10 Best Horror Movies Of The 21st Century, Ranked

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Few movie genres have been as reliable and sturdy as horror. From the earliest days of nickelodeons, audiences have lined up in droves to be thrilled, chilled, and frightened by ghosts, ghouls, goblins, and the like. From the classic Universal monsters to the modern day slashers, there’s been no shortage of bad guys (both mythical and real) to terrify film fans, who just keep buying tickets despite knowing what they’re letting themselves in for. Perhaps it’s the same primal instinct that makes people enjoy rollercoasters: When you come through unscathed, you feel more alive than ever, and the same thing happens when the credits roll on a particularly good horror flick.

The first quarter of the 21st century has been a great time for horror fans, with big studios and indies alike elevating the genre by combining it with themes like trauma, politics, and society. These modern masterpieces remind us that horror is and always has been a great lens for telling stories about the human condition. Of course, this was a difficult list to narrow down, and you might be terrified to see what was left out. However, based on a mixture of critical opinion, cultural impact, and our own take on these movies, this is what we at Looper consider to be the cream of the crop when it comes to 21st century horror films.

After investigating the strange case of demonically-possessed doll Annabelle, married demonologists Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) travel to a creepy house in Harrisville, Rhode Island at the behest of the Perron family. According to matriarch Carolyn Perron (Lili Taylor), evil spirits are haunting the farmhouse they just moved into, terrifying the five Perron daughters. Although most people would chalk it up to rusty pipes, Ed and Lorraine know better, and they aim to see the ghost exorcised from the family’s home. The longer their investigation goes on, the more they learn about the gruesome history of the house and find that this ghost might be harder to get rid of than they thought.

There aren’t many directors who can claim to have launched more than one successful horror franchise, let alone three. That’s just what James Wan did with “Saw,” “Insidious,” and “The Conjuring.” The first (and best) movie in the Conjuring Universe takes very seriously the notion that ghosts and demons exist within the real world, and Wan takes a naturalistic directorial approach that makes the scares feel terrifyingly real. Like the granddaddy of horror movies, “The Exorcist,” “The Conjuring” deals with the evil that can manifest in everyday life, be it supernatural or otherwise.

Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston

Director: James Wan

Year: 2013

Rating: R

Runtime: 112 minutes

Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%

Where to watch: HBO Max, Prime Video

One year after losing her husband and daughter in a freak car accident, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) goes on a cave diving trip in the Appalachian Mountains with her thrill-seeking friend, Juno (Natalie Mendoza), and their pals, Beth (Alex Reid), Sam (MyAnna Buring), Rebecca (Saskia Mulder), and Holly (Nora-Jane Noone). Leaving the maps behind, Juno takes the group through uncharted territory, using ancient cave paintings as clues to find a way out. When they descend into the depths of the cave, they are confronted by a group of mutant bat people known as “crawlers” who feast upon any newcomers. As they struggle to escape, old wounds between Sarah and Juno threaten their chances for survival.

Directed by Neil Marshall on the back of his hit debut feature “Dog Soldiers,” “The Descent” triggers several common fears at once: heights, claustrophobia, and monsters lurking in the dark. Tying it all together is the most primal fear of all: death. As Sarah deals with her grief and clashes with her friend over some shocking revelations about her late husband, her survival instincts kick in, making her oddly in line with the very creatures who seek to destroy her. It’s all so effectively done that you wonder why anybody would go diving in an ancient cave to begin with. After all, you never know what’s around the next corner. 

Cast: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid

Director: Neil Marshall

Year: 2005

Rating: R

Runtime: 100 minutes

Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%

Where to watch: The Criterion Channel, Kanopy, Prime Video

When her mother dies, miniature artist Annie Graham (Toni Collette) nearly goes to pieces from grief, impacting her relationship with her psychiatrist husband, Steve (Gabriel Byrne), their teenage son, Peter (Alex Wolff), and their younger daughter, Charlie (Millie Shapiro). To cope with her feelings, she joins a support group to talk about her complicated relationship with her late mom, who took a more proactive role in raising her granddaughter. Peter becomes wracked with guilt after an accident leads to tragedy, and as he and his mother learn more about their family heritage, they make terrifying realizations about what life has in store for them.

With his feature debut, Ari Aster uses trauma not just as thematic material, but for scares as well. From the beginning of “Hereditary” right to the end, viewers are made to feel the same anxiety, fear, and pain as the characters, who are processing grief in ways that are ultimately unhealthy. This leads to a greater tension throughout, and when the horror comes, it’s all the more terrifying because we’ve been anticipating something unspeakable. “Hereditary” heralded Aster as the new patron saint of discomfort, which would further flourish with “Midsommar,” “Beau is Afraid,” and “Eddington.”

Cast: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro

Director: Ari Aster

Year: 2018

Rating: R

Runtime: 127 minutes

Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%

Where to watch: HBO Max, Prime Video

The year is 1945, and Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) lives on an isolated estate on the British island of Jersey with her young children, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley). Due to Anne and Nicholas’ sensitivity to light, Grace keeps the entire house shrouded in constant darkness, covering the windows with heavy curtains. A metaphorical light arrives when Bertha (Fionnula Flanagan), Edmund (Eric Sykes), and Lydia (Elaine Cassidy) — all of whom previously worked at the estate as the housekeeper, gardener, and maid, respectively — ask for their old jobs back. At first, Grace welcomes their help, yet she soon discovers that their presence brings unwanted ghosts from the past.

With his English-language debut, Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar crafts a gothic horror story that relies upon classic chills and atmosphere rather than gore and jump scares. Yet, to simply call “The Others” a supernatural horror film sells it short — this is ultimately an exploration of our inability to deal with grief and the consequences of our actions. It’s all anchored by Kidman, who earned best actress nominations at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs for her haunting portrayal of a woman desperate to keep reality from invading the halls of her haunted house. “The Others” is Amenábar’s masterpiece, and it’s one of Nicole Kidman’s best movies.

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston

Director: Alejandro Amenábar

Year: 2001

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 104 minutes

Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%

Where to watch: The Criterion Channel, Prime Video

In New England in the 1630s, a family of English settlers make a new home for themselves in the woods after being banished from their Puritan settlement. Father William (Ralph Ineson) and his wife, Katherine (Kate Dickie), give birth to their fifth child, who suddenly goes missing while under the care of their teenage daughter, Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy). The parents blame Thomasin for the infant’s disappearance, with her younger siblings suspecting her of witchcraft. The kids also think that the family billy goat, Black Phillip, is talking to them, so perhaps there’s something to that rumor of sorcery running rampant in the woods.

“The Witch” marked the feature debut of director Robert Eggers, who goes to painstaking lengths to recreate life in the 1600s, not just through set decoration and costumes, but through language and performance styles, as well. The effect is a haunting evocation of a time when suspicion and superstition ran rampant, creating a sense of fear and unease that mimics what European settlers must have felt after arriving in a strange new world. “The Witch” not only launched Eggers’ filmmaking career, but it also kicked off the A24 horror craze, establishing the indie studio as the new home of elevated horror.

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie

Director: Robert Eggers

Year: 2015

Rating: R

Runtime: 92 minutes

Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%

Where to watch: HBO Max, Prime Video

In the waning days of the Spanish Civil War, 12-year-old Carlos (Fernando Tielve) arrives at an orphanage after his father dies in combat. Due to it being run by Republican loyalists Casares (Federico Luppi) and Carmen (Marisa Paredes), the orphanage has been targeted by Francisco Franco’s troops — the kids play in a courtyard where an inactive bomb lies unexploded as a daily reminder of the ongoing conflict. As Carmen gets to know his fellow orphans and the staff, he also uncovers the orphanage’s dark secrets and starts seeing the ghost of a young boy, Santi (Junio Valverde), wandering through its crumbling rooms at night.

From “Cronos” to “Pan’s Labyrinth” to “The Shape of Water,” the movies of Guillermo del Toro often lean into the idea of using horror, fairy tales, and mythology to explore societal issues plaguing the real world. “The Devil’s Backbone” is perhaps his most personal exploration of the ways in which ancient myths, spirits, and monsters haunt our past and present. The specter of Santi, who was killed in the orphanage and roams its grounds as a spirit, is a reminder not just of the violence inflicted upon one small child, but of the violence inflicted upon the entire population of Spain during that painful chapter in its history.

Cast: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Year: 2001

Rating: R

Runtime: 108 minutes

Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%

Where to watch: Prime Video

While en route to the hospital during labor, Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis) is in a car accident that kills her husband, leaving her to raise their child alone. Her son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), grows up to be a troubled young man who has problems at school and relating to other kids. He’s become convinced that an imaginary monster lives in his bedroom, and Amelia finds the top hat-wearing tormentor in the pages of a popup book called “Mister Babadook.” Amelia assures Samuel that The Babadook isn’t real, but Samuel’s behavior becomes increasingly volatile as his nightmares persist. When strange occurrences start happening around the house, even Amelia becomes convinced something sinister might be terrorizing her child.

Anyone who has woken up in the middle of the night and been terrified by a shadow on the wall of their darkened room will relate to “The Babadook,” the feature debut of Australian writer-director Jennifer Kent. Like many modern-day horror films, it uses very real traumas like sudden death to elevate the chills, subtly hinting at the way psychological scars can turn into terror. Ultimately, Kent is exploring the unexplainable evils that exist in our world, the universal randomness that robs us of safety, security, and happiness, made manifest by titular monster. The ending of “The Babadook” really hits home for people who have experienced something similar to Amelia.

Cast: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Hayley McElhinney

Director: Jennifer Kent

Year: 2014

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 94 minutes

Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%

Where to watch: Disney+, Kanopy, Mubi, Prime Video

When a group of U.K. animal rights activists break into a laboratory to free some chimpanzees being used for medical testing, they inadvertently release a “Rage” virus that infects most of Britain within 28 days. Bicycle courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakens from a coma to find London almost completely deserted, with a small group of survivors evading hordes of what are essentially supercharged zombies. After linking up with survivalist Selena (Naomie Harris), taxi driver Frank (Brendan Gleeson), and Frank’s daughter, Hannah (Megan Burns), Jim tries his best to avoid infection as the group sets out for a military blockade in Manchester that’s supposedly offering sanctuary.

Before “28 Days Later,” zombies were seen as ambling things that rose from the dead to terrorize the living, a trope shaped by George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead.” Director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland discarded the blueprint, bringing us a terrifying vision of hyperactive flesh-eaters who run fast and feast faster. Shot with consumer-grade mini-DV cameras, the film has a gritty, hyper-realistic aesthetic that makes it feel almost like a cursed video that shouldn’t be watched by anyone. Released in the early days of the War on Terror, “28 Days Later” felt like a chilling statement on the rage that leads us to kill, and it remains as relevant today as it was back then.

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston

Director: Danny Boyle

Year: 2002

Rating: R

Runtime: 113 minutes

Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%

Where to watch: Netflix, Prime Video

Tomas Alfredson’s “Let the Right One In” uses all of the gothic trappings of vampire movies to tell a story of two lonely souls who find comfort with each other. Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a 12-year-old boy who lives with his mother in an apartment in suburban Sweden, where he’s bullied by his classmates and spends his nights in isolation. One night, Eli (Lina Leandersson), a girl who is seemingly the same age, moves into their building with her “father,” a man named Håkan (Per Ragnar). Oskar quickly forges a friendship with her, but Eli is not an ordinary girl — she’s a vampire who survives with blood obtained for her by Håkan, who actually met her when he was a boy and has been with her ever since. Before long, Oskar has taken Håkan’s place, aiding Eli as she protects him from the neighborhood bullies who torment him.

Since the earliest days of cinema, vampires have been among the most reliable movie monsters. From Max Schreck’s Count Orlok in 1922’s “Nosferatu” and Bela Lugosi’s sexually sinister Count Dracula in 1931’s “Dracula” to the sparkly bloodsuckers of the “Twilight” movies, many different kinds of vampires have made it to the big screen over the decades. The appeal transcends borders: Some of the best vampire movies ever made came from abroad, with “Let the Right One In” being a prime example. The film (which was written by John Ajvide Lindqvist based on his 2004 novel of the same name) uses the chilly Scandinavian landscape to great effect, creating a snow white world that can become splattered in dark red blood at any moment.

Cast: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Year: 2008

Rating: R

Runtime: 114 minutes

Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%

Where to watch: Prime Video, Kanopy

Black photographer Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) travels with his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams), to stay at her family home in upstate New York. Her parents, neurosurgeon Dean (Bradley Whitford) and therapist Missy (Catherine Keener), come across as well-intentioned (albeit tone deaf) liberals, with Dean even professing his desire to vote for Barack Obama a third time in an apparent attempt to make Chris feel at ease. Yet the Armitage’s behavior is actually a cover for something far more sinister, which Chris discovers when Missy hypnotizes him and sends him to “the sunken place” — an altered state that will allow Dean to replace Chris’ brain with that of a dying white man (Stephen Root).

Before he made “Get Out,” Jordan Peele was best known as one half of the comedy duo “Key and Peele” (along with Keegan-Michael Key). Afterwards, he was the new reigning master of elevated horror, with his subsequent films “Us” and “Nope” proving that he was here to stay. Few recent films have had as lasting a cultural impact as “Get Out,” which won an Oscar for Peele’s original screenplay and competed in the best picture, best actor (for Kaluuya), and best director categories, a rarity for the horror genre. Much like his hero, John Carpenter, Peele used horror as a means to explore greater societal issues, portraying racism as the greatest terror imaginable. And, like the best horror directors, he also uses comedy, pathos, and satire to enhance the scares.

Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Alison Williams, Bradley Whitford

Director: Jordan Peele

Year: 2017

Rating: R

Runtime: 104 minutes

Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%

Where to watch: HBO Max, Prime Video