The Best Horror Movies of the 21st Century

Halloween is on Friday, and horror movies keep thriving at the box office. Beyond commercial success, arthouse horror remains at the forefront of American cinema, with filmmakers like Robert Eggers, Zach Cregger, and Jordan Peele leading the charge.

In fact, things are going so well for the genre, which has had titles topping the box office on a near-monthly basis, that in 2025 alone, you can probably crank out a top 10 horror list. Mine would include “Weapons,” “Bring Her Back,” “Presence,” “Sinners,” “28 Years Later,” “Companion,” “Together,” “Drop,” “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” and “The Ugly Stepsister.”

I noticed that Slant Magazine recently published its list of the Best Horror Films of the 21st Century. Lists like this will be popping up everywhere in the coming 24 hours, and some recommendations are certainly in order.

Let’s up the ante and name our own best horror films of the 21st century. There’s so much to choose from—horror is a genre that constantly reinvents itself and refuses to age. These are the 18 films I keep returning to, released between 2000 and 2025, listed chronologically:

• Pulse (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

• The Others (Alejandro Amenábar)

• 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle)

• Frailty (Bill Paxton)

• The Descent (Neil Marshall)

• The Mist (Frank Darabont)

• Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky)

• The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodóvar)

• The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard)

• It Follows (David Robert Mitchell)

• The Witch (Robert Eggers)

• Get Out (Jordan Peele)

• A Quiet Place (John Krasinski)

• Climax (Gaspar Noé)

• Hereditary (Ari Aster)

• The Invisible Man (Leigh Whannell)

• The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)

• Weapons (Zach Cregger)

Five of these films are from the 2000s, and seven from the 2010s. Bill Paxton’s “Frailty” is one of the most severely underrated movies of the last two decades. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor. It challenges our understanding of religion, family, and society—a deeply disturbing piece of cinema.

The first time I saw “Hereditary” was at its unforgettable Sundance premiere. I immediately went to my room and wrote a rave review. A24 picked it up and even quoted me in the film’s trailer and poster. It was one of the most thrilling discoveries of a new talent I’ve ever experienced. To this day, I don’t think Aster has topped it — the film is one of the best debuts of the last 10 years.

A year earlier, a similar discovery occurred with Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” which premiered as a surprise screening at Sundance. Peele emerged as a bright new talent who knew exactly how to turn the screws of horror on his audience. Seeing the film again a few months later, with a packed theater, only reaffirmed what a thrilling experience it is to watch great horror on the big screen.

Then there’s David Robert Mitchell’s minimalist, sexually questioning “It Follows.” The film rejects the conventions of 21st-century horror, delivering a stunningly authoritative work that blends the surreal with the deeply real. Every scene is filled with unbearable dread, evoking early John Carpenter, with a soundtrack that subtly nods to the master. Scene after scene, viewers are engulfed in an inescapable nightmare.

There are so many more films I could mention. I loved this genre, and these are some of the other major highlights of the century for me:

Pearl, The Invitation, Pulse, Lights Out, The Wailing, Don’t Breathe, Hush, Sinister, It, Talk to Me, Crimson Peak, Goodnight Mommy, The House That Jack Built, Let the Right One In, I Spit on Your Grave, Mandy, Raw, You’re Next, Attack the Block, Midsommar, Us, Cam, Possessor, The Guest, Drag Me to Hell, Paranormal Activity, Antichrist, Cabin Fever, Joy Ride, Piranha 3D, The Devil’s Rejects