The scariest horrors of the 2000s tended to be straightforward and visceral, tapping into the reptilian parts of the viewer’s brain. It was the era of torture porn and gore galore, as well as found footage gems, remakes of Japanese hits, low-budget sleepers, and big franchises.
Zombie movies were popular, as were ghost stories, along with stories that explored the dark side of the internet and technology. Hollywood’s horror output was very mixed during these years, with highs like The Others and lows like Dark Water.
Fortunately, independent filmmakers and international directors (particularly from Japan and France) stepped up with fresh and gripping projects. In fact, some of this decade’s freakiest American horrors were remakes of foreign movies, which usually turned out less subtle than their progenitors but arguably more bluntly terrifying.
With this in mind, these are the scariest horror movies of the 2000s, ranked by how terrifying and visceral they are. They might not have necessarily been the best as complete films, but they delivered in terms of frights, jump scares, disturbing visuals, and unsettling atmosphere.
5. The Ring (2002)
“I can’t imagine being stuck down a well all alone like that. How long could you survive?” While not as thoughtful as the Japanese original, the American remake of The Ring certainly packs a punch. Naomi Watts leads the cast as journalist Rachel Keller, who investigates a supposedly cursed videotape and uncovers a dark history tied to a vengeful spirit named Samara.
The recording causes its viewers to die a week later, producing the iconic horror phrase: “Seven days.”
In hindsight, the movie is a little too long and has some pacing problems, but the frights hit hard, and the visuals are frequently disturbing. It’s a potent movie, effectively translating the fundamentals of the original film for a more mainstream audience.
The Ring broke ground as the first American retelling of a J-horror hit, and its massive commercial success (it grossed $249m) paved the way for others like The Grudge, Dark Water, and The Eye. It also has arguably the single most iconic horror scene of the 2000s, as Samara climbs out of the television, traumatizing millions and opening a new age for supernatural frights.
4. The Descent (2005)
“There’s something down here.” The Descent is a claustrophobic movie about a group of women on a caving expedition that goes horribly wrong. They become trapped in an uncharted cave system and, to make matters worse, discover that they are not alone. The tunnels are inhabited by terrifying, flesh-eating creatures that begin stalking them in the darkness.
The Descent fuses slasher, creature-feature, and psychological horror elements within the novel cave setting. Indeed, the treacherous caves are as much of an adversary as the monsters that dwell inside them. Director Neil Marshall does a great job of mining the location for maximal tension, creating an oppressive, suffocating, and, above all, hopeless atmosphere.
The creature design is fittingly creepy, with the monsters looking like cavemen crossed with bats, armed with shark-like teeth. An excellent example of the zero-budget horror movie, The Descent punches above its weight and has since been ranked by multiple publications as one of the best horrors of the decade.
3. The Orphanage (2007)
“Darkness is forming a circle around you, and it’s closing in on you.” This Spanish horror follows Laura (Belén Rueda), who returns to the orphanage where she grew up, now abandoned, with plans to reopen it as a home for disabled children.
Shortly after moving in, her son Simón (Roger Príncep) begins to communicate with invisible friends, and when he mysteriously disappears, Laura is forced to confront the dark secrets of the orphanage.
The Orphanage stands out thanks to its strong emotional core, blending traditional ghost story elements with powerful human drama, reflecting some input from co-producer Guillermo Del Toro. Director J.A. Bayona (who later helmed the first two episodes of The Rings of Power) takes a more subtle and restrained approach, usually hinting rather than showing.
His focus is on suspense and drama rather than jump scare, a recipe that works well here, producing some truly horrifying moments without ever going overboard, making The Orphanage one of the stronger elevated horrors of the 2000s.
2. Martyrs (2008)
“They bear all the sins of the earth.” On the more artistic end of the spectrum is this controversial French horror about Lucie (Mylène Jampanoï), a young woman seeking revenge on the people who abducted and tortured her as a child.
With the help of her friend Anna (Morjana Alaoui), Lucie uncovers a sinister organization that subjects people to unimaginable pain in the pursuit of transcendence, intending to repay them in kind.
Martyrs is an arthouse splatter, repeatedly pushing the boundaries of on-screen brutality. Authorities in France attempted to suppress it with an 18+ age restriction, which is rare in that country. But Martyrs is impressive for marrying thoughtfulness with violence; it’s not merely torture porn but a legitimately good, well-rounded movie.
Martyrs is profoundly disturbing and viscerally horrifying, taking ideas that had been rattling around the horror genre in the early 2000s and giving them one of their boldest and slickest executions.
1. Saw (2004)
“Here’s what happens if you lose.” When it comes to the scariest movies of the 2000s, it’s hard to top Saw. This trailblazer and mega-hit (it spawned a massive franchise) is emblematic of the decade as a whole. It’s a simple premise: two men, Adam (Leigh Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), wake up chained in a dilapidated bathroom with no memory of how they got there.
They quickly discover that they are being trapped by a sadistic killer and forced to play a deadly game designed to test their will to live.
Saw is far from flawless, but it’s bold and intense, with amazingly confident direction from James Wan in his feature debut. The grisly set pieces quickly became iconic, but the narrative structure is also surprisingly intricate, and the camerawork is creative and devilish, repeatedly misdirecting the viewer.
Despite some weaknesses, Saw quickly cemented itself as one of the most influential horror movies, producing countless ripoffs and greatly shaping the horror genre throughout the decade.
