The 2000s was an interesting decade for horror. Though the ’90s hadits fair share of underrated horror classics, it remains one of the weaker decades for the genre, as endless sequels to classic films proliferated and crowded the box office.ANightmare on Elm Street,Friday the 13th,Child’s Play,andHalloweenseries each churned out dreadful additions with diminishing returns, while films likeLeprechaun,Candyman, andCarrieall received their own terrible sequels, mostmore laughable than scary.
Update July 22, 2025: This article has been updated with even more terrifying horror films from the 2000s.
All of this intersected at the dawn of the new millennium while burgeoning fears and paranoia over 9/11, terrorism, and American aggression stewed together. The resulting cavalcade of innovative and intense horror films produced numerous masterpieces and launched the careers of several now-renowned auteurs, changing the face of terror forever. These are the scariest movies of the 2000s.
Lucky McKee’s directorial debutMayis a modern goth-rock remake of the Frankenstein story, casting the underrated Angela Bettis as a troubled young woman who is told by her mother, “if you can’t find a friend, make one.” Initially, this odd adage applies to dolls, but the anti-social titular May soon uses it to take her favorite parts from people’s bodies and create her own best friend. With a heartbreaking and tremendous performance by Bettis, this gruesome little indie updates a classic myth of male hubris into a woman’s perspective.
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The French horror filmThemtakes viewers on a tense journey from start to finish and is proof filmmakers don’t need gore or special effects to traumatize audiences. After a young couple moves from France to a remote house in the countryside of Romania, they become targeted by unknown, hooded assailants. Brutal and intense, this movie has a shocker of an ending that will haunt you long after the credits have ended.
13Suicide Club
One of the weirder films to come out of the J-horror craze (which is saying something),the infamous Sion Sono’sSuicide Clubis an unforgettable and delirious masterpiece. Opening with a group of sweet, smiling schoolgirls holding hands in a rail station before all jumping in front of a high-speed train and soaking onlookers with blood, the film only spirals deeper into depravity and insanity as it goes along. With a bizarre pastiche of different styles, Sono’s whacked-out critique of celebrity culture and social hypocrisy features one of the most disturbing musical numbers ever filmed.
12Ginger Snaps
For a long time,Ginger Snapsflew under the radar, and it doesn’t help that it never received the full theatrical release it deserved. However, this werewolf movie finally found its audience, thanks to its feminist themes, creature effects, and witty plot. In Bailey Downs, two sisters named Ginger and Brigitte, who are obsessed with death, meet it head-on when Ginger gets her first period and is subsequently attacked by a creature who has been preying on the town’s dog population. Soon after, Ginger becomes more and more uninhibited, leaving Brigitte to seek a cure for lycanthropy. With strong performances by Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins, this creature feature doubles as a dark comedy, making for an overall fun watch.
11Trick ‘R Treat
Anthology films are always hit or miss, butTrick ‘R Treatis the rare entry that hits more than it misses. With interwoven stories set in the same town on Halloween night, this cult favorite manages to be a fun mix of frightening, gory, and humorous, as if checking off all the genre boxes. Sam, the trick-or-treating villain adorned with a burlap sack over his head, has also joined the ranks of Michael Myers and Freddy Kruger as a beloved horror icon.
10Open Water
Like a few others on this list,Open Waterproved that filmmakers don’t need a large budget to terrify and unnerve audiences. Director Chris Kentis took a fairly simple premise — being stranded alone in the middle of the ocean — and used it to great effect. A couple looking to spend more time together decide to go on a scuba diving expedition as part of a group, only to accidentally get left behind. It doesn’t take long for the stranded and bickering couple to capture the attention of sharks. This deep dive into human survival instincts proved scary enough that audiences craved more, and it spawned two sequels.
Larry Fessenden is one of the current masters of horror and yet is probably best remembered for his unique appearance as a character actor in numerous films. This is a shame, considering how thoughtful and intellectually stimulating Fessenden’s movies are, none more so thanWendigo. Seen largely through the perspective of a young boy (and more haunting because of it), the film tracks an upper-class family on holiday after a tense encounter with ‘local yokels’ who may wish them ill. A brilliant meditation on imperialism, colonization, and the genocides of First Nations people,Wendigois an icy-cold stunner.
The 2000s gave birth to what has been called ‘New French Extremity,’ a brutally violent, controversially transgressive subgenre of horror which is not for the faint of heart. One of the greatest of these isInside,a stomach-churning display of masterful intensity about an insane home invader who, instead of stealing possessions or money, wants to steal a pregnant woman’s baby. For those who can handle it, the movie is an explicit but largely unparalleled meditation on femininity and maternity which haunts viewers long after it’s over.
7Pontypool
Perhaps the most intellectually stimulating horror film here is Bruce McDonald’s utterly uniquePontypool, which deconstructs ideas of infection, contagion, and conformity before reconstructing it as a kind of philosophical zombie film. Stephen McHattie is absolutely delightful as a radio shock jock who unwittingly launches an epidemic after taking a caller on air, the idea being that language itself can be a virus. Woefully underrated and beautifully constructed, the film displays the genre’s low-budget innovation at its best.
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6Session 9
If spooky hauntings are your jam, you’ve probably seenSession 9, a truly creepy movie that relies a lot on atmosphere and tone to unnerve viewers. Starring David Caruso and Josh Lucas as members of an asbestos removal company, this dark thriller follows the crew as they begin work at an abandoned mental hospital. Plagued by disembodied voices and strange feelings, the men’s lives spiral into chaos after they discover and listen to tapes recorded during a session with a former patient. With a twisty ending,Session 9has gained a cult following for its thought-provoking plot that lingers after the movie ends.
