Going into this, I was certain it wouldn’t be super difficult to come up with 10 horror flicks, but I didn’t imagine I’d actually struggle over the decision on just which 10 to include. While wracking my brain, I realized the decade was a bit better than I had given it credit for, I just had to dig a bit deeper than the garbage that always seems to hog the spotlight. As always, shit floats. Films like Let the Right One In, [REC], The Decent, Uzumaki, The Machine Girl, Haze, The Orphanage, Kairo and a handful of others all deserve a shout-out for being awesome (I know, this is cheating, but I do a lot of heavy lifting for this place so I can indulge!), but there could be only ten, and at least they got bumped for the cream of the crop, in my humble (but generally rock solid!) opinion.

10. Strange Circus (2005) Sion Sono, Japan In a decade where there were basically no directors you could depend on to deliver consistently worthy horror flicks, Sion Sono is on an island by his lonesome. You’ll find another of his films later on my list, and he made a fantastic tongue-in-cheek spoof of how tired and redundant J-Horror has become in the form of EXTE: Hair Extensions as well, even if not everyone “got it” (although how anyone could take a film about killer hair extensions seriously is beyond me.) Strange Circus is arguably one of the most aptly titled films of the decade as well, as its carnivalesque, bizarre, and just downright mind-melting. Yep, just how I like ‘em.

09. Ginger Snaps (2000) John Fawcett, Canada I’m sure even the most hardened of horror fans will admit that a good werewolf film is hard to come by, so Ginger Snaps is pretty remarkable on two levels: it’s a damn good werewolf flick and it’s about two depressed gothic chicks yet it manages to dodge that angsty teen horror pitfall that pretty much any other film similar to it topples into. It’s so good that it really is a shame it’s become one of those badge-of-honor obsessions that gothic and emo Hot Topic kids have embraced, as that gives it a stigma that just shouldn’t be attached to it. If you’ve ignored it for that reason, I hope you look past it, as it deserves your attention.

08. Marebito (2004) Takashi Shimizu, Japan Ah, Takashi Shimizu…unlike Ginger Snaps, which is undeserving of being pigeonholed with that aforementioned taint, Shimizu has no one to blame but himself for the bad reputation he’s gotten of late. He only made basically the same film three times in a row, resting on his laurels and raking in the cash. I guess that’s smart in a way; when you’re good at something and people are willing to pay for it, why not cash in? But after seeing Marebito, it’s a real shame that he doesn’t direct more things like it. It shows just how talented he actually is, and that he has far more tools at his disposal than ghosts with black hair walking down steps like spiders. It’s a disturbing and disorienting experience, but then again that’s exactly why I was drawn to horror in the first place. It evokes a sense of dread that really is undeniable, even if it is a tough egg to crack.

07. The Mist (2007) Frank Darabont, USA When it comes to Stephen King film adaptations, there’s no one better than Frank Darabont (as great a film as The Shining may be, it isn’t a great King adaptation), and his first foray into King’s horror material did not disappoint. There are a couple of very small hiccups, like some questionable CGI and Thomas Jane’s usual hokey delivery, but upon revisiting it, it’s a monster flick and it sort of works in the films favor if you get yourself in the right frame of mind (i.e., watch the black and white version). And then there’s the little fact that Darabont was able to take a story that was open-ended and create an ending that completely works and is utterly devastating, just like horror is supposed to be.

06. Gozu (2003) Takashi Miike, Japan It’s no secret that Takashi Miike can churn out some seriously screwed-up cinema. While his cult status may have dipped a bit in the last few years (although his films are still wacky and entertaining, just in a more mainstream way), he was still in his anarchist prime in 2003, and Gozu is truly the culmination of every ridiculous and insane aspect of his directorial arsenal jam-packed into one cranium-exploding experience. To be honest, if he hadn’t directed Izo the following year, I’d have said he totally blew his “I dare you to make sense of this” load with Gozu and he was spent for the foreseeable future. Cow heads, yakuza dogs, transvestites, and ladle usage you have to see to believe, Gozu may not exactly be terrifying, but it is a hell of a lot of horrific fun for those open to twisted, senses-shattering movies.

05. Session 9 (2001) Brad Anderson, USA By 2001 and over 10 years of horror obsession under my belt, there was very little left that gave me the creeps. So I must say it was surprising indeed when my first viewing of Session 9 seriously freaked me out, and I think it says even more that it still does after having seen it a handful of times. One of the most subtly creepy horror flicks not just of the decade but of all time, a film that’s more Silent Hill than the Silent Hill film. Its sad Brad Anderson has failed to recreate the magic, but we’ll always have this, the best abandoned hospital horror ever.

04. Suicide Circle (2001) Sion Sono, Japan The second Sion Sono film to appear on the list, and unquestionably his masterpiece, Suicide Circle is one of those rare horror films that reveals something new to you upon every viewing; if David Lynch ever directed a pure horror film (even though Eraserhead is pretty damn close), I’m pretty confident it would look a lot like this. Sono, unlike Miike who is arguably losing a bit of that “what will he do next?!” mystique, still has it going for him and is one of, if not the most intriguing director currently working in Japan.

03. Haute Tension (2003) Alexandre Aja, France Hate it all you want, for not delivering on the unbelievable hype before it was officially released in the US (I hate Lionsgate for dragging it out for so long) or the genre of hardcore French horror that it’s spawned, but as far as I’m concerned, Haute Tension is the only true cult horror sensation to emerge from the decade. It’s a film that will undoubtedly be remembered for years alongside all of the other horror films from decades past that are held in high regard and brought up on a consistent basis. I originally saw the film in December of 2003, without subtitles and before the hype (I’d like to think I helped with some of that hype), and it blew me away then and my affection for it hasn’t waned one bit. It’s the visceral shot in the arm horror needed at the time, and even though many have zeroed in on it as the catalyst for the type of horror film that’s so prevalent currently, you really shouldn’t shoot the messenger.

02. May (2002) Lucky McKee, USA While I was growing up, there was something magic about discovering a film based solely on a title or a VHS cover; one you just picked up on a whim and it was so awesome you got all your friends interested in it. It’s just neat to find a diamond in the rough with no previous knowledge of it, and with the internet these days, that’s pretty much impossible. And while the net may have been around in 2002, I wasn’t particularly active on message boards or many movies sites then, so May was an absolute shocker for me, something I picked up by sheer chance because the wrong film was in my Blockbuster rental case (what I was trying to rent I can’t remember, but I’m sure I lucked out in any case). It’s not your average horror flick, but that’s probably what makes it so damn appealing not only to me, but pretty much everyone I know that’s seen it. McKee is another guy, like Anderson and John Fawcett, who hasn’t lived up to his initial potential, but one great film to your name is way more than most can say, and May, dare I say, is not only great, but a modern classic.

01. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) Ji-woon Kim, South Korea It may have been hard to decide on which films I had to leave off of this list and which to include, but there was never any doubt which film would be at the top of my list. A Tale of Two Sisters would, unashamedly, be among my top 10 list of the best horror films ever…period. Just like with Session 9, by the time ATOTS came along, I had seen The Ring, Ju-On: The Curse, Kairo, and so on, and thought I had become immune to the type of scares Asian horror offered. But there are a number of scenes in the film that chill to the bone, especially a certain lurking ghost under a sink that still makes me want to close my eyes every time I see it, even if I know it’s about to happen. And then there’s the twist, which not only works, but enhances the film and makes you want to watch it again and again to unlock all of the clues and mysteries throughout. M. Night Shyamalan only wishes he could concoct something this good. If you haven’t seen this, you have no right to grab a pitchfork and join the rabble rousers that scream this decade of horror sucked.

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