The Scariest Horror Movies of the 2000s (2024)

• 13. ‘Saw II’ (2005)

  

  What it is: The first sequel in the still-boiling Saw franchise. After the events of “Saw” (you know, that whole make-Westley-from-“The Princess Bride”-hack-off-his-own-foot situation), Jigsaw is back with even grander, grislier designs. Escape room horror reaches a fever pitch when eight seedy strangers wake up in an abandoned flop house rigged to kill them all with a toxic nerve agent in two hours. Work together to test themselves, and they just might survive. But fail to repent for their sins, and it’s — say it with me — game over.

  Why it’s scary: Director Darren Lynn Bousman steps up to co-write with Leigh Whannell here. While “Saw II” might not be as tight as James Wan’s indie from 2004, it capitalizes on everything that makes this franchise one of horror’s most indelibly disturbing. You’ve got some unforgettably awful traps (Needle pit! Needle pit!) and John Kramer (Tobin Bell! Tobin Bell!) finding their footing in a formula that, at the time this hit theaters, had maximum potential. Notorious already, but not yet the whacky police procedural we’d come to know (and still love!), Saw is the success that it is because of “Saw II” — even if 2006’s lesser “Saw III” made more money.

• 12. ‘The Strangers’ (2008)

  

  What it is: A stark home invasion that will scare you anywhere and anytime, but that can absolutely rip the piss out of you if you’re home alone at night. Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) are having a rough evening. Coming in from their friends’ wedding reception, the soon-to-be ex-couple is reeling after Kristen rejects her boyfriend’s marriage proposal. The flightless lovebirds try to comfort each other…until a strange knock at the door sets them walking down the aisle to a new kind of hell.

  Why it’s scary: “The Strangers” reminds us of the Manson Family murders, but what makes writer/director Bryan Bertino’s instant classic so terrifying is its senselessness. The masked killers — known in the franchise as Dollface (Gemma Ward), Pin-Up Girl (Laura Margolis), and the Man in the Mask (Kip Weeks) — attack Kristen and James at the worst possible time, but even they can’t know just how spectacularly f*cked-up this whole situation is. The menace of the intruders shouldn’t be undersold; they’re fast, they’re mean, and they know they’ve already won. Still, it’s the pained looks between Kristen and James that will live in your head rent-free. Maybe they weren’t meant to live happily ever after, but no one deserves to die like this. The same could be said of the franchise overall, consdiering that the newly released “The Strangers: Chapter One” is unconscionably bad.

• 11. ‘Pulse’ — AKA ‘Kairo’ (2001)

  

  What it is: As a matter of legacy, the beating heart of the aughts’ Japanese techno-horror trend may very well be the American remake of “The Ring,” but “Pulse” (also known as “Kairo”) goes faster, further, and freakier as ghosts overtake Tokyo through the internet and a found footage element reveals the unsettling spiritual center to Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s continuously underrated film. The compassionate Michi (Kumiko Asō) and curious economics student Ryosuke (Har) see their dualling experiences — of a liminal apocalypse rendered via unrelenting cinematic dread — explode into pandemonium when Michi’s encounters with spirits collide with Ryosuke’s investigative forensics.

  Why it’s scary: Our protagonists grapple with this extraordinary and ethereal doomsday in different ways, but the scares “Pulse” pulls off are absolutely universal. Dancing through existential themes in a way it seems only this era of Japanese cinema can, Kurosawa (no relation) considers the emotional underpinnings of loneliness carefully and uses the specter of mass suicide in a way that feels earned. What’s more, “Pulse” is a subtle visual feast, making the most of its dark corners with camera and entity movements that are hard to anticipate but never cheap. Do not watch the 2006 remake of this movie… unless you want to see a bunch of god-awful jump scares and Kristen Bell trying to break out of “Veronica Mars,” in which case — have at it.

• 10. ‘Lake Mungo’ (2008)

  

  What it is: The denial stage to grief arrives as a subtle deluge of terror in writer/director Joel Anderson’s “Lake Mungo.” Part found footage, this Australian horror mockumentary profiles a family coming to terms with the drowning death of 16-year-old Alice Palmer (Talia Zucker), who already felt like she was going to die. When a ghostly presence settles into the Palmers’ home after Alice’s funeral, her brother Matthew (Martin Sharpe) sets up a surveillance system and captures images his already-suffering parents, June (Rosie Traynor) and Russell (David Pledger), can’t believe.

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  Why it’s scary: Only slightly serpentine but very smart, Anderson’s script comingles serious tragedy with escalating twists and turns to deliver what still holds up as one of the most exquisite jump-scares/reveals ever rendered. “Lake Mungo” has its detractors. This isn’t the sort of movie that will scare you the whole way through, and it does have plenty of moments that drag. Even so, Anderson’s character work is extremely nimble, and the cast rises to meet the challenge. In the vein of 2010’s “The Babadook” (are the Australians…OK?), this all-timer horror debut has a maddeningly diaphanous conclusion that haunts and hurts the heart to this day. That’s in no small part because Anderson hasn’t made any more movies, but he should.

• 9. ‘Inland Empire’ (2006)

  

  What it is:The digital companion to “Mulholland Drive” you didn’t know you needed, David Lynch’s “Inland Empire” stars Laura Dern as Hollywood starlet Nikki Grace. Nikki is just about to land the coveted title role of Sue Blue in the upcoming film “On High in Blue Tomorrows” — a career win that soon thrusts the actress into a landscape built on the intangible land dividing real life from the big screen. This experimental examination of standard Lynch fodder sees the filmmaker go totally gonzo with his nonlinear storytelling. His cast turns out too, with a memorable performance from Jeremy Irons that doubles as a key turn nearing the finale.

  Why it’s scary: Like plenty of other titles in Lynch’s filmography, “Inland Empire” is not for everyone. The surreal psychological themes that run through almost everything the “Twin Peaks” auteur does are screaming here — fame, it’s a monster! — and, considering he’s not working on celluloid, those can be harder to endure as a viewer. Your mileage may vary, but if you don’t know what you’re getting into, this hallucinatory exploration of Hollywood is all about surrender. The willfully agitating, polarizing Los Angeles nightmare captured here is indeed opaque, but you certainly won’t miss its occasional jump scares. Lynch swings big and has fun with “Inland Empire.” That’s proven timelessly anxiety-inducing, even for its underwhelmed critics.

• 8. ‘The Descent’ (2005)

  

  What it is: “The Descent” is an excellent excuse to bail on your friend group’s next activity. It’s also a cautionary tale about packing even the smallest shred of common sense when you decide to go spelunking. Written and directed by Neil Marshall, this terrifying treat from 2005 follows the young widow Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) into a dangerous cave system beneath the Appalachian Mountains. She’s joined by friends Beth (Alex Reid), Sam (MyAnna Buring), Rebecca (Saskia Mulder), and Holly (Nora-Jane Noone) —who have no idea the outrageously dumb Juno (Natalie Mendoza) is leading them into unexplored territory. After a rockslide leaves the six women trapped underground with no hope of rescue, an even worse threat skitters into their steadily dimming view.

  Why it’s scary: From mining accidents to Baby Jessica in the Well, real stories about people trapped inside the Earth fascinate us. Moviegoers love algorithmic puzzles about bitches you shouldn’t trust just as much, and “The Descent” is delicious because it plays off both of those ideas well. The creature element will make or break the scare factor for you, but even if you’re not into the way these special effects are done, you’ve got to admire the rhythm. As snappy as a thread-bare belay line (climbing humor, anyone?), editor Jon Harris would later work on the survival drama “127 Hours,” and that shows in his keen attention to detail when it comes to depicting stress. “The Descent” also has a fantastic ending — one that includes an eye roll-worthy cliché before turning its metaphoric pickaxe back on the audience… although the U.S. theatrical version does cut off before that grim twist of fate.

• 7. ‘Inside’ — AKA ‘À l’intérieur’ (2007)

  

  What it is: An excellent excuse to not make your baby share a birthday with Jesus, “Inside” (or “À l’intérieur”) finds an expectant mother readying to deliver her baby on Christmas Eve. Photographer Sarah (Alysson Paradis) is overdue at nine months pregnant but making plans to go to the hospital without her husband, who recently died in a car crash. Co-directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo comingle home invasion à la “The Strangers” with prenatal gore when a vicious intruder (Béatrice Dalle) declares her intention to take Sarah’s unborn infant for herself. From the first belly stab to every horror that come after that, “Inside” makes Bo Burnham’s spiraling pandemic comedy special look healthy.

  Why it’s scary:Between “The First Omen” and “Immaculate,” pregnancy horror has never been bigger. In 2024, it still hasn’t been done as well as what screenwriter Bustillo manages in this outright traumatizing script. As a viewer, Sarah’s fight to save her baby feels like giving birth to a nightmare. Watching various household objects gradually repurposed as lethal weapons in the battle between Sarah and her attacker feels like readying the nastiest nest. And your brain might actually contract into itself as you try to push through the brutality for the sake of our final girl, who is compelling every second. That includes the movie’s last twist: a bittersweet conclusion that lands like a breech.

• 6. ‘Wolf Creek’ (2005)

  

  What it is: Set in its namesake Australian national park, Greg McLean’s “Wolf Creek” should not be viewed by any tourists — let alone British backpackers — going by way of the Great Northern Highway. Liz (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristy (Kestie Morassi) are traveling with their friend Ben (Nathan Phillips) when they stumble into the hunting territory of the especially masoch*stic Mick Taylor (John Jarratt). This is “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” meets “Crocodile Dundee” in the age of torture p*rn with all the smart character work of something like Act One “Blair Witch.” After a slow and ambling start to his story (yes, his), the charismatic killer manages to drug the group. The girls wake up in a shed with Ben nowhere to be seen. What happens next is a cause for eyewash, even brain bleach.

  Why it’s scary: “Wolf Creek” is a staggeringly cynical film and brutal to the bitter end. All the implied horrors of someone or something like Leatherface are explicitly explored here against an emotional undercurrent that rivals “The Strangers.” Both the nauseating gore and the unrelenting chattiness of Mick Taylor make Liz and Kristy’s fight to survive extremely hard to take. Even when it comes to sexual assault, “Wolf Creek” doesn’t shy away from being as mean as any Australian snake. The result is just… painful, in every sense.

• 5. ‘The Cell’ (2000)

  

  What it is: A movie “Saturday Night Live” veteran Kyle Mooney got way too high to watch, for one thing. (Read our 2000s Week interview with the “Y2K” filmmaker!)

  Director Tarsem Singh Dhandwar brings gothic fantasy flare — think Nine Inch Nails or Evanescence — to an utterly demented script by Mark Protosevich about a serial killer’s last victim. Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) is a children’s psychologist who uses an advanced neural network to work from inside her patients’ dreams. Special Agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) is an F.B.I. investigator who has just caught abductor/torturer/murderer Carl Stargher (Vincent D’Onofrio). With one last victim of Stargher’s (Tara Subkoff) languishing in an unknown location… and the suspect suddenly in a coma… Novak will need Catherine’s help to interrogate him. Can they find the titular cell before time runs out?

  Why it’s scary: Even all these years later, Carl Stargher may be one of the most inventively awful characters ever written. After they’re kidnapped, Stargher’s victims wake up in a glass cage designed to give them false hope. They’ve got a toilet and somewhere to sleep, plus the killer is nowhere to be found. But in a few days’ time, the airtight chamber will steadily begin to fill with water —and what looks like a bunker for waiting becomes both a weapon and a grave. As if that horrifying concept isn’t enough already, once we’re inside Stargher’s mind the tortures take on an even more otherworldly feel. Don’t be too scared, though: Jenny with the Neckbrace is a professional and that sashimi-ed dream horse can’t hurt you.

• 4. ‘Drag Me to Hell’ (2009)

  

  Read our 2000s Week interview with Alison Lohman by Esther Zuckerman!

  What it is: Sam Raimi low-key has the time of his life with “Drag Me to Hell,” a supernatural haunting epic that has its fun toying with mousey bank employee Christine Brown (Alison Lohman). When Christine turns down the wrong loan applicant, Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver), to get ahead at work, the old woman conjures up a curse that can’t be shaken. Over three increasingly agonizing days, the demon Lamia will punish Christine for her callousness — step right up, we’ve got vomit! We’ve got blood! We’ve got a genuinely upsetting animal sacrifice! — before quite literally dragging our final girl into the depths of Hell.
  
  Why it’s scary: Never date anyone as mind-numbingly dense as Christine’s boyfriend Clay (Justin Long). Co-written with brother Ivan Raimi, “Drag Me to Hell” sees the filmmaker behind “Evil Dead” tackle a classic case of “Is this girl haunted — or just crazy?” Lohman crushes as Christine, frantically begging for help as Ganush invades her car, her bed, and eventually her soul. This quiet classic might be underappreciated, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t thought about endlessly. Christine’s fairytale-like nightmare has been interpreted and re-interpreted by audiences ad infinitum. Women especially tend to appreciate its kaleidoscopic subtext as a consideration of any number of terrible real-world situations that hinge on making someone believe you.

• 3. ‘Hostel’ (2005)

  

  What it is: Eli Roth’s wildly divisive sophom*ore effort sees the “Cabin Fever” filmmaker up the ante in a big way. American tourists Paxton (Jay Hernandez) and Josh (Derek Richardson) are backpacking through Europe when they take a gamble on a seemingly random suggestion that they should travel to Slovakia to meet hot women. The boys, along with their new friend, Óli (Eyþór Guðjónsson), make the journey —only to encounter a pay-to-torture human trafficking ring where foreign visitors are the product. There’s no turning back, especially when you’re Achilles tendon has been sliced.
  
  Why it’s scary: An essential entry in torture p*rn, “Hostel” is a silly concept that has some unfathomably stupid moments. Also from Roth, “Hostel II” explores the themes of American entitlement and post-Cold War nationalism better, but it can’t beat the sheer overwhelm of seeing the original for the first time. The set-up is believable enough and watching the first “Hostel” victim go down is an outright cinematic attack. When Paxton descends into the torture chambers of the Elite Hunting Club, your imagination will run wild with “Dante’s Inferno” vignettes rendered like snippets from Nazi exploitation films. What happens to Japanese tourist Kana (Jennifer Lim) in this film is both sad*stic and silly, but that oozing eyehole certainly made Roth a fearmonger to watch.

• 2. ‘The Loved Ones’ (2009)

  

  What it is: Yet another reason for someone to please: CHECK ON THE AUSTRALIANS. In “The Loved Ones,” final guy Brent (Xavier Samuel) has been through more than enough — even before he gets abducted. Still grieving the death of his father from a car crash he caused, the 17-year-old is battling suicidal thoughts and clinging to the promise of making new memories. Brent, his girlfriend Holly (Victoria Thaine), and Brent’s best friend Jamie (Richard Wilson) already have plans to attend a school dance together. But when Brent rejects the invitation of weird girl Lola (Robin McLeavy), he unknowingly signs up for a far more sinister song and dance.

  Why it’s scary: Not until “Normal People” would another young woman react so badly to needing a date for the Debs. After Lola and her father Eric (John Brumpton) kidnap Brent, a combination of “Mean Girls”-era humor collides with the gleeful gore of something like the much later “Terrifier” to deliver a movie-going experience that’s as bone-deep uncomfortable as any hellish first date. The psychosexual elements at play here (rape, voyeurism, incest, oh my!) make “The Loved Ones” obviously grotesque, but it’s Brent being a sincerely good dude that tortures. Hang onto your brain’s frontal cortex… hell, pin it to your tux… this one’s got a record number of lobotomies.

• 1. ‘Martyrs’ (2008)

  

  What it is: Regardless of how well you know the pantheon of 2000s horror, genre experts should have seen this French assault on the senses coming from a mile away. Pascal Laugier’s “Martys” is infamously scary — the kind of movie you won’t pick out from between your teeth unless you extract them — and it tops this list, no contest.

  The film opens on Lucie (Jessie Pham/Mylène Jampanoï), a young girl who has just escaped years in captivity by unseen torturers. Later at an orphanage, she befriends the gentle Anna (Erika Scott/Morjana Alaoui), and the two grow up together as much-needed companions.

  15 years later, however, a strange monster (Isabelle Chasse) still haunts Lucie. The struggling survivor thinks that if she just gets her revenge, then the haunting might go away. Anna isn’t so sure. After Lucie breaks into the home of a seemingly normal suburban family — she is certain the Belfonds (Robert Toupin, Patricia Tulasne, Juliette Gosselin, Xavier Dolan-Tadros) hurt her — the two best friends have their relationship seriously tested. Did Anna ever believe Lucie? And what happens if she admits now that she doesn’t?

  Why it’s scary:HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh mygod.Excuse me. What a question.

  “Martyrs” is so viscerally upsetting that recommending it willy-nilly should be punishable by law. Seriously, if you suggest this f*cked-up psychological horror to the wrong person, they might never recover. That’s true from the get-go, as even Lucie just invading the Belfonds’ home with a shotgun draws out agonizing deaths in an instant. The nightmarish scenes of her as a child, which hit the audience before that, are in their own way more disturbing. That’s to say nothing of the shocking image of a woman in a steel blindfold that many horror fans know this movie to contain. We won’t understand how that happened for a long while, and even when we do, “Martyrs” isn’t done torturing us yet.

  Writer/director Laugier drags his audiences kicking and screaming through this — The Scariest Movie of Its Decade (and plenty others!) — with a combination of extreme gore, creature feature terrors, and a jaw-dropping conspiracy that could only be developed by the Devil himself. The core of what makes this movie so scary is hidden in its title, and an endurance-testing performance by Jampanoï is something the actress should be canonized for. Make it through “Martyrs” and you’ll find deliverance too, if only from the pressure to watch this one-of-a-kind mindf*ck ever again.

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