More than any other genre of filmmaking, the rash and uncompromising vision of the horror genre combined with its significantly smaller budgets has made it a beacon for great original filmmaking in film history. While the genre certainly has its fair share of non-original films in major franchises and beloved novel adaptations, it also consistently sees terrifying original films striking fear into the hearts of audiences year after year. The 21st century, especially, has been a great time for original horror, with more outwardly terrifying original films released than ever before.
Whether it be a new voice in horror putting a spin on conventions and creating scares never before conceived or a long-time established icon of horror creating another original horror masterwork, originality comes in many different forms in the world of horror. While not every original horror film is inherently tailor-made to terrify and disturb, these films especially stand out as some of the most haunting and unsettling original horror films that the modern day has to offer.
10
‘Saw’ (2004)
Before James Wan became the immediately recognizable icon of horror filmmaking with films like Insidious and The Conjuring, his breakout directorial debut, Saw, forever changed the landscape of horror with its minuscule budget, intense gore content, and gripping central mystery. While the film as a whole is now commonly associated with its wide array of more gory, convoluted sequels, people often forget just how instantly engaging and terrifying the original Saw was and still is to this day.
It does a brilliant job with its setup and worldbuilding, showing the true evil and vicious nature of its central killer while also keeping him in a shroud of mystery and intrigue, an angle entirely lost in all subsequent sequels. The back and forth between two lost souls fighting for their lives with determined cops hoping to uncover the mystery also makes for an engaging watch, increasing both the tension and the fear of what is happening on-screen. It also helps that the film has become a torture horror classic, revitalizing the genre and ushering in a wave of sickening torture films to follow.
9
‘Longlegs’ (2024)
Taking inspiration from classic crime procedural horror films like The Silence of the Lambs while adding its own elements of underlying supernatural dread, Longlegs has risen to be an icon of terror of 2020s horror. Especially in an era that has more often than not been willing to blend horror with comedy, the film stays true to its tone of grounded, sickening content with brilliant precision. From haunting central performances to an overall sense of underlying evil with its tone and storytelling, Longlegs has a lot to offer in terms of more subtle yet equally effective horror.
While it isn’t the non-stop jumpscare experience that some of the marketing led some to believe, the film’s most calm and restrained approach to its shocking content creates a powerful energy of horror and pain. When the film finally does decide to go all-in on impact and scares, it spares no expense in terms of keeping the audience off guard and unprepared for the horrors at its core. The film immediately skyrocketed Osgood Perkins into a highly acclaimed status as one of the most prominent horror visionaries of the modern era.
8
‘It Follows’ (2014)
Image via RADiUS-TWC
One of the most effective concepts in horror filmmaking over the years has been the notion of keeping subtle horrors in the background, out of sight of the main characters, but displaying pure terror for those with a finer eye. It Follows is easily one of the greatest when it comes to capitalizing on this concept, following a story that centralizes its main monster around the fear and subtlety of a vicious monster always lurking in the background.
Even with its approach to horror being more subtle and under the radar than the more traditional horror films, it doesn’t take away from the overwhelming fear and tension that It Follows provides in its filmmaking. The tension is further amplified by the relatable, well-written characters at the center of the story who deal with their pain and the looming threat of death with a grounded sense of panic and frustration. The film has largely grown into becoming a fan-favorite of horror in the 2010s, to the point where a long-awaited sequel is finally in development.
7
‘Talk to Me’ (2022)
A strikingly bold take on the paranormal subgenre of horror that combines it with manic, uncompromising social media culture and youth to create a slap-in-the-face of energy and fear, Talk to Me is a refreshingly original take on supernatural horror. It’s a satisfying perspective on horror where the central fear and dread come from a place of adolescent stupidity, combined with clinging to the painful loss of loved ones. The central premise itself is also easy enough to understand to instantly get engaged and excited about the possibilities of fear that it has in store.
It sports exceptionally layered performances, a wide array of disturbing imagery and great scares, and a disturbing, incredibly bleak finale that sticks in one’s mind well after the movie ends. It easily stands as one of the most compelling and well-respected first features from horror directors in recent memory, with brothers Michael and Danny Philippou instantly making a name for themselves in the world of feature-length horror.
6
‘[REC] ’ (2007)
![A crying woman walking down a dark hallway in [REC]](https://static0.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/REC.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2)
While found footage horror films like Paranormal Activity were icons of terror when they were first released, their slower style of filmmaking has made their scares relatively lukewarm as time has passed. However, this negative doesn’t apply to [REC] , which masterfully utilizes the found footage format to tell the most terrifying zombie movie story of the 21st century. The Spanish horror film follows a television reporter and camera crew getting firsthand footage of a zombie outbreak as they uncover a horde of zombies inside a mysterious apartment building.
[REC] pays tribute to zombie stories of the past while alsoseamlessly evolving and adapting the genre to a real-time found footage experience. The live news coverage angle makes for the perfect mixture of unfiltered terror and overwhelming confusion that makes both zombie films and found footage so effective, bringing out the best in one another for a generational horror experience. While the film would receive several sequels over the years, including a few that abandon the found-footage style, the original is still easily the absolute height of the franchise in terms of sheer terror.
5
‘The Witch’ (2015)
Director Robert Eggers is well-respected nowadays as a modern visionary of the horror genre, with the overwhelming impact and weight of his directorial debut, The Witch, playing a major part as to why. The small-scale folk horror film makes the absolute most out of its 1630 Salem witch trial setting and aesthetic, utilizing the infighting and betrayal of loved ones to create a painfully terrifying exploration of division and chaos.
The film does a great job of inviting the audience alongside the paranoia and chaos that the characters experience in the film, not giving definitive answers until an array of bodies and death is in its wake. It’s largely elevated by some exceptional performances across the board, from a breakthrough performance by Anya Taylor-Joy to the pained frustration and anger from Ralph Ineson. The film is still considered to this day to be one of Eggers’ best horror films as well as an icon of the “elevated horror” trend that dominated the genre from the late 2010s to the modern day.
4
‘Inside’ (2007)
More than any other region in the world, the tendencies and culture surrounding French horror has allowed for the creation of some of the most shocking and disturbing films of the modern era. One of the greatest examples of such is Inside, a painfully dreadful torture film that holds nothing back in terms of gore content and painfully effective scares. The film sees a pregnant woman still handling the grief of the loss of her husband before becoming the target of a sadistic stalker who wants to steal her unborn baby for her own.
Even the most seasoned of horror veterans may find themselves having a difficult time sitting through Inside, as its overwhelming barrage of bleak sequences and unrestrained horror makes for a sore sight to the eyes. It’s unrelenting in its messaging of pain and the destruction inherent to motherhood as a whole, capitalizing on its messaging with top-notch shock content and visceral imagery. Its equally bleak ending puts the final nail in the coffin for the film being an icon of terror from 21st-century French horror.
3
‘Sinister’ (2012)
Early 2010s horror is largely embodied by an overwhelming array of jump scares, mysterious found footage, and a grounded approach to paranormal storytelling. While several of the horror films from this era simply don’t hold up in terms of their scares, Sinister still stands as one of the highly coveted and often considered scariest movies of all time. For a myriad of reasons, the film has continued to stay in the public conversation as the premier example of terrifying modern horror and the height of the genre in the early 2010s.
Scott Derrickson‘s exceptional directing style is the ingredient that makes the scares and horror in Sinister so effective, with pinpoint precision and pacing allowing for each scare to be more impactful and memorable than the last. Specific jump scares, like the infamous lawnmower scene, are still discussed as some of the most impactful scares in modern horror, with the film getting a lot of praise for even making jump scares a compelling and exciting aspect of its filmmaking.
2
‘Hereditary’ (2018)
Few original horror films have made such an immediate and compounding legacy for themselves in terms of their scares and sheer terror quite like Ari Aster‘s legendary feature debut, Hereditary. Sporting some of the greatest horror performances of the century, an array of deeply disturbing and memorable kills, and an underlying theming that still haunts audiences to this day, it’s no wonder that Hereditary became such a horror fan-favorite.
However, even outside the overwhelming positives that people are quick to tout about the film, it’s all the smaller details and refined filmmaking at its core that make Hereditary such a hauntingly effective experience. Even after years of its influence has affected the wider subculture surrounding horror as a whole, Hereditary still stands tall as one of the most recognizable yet deeply terrifying experiences that modern horror can offer. The film will only continue to amplify its legacy and impact in the years to come as one of the scariest films of the era.
1
‘Martyrs’ (2008)
While Martyrs may not be as immediately recognizable and acclaimed as something like Sinister or Hereditary, the French psychological horror film easily earns its spot as the peak of terror and dread in 21st-century horror. The torture horror revenge film comes from a place of pure pain, exuding and amplifying these feelings of visceral pain in every aspect of its filmmaking. The blood-soaked exploration of torture and destruction was written off by some as a cheap splatter film, but its thematic and underlying message prove that there is a genius to the overwhelming terror.
It’s one thing to simply cover the film head to toe with gore and make one of the bloodiest films of all time, but Martyrs goes a step beyond and makes a centralizing message tied to the pain and fear present within the entire film. At the end of the day, the film shows the importance of pain as a feeling, not always something to cower and hide from, but an important tool for perseverance and growth. It’s one of many different examinations of the film that uses fear, pain, and scares at every opportunity to discomfort and disturb the audience beyond the barriers of traditional horror.
Martyrs
- Release Date
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September 3, 2008
- Runtime
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99 Minutes
- Director
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Pascal Laugier
- Writers
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Pascal Laugier
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Morjana Alaoui
Anna Assaoui
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Mylène Jampanoï
Lucie Jurin
