Saw (2004)
You will cover your eyes when watching this film. Whether it's because of the gore, the visceral torture scenes, or the horrifying dilemma central to the film's premise, we couldn't tell you. But you will be taken on a roller coaster of emotions.
Metacritic Score: 46
Image: Lions Gate Films
The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
The Purge franchise is an oddity in the horror genre, with each movie telling a different story set in the same dystopian future where all crime is legal one night every year.
In Anarchy, the second of three thus far, a group of people in downtown Los Angeles all try to survive the night.
Metacritic score: 50
Image: Universal Pictures
The Ring (2002)
You can't discuss 21st century horror without mentioning The Ring -- it's one of the highest-grossing horror movies of all time. Critics have been somewhat mixed on the film, but Samara crawling out of the TV to claim her victims is absolutely iconic.
Metacritic Score: 57
Image: Dreamworks
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
A Zack Snyder remake of the classic George Romero film, the story remains as fresh today as it did when it first hit audiences in 1978. Starring Sarah Polley, Jake Weber, and Ving Rhames as the survivors of a mass plague that creates flesh-eating zombies out of its victims, the group takes refuge in a mall to stay alive (and uninfected). Snyder delivers plenty of thrills, while keeping true to the socio-political undertones of the original.
Metacritic Score: 59
Image: Universal Pictures
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)
A hilarious take on the classic horror scenario of "what happens to a group of people trapped in a cabin in the woods," this genre-bending, comedic romp stars Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as a pair of hapless friends who get their vacation upended by gore, mayhem and plenty of screaming. In between the laughs and tongue-in-cheek bromance bonding are plenty of actual shriek-worthy moments.
Metacritic Score: 65
Image: Magnet Releasing
I Saw The Devil (2010)
What happens when revenge turns you into the monster you're chasing? That question is at the heart of this action-packed Korean horror thriller. Starring Oldboy's Min-sik Choi as a sadistic serial killer, and Korean superstar Byung-hun Lee as a man on a quest for vengeance, you won't be able to tear your eyes away from the screen.
Metacritic Score: 67
Image: Magnolia Releasing
The Conjuring (2013)
Loosely based on the true story of a pair of paranormal investigators, the blue eyes of Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are put to very good use in a wide array of close-ups. Not quite a possession story, not quite a ghost story, it's worth watching for the performances of its stellar cast and creepy atmosphere, rather than genuine jump-in-your-seat moments.
Metacritic Score: 68
Image: New Line Cinema
Paranormal Activity (2009)
After being tormented by a suspected demon, a California couple sets up a camera in their home to capture evidence. The found-footage-style film was shot as a low-budget indie, becoming a huge box office success when Paramount/DreamWorks acquired the rights.
Metacritic Score: 68
Image: Paramount/DreamWorks
It (2017)
The first chapter in the It franchise is the kind of movie horror fans deserve more of: It's scary, creepy and goes out of its way to make you feel for every character put in harm's way. And the big bad, Pennywise the Dancing Clown, is downright horrifying.
Metacritic score: 70
Image: Warner Bros.
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
At first glance, this horror/comedy appears to be standard fare -- five college students visit a cabin and are slaughtered one by one. Of course, there's a huge twist waiting at the end of this Joss Whedon film, and ... well, the less you know going in, the better.
Metacritic Score: 72
Image: Lionsgate
Zombieland (2009)
Woody Harrelson steals the show in this coming-of-age-slash-zombie movie. Jesse Eisenberg is the hapless hero who has a lot of learning to do; the zombies are ickily gory; the ingenue (Emma Stone) kicks some serious butt; and the laughs abound. Also, casting Bill Murray in a zombie flick? Genius.
Metacritic Score: 73
Image: Sony Pictures
28 Days Later (2002)
Danny Boyle's take on a zombie apocalypse has it all: thrills, chills, gore and Christopher Eccleston in a small but memorable role as a cold-blooded soldier. A young Cliian Murphy doesn't hurt either.
Metacritic Score: 73
Image: 20th Century Fox
The Others (2001)
This suspenseful gothic tale keeps the viewer on the edge sans any big special effects. Take Nicole Kidman in one of her finest performances, add a bunch of creepy servants, an old house, two children with a really weird allergy, and a twist ending worthy of The Sixth Sense, and you get one of the best ghost movies ever made.
Metacritic Score: 74
Image: Miramax Films
The Orphanage (2007)
When will people learn revisting scenes of their childhood in horror movies never pays off? In this case, a woman named Laura brings her entire family back to the orphanage where she grew up. When Laura's son soon goes missing, what follows is a master class in suspense, as Laura and a team of parapsychologists attempt to unravel the mysteries within.
Metacritic Score: 74
Image: Warner Bros.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
One of the best bromances ever captured on camera set against a massively gory zombie apocalypse, this film, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, posits that, yes, a zombie may eat your bestie, but true video-game marathon friendship can survive even death.
Metacritic Score: 76
Image: Universal Pictures
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
Rather than focus on monster-themed horror, the second film in the Cloverfield universe is an intimate psychological horror where a deranged John Goodman holds a woman hostage underground in close quarters. The movie leaves a lasting impression to be sure.
Metacritic score: 76
Image: Paramount Pictures
The Devil's Backbone (2001)
Against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, 12-year-old Carlos arrives at an orphanage. No sooner does he settle in than he begins to be haunted by the ghost of a former student, who warns of an impending tragedy. Beautifully directed by Guillermo del Toro, the film seamlessly weaves the very real terrors of a country torn by war with that of the paranormal.
Metacritic Score: 78
(Photo: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
It Comes At Night (2017)
It Comes at Night builds cabin fever and hysteria when two families barricade themselves from the world due to a mysterious outbreak. The true terror in this film comes from the unseen.
Metacritic score: 78
Image: A24
Under The Skin (2014)
Though this Scarlett Johansson sci-fi horror film was a box office bust, critics praised the "brave experiment." Rolling Stone called her portrayal of an alien femme fatale "phenomenal." Just don't expect a happy ending.
Metacritic Score: 78
(Photo: A24/StudioCanal)
Battle Royale (2000)
We don't care if the year 2000 doesn't technically fall into the 21st century.
The Hunger Games is nothing compared with this cult masterpiece by Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku. A group of middle school students go on what is a seemingly innocent field trip, only to be rendered unconscious and taken to a remote island. Upon awakening, they discover they are the year's participants in the nation's ultimate game, where students must kill each other until only one remains. Philosophical, horrifying, controversial, and above all, packed with suspenseful thrills, this is one film bound to go down in film history as a classic.
Metacritic Score: 81
Image: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Let the Right One In (2008)
Real vampires are everywhere. They may even lurk behind the face of the mysterious girl in your apartment complex, a girl who's just a lonely kid like you. Masterfully written, directed and acted, this atmospheric thrill-fest delivers skin-crawling moments when least expected. True horror at its finest, it forces the viewer to confront that deep-seated, ancient fear every human feels at the monsters that go bump in the night.
Metacritic Score: 82
Image: Magnolia Home Entertainment
It Follows (2015)
In this psychological horror, victimhood is spread sexually -- the only way to keep from being murdered by a slow-moving apparition is to have sex with someone and pass on the curse.
Metacritic Score: 83
Image: The Weinstein Company/Dimension Films
Get Out (2017)
Get Out, the feature directorial debut of Jordan Peele, is one of the best horror movies in recent memory. With overt and subdued racism serving as the backdrop for this thriller, by the time you realize something incredibly sinister and horrific is at play, it's too late.
Metacritic score: 84
Image: Universal Pictures
The Babadook (2014)
This chillier about a monster from a child's pop-up book utilizes atmosphere, rather than buckets of gore. The result: A critically acclaimed masterpiece that is, in the words of the Washington Post's Michael O'Sullivan, "enriched with layers of contradiction and ambiguity."
Metacritic score: 86
Image: IFC Films/Entertainment One
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