And the best horror movie of the past decade is…
28 DAYS LATER!
Danny Boyle, man. Doesn’t matter the genre, ’cause when that guy sets out to make a movie, he does not screw around. Great voting, folks; really is one mighty fine horror movie.
Although it looks to me like a whole lot of people still need to see The Descent and The Orphanage.
RESULTS:
– 28 Days Later: 12 votes
– Shaun of the Dead: 8 votes (biggest game-changer on the list, IMHO)
– Let the Right One In: 7 votes
– The Ring: 4 votes
– The Descent: 3 votes
– The Orphanage: 3 votes
– Saw: 3 votes
– [REC]: 2 votes (I gotta see that)
– The Devil’s Rejects: 1 vote
– Martyrs: 1 vote (heard some pretty gnarly things)
– Inside: 1 vote (same goes for this charming little ditty)
– Dawn of the Dead: 1 vote
– High Tension: 0 votes (easily one of the most upsetting movies I’ve ever seen, so points for that)
– Paranormal Activity: 0 votes
– Slither: 0 votes (one day people will realize how great this movie is)
– Other: 1 vote for Gigli (I hear that) and 1 vote for Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (I can only imagine).
Seriously, The Descent and The Orphanage – see those. You will lose sleep.
Cut The Crap Movie Reviews 
It was between the Saw and 28 Days later for me. I felt that 28 Days Later was the better crafted film (Danny Boyle is a god) and I loved it enough to actually buy 28 Weeks later (which wasn’t). But Saw introduced a whole new type of horror, and did it well enough to spawn a series of sequels and a bunch of rip-offs. Not my thing, but torture porn has its market.
Yeah, the first Saw really was something else. Too bad the series has just turned into rehashed torture porn over the years, but that and 28 Days Later are two solid picks. Well done!
Nice to see 28 Days Later taking the pole position. It sure was a terrific horror movie, chilling to the core. Though I’d ultimately voted for Let the Right One In, for its atmosphere, mood & haunting cinematic beauty, 28 Days too was a strong candidate for me from a purely “horror” perspective. Orphanage was a slightly distant 3rd for me. As for Descent, well, I’m yet to watch it despite all the hype & hoopla surrounding it.
Yo, you have to see The Descent. Get back to me pronto when you do.
Can’t complain about this one at all. I still need to see The Descent, which I have heard nothing but great things about. You definitely should check out [REC], just make sure you see that before the Hollywood version (Quarantine).
Yeah, I really do need to see [REC] already. Was kinda turned off by it since I heard such ho-hum things about Quarantine, but word on the street is that it’s the real deal. Will report back one of these days.
I think the scariest movies deal with what we think is scary, not the blood and gore of these torture movies. I can’t watch this movie ever again because I get zombie nightmares. But what a movie!
I agree, I have a real issue with torture porn. You ever see Rosemary’s Baby?
I had a hard time picking my #1 choice here, but I knew right away that 28 Days Later wasn’t it. So this is something of a surprise to me. I’ll admit right away I have a huge bias against the movie given how easily it lifts major plot points and narrative elements from Day of the Triffids, and maybe that paints my view of the movie in an irrevocably negative light, but the movie just as easily thrives on the less favorable tropes of horror movies and forces its characters to make stupid decisions for the sake of setting up scares. Boyle should be able to do better than that, I think.
For me, this really came down to Let the Right One In and The Descent; the former is a truly high-concept, classic horror movie filled with dread (though not necessarily with deep and unsettling scares), while the latter is just about shit-in-your-pants terror. I voted for Let the Right One In in the end, but it was a tough call.
Interesting points, man. Haven’t seen 28 Days Later in a good while, but I definitely want to check it out again with your comments in mind. Wouldn’t have been my pick either, but still a pretty wild and effective movie for what it was. You ever see Shallow Grave?
And while I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Let the Right One In, few things scared the bejeesus out of me and made me that much more afraid of closed-in spaces than The Descent.
Ooh, I have to disagree with The People this time. “El Orfanato” blew me away. It’s the best horror film I’ve seen in years. “House of the Devil” was excellent as well, but most people seem to hate it because of the slow pacing.
Hell to the yeah, M. Right there with you on The Orphanage, more people ought to be on that bandwagon. Still need to see House of the Devil, but I’ve heard nothing but good things. Will report back.
Very surprised Switchblade Romance (aka High Tension) received no votes, perhaps people haven’t seen it. That would be one of the best horror films of the last decade in my opinion. I also thought REC and Let The Right One In were excellent. Another worth considering is the Swedish film Them.
High Tension is one of the few movies that’s ever truly disturbed and upset me to the core, too bad the story didn’t make any effing sense. Will check out Them though, never heard of it.
I know it’s very new but the movie Insidious go to me, silent hill because the plot even though based on a video game is creepy, and the house on haunted hill. The exorcism of emily rose would also get my mention as well as wolf creek (based on a true story). I don’t think I could vote for 28 days later as my top but it’s the people’s word. Show Girls could have easily been a contender. I’m pretty sure that stupid J.Beaver movie should be up there too.
You know, Silent Hill really nailed a lot of the things that made the games so great, but I wish it had been easier to follow and I hated the climax in the church where that old lady gets raped and torn apart with demonic barbed wire. And, yeah, Showgirls and Never Say Never are definitely acceptable entries for this poll.