The Best Horror Movies Of The Decade [2010s] - Page 5 of 5

 

“Hereditary” (2018)
Let’s be honest, Ari Aster’s sun-kissed gorefest “Midsommar” wouldn’t have generated the hype that it did if it weren’t for his directorial debut, “Hereditary.” This is not to say “Midsommar” wasn’t jaw-dropping on its own, “Hereditary” simply exists within its own fucked up realm of terrifying excellence. Blazing the trail to just how disorienting and disjointing the genre of horror can be, Aster’s debut kidnaps the comfort of viewers through a barrage of stomach-twisting visuals and a nightmarish atmosphere that can be cut with a blood-ladened knife. Breathing demented life into this atmosphere, Toni Collette as the film’s matriarch is absolutely brilliant as she harrowingly taps into what it is like to bear the weight of a family falling apart. Speaking of which, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Aster’s perfect balancing act between the supernatural and real family trauma. One moment, viewers are tormented by scenes of possession, but in the next, they’re brought back to a tear-inducing reality by the mere sight of a crumbling mother-son relationship at the dinner table. Simply put, Aster’s debut is a near-perfect masterpiece and is just the type of film that will be analyzed, debated and used as a blueprint in film academia for years to come. *clicks tongue* — KK

“The Wailing” (2016)
The Devil’s been in the business of claiming souls long enough to have picked up a trick or two, so when the servants of evil set their sights on the rural village of Na Hong-Jin’s “The Wailing,” their methods of corruption prove every bit as mysterious as the heavenly forces that seek to oppose them. For the first third of its hefty two-and-a-half-hour runtime, you could almost mistake Na’s masterfully paced opus for a buddy cop comedy as the endearingly oafish Jong-goo (Kwak Do-won) and his peers stumble through a series of spooky encounters with increasing frustration and bewilderment. Laugh while you still can, since, by the time the mood has completed its seamless shift towards dread and desperation, the community’s demonic presence has already infiltrated the home of Jong-goo and his daughter under a shroud of conflicting rumors and mistruths. Like the malevolent forces it depicts, “The Wailing” is a film that thrives on confusion and misdirection as Na patiently lays the groundwork for one of the most devastating conclusions of recent horror cinema. As it turns out, neither love nor blind faith is enough to steer you away from damnation when the followers of Satan have read the Bible too. – David Pountain

“Under the Shadow” (2016)
Set in Tehran during the War of the Cities, “Under the Shadow” follows Shideh (Narges Rashidi) and her daughter, Dorsa (Avin Manshadi), as they battle an evil djinn. Far from a monster flick, “Under the Shadow” expertly capitalizes on the anxiety inherent in its conflict-torn setting, proving that old adage that the only thing to fear is fear itself. Bound by the strictures of her society and the claustrophobia of war, Shideh’s plight with the djinn is more a brilliant allegory for the unique stress of marginalization than generic fare. Kenji Fujishima summed this up nicely in his review for us: “More memorable than its evil genie is its portrait of a mother struggling between her maternal and feminist instincts, and of a society as a whole struggling between repression and modernization.” Rather than breaking formal boundaries, “Under the Shadow” is ingenious for all the ways in which it uses the best of horror. Like “Hereditary” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” two other standouts on this list, “Under the Shadow” repurposes the genre’s inherent suspense to genius, spine-tingling effect. –Lena Wilson

Let Me In” (2010)
We all have opinions as to whether the Swedish “Let the Right One In” is better than its American remake, but “Let Me In” is one of those rare remakes that is actually extremely good on its own. Before he would go on to direct CGI-fests like “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and “War for the Planet of the Apes” or pen “The Batman,” Matt Reeves made a splash at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival with “Let Me In.” Starring tiny Chloë Grace Moretz as Abby, a wily vampire, and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Owen, her pre-teen mark, “Let Me In” expertly walks the line between coming-of-age drama and horror. Desolate and daring, this film imagines an us-against-the-world friendship with panache. Like “The Craft” or “Ginger Snaps,” “Let Me In” unleashes the horror of teenage misfitdom with relish. You know logically that you’re not supposed to root for these little monsters, yet you can’t help but root for their adult thwarters’ demises. Plus, it’s refreshing to (spoiler alert) see the girl monster make it out of a horror film unpunished and unscathed – though it may be because she’s got the male protagonist under her spell. –LW

Goodnight Mommy” (2014)
The strength of “Goodnight Mommy‘s” impact as a viscerally disturbing horror tale about the breakdown of the nurturing trust within the family unit isn’t necessarily tied to its “shocking” end twist. To be fair, the exact same twist was used in a Korean horror classic as well as its inevitable Hollywood remake, all before the release of writers/directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s disturbingly intimate chamber thriller about twin boys (Lukas and Elias Schwarz) who suspect their post-cosmetic surgery mother (Susanne Wuest) of being an impostor. The tonal and thematic approach that gradually terrifies us to our core is in the way Fiala and Franz break down the natural faith we have in our families that they will protect us and love us, and the breakdown occurs from both ends. The mother has to increasingly come to terms with the fact that her own children might be a hostile and even deadly force in her own home, and the twins have to face the possibility that they’re abandoned by their maternal unit in increasingly hostile domestic strafe. The cold and isolated production design helps set “Goodnight Mommy’s” claustrophobic horror pedigree. –Oktay Ege Kozak

Train to Busan” (2016)
Snowpiercer with Zombies” should be enough of a pitch to get some eyeballs on this balls-to-the-wall intense, harrowing, smart, funny, and shockingly tearjerking modern zombie classic, but thankfully “Train to Busan” has a lot more hiding up its bloody sleeve. This is the kind of fresh and meticulously crafted genre exercise that can be served as long-awaited medicine for those who have given up on new takes on the overplayed zombie flick. The simplicity of the premise, a group of passengers are stranded on a train as a zombie apocalypse wreaks havoc in the outside world, allows director Sang-ho Yeon to balance tension-filled and rapturous set pieces with subtle themes concerning class warfare, tribalist dehumanization, self vs. the common good, and the immovable strength of parental love. The central relationship in this ensemble horror masterwork is one between a career-obsessed father (Yoo Gong) and the estranged daughter (Su-an Kim) he ignores. Their touching narrative arc manages to explore both personal themes about parental sacrifice, as well as the moral imperative of caring for all human life. The fast-moving “28 Days Later” zombies who overwhelm their prey by piling up into giant mounds of disease and death finally pay off a similar promise of epic zombie action let down tremendously by the CG-infested chaos of “World War Z.” –OEK

Honorable Mentions:
As noted in many of the picks above, there are filmmakers who saw success with more than one feature this decade, such as Jordan Peele (“Us”), Ari Aster (“Midsommar”), Robert Eggers (“The Lighthouse”), Peter Strickland (“Berberian Sound Studio”), Nicolas Pesce (“Piercing”), Adam Wingard (“You’re Next”), and Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead (“Resolution,” “The Endless”). The ones we felt were strongest made the cut, but all of them are worthy.

Other entries that were considered but just narrowly missed are Taiki Waititi’s delightful “What We Do in the Shadows,” Oz Perkins’ moody “The Blackcoat’s Daughter,” S. Craig Zahler’s grisly horror-western “Bone Tomahawk,” Dan Trachtenberg’s contained, tense “10 Cloverfield Lane,” Ti West’s minimalist ghost story “The Innkeepers,” John Krasinski’s technically impressive “A Quiet Place,” Michael Dougherty’s hilarious “Krampus,” Christopher Landon’s highly-entertaining “Happy Death Day,” Scott Derrickson’s surprisingly-effective “Sinister,” both Chapters of Andy Muschietti’s adaptation of “It,” and perhaps the chronic franchising of each respective property has diminished the impact of the originals, James Wan’s work on both the first “Insidious” and “The Conjuring” is solid and cannot be understated that they were strongly considered.

A couple others that missed due to strong feelings on both sides of the spectrum amongst the staff include Gore Verbinski’s gonzo epic “A Cure for Wellness,” which has strong defenders but not enough to push it onto this list (though I am one of them and this movie that will make this list if it were to be done again in 2029. Mark my damn words!). Guillermo del Toro’s luscious “Crimson Peak” split on whether or not it was more than just a pretty pastiche. Trey Edward Shults’ “It Comes At Night” has both admirers for its stark portrait of grief and detractors for the misdirection not quite working for them. And while you won’t find a ton of Rob Zombie defenders around these parts, his films do spark a lot of discussions, and “The Lords of Salem” is a mature work for the filmmaker, and arguably his best, and some felt it was worthy of a mention. Agree with our picks? Sound off in the comments below, and Happy Halloween!