Best horror movies of the last ten years

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djross
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Best horror movies of the last ten years

Post by djross »

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Stewball
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Re: Best horror movies of the last ten years

Post by Stewball »

"Best" and "horror movies", by today's definitions, don't belong in the same sentence. Black Swan and Pan's Labyrinth aren't horror by any general definition, and if they fit our definition, we need to change it. Science fiction is just now beginning to recuperate from being an alternate genre title for horror, monster stuff. I barely even call (Hithcock's) Psycho a horror movie.

Horror has become so permanently associated with low budget, low talent teen slasher, generic monster, vampire, werewolf, zombie etc. movies that emphasize prurient blood and gore, and cheap 180 db shock along with the glob-de-jur coming from just off screen; I think we need to avoid the term along with what the term is generally associated with today, with any serious discussion of cinematic art.

The Black Swan and Pan's Labyrinth are suspense, art, fantasy, mystical, metaphysical films, or any other number of adjectives, but they aren't horror unless the objective it to trash them.

andagh
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Re: Best horror movies of the last ten years

Post by andagh »

Tier 8: Noriko's Dinner Table (not really a horror movie)
Tier 7: Cloverfield
Tier 5: Cello, One Missed Call, Thirst
Tier 4: The Host
Tier 3: Snakes on a Plane, Splice, I am Legend, Rubber (also not a horror movie)
Tier 2: Dawn of the Dead, The Village, Alone in ze Dark, The Happening, House of ze Dead, The Wicker Man, Pan's Labyrinth, 30 Days of Night, Twilight, Underworld: Evolution
Tier 1: Underworld, Resident Evil 2-4, House of Wax, Bloodrayne, The Box, Hellboy, Priest, 10.5, Alien vs Predator, Ultraviolet (ok seriously how is this a horror movie apart from being horrifically bad), Saw

Conclusion: this genre has seen some tough times.

edkrak
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Re: Best horror movies of the last ten years

Post by edkrak »

Stewball wrote:Black Swan and Pan's Labyrinth aren't horror by any general definition, and if they fit our definition, we need to change it.
[...]
The Black Swan and Pan's Labyrinth are suspense, art, fantasy, mystical, metaphysical films, or any other number of adjectives, but they aren't horror unless the objective it to trash them.


Suspense + fantasy = horror
That's pretty much a general, simplified definition. What's your definition? Because if I understood it clearly it probably looks like that:
shitty horror = horror
good horror = not horror, cause it's too good

td888
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Re: Best horror movies of the last ten years

Post by td888 »

From 2003-2012 I have seen 180 movies tagged by Criticker as Horror.

These are in my T10:
The Descent (2005) 84
Black Swan (2010) 82
The Cabin in the Woods (2012) 82
Eden Lake (2008) 80
Severance (2006) 80
Silent Hill (2006) 80

These are in the bottom of my T1 (I have many more T1's):
Don't Let Him In (2011) 45
One Missed Call (2008) 40
The Hills Have Eyes II (2007) 20
Twilight (2008) 15
7 Below (2012) 10
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) 10
Funny Games (2008) 1

Kojiless
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Re: Best horror movies of the last ten years

Post by Kojiless »

If horror is defined as that which horrifies us, then every single Pauley Shore movie needs to be re-categorized. Immediately.

That aside, my best 10 happen to be:

The Descent (2005)
28 Days Later (2002)
The Woman (2011)
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2007)
Stake Land (2011)
Let the Right One In (2008)
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
May (2002)
Outcast (2010)

My bottom 10, just for giggles:

The Grudge (2003)
Swamp Devil (2008)
Airborne (2012)
House of the Dead (2003)
Shutter (2008)
The Collapsed (2011)
7 Below (2012)
American Psycho II: All American Girl (2002)
Undead or Alive (2007)
Bryan Loves You (2008)

Aron Ericson
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Re: Best horror movies of the last ten years

Post by Aron Ericson »

Tier 10 Films
Shaun of the Dead (2004) 94
The Cabin in the Woods (2012) 86
Black Swan (2010) 82

Tier 9 Films
Let the Right One In (2008) 81
Drag Me to Hell (2009) 79
Cloverfield (2008) 78

Stewball
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Re: Best horror movies of the last ten years

Post by Stewball »

edkrak wrote:
Stewball wrote:Black Swan and Pan's Labyrinth aren't horror by any general definition, and if they fit our definition, we need to change it.
[...]
The Black Swan and Pan's Labyrinth are suspense, art, fantasy, mystical, metaphysical films, or any other number of adjectives, but they aren't horror unless the objective it to trash them.


Suspense + fantasy = horror
That's pretty much a general, simplified definition. What's your definition? Because if I understood it clearly it probably looks like that:
shitty horror = horror
good horror = not horror, cause it's too good


Well, yes. It's like I said, the label for the genre, which was weak to begin with**, became so abused by dwelling in the cellar it became useless except as a warning for what to avoid, iow, horror=shitty.

**What IS the draw for horror after all. Entertainment? Why is Boo, Blood and Torture entertaining when that's the only point of the movie? What's the kick, or maybe better to ask, Why the kick? Why not just go home and kick the dog?

edkrak
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Re: Best horror movies of the last ten years

Post by edkrak »

Stewball wrote:**What IS the draw for horror after all.


You know, it's a bit like the need to eat animal's flesh from time to time. I like to think of a horror film as a "steak for the soul".

Aron Ericson
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Re: Best horror movies of the last ten years

Post by Aron Ericson »

In the circles I frequent at least, "horror" is a descriptive and not at all derogatory label. A lot of us still love the genre no matter how many crappy horror movies there are.

As for a definition, I think Noël Carroll is onto something in his book The Philosophy of Horror, or Paradoxes of the Heart (1990) (you can find a pdf of it using google) when he says that horror needs a monster, but I think there are some problems with his criteria for what constitutes said monster.

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