Best/Worst horror 2000 - 2009?

SHAUN OF THE DEAD would like a word, sir. And LAND OF THE DEAD. DOTD the best zombie flick of the last ten years? Madness.

Also, THE MIST.

I'd put Land of the Dead and the Dawn of the Dead remake in the same class. They're both entertaining zombie films with their own mixed bag of problems. Shaun of the Dead and 28 Days Later hit their notes perfectly.

And, yes, The Mist. That may be my favorite of the last 10 years, but I feel I'm forgetting a few.

Yeah. Shaun and The Mist are the 2 best horror movies of the decade.

And I horribly despised The Strangers, but that's just me. Give me Funny Games instead.

Little-seen tip: British horror MUM AND DAD, which pushed the Texas Chainsaw family dynamic to grotesque breaking point.

Not to be a dick, but didn't we already do this recently?
Top 20 Horror films of the 2000s...
Worst Horror Films of the Decade

Yeah, I didn't like The Strangers either and yet I dug the hell out of the French flick Them, which is essentially the same thing. Maybe it would've gone to whichever I saw first.

To add to the list I absolutley loved The House of the Devil, though many around here would put it on the "worst" list. I also had a blast with Trick 'r Treat.

I'll second both The Descent and Wolf Creek as well. Most of the other flicks mentioned need no ratification, though The Hills Have Eyes remake pales before the original.

I love these threads, the help me update my cue. Spinter and Mum and Dad on the way!

Even though the J-horror thing watered itself down in record time, Kairo was the best of that crop. Now that I've refreshed my memory a bit, I'd also add Drag Me to Hell, Devil's Rejects, Devil's Backbone, and maybe Zombieland.

For the worst, FeardotCom sits alone.

Hahahaha. But they've never been TOGETHER, man!

Cuz I'm a sucker for this:

Best:
Grindhouse
Let The Right One In
Shaun of the Dead
The Descent
The Hills Have Eyes
Drag Me To Hell
Martyrs
Frailty
House Of The Devil
The Devil's Backbone
Funny Games
28 Days Later
The Mist
High Tension
The Orphanage
The Ring

Worst:

The Saw Franchise

Hilariously wrong.

As far as DTV, Wrong Turn 2 was actually pretty great. Wrong Turn 3 makes the worst of list.

Elvis's list ain't bad at all. Except Haute Tension.

Nope. Pretty much dead on. They are truly horrible films that spawned even worse films.

I have little to add to this discussion that hasn't been brought up before. But I will say this:

The most misunderstood horror films of the decade were:

I KNOW WHO KILLED ME and HOSTEL II.

The commonality between them was that they were both homages to giallo and Eurohorror of the 70's. It seems modern American audiences were'nt ready for that.

And I'm no fan of the SAW series but aside from maybe part 5 I don't feel thay rank among the worst.

I don't care what "the best" is, so I'll list my faves instead:

THE MIST
DAGON
DRAG ME TO HELL
TRICK R TREAT
HILLS HAVE EYES
SHAUN OF THE DEAD
FEAST
PLANET TERROR
VERSUS
BUBBA HOTEP
GINGER SNAPS Trilogy
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
THE CALL OF CTHULHU
THE WOLFMAN
SUPERNATURAL Seasons 1-Present
the last few seasons of BUFFY and ANGEL
THE DESCENT, DOG SOLDIERS, and DOOMSDAY (a stretch)


Honorable mentions:
ABOMINABLE, ALTERED, THE ROOST, SPLINTER, THE RUINS, THE CONVENT, HIGH TENSION, THE RING, JEEPERS CREEPERS, EVIL ALIENS, SIGNS, JACK BROOKS, UNDERWORLD 2 (yeah so? bite me) and CLOVERFIELD and PJ's KONG (another stretch or 2... they are Monster movies, albeit more kaiju and adventure respectively)

If you think those are the worst horror films of the decade, you're either biased against them or you haven't seen many horror films. It's really that simple.

Even this far in the thread and no mention of A Tale of Two Sisters or, to a lesser extent, Three...Extremes?

Identity deserves a mention too.

Paranormal Activity may have its share of flaws (and what film doesn't, anyway?), but I can't deny the fact that it is, quite literally, the creepiest film I have ever seen. The proof is in the pudding that was this 30-something grown adult having his sleep wrecked for a couple of weeks. So, for that alone, it goes on my list.

Cloverfield gets a nod from me just because it was, in the theater, a truly cinematic theme park ride.

Agreed. The Mist is my personal fave. I think 28 Days and the Dawn remake are better personally, but Land of the Dead is Great(better than the overrated Day*). Shaun is a modern classic, and frankly, perfect.


*last ten minutes of Day are utterly amazing. Best in the series.

No mention of "Fear Dot Com" in any worse lists? Come on.

i would say The Grudge and Grudge 2 should be on the worst here

that i would like to add Dead Silence to the good ones.

Friday the 13th (2008? version)

That is one of the few 'Faraci Finds' that I've walked away from not just disappointed, but outright mystified at his enjoyment of the film.

If you're not a fan of the Friday the 13th franchise or of slasher films in general, and are not aware of the several threads and special articles concerning the genre, then yes, I can imagine why you're mystified by his enjoyment of that film.

I'm a long time reader of CHUD and I know he has fondness for the series. Doesn't make me any less mystified that he enjoyed a film that I thought was completely terrible in every respect

I've been an Indiana Jones fangirl since age 5 or so, but that doesn't mean that I think Crystal Skull isn't one of the worst films of 2008.

PS I really liked THE HILLS HAVE EYES remake. It was about a million times better than FTXIII

He can speak himself on that, but as a fan myself, trust me, the 2009 rebootquelmake is not the worst of them. The series had veered off into self-parody, and stupid self-parody, so a back-to-basics approach was the only way to go. It's about average for the franchise, and that works.

Pretty much this is my POV as well. Part IV The (Not Quite) Final Chapter will probably always be my favorite of the series, and on that level that's why I enjoyed the new Friday film; the last no-gimmicks, no-strings-attached entry of that series was... Christ, has there technically been one?

Part 1: Is the original.

Part 2: Surprise! Jason's now the killer instead of mom!

Part 3: In 3D!

Part 4: The one that will "permanently" kill off Jason.

Part 5: The one that revives the series and gave us a Jason imposter.

Part 6: The one that revives Jason as an outright zombie.

Part 7: Pits Jason against a Carrie-esque psychic/telekinetic.

Part 8: Jason hits the Big Apple (kinda).

Part 9: Jason goes body hopping and again is "permanently" killed off.

Part 10: Jason... in SPAAAAAACE!

Freddy vs Jason: Duh.

So yeah... no gimmicks. No bullshit. No strings. It's a reboot yeah, but that aside it’s just straight ahead Jason dicing up irritating teenagers in the woods. It's competently made, it never really embarrasses itself, the kills are nice and brutal (if a bit less creative and more direct than is usual for this series)... for what it is, it works and it'll do in a pinch, especially if you're a slasher geek who thrives on this stuff. *raises hand* Devin said it best in his review for it: the franchise really needed this kind of film. When you’ve ran into the ground any and every gimmick there is under the sun, the only place left to go is back to your roots.

I will however second Kate’s love for the Hills Have Eyes remake. If it’s not the best horror film of the last decade (I’m still mulling over my own pick for that title myself), then it’s easily the best horror remake; and this is coming from someone who’s always loved the original in the first place.

I'm a fan of slasher films but Friday '09 is terrible. It's every worst aspect of the franchise -- boring leads, tedious pacing -- wrapped into a single package. It was bad enough to kill Warner's interest in a sequel.

Yeah, but you like the Saw franchise.

I do see what you're saying, but my problem with it was not that it wasn't gimmicky enough, or it was too down to earth.. it's that it was bad. There was no tension, the film had over bright colors like a TV show, Jason was not menacing. I mean, it looked and felt cheap and half thought out


Just because it's not as ridiculous as a movie about a zombie retard serial killer in Spaaaaace! does not mean that it is a good movie. (IMHO)

If you're not including STV horror flicks, then I see no problem putting Saw and all its horrible sequels on the list. The franchise has no redeeming qualities.

I could understand not liking the 2009 Friday, but I think even just the first 15 minutes disqualifies it from being among the worst of the Decade.

I don't watch much horror so it's the worst I've seen ( at that budget level at least. )

I second that. Yes, in the grand scheme of 00's horror films including all indie low-to-no-budget stuff, of course SAW isn't the worst. But for theatrically released films the series is a king-sized turd sandwich.

And I was not a fan of FRIDAY the reboot either, but I think Julianna Guill's breasts disqualifies it from being among the worst of the decade.

They aren't well made, they're poorly plotted, one dimensional characters, not terribly interesting themes and the kills are monotonous. They don't work as torture porn, they don't work as suspense thrillers, they don't work as horror/comedy, they don't work in any genre you may want to try to fit them in. The real problem is that they pretend that they're better films than they are. It's like watching a David Spade movie pretend it's Punch Drunk Love.

Any of the worst movies in this thread might be worse films or more incompetent films but at least they don't commit the worst sin a horror movie can do and that's be mind bogglingly boring.

Feel free to can the attitude as well.

Well said.

Just saw this thread, which coincides with a conversation I was having with a friend of mine on Facebook. She and her friends "love" 30 Days of Night. I, on the other hand, rightfully know this film to be retarded, in every sense of the word.

But 30 Days of Night gave us Down Syndrome Vampirism!

I'm convinced that if you could magically mash 30 DAYS OF NIGHT and I AM LEGEND together, and keeping only what worked, you could end up with 1 decent vampire survival flick.

I agree with you once again sir.

What this thread needs is someone saying that MARTYRS is the worst horror film of the decade.

Lol, is that a dig at me sir?

Nope, just half of MARTYRS.

Every single one of which (even Saw V!) is better than Friday '09.

The first 15 minutes are as bad as the final 80. Badly shot porn, annoying characters, lots of dull "let's walk around and let nothing happen..." It's as if some kid who had heard of Friday the 13th but never seen one wrote the scene. "Um, sex? Check. Wandering around with nothing happening? Check. Drugs? Check. What'd we miss?" Just any sort of tension.

Which, bringing this around to my original attack, is Friday the 13th '09. It's insidiously dull.

This "Saw thinks it's better than it is" argument is bullshit. First of all, how so? I don't see James Wan pulling an Eli Roth saying how he revitalized the horror genre. Secondly, if it did, so what? I'm tired of lazy horror that exists simply to help someone's quarterly statement. That's Friday '09. They needed a remake so they got the guys who wrote the last Jason film, they hit all the beats, and they put it out there. And audiences hated it. Saw, for all its flaws -- and there are quite a few -- doesn't repeat itself. Not a single film in that series is a copy of another.

I don't even really like the new Friday the 13th, but c'mon, that's just insane!

Saw never implied Jigsaw was killing everyone because they stole his weed. Advantage Friday!

In truth, Saw generally gets dogpiled on a bit more than it deserves, probably because of the fucking up Halloween for other horror movies thing, but at the same time, is it really worth defending? I mean, yeah, I've seen tons of worse Horror films in the last decade (Stay Alive easily the crown jewel shit of the group, btw), but in the end, they're just Saw movies.

Saw VII, dude. Just you wait. That series loves to retcon itself.

You're right, of course. They're hardly films I jump up to defend as jewels of the genre. But the silly "they're the worst of the worst!" mentality grates me. It always pops up when it comes to the most popular films (with audiences) of the era. So I'm reacting to that in general more than Saw specifically. People did the same shit with Scream, too. And Scream's way better than Saw.

I totally agree with you that the Saw series is not worthy of "Worst Of" placing, but disagree with this part of your argument. I've only seen the first 4, so maybe they change it up or something, but they were about as formulaic as could be.

How? I challenge you, Evi, to a message board duel. With swords.

I realize I've now sort of hijacked this thread, so please feel free to tell me to shut my hole. I'm just having fun with the silliness of defending Saw.

Well lets see:

1) Opening Torture
2) Cops chasing jigsaw
3) More torture
4) Cops
5) Torture
6) Cops
7) Torture
8) Cops
9) Torture
10) Torture
11) Cops
12) Full Penetration
13) Cops
14) Jigsaw reveals how clever he was over the same stupid music.

En Guard!

Saw 1 does not have this! And Saw III has a guy breaking his foot to escape, which is not torture, per se! Lunge!

(Wait, time out. My glasses have fogged...)

For about two seconds in Saw III. I hates you.

Which Saw is this? Because I want to rent it and watch it over and over and over and over--

What?

To me, formula is plot construction. Example: "Opening kill. Kids go to Camp Crystal Lake/secluded area. They are stalked by Jason. A girl, occasionally with her boyfriend, is left as the final survivor. She overcomes Jason." Saw changes up the plot dynamics with each new flick/retcon.

OK, but F13 films don't really follow the exact same formula either, they more or less hover around it, content with never dealing the fans any real surprises. Saw films do the same.

Admittedly, the Friday films are probably even more formulaic than Saw films are, yet bother me less so because they have a sense of humour about themselves and never stoop to moralising.

Fencing Term!

The lead character of Saw IV is black. Black. That's mixing it up.

Game, set, match.

Cool tidbit I use to to astound my friends: the only real Friday film where Jason kills at Camp Crystal Lake is Friday 6.