The Decade of the Zombie

Only appropriate that on the day after George Romero’s 70th birthday, we look at the most awesomest scary movies of the past 10 years… especially since zombies seem to have dominated the list of great horror flicks during this decade.

Over the weekend, I’ll be posting spotlights of two great Philly bands that embrace the theatrical side of the horror genre, a fun and entertaining look at The Young Werewolves and a nostalgia piece of watching Mercury Radio Theater through the years. Check back on this snow filled weekend to read, comment, and enjoy!

Without further ado, in Letterman 10-to-1 style, here are my 10 favorite scary movies of the 2000s:

Honorable Mention: House of Wax (Creepy flick and Paris gets a spear through her head), 28 Weeks Later (A decent sequel to a great movie), Land of the Dead (Another great Romero flick in his tradition, except these zombies are getting much smarter), Diary of the Dead (One of the mockumentary style horror flicks that became popular again this decade, the only one worth a damn), House of 1000 Corpses (I like sequel even more, but consider it more of a road movie than a horror flick… both are quite chilling though), The Skeleton Key (Kate Hudson and creepy voodoo people in the South), and Silent Hill (Very scary and gory movie).

10. 13 Ghosts

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Watch the trailer above… it's a fun, creepy remake of the 1961 cult classic. Matthew Lillard is quite convincing as a nerdy scientist on the verge of insanity. The guy from monk plays a good hero. The ghosts are quite creepy. Overall, a solid horror movie.

9. District 9

The reason this isn’t higher up is because it’s not truly a horror movie, but more of a Sci-Fi movie. That said, Wikus’s transformation into an alien is quite comparable to Goldblum’s in The Fly. That and lots of blood make the scary moments in this film quite horrifying.

Check out the original short film that the movie is based on:

8. Session 9

So, I’m not exactly sure why the number 9 is creepy, but it is apparently… ya know what else is scary? Listening to tapes of schizophrenics that turn out to be possessed by demons. Yeah.

7. Drag Me to Hell

Why should I write about this again? Go read my review and stop being lazy. Reading is fundamental.

6. The Ring

What’s scarier than a creepy dead girl crawling out of a TV?

5. 28 Days Later

The sense of impending doom that is always present in Romero zombie flicks gets worsened when the zombies no longer walk, but are inhumanly fast and strong. Scary scary scary… and since we all know that zombies will be coming one day, we should just pray that they are the George Romero kind and not these crazy brain-eaters!

Perhaps the best movie on this list as far as artistic quality, but not quite the scariest, in fact, there are 4 more that scare me much more.

4. Exorcism of Emily Rose

This picture says it all. This movie is absolutely terrifying:

This movie is really well done, the only one on here that rivals 28 Days in it’s overall quality as a feature film. It is part A Time to Kill, part The Exorcist, but better than either dreamed of being.

3. May

Not a big budget film or even very well known, but it has a killer soundtrack and takes the classic Frankenstein type story in a different direction. A modern day movie with a story that harkens to the storytelling of classic horror authors like Edgar Allan Poe. A must watch movie for fans of dark and twisted movies with laughs, screams, and lots of blood.

2. Repo! the Genetic Opera

A horror opera full of industrial music that kicks ass and a post-apocalyptic world to send chills up the spine of even the least squeamish among us. Paris Hilton, the dude who played Giles on the Buffy TV show, and King Capulet from the 1990’s Romeo and Juliet are among the talented cast. I think it’s still streaming on Netflix, so do yourself a favor and watch it while you are snowed in this weekend.

1. Planet Terror

You’ve likely seen the movie if you’ve spent the time to read this list. If not, you need to see this Robert Rodriguez gem. A star studded cast led heroic Rose McGowan and Freddie Rodriguez star in this intentionally poor quality B-Movie that does everything right. It’s scary, cheesy, funny, and bloody in all the right doses. Do yourself a favor if you haven’t seen it… avoid the other half of the Grindhouse feature, because it sucked.

Before you go, check out this extended scene below:

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~ by thepaintedman on February 6, 2010.