21 Best Horror Movies of the 21st Century

Much to the pleasure of us horror fans the 21st century has been a bastion for great horror films. Admittedly there have been alot of really bad ones but there has also been an abundance of horror that both new and traditional horror fans love and are passionate about. I have put together a list of what I consider to be the 21 Top Horror Movies of the 21st Century.

I have based this list off of my own personal favorites as well as the reviews and comments by readers and contributors to our site. So although its my list I have incorporated the views of others as well. As always if you have seen any of the films on this list please leave feedback in the comments.

Zombieland:

Starring Woody Harrelson it tells the story of two guys and two girls crossing across a zombie infested mid west to make their way to an amusement park and salvation from the undead. The films focus on rules of survival made it a smash hit as well as its great writing, unique characters and easily one of the best zombie cameos ever. Zombieland is easily one of the best zombie comedies ever made.

Shaun of the Dead:

Shaun of the Dead stars Simon Pegg and really launched him into mainstream popularity. He went on to have a role in Mission Impossible and JJ Abrams Star Trek. The story is about two slackers who would rather eat donuts and sit on the couch than reach for the stars in life. When the end of the world comes they must unite to save their friends and family in very comedic style. Just like Zombieland this movie is one of the best zombie comedies ever made.

Dawn Of the Dead:

Remakes as a rule can never hold a candle to the original but Zach Snyders remake of Dawn of the Dead had homage to the original George Romero film while adding in his own elements of action and new characters to make it almost its own movie. Extremely creepy and action packed Dawn of the Dead is really the DIE HARD of zombie movies with lots of carnage, great writing and truly believable characters. Sarah Polley who starred as the female lead delivered in a big kind of way and is starring in SPLICE which just hit theatres to relatively decent reviews.

Splinter:

Directed by Toby Wilkins this film was released in an extremely limited way by MAGNET and unfortunately I think alot of you may have missed out on seeing this master piece. It is easily one of my favourite isolation horror films since The Thing. A couple out camping get car jacked and things get worse when they end up trapped in a gas station and have to band together with their captors to survive an ecological monster set on ‘absorbing’ them.

Martyrs:

Martyrs is one of the most disturbing films I have seen in a very long time. It starts off as a tale of revenge and within the first 5minutes absolute carnage ensues. That however is only the beginning. The film ends up taking a heavy religious tone as this story of revenge is turned on its face. The scenes in this movie are extremely hard to watch and is one of two films where I had to fast forward through a scene which was just to violent and disturbing to watch. Although its extremely gruesome its quality writing makes it much more then a sadistic film of violence. A must see film if you have a strong stomach.

Dead girl:

Its kind of befitting that after talking about Martyrs I mention Dead Girl. I watched it about 2months after I watched MARTYRS and its a toss up on which film is more disturbing. Dead Girl is about a group of students who find a woman bound in an abandoned hospital who quickly make some extremely disturbing moral choices resulting in extreme violence, moral ambiquity and one of the most disturbing and though provoking films I have seen since Martyrs.

Dead Snow:

A foreign zombie film it is a throw back to Sam Raimi’s EVIL DEAD in both its writing, characters and gruesome yet entertaining zombie carnage. A group of medical students head into the mountains for some camping fun and inadventantly stumble on Nazi zombies and the insane violence adn comedic zombie madness ensues. Easily one of the better foreign zombie comedies to come out in the last few years.

The Strangers:

Starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman this one is a psychological thriller which got absolutely rave reviews from readers and critics alike. Admittedly though I was not overly impressed with this one. A couple who are ending their relationship stay in a friends house and end up being set upon by a group of strangers wearing masks. Well written and quite disturbing The Strangers is a very dark thrill ride sure to please fans of the genre.

REC:

When it comes to zombie movies REC really takes the cake. You are hard pressed to find any horror fans who don’t think that REC is an absolutely visionary zombie film. An apartment building is put under quarantine after a strange attack and absolute insanity ensues as the undead set upon a group of trapped residents including some fireman and a reporter sent out to investigate.

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Top 10 Horror Series ( 77 Articles ) : Top 10 Horror is our ongoing series where we look at the Top films within the genre. For example, 10 Best Horror Films of 2011, 10 Best Movies Featuring Zombies, 10 Greatest Kills, etc. This on going series is written by the entire writing team at HorrorMovies.ca