The 2000s were an underrated decade for horror movies, laden with many hidden gems that still don’t get enough recognition as the classics they are to this day. Many long-running horror franchises, like the Saw films or the Final Destination series, got their start in the 2000s, kicking off entirely new subgenres of scary movie. But for every wildly successful chiller to release during the turn of the century, a handful of other just as brilliant films have been sadly left overlooked in the modern day.
The 2000s were more than just recycled horror sequel ideas and borderline snuff films. The genre actually had a shockingly wide range of niche horror premises, from supernatural psychological thrillers to straightforward slashers. In fact, it could be argued that the reason so many great horror films from the decade have gone relatively unseen is because of the sheer variety in quality the time period had to offer, drowning out all but the most recognizable or critically-acclaimed spooky fare.
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Frailty
2001
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Bill Paxton might be more famous for appearing in disaster movies like Titanic and Twister, though he has had public brushes with horror thanks to his Aliens character. For his directorial debut, Paxton opted to delve into the genre once again with Frailty, a criminally underrated psychological thriller steeped in the early 2000s. With a narrative split between multiple timelines, the film slowly unravels the story of a pair of brothers asked to commit horrific murders by their father in the name of divine intervention.
Paxton himself co-stars alongside Matthew McConaughey for a double shot of unorthodox name recognition for a horror film. The two work shockingly well together, maintaining the tension of the mystery, and the uncertainty if deep-set psychosis or genuine supernatural phenomena is at the root of all the violence is an engaging prompt. The final twist reveal brings the messy tale to a satisfying conclusion for those willing to search for the relatively unheard of religious thriller.
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Pulse
2001
Gore Verbinski’s remake of a Japanese horror classic with The Ring may be one of the all-time greatest horror movies of the decade, but its success had the unfortunate side effect of overshadowing a new phenomenal Japanese horror film the year prior. The techno-horror masterwork was one of the first scary movies to weaponize the nascent internet, telling the story of a series of malevolent spirits that spread via gruesome images on the world-wide web. The narrative is split between two storylines that eventually converge.
Pulse is an interesting response to the burgeoning Japanese crisis of hikikomori, or social withdrawal, that had only just begun to be framed as a true crisis at the time of its release. Its themes of depression, social isolation, and the dangers of technology have only gotten more relevant in the decades since its release. It’s a shame the American remake only five years later wasn’t able to capture the same sense of slow-burn dread as the original.
8
Dead Silence
2007
Today, James Wan’s filmography might be better known for aquatic superhero movies, Saw, and the Conjuring series, but one of his best films was quietly released in the mid 2000s. Enter Dead Silence, a supernatural ghost story that centers on a young widower who returns to his hometown to find answers regarding his wife’s mysterious death. His research eventually puts him in peril, crossing paths with the angry wraith of an outcast ventriloquist bent on taking revenge on those who supposedly wronged her in life.
Ventriloquist dummies are endlessly creepy, and it’s a shock that they haven’t been used in more horror films. Dead Silence gets a lot of mileage out of their cold, dead eyes and unsettling hinged mouths while also presenting some unique creature design for its spectral antagonist. Playing with sound, voice imitation, and puppetry, Dead Silence was unfairly lambasted at the time of its release only to gain a moderate cult following years later, still not fully indicative of its creativity.
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Bug
2006
The early 2000s were truly the decade that psychological horror films hit their stride, as demonstrated by underground hits like the movie Bug. Based on a stage play, the film follows the premise of a young woman working as a waitress who allows a wandering vagabond to stay with her, only to learn he is plagued by delusions that tiny insects are after him. As time progresses, uncertain events and strange goings-on cast doubt on whether the man is dreaming up his afflictions or not.
Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon put in two phenomenal performances that heavily carry the burden of selling the strange premise, allowing the viewer to unflinchingly accept the film’s bizarre world. Bug thrives in uncertainty, never allowing audiences to grasp on to anything solid for too long before upheaving the status quo once again. If there’s one horror movie that brilliantly captures the most alarming aspects of paranoia and psychosis, it’s 2006’s Bug.
6
Dog Soldiers
2002
Compared to the likes of vampires, the werewolf horror movie subgenre didn’t get as much action for a long time, though Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man and Robert Eggers upcoming lycanthropic adventure have been revitalizing it. It fell down to movies like Dog Soldiers to keep the monsters healthy in the pop culture zeitgeist, doing so in a particularly creative fashion. The English film centers on a squadron of soldiers on a training exercise in the Scottish highlands who are set upon by a vicious pack of werewolves, suddenly plunged into a fight for their lives.
Dog Soldiers is quite the well-rounded horror movie. In addition to thrilling scares and impressive creature designs, Dog Soldiers functions a little bit more like Aliens compared to the standard Alien of other werewolf movies, full of hilarious jokes and exciting action sequences as well. The movie has since gained a quiet popularity as a great “party” horror movie, but is still far from the recognition it deserves.
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May
2002
From Chucky to Annabelle, dolls have long been a staple of the horror genre, and 2002’s May is a tragically overlooked contribution to this fact. The titular May is a lonely veterinary assistant who has faced bullying all her life due to a lazy eye, with a glass-encased doll being her only friend. When her vision is finally corrected, she suddenly begins reaping the rewards of an active social life, only to be forced to come to grips with her own hidden violent urges.
May is unique for a horror movie in how much it relies on emotional depth and complexity to drive the terror, making its protagonist simultaneously sympathetic and terrifying. Actress Angela Bettis does an amazing job tiptoeing the razor’s edge between the two emotions, turning on a dime into a violent rage at the slightest provocation. Add in some spooky hallucination sequences involving May’s prized doll, and it’s a wonder the cult classic film never breached into mainstream success.
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The Others
2001
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A prime example of Nicole Kidman’s proficiency in the horror genre, 2001’s The Others has been unfairly overshadowed in the annals of history by contemporaneous releases like Jeepers Creepers and Thirteen Ghosts. The film posits Kidman as the caretaker of two photosensitive children, whose special needs demand a house that is mostly shrouded in darkness. When a new crew of cleaning staff is brought on board by Kidman’s character, the true intentions of the new help are called into question as supernatural phenomena begins to manifest itself alongside their arrival.
The Others is another one of those rare horror films that can balance a mystery of whether to blame spooky events on genuine paranormal activity or insidious human goals, not able to decide on which prospect is more sinister. The scares remain remarkably subtle, yet nonetheless effective, not relying on cheap shock value or gore to stir fears up. By the time the jaw-dropping twist ending of The Others rears its head, it’s hard to believe the film isn’t a household name.
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The Collector
2009
Torture horror movies were all the rage in the 2000s after the success of Saw, which sadly eclipsed any other contenders in popularity. Even if it did manage to spawn a modest duology, The Collector is another entry in the genre worthy of greater acclaim. The first film follows the plight of a professional thief forced to go on one last routine job, breaking into the home of a wealthy family in order to pilfer their valuables. His life on the routine job is thrown into danger when it’s revealed a sadistic mastermind beat him to the score.
Rather than set up elaborate “games” for his victims, the Collector is keen to instead turn their homes into massive death traps, with each room containing its own creative and painful methods of torture for those brave enough to venture within. The idea of a non-violent (and incredibly unlucky) burglar caught up in such a gruesome scheme is an interesting one, forcing him to balance altruism and sympathy with his own clear illegal intentions. Establishing a grimy, grim, and very early 2000s world, The Collector is worthy of any horror fan’s collection.
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Dead End
2003
One of the longest-running time-honored traditions in horror films is the deadly circumstances of the protagonists coming about as a result of an impatient, ill-advised shortcut. The 2003 bottle horror film Dead End takes this concept to its logical conclusion, playing out entirely along a lonesome stretch of lonely road. On a Christmas Eve road trip, a bickering family packed into a sprinter van are pursued by a mysterious stranger in a hearse when they find themselves on a never-ending forest road.
The sparse location isn’t just a budget-friendly premise for the film’s production, but a clever way to slowly ratchet up the tension as the family begin to increasingly panic regarding the hopelessness of their confined circumstances. More so than the supernatural pursuer, the sheer dread of this realized helplessness is the true terror of Dead End, making for a delightfully macabre journey. An underrated horror movie set during Christmas, Dead End deserves a large viewership.
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House Of Wax
2005
Bo Sinclair (Brian Van Holt) talks to his twin Vincent Sinclair (Brian Van Holt) in “House of Wax” (2005). Cr: Warner Bros
What might be a run-of-the-mill slasher film is elevated with stunning craft in House of Wax, a remake of the 50s caper of the same name. Made by Jaume Collet-Serra of Orphan and The Shallows fame, the plot trails a group of friends as they become stranded in an eerie ghost town thanks to the standard horror movie car breakdown. Before long, they’re being chased by a serial killer intent on adding them to his collection of wax figures.
Admittedly, the set-up of a group of teens that are slowly picked off one-by-one by a creepy masked slasher villain is far from groundbreaking, even by 2005 standards. But where House of Wax truly manages to exceed expectations is in its presentation, harboring a positively vile atmosphere as the protagonists learn just how dire their circumstances are. With unsettling pacing and haunting imagery, House of Wax isn’t a horror movie to be easily forgotten.
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