The Super Powered Fancast

The 2000’s were an interesting mix of all genres in horror. There were slasher films like Scream 3 as well as thrillers like American Psycho. The 2000’s did add another distinction to the horror genre, it took the success of The Blair Witch Project and created a new genre of “found footage” horror films like Paranormal Activity and [REC]. With that in mind, we found ourselves narrowing our list of top five horror films from the 2000’s to more supernatural fare. So here is our list of the top five from the 2000’s.

5. Drag Me To Hell (2009)

Sam Raimi returns to the list with this entry. After coming off directing three Spider-Man movies for Sony, Raimi returns to his horror roots both writing and directing this story of a loan officer who evicts an old woman from her home only to find herself the recipient of a supernatural curse. Raimi writes and directs a solid supernatural and morality tale in this movie and delivers an amazing ending that lives up to the promise of the title.

4. 30 Days of Night (2007)

Based on the comic book of the same name, 30 Day of Night does a great job of reigniting the vampire story with an entirely new and terrifying concept. For one month of the year, the entire town of Barrow, Alaska experiences no sunlight. When a stranger destroys the towns ability to communicate with the outside world and sabotages all of the vehicles that could help people escape, vampires, who slaughter everyone they can find, overrun the town. A small group of survivors led by the town sheriff and his estranged wife has to survive for the next 30 days until the sun comes up.

3. The Others (2001)

A classic, gothic haunted house story with an amazing twist, The Others from director Alejandro Amenabar took the concept of a haunted house to some really interesting and dramatic places. Nicole Kidman was sublime as a mother whose husband leaves for war and cares for her children in their gothic manor home in the country. Kidman’s character is fiercely devoted to her children and protective of them because they suffer from a rare condition where they cannot abide sunlight, forcing the mother to shutter every window and bathe the entire house in darkness both day and night. It only gets worse when a trio of servants arrives and the children and their mother begin to experience strange visions and noises in the house. What makes the film so dynamic and scary is the creeping darkness and the twist at the end is memorable and haunting.

2. Jeepers Creepers (2001)

Mixing a series of classic monster and horror movie tropes in one movie, Jeepers Creepers manages to work as an effective chase and monster movie. When two college kids witness a stranger chucking bodies down a hole outside an abandoned church, they do the first stupid thing they can think of, they decide to “investigate”. What they find leads them on a collision course with an ancient, bat-like creature who hunts them through the fear they emanate. One of the things that makes this movie work is that there’s no wasted time trying to convince the police that this thing is real. They know it is and that still won’t keep coming for them. The relentless nature of the creature and the horror it leaves in its wake makes the film incredibly entertaining.

1. The Ring (2002)

Japanese horror films were one of the best-kept secrets of horror fans for a long time. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s that secret was out in a big way with the release of Gore Verbinski’s remake of the 1998 Japanese horror thriller Ringu. The Ring revolves around a mysterious video tape filled with haunting and disturbing imagery. When you watch the video, a voice tells you that in seven dies you die. The film becomes a race against the clock as a mother discovers that her son has watched the video and she must discover the mystery behind it in order to save him. Her journey takes her to the heart of a mystery involving a powerful little girl who is out for vengeance. What makes the film unique in its horror is the images from the video being so visually compelling and disturbing as well as the finale that is creepy and unexpected.

Those are our picks for the top five horror movies of the 2000’s. If you have a film that scared you and it didn’t make the list, let us know what it is and why it should be included. Your selection might make it onto an episode of our podcast.

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