[Editorial] 15 of the Best Horror Films of the 2000s

There seems to be a bit of a misconception going around that the last couple of decades haven’t been as good for horror as periods such as the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. And while there’s no denying the classics that came out during those years, it’s incredibly unfair to say that we haven’t been treated to some absolute horror royalty in recent years.

The 2000s was an amazing time for horror movies. As I turned 15 in 2002, I was finally able to head to the cinema and catch a number of new releases on the big screen, and as such, so many of these movies have a special place in my heart. 

After some extensive research, I narrowed my shortlist down to about 40 movies, but as more cuts needed to be made, I decided to pick the movies that I loved and pretty much never left my DVD player as a teenager. So apologies to all those 2000s movies I didn’t get into until more recently. I’m sure you’ll make it onto a list one day!

15 - Creep (2004)

Before Peachfuzz was everyone’s favourite wolf mask, Christopher Smith’s Creep was released. Set in the London Underground, Creep follows Kate after she gets locked in a tube station once all the trains have finished for the night.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, she finds out there is a creature hiding in the underground tunnels, who likes kidnapping anyone he comes across, and eventually murdering them. Sean Harris is amazingly creepy as Craig the Creep, the Underground is a wonderfully scary setting, and there’s one particularly unnerving scene that will make you never want to go to the gynaecologist again.

14 - Van Helsing (2004)

While the CGI in Van Helsing wasn’t great at the time, and therefore hasn’t aged well either, this monster mashup movie is the perfect introduction to horror’s classic monsters. Hugh Jackman plays a hunkier version of Van Helsing than we’re used to who hunts monsters on order from the Vatican.

As well as that we get Dracula, a trio of beautiful vampire brides, werewolves, Mr Hyde, Frankenstein’s Monster, and a whole bunch of creepy monsters hanging about Castle Dracula. It’s part horror, part action but all-round fun!

13 - 30 Days of Night (2007)

Vampire movies so often focus on the sexiness of vampires, but 30 Days of Night hit our screens in 2007 to remind us that vampires are terrifying. Set in Alaska, the movie posits what would happen if a clan of vampires showed up right as a town is about to experience 30 straight days of darkness. 

Not only that, these vampires are ruthless! They are fast, have shark-like teeth, and like nothing more than ripping humans apart in the streets. The setting is fantastic, the vampire design is iconic, and the brutality of some deaths makes it stand out in the vampire subgenre.

12 - Paranormal Activity (2007)

I went to see Paranormal Activity in the cinema twice because after the first time I knew I needed to experience that sheer terror in the cinema again. Horror doesn’t need to be scary to be good (or considered horror), but Paranormal Activity was something special. 

The found-footage movie followed a young couple who think their house may be haunted. The real scares come at night when the camera records as the couple sleep. The scene where Katie is dragged from the bed as the door slams behind her has got to be one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen. 

11 - Dead Silence (2007)

The magnificent double team of James Wan and Leigh Whannell brought us Dead Silence, the story of the vengeful spirit of a talented ventriloquist who was murdered by the town after her suspected involvement in a child-snatching case. 

After his wife is murdered, Jamie returns to his hometown to try and figure out how the mysterious doll they received in the mail is related to her death. The lore of Mary Shaw, the 101 creepy dolls, the ‘Beware the stare of Mary Shaw’ rhyme - it’s all perfect.

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10 - The Descent (2005)

After the death of her family, Sarah’s friends invite her to America for a caving holiday to try and get her mind off her grief. Juno so badly wants the group to have a unique experience that she leads them into a cave system no one has explored yet, which turns out to be a deadly mistake. 

Not only is the cave system difficult to navigate, but it’s also full of flesh-eating, blind monsters with an amazing sense of hearing. The claustrophobia of the first half of the movie is scary enough, but when that first monster pops up on the night vision camera, the film goes to a whole other level. 

9 - The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

We’ve hit our first remake on the list because let’s face it, the 2000s were a great time for horror remakes. The Hills Have Eyes took Wes Craven’s 1977 classic and updated it into a wonderful, gory, and challenging at times movie. 

The Carter family are driving across the country for a vacation when their tyres are destroyed thanks to a spike strip. They soon find out they are being hunted by a family of cannibal mutants who are particularly keen on eating baby Catherine. The whole movie is perfection, but my favourite sequence is when Doug heads into the mutant village to rescue his daughter.

8 - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) timeline is full of lots of questionable entries, but Marcus Nispel created my second favourite Leatherface film with this 2003 remake. Staying close to the same story as the original, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a group of young friends who end up stranded in the middle of Texas on their way to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. 

Leatherface is sneaky, speedy, and a little more mean spirited, and my god, he’s fantastic in this movie. He also gets an extended family, more time with his chainsaw, and an epic final showdown with Jessica Biel’s Erin. It’s hot, sweaty, gory, and a lot of fun!

7 - Wrong Turn (2003)

My friend gave me a disc of Wrong Turn when I was too young to go and see it at the cinema, and I remember sitting huddled on my PC chair in front of my desktop computer, absolutely terrified. Cannibal hillbillies seem like an overplayed horror trope now (mainly due to the mainly Wrong Turn sequels), but at the time it was terrifying. 

I also love how so much of Wrong Turn takes place during the day, with poor Scott getting multiple arrows through him as the sun shines through the forest. Francine getting attacked with barbed wire and Carly getting her head chopped in half as her body falls to the forest below are also highlights. 

6 - Thirteen Ghosts (2001)

More remake action for you with Thirteen Ghosts, but this one drifts a little further from the source material. After the death of his wife, Arthur faces financial ruin as he tries to care for his two children. However, it seems his prayers are answered when his Uncle Cyrus dies and leaves Arthur his mansion. 

However, some things are too good to be true, and Cyrus’ house is actually a glass, clockwork machine that’s home to a bunch of very violent ghosts. Isn’t it always the way? I love everything about the creative vision behind Thirteen Ghosts. The design of every ghost is amazing and the extravagant glass house is unreal. It truly is an exceptionally beautiful movie to look at!

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5 - Valentine (2001)

2001 was the year Jamie Blanks gave us a brand new serial killer with the wonderful Jeremey Melton from Valentine. Thirteen years after a disastrous Valentine’s Day dance, Jeremy Melton starts targeting a group of his ex schoolmates. 
Dressed in an extra-creepy cherub mask, the women have to try and figure out who in their life could be Jeremy Melton in disguise. As well as a fantastic soundtrack that just screams 2001, Valentine contains some of the best slasher deaths. From the opening morgue death to Paige’s hot tub demise, Valentine is 96 minutes of 2000s perfection.

4 - Cherry Falls (2000)

Cherry Falls has been getting a lot of love lately, especially with its recent addition to Shudder in some regions, and it’s definitely well-deserved. While it was only released as a TV movie in America, it got a cinema release in the UK, so felt like a bigger deal! 
Turning the tropes of horror on their head, Cherry Falls has a killer who is targeting virgins. Brittany Murphy plays our final girl, Jody, and every single piece of clothing that touches her body is on my fashion wishlist. Some of the movie’s most shocking moments have apparently been lost forever after ending up on the cutting room floor, but there are still some excellent slasher sequences, including Jody’s iconic attack in the high school.

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3 - Dog Soldiers (2002)

I cannot stress enough how much I love werewolf movies, and Dog Soldiers is perhaps the scariest werewolf movie I have ever seen. Set in my native Scotland, Dog Soldiers pits a team of British soldiers against a pack of hungry werewolves, with particularly bloody results. 
The werewolves are all practical effects, with horrendously long, uncanny limbs that you only see in flashes as they dart through the trees surrounding the house. It’s funny in the right places, with wonderful moments of gore, and it still scares me twenty years later, which is an impressive feat.

2 - House of Wax (2005)

Our final remake on the list is 2005’s House of Wax, which takes the best bits of the two movies it is based on and creates something wonderful with them. When twins Carly and Nick break down with a bunch of their friends, they find themselves in the deserted town of Ambrose. The only person they managed to speak to is garage owner Bo, but they soon find out his twin brother, Vincent, is lurking under the now-closed House of Wax.
Of course, it turns out the waxy shenanigans may have spread a little further than the House of Wax, and Carly and Nick need to fight for their lives to escape. House of Wax is another movie I never get tired of looking at. I remember watching a documentary on MTV about the making of the film, and it’s fascinating how much of the waxy finale was done on the set!

1 - Ginger Snaps (2000)

If we’re talking about movies that dominated my 2000s and my teen years, then Ginger Snaps is right there at the top. From a first late-night viewing on a Sky movies channel to endless DVD watches which have continued to this day, Ginger Snaps has been a huge part of my life for around 20 years now.
Ginger Snaps effectively mixes the woes of puberty with the fear of turning into a monster. Sisters Ginger and Brigitte were the weirdos I desperately longed to be as a teenager. The focus is barely on the actual werewolf at all, which we only get to see in the closing segment of the film, but instead focuses on the struggles we all face when becoming a teenager.

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