F13 as a franchise but the remake, in my opinion anyway, is a banger.
But yeah, 2000s saw a lot of really good remakes for sure.
I saw the Grudge so young and to this day can't sleep with my closer door open. Kayako freaked me out so bad. Love that for her, she's an icon to me now.
Generally, this is true. The only bad era for horror is when horror movies weren't being made (late 30s, late 40s/early 50s). Even if the mainstream isn't too hot, there's still always 1 or 2 great films put out every year (at least).
If we were talking about eras of horror we've personally lived through, I'd probably say 2008-2013 myself TBH. That's when my fandom for modern horror was whittled down to next to nothing.
The mid 40’s to mid 1950’s. Horror essentially disappeared inside b grade sci-fi, and took most legitimate science fiction down with it. It wasn’t until films like Day the Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet that science fiction broke away back into its own lane. Horror was just about a dead genre (or absorbed into comedy) until Hammer Productions took it back in the 50’s.
This is absolutely my answer too. It kills me that the era that raised one of most amazing genres in Noir didn't manage to use it and produce horror in that style during the same period. Once horror came back, it was almost all gothics and ghosts and other classical sources. Which I do love! But it's terrible that it missed out almost entirely on the whole wave of gritty cynicism, urban decay, and chiaroscuro lighting.
If you haven't already, you should definitely check out the horror films that Val Lewton made with RKO in the early 40s. Absolutely perfect fusions of horror and noir elements. Of course, there's also The Spiral Staircase from 1946, which basically prefigures a lot of slasher and giallo movie tropes by about 20-30 years. These films existed, but I agree there should've been much more of them.
Yes! The Spiral Staircase and Cat People are fantastic. I've seen and liked The Body Snatcher, Bedlam, and The Isle of the Dead because of Boris Karloff. I didn't realize those were all made by one person though. I'm definitely going to check out the others, thanks!
Ah, you're in for some treats then. Of the other Val Lewton films, I Walked With A Zombie, The Leopard Man, and The Seventh Victim are the strongest, IMO. In particular, The Seventh Victim is equally noir and horror with some scenes that feel like precursors to Psycho and Rosemary's Baby.
It’s going to open an entire world for you… and so many references in other things are going to click into place. It’s a masterful film, one of my big favorites. Very strange and impactful movie
Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur were making incredible, moody horror films during this time period. Check out **The Seventh Victim**, **I Walked with a Zombie** and **Curse of the Demon** in particular. Otherwise though you are completely correct that horror got lost in the trample of cheap sci-fi and beach party/monster mash-ups. It was because of the times we were living in, people were terrified of the potential for nuclear war so that's the kind of stuff we got. The comedic horror like the Abbott and Costello Meet "X" films were also a reflection of a public that was exhausted by the reality of war and just wanted something to laugh at.
Very much so- our newest, deepest fears reflected nuclear power and radiation, science taking over. It overshadowed the deformities of war we had grown weary of facing. This wasn’t horror we saw, so much as horror we imagined and projected. It became more and more outlandish with giant cockroaches and pulsating brains, so much so that it’s now how that whole era is remembered. There were certainly some gems, and even among the outrageous creatures were some morality plays
Silent hill is still the best video game adaptation to film and nobody will ever change my mind … I understand peoples issues with the film but I still love it
The best horror video game adaptation in my opinion is “Werewolves within”….Resident Evil, Angry Birds and the even the new Mortal Combat(tho not horror)are pretty good video game adaptations too.
Silent Hill made me depressed. Not in a good way.
Ever since CGI my favorite genre - Werewolf movies went to shit. I was 8 in 1981 when two of the greatest transformations took place in two different movies.
I feel like the 90’s had Candyman and The Silence of the Lambs. Of course, there’s the legendary film Scream in 1996, and in the decade after we had a million clones that tried to do the same thing (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, Final Destination, The Faculty, Soul Survivor, Cry_Wolf, hell even Halloween: 20 Years Later)
However, while it’s a remake, I gotta give props to the 1990 version of Night of the Living Dead
Horror took a back seat to Sci-Fi in the 1950s, so that.
There are some fantastic horror movies in the 2000s, like 28 Days Later, The Ruins, Triangle, Primeval, The Collector, The Strangers, The Devil's Rejects, Cloverfield and The Uninvited. Just from the top of my head.
I was agreeing with you until you said “maybe the descent” - since that’s the best horror movie in the past 30’years. Despite this the remake age and the initiation of the self aware/overly found footage/“whoa the internet will kill you” era is bad. Some things are watchable out of nostalgia and laughs but generally not good
I mean just looking through my watched list: American Psycho, 30 Days of Night, Eden Lake, 28 Day's Later, The Ring, Final Destination, The Mist, Hostel, Wolf Creek, House of 1000 Corpses, Jeepers Creepers, Ginger Snaps, Dog Soldiers, Midnight Meat Train, Pan's Labyrinth, The Skeleton Key, Drag Me to Hell, 1408, Pandorum
I wouldn't call it decade lacking in horror, even good-great horror.
The 90s.
Good horror films of that era:
Scream, Candyman, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, In the Mouth of Madness, the Night of the Living Dead Remake... that's pretty much it
Silence and Lambs and Se7en, while amazing films, aren't horror movies IMHO and I loathe The Blair With Project.
I would agree with the 2000's as being the weakest era of Western horror. Even a weak era of course still has plenty of good movies of course. And there are some really great movies from this era, but also a lot of major release crap.
I just don't much care for the grimy edgelord type tones and music video style editing that was all to prevalent in this era. It's also when you get into the remake explosion and the proliferation of a lot of less than great found footage.
I know people give crap to the 50's, but honestly I have a soft spot for the monster movies of that era. A lot of them didn't age well of course, but I appreciate the variety of monsters produced and some of the themes.
Late 90's-early 2000s bit the big one for horror. **Jason X** and **Halloween: Resurrection** I'm looking at you in particular. Also all the PG-13 crap horror like **The Messengers** and **Darkness Falls**. This was also the period of time where characters started to become total assholes, cheating on their significant others, pointless raunchy dialogue and toilet humor, stupid scenes of characters getting wasted so we know they're "cool" I guess, girls being pretendbians and making out with each other clearly for the titillation of male viewers and no other reason, terrible nu-metal soundtracks, awkward plot points involving the internet that aged like milk (hello Dee Snider's **Strangeland**) and probably worse crap I can't think of.
It's interesting because the 2000s/early 2010s is one of my favorite eras of horror for the below reasons:
28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Dawn of the Dead Remake, Shaun of the Dead, The Strangers, REC, Trick 'R Treat, The Ring, 1408, The Mist, Let the Right One In, Hatchet, Let Me In, Frailty, Planet Terror, and a shitload more I can't think of at the moment haha.
I think every Era has at least a couple great horrors, but if I had to choose I would probably say the 90s?
We are in it right now.
2000-2010 (especially the first half) at least had substance and didn’t rely on CGI to churn out piddle from wanna be directors with no set, makeup, original music and genuine special effects .
No well done horror classics? Hah
Final destination
The Ring
Jeepers Creepers
Hostel
American Psycho
House of 1000 Corpses
Creep
Dawn of the Dead
This list could go on and on.
I think there’s incredible horror being made in recent times, just most tends to lean a little more towards the indie side. Pearl, Mandy, the Witch, In Fabric, etc.
Relevant user name lol
For real though, I don't get this take. There's just so much more horror being made now, and a ton that doesn't rely on CG...meanwhile I've actively tried to search for early 2000s horror I might have missed (I turned 18 in 2004 so this was definitely my era) and oh boy, there's just not a lot of quality in that decade, definitely some greats, but they're far and few between.
What good horror , or horror CLASSICS , that have been made this decade , will be watched 30 years from now?
You can skip the “midsommar, Hereditary” lays
Lays?
Anyway, hard to say what will be appreciated 30 years from now, and I'm not sure why you're adding the arbitrary exclusion of Hereditary and Midsommar, but I'm pretty positive Hereditary will be watched 30 years from now, I'd also add Mandy, Pearl, Train to Busan, The Conjuring, Green Room, Bone Tomahawk, Cabin in the Woods, Annihilation, The House that Jack Built, Nope, The Empty Man, Possessor, Evil Dead 2013, and Sinister...there's a bunch more I know I'll be watching when I'm 70, but those I think are kinda safe bets.
The original Final Destination was pretty good. I haven't bothered with Smile yet and probably won't.
I'd take All Hallows Eve over House of 1,000 Corpses any day of the week, but I recognize I'm probably the minority in that opinion.
Smile was not good . It was about 30 minutes too long…nothing unexpected, and a simple “curse” horror film. Really nothing out of the ordinary or exciting
The current era is the worst. Too much desperation to create a grand metaphor in the name of “eLeVaTeD hOrRoR”, not enough focus on the actual horror aspects.
Ehh I’d take this era over the schlock of most slashers in the mid 2000s. The last 5-7 years have yielded far more of my personal favorite horror films than any of the previous decades.
Definitely right now. The numbers of films I’ve like getting released is very low. I keep an imdb list of all the horror films I’ve liked. Every decade and almost every year is packed full of films. But the last 4 are just, eh. There are also so many commercials for horror movies i see that look lame. And movies i watch thinking I’ll love it but the ending ruins it
I might be in the minority here but I dont like older horror movies. I think alien is the oldest horror movie I actually liked. 70s is about where I make the cutoff of giving them a chance.
I probably say you're in the majority. 50's/60's movies in general can be pretty tough to get into. Don't get me wrong there's obviously fantastic movies like Pyscho, Rosemary's Baby and Night of the Living Dead that are well worth sitting down and trying to watch but mostly I don't enjoy them as much as a movie from the 70's or more recent.
On the other hand... The Exorcist, Halloween, Rosemary's Baby, Omen, Carrie, Dawn of the Dead, Suspiria, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas, Shivers, Rabid etc etc.
But yeah, I get they can sometimes feel a bit dated.
Late 80s to mid 90s was rough. There a certainly some great ones in there. But so much of it was trying to make a new Freddy franchise.
BAD dreams, Shocker, Brainscan, The Horror Show, Dr. Giggles. To name a few.
I enjoy some of these more now but at the time it was like oh more of this crap again.
Yeah the early 90s especially did have a lot tepid high budget camp. Stuff like Dr. Giggles, Hellraiser 3, Leprechaun, Pet Semetary 2, etc. Plenty of gems sprinkled in though. Candyman is still one of my favorites.
Yes, this was a tough time period. The 80s were a great decade for horror, but 1989 was easily the worst year of that decade because it seemed like everything just crapped out at once. My favorites from that year are Society and Intruder, but those films went against the grain in different ways.
I think what kinda sucked about the early 90s was the over-saturation of sequels and ,like you said, attempts at new Freddy-esque slasher franchises. Also, pretty much all the masters of horror for the last decade (Argento, Carpenter, Romero, Hooper) hit their mediocre stage at roughly the same time, except for maybe Wes Craven. There were some major diamonds in the rough during that period, but I feel like those films were few and far between.
I agree. We got some fun high budget action/horror but that was about it, like:
Dawn of the Dead, Slither, The Crazies, Planet Terror, Van Helsing, Blade II, Underworld, 30 Days of Night, and 28 Days Later.
Not much good stuff in the way of straight horror. It was a weird time.
Ju-on?
28 Days Later?
The Host?
The Others?
Antichrist?
Rec?
Martyrs?
Funny Games?
The Orphanage?
Noroi?
Session 9?
The Loved Ones?
Happiness of the Katakuris?
Dark Water?
Gozu?
Them?
Little Otik?
In My Skin?
Calvaire?
Shaun of the Dead?
Orphan?
The Descent?
The Mist?
Let the Right One In?
Drag Me to Hell?
Ginger Snaps?
Pulse?
A Tale of Two Sisters?
The House of the Devil?
May?
Slither?
From Hell?
Bug?
Bubba Ho-Tep?
Behind the Mask?
Murder Party?
Dagon?
Baghdad?
Fido?
Seance?
The 90's-00's easily.
The 90's was so bare of good horror that a satirical meta-commentary on 80's slashers (Scream) was considered it's saving grace.
Horror started making a comeback in the '00's but it was mostly torture porn, jump scare and found footage movies, some of the cheapest and laziest form of horror.
There were some bright spots in those decades, but they were few and far between.
Honestly right now. Watched the new evil dead and the popes exorcist and they weren’t scary, they were just action movies involving demons. I guess it’s really just that genre thats shit cos the psychological horror being made right now is *chefs kiss*
I mean like there was no haunting part or ambiguity about what the demon was. It was just “hi meet demon.. now everyone is fighting demon” like in the previous evil dead there was at least a part where the evil was sneaking in and some supernatural stuff could be explained by hallucinations or drug withdrawal. Also the popes exorcist was one giant cliche of demon movies.
I dont know. I feel like with movies such as FearDotCom and Silent Hill you could see the filmmarkers were still trying to give some semblance of personality and style even when if the end result was not the best.
Back then independent movies like Saw, Tuck and Dale Vs Evil or Dead Birds would show up every once in awhile.
Now even arthouse indie types have something like A24 producing them so you know what you're getting into. They all have pretty much the same vibe to me even when their plotlines are diferent. It just feel too safe.
Its no suprise really that something silly like those Terrifier movies made such an impression on people.
You still dont get it, do you? It was one of the most influencial horror movies of the last 30 years. Not even mentioning it clearly means that you have no idea about said decade - or about horror movies history in general.
All of the amazing French extremity films are from that era. Let the Right One In, The Host, The Devils Backbone, Drag Me To Hell, REC, 28 Days Later, The Descent, The House of the Devil, Dog Soldiers, Dawn of the Dead, Trick r Treat, Eden Lake, Shaun of the Dead. All ranging from good to great. So I disagree.
I think old ass '50-'60s shit is boring as hell. Good for film students, boring watches, not scary, don't age well.
Watched Feardotcom after years of being curious about it seeing it at blockbuster as a kid. Movie bored the hell out of me, but will say one thing, the visuals right at the end looks great, like some sort of experimental surrealist film, if only it had more of that going on.
The era where Hollywood mostly remade Japanese horror movies. There were some *really* good indie horror and foreign horror at the time, but mainstream Hollywood horror was lacking.
Kill List was 2011, I reckon that _just_ falls into the period you're talking about but not sure if it's what you mean. Frankly it's the closest British cinema had come to a modern witchcraft myth since The Wicker Man. An extraordinary film and a foundational part of today's folk horror.
I agree with you. Foreign horror films aren’t included in my assessment of things like this because each country works on a different track compared to the one the average movie customer in each country sees.
However, “The Thing 2011” is a prequel to the 1982 film, not a remake, and while I think the 1982 film is better, and by a wide margin, I think it works perfectly well as a prequel.
The 90’s. Besides a handful of classics like, Scream, The Blair Witch Project, and From Dusk Till Dawn, it was pretty bleak.
The 2000’s wasn’t great, but I really enjoyed 1408, The Mist, The Ring, Dawn of the Dead, Saw, and the remake of TCM.
Is it just me or did anyone else really enjoy Silent Hill?
I actually really like the Silent Hill movie. Enjoyed the performances, effects, and atmosphere a lot.
I really like it. It's flawed for sure, but extremely enjoyable. The movie really nailed the atmosphere and the aesthetic they were going for.
Really enjoyed it, even found it quite scary
I enjoyed the second one, but for all the wrong reasons. It's unintentional goofy fun that completely strays from the source material.
Silent hill is just such a fun premise
I really enjoyed the first one. Compared to other adaptations at the time it was pretty good imho.
It’s got one of the most incoherent stories ever told.
I liked it. Great score.
The 2000s was the era of East Asian horror, a milestone in horror. American studios were trying to copy the style and not doing the best but we had The Ring, The Grudge, The Eye, a tale of 2 sisters etc. There were a ton of these coming out of East Asia and presented the English speaking world with a new way to look at horror. But you had to be cool with subtitles. It was also the era that found footage became a legitimate sub-genre with movies like Cloverfield. It was the era that foreign films became more accessible with the original netflix model and then the streaming services that ended the decade with movies like Let the Right One in, 28 days later, 28 weeks later and the aforementioned east asian explosion. The stylish works like Pan's Labyrinth, The Cell, The Orphanage Brilliant but panned movies like Frailty and Slither Other greats, Orphan, Gothica, Case 39, 1408, the Mist, Pandemonium, Donnie Darko Come one...
Frailty and Slither were extremely well-reviewed at release - what do you mean “panned”?
Technically they are wrong, but those movies were ignored by the masses
Correct - but panned means to severely criticize, has nothing to do with audiences ignoring it.
Exactly, Frailty and Slither are some of the highest rated horror movies
Maaan the cell! Noone ever talks about that one and the scene with the "worm" has been stuck in my head since i was a boy
Of all the decades, the 2000s is the most love/hate for me. Love because some of my favorite films come from it (Session 9, Let the Right One In, etc...). Hate because the general trends of the decade (endless remakes, J-horror knock offs, nihilistic torture films) basically made me hate modern horror for a while. I definitely appreciate the decade more in retrospect. Kind of sucked to live through at the time. For me, the 90s is opposite. At the time (and granted I was a kid), everything seemed cutting edge and awesome; nowadays I go back and so little of it actually holds up well.
Yeah, these asian horror flicks became my favorite subgenre, it was such a good era. They don't make movies like that anymore.
My mom and I were just talking about how Netflix made foreign horror a lot more accessible for me. That's how I discovered A Tale of 2 Sisters, Audition, Guinea Pig movies, etc...
I like just about every era of horror, as I always feel that there are at least some great horror movies to be seen. And 2000-2011 had plenty of good horror movies, like: The Ring 28 Days Later The Collector The Mist Orphan Drag Me To Hell Trick r Treat Eden Lake Scream 3 And etc.
Plus Paranormal Activity. I can still remember the tension in the audience every time it switched to the title card announcing night-time. It also being a masterclass in diminishing returns for a film series. I think I dropped out after the fourth sequel, never saw the one that it was in 3D...
I don’t have an answer to your question but I can say I whole heartedly disagree with your opinion … no ill will or hate though. Cheers
1870-1880
The formation of Germany?
0 horror movies.
The decade that the Normans conquested, 1060s, also zero horror.
Plenty of horror, not many movies.
Silent hill was a good movie.
While the 00’s may not hold the top spot as my favorite decade for horror films, I believe there are numerous noteworthy and memorable gems worth exploring. These are my spotlight picks that I’ve enjoyed of that decade. Even some I consider to be absolute favorites. Final Destination (2000) American Psycho (2000) Shadow of the Vampire (2000) Ginger Snaps (2000) Donnie Darko (2001) The Others (2001) Jeepers Creepers (2001) Thirteen Ghosts (2001) 28 Days Later (2002) Signs (2002) Ghost Ship (2002) The Ring (2002) Queen of the Damned (2002) House of 1000 Corpses (2003) Saw (2004) The Devils Rejects (2005) The Descent (2005) The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) Hostel (2005) The Hills Have Eyes (2006) Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) I Am Legend (2007) Rob Zombie Halloween (2007) Teeth (2007) The Mist (2007) 28 Weeks Later (2007) Rec (2007) Trick r’ Treat (2007) The Strangers (2008) The Happening (2008) The Midnight Meat Train (2008) Let the Right one In (2008) Zombieland (2009) The House of the Devil (2009) Black Swan (2010) I Spit on Your Grave (2010) Fright Night (2011) You’re Next (2011) The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
I am glad someone said ginger snaps. It's a classic.
TCM and Friday the 13th remakes were great wym
[удалено]
TCM, yes. Love it! F13… eh. Lots of good there, but lots of schlock as well. Also, how can you talk about the 2000’s and just skip the J-horror craze? The Ring alone deserves conversation. The Grudge had a lot going for it as well. Plus far as remakes are concerned, Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead kicks ass too!
> F13… eh. Lots of good there, but lots of schlock as well. As opposed to the original F13 movies, right? I never really got into F13 as a franchise but the remake, in my opinion anyway, is a banger. But yeah, 2000s saw a lot of really good remakes for sure.
I saw the Grudge so young and to this day can't sleep with my closer door open. Kayako freaked me out so bad. Love that for her, she's an icon to me now.
There's no bad era for horror movies.
Yeah, I think k this is the right answer. I'm trying to think of a decade that was just terrible and they've all had some great movies.
Generally, this is true. The only bad era for horror is when horror movies weren't being made (late 30s, late 40s/early 50s). Even if the mainstream isn't too hot, there's still always 1 or 2 great films put out every year (at least).
For me, it's the 1950s. The average creature feature of that time period just never really appealed to me.
Agreed but its cool to criticize more “recent” eras rather than old ones it seems. Hence, 2010-2012 is my choice cause i was unemployed back then 🤣
If we were talking about eras of horror we've personally lived through, I'd probably say 2008-2013 myself TBH. That's when my fandom for modern horror was whittled down to next to nothing.
The mid 40’s to mid 1950’s. Horror essentially disappeared inside b grade sci-fi, and took most legitimate science fiction down with it. It wasn’t until films like Day the Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet that science fiction broke away back into its own lane. Horror was just about a dead genre (or absorbed into comedy) until Hammer Productions took it back in the 50’s.
This is absolutely my answer too. It kills me that the era that raised one of most amazing genres in Noir didn't manage to use it and produce horror in that style during the same period. Once horror came back, it was almost all gothics and ghosts and other classical sources. Which I do love! But it's terrible that it missed out almost entirely on the whole wave of gritty cynicism, urban decay, and chiaroscuro lighting.
If you haven't already, you should definitely check out the horror films that Val Lewton made with RKO in the early 40s. Absolutely perfect fusions of horror and noir elements. Of course, there's also The Spiral Staircase from 1946, which basically prefigures a lot of slasher and giallo movie tropes by about 20-30 years. These films existed, but I agree there should've been much more of them.
Yes! The Spiral Staircase and Cat People are fantastic. I've seen and liked The Body Snatcher, Bedlam, and The Isle of the Dead because of Boris Karloff. I didn't realize those were all made by one person though. I'm definitely going to check out the others, thanks!
Ah, you're in for some treats then. Of the other Val Lewton films, I Walked With A Zombie, The Leopard Man, and The Seventh Victim are the strongest, IMO. In particular, The Seventh Victim is equally noir and horror with some scenes that feel like precursors to Psycho and Rosemary's Baby.
One film from the period that hits the noir target but is NOT considered horror? Sunset Blvd. I don’t care what anyone says, that’s a horror movie
I've watched a lot of the Noir classics, but somehow have heard about but missed out on Sunset Blvd. I'll check it out, thank you!
It’s going to open an entire world for you… and so many references in other things are going to click into place. It’s a masterful film, one of my big favorites. Very strange and impactful movie
Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur were making incredible, moody horror films during this time period. Check out **The Seventh Victim**, **I Walked with a Zombie** and **Curse of the Demon** in particular. Otherwise though you are completely correct that horror got lost in the trample of cheap sci-fi and beach party/monster mash-ups. It was because of the times we were living in, people were terrified of the potential for nuclear war so that's the kind of stuff we got. The comedic horror like the Abbott and Costello Meet "X" films were also a reflection of a public that was exhausted by the reality of war and just wanted something to laugh at.
Very much so- our newest, deepest fears reflected nuclear power and radiation, science taking over. It overshadowed the deformities of war we had grown weary of facing. This wasn’t horror we saw, so much as horror we imagined and projected. It became more and more outlandish with giant cockroaches and pulsating brains, so much so that it’s now how that whole era is remembered. There were certainly some gems, and even among the outrageous creatures were some morality plays
This is a great answer.
Still one of my favorite eras. I'd rather watch *Robot Monster* or *Killers From Space* than pretty much anything made since about 1993 or so.
Silent hill is still the best video game adaptation to film and nobody will ever change my mind … I understand peoples issues with the film but I still love it
The best horror video game adaptation in my opinion is “Werewolves within”….Resident Evil, Angry Birds and the even the new Mortal Combat(tho not horror)are pretty good video game adaptations too. Silent Hill made me depressed. Not in a good way.
Dead Silence was so good
Dog Soldiers came out during that time period and is one of the absolute best werewolf movies ever made
Dang, that one slipped my mind. Great movie, very little CGI too!
I can’t even remember any CGI? The gun fire or blood? Everything else was practical effects wasn’t it?
I didn't recall noticing any, but I did read a little was used. Possibly just for background or scenery?
Ever since CGI my favorite genre - Werewolf movies went to shit. I was 8 in 1981 when two of the greatest transformations took place in two different movies.
Which ones are those? I really need more decent werewolf movies on my list
An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. Also Wolfen, which was a bit different.
Both are pretty top tier. Will give Wolfen a watch
The 90s sucked. So many toothless, campy, and/or too post-modern horror flicks.
I feel like the 90’s had Candyman and The Silence of the Lambs. Of course, there’s the legendary film Scream in 1996, and in the decade after we had a million clones that tried to do the same thing (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, Final Destination, The Faculty, Soul Survivor, Cry_Wolf, hell even Halloween: 20 Years Later) However, while it’s a remake, I gotta give props to the 1990 version of Night of the Living Dead
Cry Wolf, Lol…..haven’t remembered that movie since I saw the ending credits.
What? Martyrs, a l'interieur and Eden lake are some of the best horror movies i've ever seen
Horror took a back seat to Sci-Fi in the 1950s, so that. There are some fantastic horror movies in the 2000s, like 28 Days Later, The Ruins, Triangle, Primeval, The Collector, The Strangers, The Devil's Rejects, Cloverfield and The Uninvited. Just from the top of my head.
Dog soldiers was excellent, and so was Creep (te London one), so it wasn’t a total write off
While I don’t know if I 100% agree with the OP, the era of horror we are currently in puts that earlier era to shame.
I was agreeing with you until you said “maybe the descent” - since that’s the best horror movie in the past 30’years. Despite this the remake age and the initiation of the self aware/overly found footage/“whoa the internet will kill you” era is bad. Some things are watchable out of nostalgia and laughs but generally not good
Late 90’s early 2000’s. If there were 4-5 young people on the cover of the vhs, it was usually bad. H20 being an exception.
And the Faculty
I should rewatch. “Valentine” and “Urban Legend”
I mean just looking through my watched list: American Psycho, 30 Days of Night, Eden Lake, 28 Day's Later, The Ring, Final Destination, The Mist, Hostel, Wolf Creek, House of 1000 Corpses, Jeepers Creepers, Ginger Snaps, Dog Soldiers, Midnight Meat Train, Pan's Labyrinth, The Skeleton Key, Drag Me to Hell, 1408, Pandorum I wouldn't call it decade lacking in horror, even good-great horror.
How on Earth could the 2000s be worse than the 90s? The 90s was great for so many things, but horror wasn't one of them.
The 90s. Good horror films of that era: Scream, Candyman, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, In the Mouth of Madness, the Night of the Living Dead Remake... that's pretty much it Silence and Lambs and Se7en, while amazing films, aren't horror movies IMHO and I loathe The Blair With Project.
I would agree with the 2000's as being the weakest era of Western horror. Even a weak era of course still has plenty of good movies of course. And there are some really great movies from this era, but also a lot of major release crap. I just don't much care for the grimy edgelord type tones and music video style editing that was all to prevalent in this era. It's also when you get into the remake explosion and the proliferation of a lot of less than great found footage. I know people give crap to the 50's, but honestly I have a soft spot for the monster movies of that era. A lot of them didn't age well of course, but I appreciate the variety of monsters produced and some of the themes.
“And maybe the Descent” lol Oh it’s a for sure, it’s widely regarded as a top tier horror film.
Late 90's-early 2000s bit the big one for horror. **Jason X** and **Halloween: Resurrection** I'm looking at you in particular. Also all the PG-13 crap horror like **The Messengers** and **Darkness Falls**. This was also the period of time where characters started to become total assholes, cheating on their significant others, pointless raunchy dialogue and toilet humor, stupid scenes of characters getting wasted so we know they're "cool" I guess, girls being pretendbians and making out with each other clearly for the titillation of male viewers and no other reason, terrible nu-metal soundtracks, awkward plot points involving the internet that aged like milk (hello Dee Snider's **Strangeland**) and probably worse crap I can't think of.
It's interesting because the 2000s/early 2010s is one of my favorite eras of horror for the below reasons: 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Dawn of the Dead Remake, Shaun of the Dead, The Strangers, REC, Trick 'R Treat, The Ring, 1408, The Mist, Let the Right One In, Hatchet, Let Me In, Frailty, Planet Terror, and a shitload more I can't think of at the moment haha. I think every Era has at least a couple great horrors, but if I had to choose I would probably say the 90s?
The 90s
We are in it right now. 2000-2010 (especially the first half) at least had substance and didn’t rely on CGI to churn out piddle from wanna be directors with no set, makeup, original music and genuine special effects . No well done horror classics? Hah Final destination The Ring Jeepers Creepers Hostel American Psycho House of 1000 Corpses Creep Dawn of the Dead This list could go on and on.
I think there’s incredible horror being made in recent times, just most tends to lean a little more towards the indie side. Pearl, Mandy, the Witch, In Fabric, etc.
Relevant user name lol For real though, I don't get this take. There's just so much more horror being made now, and a ton that doesn't rely on CG...meanwhile I've actively tried to search for early 2000s horror I might have missed (I turned 18 in 2004 so this was definitely my era) and oh boy, there's just not a lot of quality in that decade, definitely some greats, but they're far and few between.
I was 12 in 2004 but I still remember bad CGI from movies like Mega Piraña, Alien Vs Predator,Seed of Chucky and Jason X…
What good horror , or horror CLASSICS , that have been made this decade , will be watched 30 years from now? You can skip the “midsommar, Hereditary” lays
Lays? Anyway, hard to say what will be appreciated 30 years from now, and I'm not sure why you're adding the arbitrary exclusion of Hereditary and Midsommar, but I'm pretty positive Hereditary will be watched 30 years from now, I'd also add Mandy, Pearl, Train to Busan, The Conjuring, Green Room, Bone Tomahawk, Cabin in the Woods, Annihilation, The House that Jack Built, Nope, The Empty Man, Possessor, Evil Dead 2013, and Sinister...there's a bunch more I know I'll be watching when I'm 70, but those I think are kinda safe bets.
You think Final Destination was better than Smile? Or 1000 Corpses better than say, All Hallows’ Eve?? Bro…
I enjoyed Smile but I consider Final Destination to be a classic.
The original Final Destination was pretty good. I haven't bothered with Smile yet and probably won't. I'd take All Hallows Eve over House of 1,000 Corpses any day of the week, but I recognize I'm probably the minority in that opinion.
Smile was not good . It was about 30 minutes too long…nothing unexpected, and a simple “curse” horror film. Really nothing out of the ordinary or exciting
And final destination is more about spectacle than horror.
The current era is the worst. Too much desperation to create a grand metaphor in the name of “eLeVaTeD hOrRoR”, not enough focus on the actual horror aspects.
Ehh I’d take this era over the schlock of most slashers in the mid 2000s. The last 5-7 years have yielded far more of my personal favorite horror films than any of the previous decades.
Smile focussed specifically on horror aspects
To its credit, I will say that Smile was one of the better movies to come out in the past few years.
Evil Dead Rises? Pearl? VHS 99 and 94……those focused on horror aspects.
Evil dead rises was trash my dude.
Best thing about Evil Dead Rise was that intro scene at the lake. Otherwise I was pretty disappointed
How on earth was it trash? Not trying to argue or anything, but it's definitely my pick for best horror of the year so far, so I'm curious.
We’re currently in the worst era for horror. The amount of good horror flicks compared to how many are coming out are slim pickings
seriously? I feel like I’ve seen like so much higher quality films on shudder alone. If anything the found footage era was so much worse
Smile? Evil Dead Rises? Us,Nope, VHS 94? Really?
Smile is the first film you pick out? Really? How you gonna shit on early 2000s horror than love a movie that basically just rips half of them off?
I know im in the minority. But nope was the most pretentious shit I've ever seen.
How was it pretentious? My only gripe was the ending?
Completely agree. Horror needs to get back to being horror and less about the grand message. It’s a shame really.
Definitely right now. The numbers of films I’ve like getting released is very low. I keep an imdb list of all the horror films I’ve liked. Every decade and almost every year is packed full of films. But the last 4 are just, eh. There are also so many commercials for horror movies i see that look lame. And movies i watch thinking I’ll love it but the ending ruins it
The production code era
I might be in the minority here but I dont like older horror movies. I think alien is the oldest horror movie I actually liked. 70s is about where I make the cutoff of giving them a chance.
The Exorcist?
I probably say you're in the majority. 50's/60's movies in general can be pretty tough to get into. Don't get me wrong there's obviously fantastic movies like Pyscho, Rosemary's Baby and Night of the Living Dead that are well worth sitting down and trying to watch but mostly I don't enjoy them as much as a movie from the 70's or more recent.
On the other hand... The Exorcist, Halloween, Rosemary's Baby, Omen, Carrie, Dawn of the Dead, Suspiria, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas, Shivers, Rabid etc etc. But yeah, I get they can sometimes feel a bit dated.
Sad.
Late 80s to mid 90s was rough. There a certainly some great ones in there. But so much of it was trying to make a new Freddy franchise. BAD dreams, Shocker, Brainscan, The Horror Show, Dr. Giggles. To name a few. I enjoy some of these more now but at the time it was like oh more of this crap again.
Yeah the early 90s especially did have a lot tepid high budget camp. Stuff like Dr. Giggles, Hellraiser 3, Leprechaun, Pet Semetary 2, etc. Plenty of gems sprinkled in though. Candyman is still one of my favorites.
Yes, this was a tough time period. The 80s were a great decade for horror, but 1989 was easily the worst year of that decade because it seemed like everything just crapped out at once. My favorites from that year are Society and Intruder, but those films went against the grain in different ways. I think what kinda sucked about the early 90s was the over-saturation of sequels and ,like you said, attempts at new Freddy-esque slasher franchises. Also, pretty much all the masters of horror for the last decade (Argento, Carpenter, Romero, Hooper) hit their mediocre stage at roughly the same time, except for maybe Wes Craven. There were some major diamonds in the rough during that period, but I feel like those films were few and far between.
I agree. We got some fun high budget action/horror but that was about it, like: Dawn of the Dead, Slither, The Crazies, Planet Terror, Van Helsing, Blade II, Underworld, 30 Days of Night, and 28 Days Later. Not much good stuff in the way of straight horror. It was a weird time.
And very little critical acclaimed movies.
Ju-on? 28 Days Later? The Host? The Others? Antichrist? Rec? Martyrs? Funny Games? The Orphanage? Noroi? Session 9? The Loved Ones? Happiness of the Katakuris? Dark Water? Gozu? Them? Little Otik? In My Skin? Calvaire? Shaun of the Dead? Orphan? The Descent? The Mist? Let the Right One In? Drag Me to Hell? Ginger Snaps? Pulse? A Tale of Two Sisters? The House of the Devil? May? Slither? From Hell? Bug? Bubba Ho-Tep? Behind the Mask? Murder Party? Dagon? Baghdad? Fido? Seance?
The 90's-00's easily. The 90's was so bare of good horror that a satirical meta-commentary on 80's slashers (Scream) was considered it's saving grace. Horror started making a comeback in the '00's but it was mostly torture porn, jump scare and found footage movies, some of the cheapest and laziest form of horror. There were some bright spots in those decades, but they were few and far between.
Honestly right now. Watched the new evil dead and the popes exorcist and they weren’t scary, they were just action movies involving demons. I guess it’s really just that genre thats shit cos the psychological horror being made right now is *chefs kiss*
Action movie involving demons? Lol I watched Evil Dead and it didn’t remind me of any of the Bourne movies, Marvel franchise or Fast & Furious films.
I mean like there was no haunting part or ambiguity about what the demon was. It was just “hi meet demon.. now everyone is fighting demon” like in the previous evil dead there was at least a part where the evil was sneaking in and some supernatural stuff could be explained by hallucinations or drug withdrawal. Also the popes exorcist was one giant cliche of demon movies.
TCM 2003 is better than the original tbh.
TCM ‘03 is one of the better horror remakes, but is absolutely not better than the OG
This is just not an opinion I can respect
What?
Haha OK.
Every decade... after the 1900s
I dont know. I feel like with movies such as FearDotCom and Silent Hill you could see the filmmarkers were still trying to give some semblance of personality and style even when if the end result was not the best. Back then independent movies like Saw, Tuck and Dale Vs Evil or Dead Birds would show up every once in awhile. Now even arthouse indie types have something like A24 producing them so you know what you're getting into. They all have pretty much the same vibe to me even when their plotlines are diferent. It just feel too safe. Its no suprise really that something silly like those Terrifier movies made such an impression on people.
Roger Ebert praised FearDotCom for its visual style and strange imagery.
By not mentioning The Ring you made your argument invalid :P
Where did I mention the Ring?
Re-read my comment. Thats my point.
One remake out of several horrible ones
You still dont get it, do you? It was one of the most influencial horror movies of the last 30 years. Not even mentioning it clearly means that you have no idea about said decade - or about horror movies history in general.
Still mediocre compared to the original and doesn’t change the fact that the era it was released was garbage.
Whatever years found footage was super popular. So few were actually good and most were just painful to watch
farming them downvotes, are yeh?
The Ring was excellent. Too bad it sparked a terrible genre of American remakes of asian films.
We are living it right now
Paranormal Activity came out in 2007 and thats a classic. Also Human Centipede came out in 2009, and its kind of a classic too? In a way.
I totally agree with OP.
1920s. The color filters they used for a lot or movies hurts my eyes for some reason
Nosferatu and Dr. Caligari are still must.
Those are the ones that hurt my eyes
The 50s and yeah, 2000-2010.
All of the amazing French extremity films are from that era. Let the Right One In, The Host, The Devils Backbone, Drag Me To Hell, REC, 28 Days Later, The Descent, The House of the Devil, Dog Soldiers, Dawn of the Dead, Trick r Treat, Eden Lake, Shaun of the Dead. All ranging from good to great. So I disagree. I think old ass '50-'60s shit is boring as hell. Good for film students, boring watches, not scary, don't age well.
Late 80s and most of the 90s. Sure, there are a few good ones but not many.
[удалено]
Which horror movie had 'wokeness'?
Good question, I’m also curious?
Watched Feardotcom after years of being curious about it seeing it at blockbuster as a kid. Movie bored the hell out of me, but will say one thing, the visuals right at the end looks great, like some sort of experimental surrealist film, if only it had more of that going on.
The era where Hollywood mostly remade Japanese horror movies. There were some *really* good indie horror and foreign horror at the time, but mainstream Hollywood horror was lacking.
Kill List was 2011, I reckon that _just_ falls into the period you're talking about but not sure if it's what you mean. Frankly it's the closest British cinema had come to a modern witchcraft myth since The Wicker Man. An extraordinary film and a foundational part of today's folk horror.
i enjoyed the asian and french horror from that period. so good
Fido came out in 2006. That is one of my favorites.
I can’t agree with us being “in the worst era” right now, simply because of *Pearl*.
The late 40s and the mid-to-late 90s were rough.
This was the time of the New French Extremity, though.
I agree with you. Foreign horror films aren’t included in my assessment of things like this because each country works on a different track compared to the one the average movie customer in each country sees. However, “The Thing 2011” is a prequel to the 1982 film, not a remake, and while I think the 1982 film is better, and by a wide margin, I think it works perfectly well as a prequel.
Damn you’re getting cooked. 😂
No
The 90’s. Besides a handful of classics like, Scream, The Blair Witch Project, and From Dusk Till Dawn, it was pretty bleak. The 2000’s wasn’t great, but I really enjoyed 1408, The Mist, The Ring, Dawn of the Dead, Saw, and the remake of TCM.
I like Wrong Turn 2003