2026 is already off to an amazing start when it comes to horror films. Primate was a fun “when animals attack” movie and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple has already set an extremely high bar for the rest of the year’s potential winners. And there do look to be quite a few that could be great. Some of them are horror comedies, like Cold Storage, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, and They Will Kill You, while others are more straightforward, e.g. Werwulf, Scream 7, and Resident Evil. In short, it’s looking like it will be a good year for horror.
The question is, will it be the best horror movie year of the 2020s? Only time will tell on that one but, for now, we can look back at the past quarter century and pick and choose which was each respective year’s top horror flick.
26) 2000 — American Psycho
image courtesy of lionsgate films
An integral part of putting Christian Bale on the map as a chameleonic performer, American Psycho is the type of movie that you have to watch at least twice. Not only to fully appreciate Bale’s work, but even more so because it toys with reality son consistently and so well.
Coming off the Scream-dominated late ’90s, the aughts kicked off with an overall average year for horror. Besides American Psycho, the only other highlights were Cherry Falls and Ginger Snaps. The only one nipping at American Psycho‘s heels was Final Destination, but the edge went to Mary Harron’s commentary on yuppie culture.
Stream American Psycho on Prime Video.
25) 2001 — The Others
image courtesy of dimension films
2001 had a couple horror movies that came across as arthouse films, some of which were very much studio pictures. For instance, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Frailty, and The Others. And while Frailty was a very impressive directorial debut for Bill Paxton, this was The Others‘ to lose all the way.
It’s visually stunning, comes equipped with top-notch directing and writing, and one of the best performances of Nicole Kidman’s career. To this day it’s still a moving film with some really solid scares.
Stream The Others on AMC+.
24) 2002 — 28 Days Later
image courtesy of fox searchlight pictures
Before 28 Days Later, we were used to the slow-moving zombies of George A. Romero’s Living Dead movies. And they were scary enough.
Then Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland came in and said, “No, these things can run. And they’re coming right for you.” 99 percent of 28 Days Later is full intensity, with the only real exception being a few quiet moments and Jim’s initial walk around desolate London. It’s an unforgettable experience that kicked off a consistently solid franchise that continues to this day.
Stream 28 Days Later on Netflix.
23) 2003 — Final Destination 2
image courtesy of New Line Cinema
There are a few highlights of the Final Destination, with the recent Final Destination Bloodlines being one of them. But there’s still an argument to be made that Final Destination 2 is the best of the bunch.
At the very least this has the best opening tragedy hallucination. For anyone who has seen this movie in the 20 plus years since its release it’s impossible to drive behind a truck hauling logs on the highway without thinking “Oh no, here it comes. Death’s here.”
Stream Final Destination 2 on YouTube TV.
22) 2004 — Saw
image courtesy of lionsgate films
Its sequels may have gone overboard, but the original Saw is still an effective shocker. It also helped announce James Wan as horror’s newest brilliant voice.
Naturally, the torture-focused subgenre Saw kicked off has more losers than winners, but just as the Halloween franchise got grosser as it went on, the original saw is rather tame compared to its sequels. It’s more about claustrophobia and suggestion, and it works.
21) 2005 — The Descent
image courtesy of pathe distribution
American cinema did not have much to offer the horror genre in 2005. It was basically just Saw II, The Devil’s Rejects, Land of the Dead, Hostel, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and the so-so House of Wax remake, none of them classics.
Overseas was where it was at this year. Wolf Creek was a visceral and realistic Australian nightmare, but the edge goes to Neil Marshall’s brilliant and utterly claustrophobic The Descent, which coats the viewer in an unforgettable hopelessness…especially in its final moments.
Stream The Descent on Prime Video.
20) 2006 — The Host
image courtesy of showbox
2006 is the second year in a row that we’re giving the top spot to a non-domestic scarer, but America definitely brought more to the table in 2006 than it did in 2005. For instance, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, Hatchet, the excellent The Hills Have Eyes remake, Slither, and the goofball fest that is Snakes on a Plane.
But, come on, this one was Bong Joon-ho’s all the way. He took the template of the standard monster movie and turned it into a story of a father’s desperation and threw some plot curveballs at the audience in the third act that are unforgettable. The Host is one of his better movies, and that’s really saying something.
Stream The Host on Hulu.
19) 2007 — Trick ‘r Treat
image courtesy of warner bros.
Not many anthology horror films are truly noteworthy. Creepshow, V/H/S, the underrated Tales from the Darkside: The Movie…they’re not exactly a dime a dozen. But the deserved cult fandom held by Trick ‘r Treat makes the case for there being more movies just like this.
Michael Dougherty’s film succeeds because no two of its stories blend in. They all feel wholly unique in terms of content, yet thanks to the film’s smart usage of the wraparound story, a standard of the anthology horror film, it feels like one cohesive whole. Even with underrated movies such as Vacancy, Teeth, REC, and P2, as well as hits like Paranormal Activity, this was Trick ‘r Treat‘s year.
Stream Trick ‘r Treat for free on Kanopy.
18) 2008 — Let the Right One In
image courtesy of sandrew metronome
Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In managed to take the well-worn vampire subgenre and make it feel fresh once more. And all it had to do was tell the story between a vamp and a normal, lonely kid.
This is a beautiful film that works as a drama even more than it works as a tense chiller. It’s one of the few vampire movies where we actually feel for the bloodsucker.
Stream Let the Right One In on Prime Video.
17) 2009 — Drag Me to Hell
image courtesy of universal pictures
Thank goodness Send Help is coming out, because it’s been 17 years since we got some classic straightforward horror Sam Raimi. Well, as straightforward as his horror gets, because outside the original The Evil Dead there are always some sly winks and tongue in cheekiness. And, in that regard, Drag Me to Hell was no different.
This was easily the best horror film of 2009. It’s smart, quickly paced, has a great lead performance by Alison Lohman (her penultimate film before she retired), and a dynamite ending.
Stream Drag Me to Hell on HBO Max.
16) 2010 — The Crazies
image courtesy of participant media
If you wanted Tucker & Dale vs. Evil here, that will have its fighting chance in our comedy one of these. The same goes for Black Swan, but for our thriller piece. Here, for horror, we’re going with the surprisingly excellent remake of The Crazies.
With a typically great performance by Timothy Olyphant in the lead and some nice deviations from George A. Romero’s original, The Crazies is a remake that works while still feeling true to its originator. It’s basically the ultimate companion piece to 2006’s The Hills Have Eyes.
Stream The Crazies for free with ads on The Roku Channel.
15) 2011 — You’re Next
image courtesy of lionsgate
Before he was making $100 million blockbusters in the Monsterverse, Adam Wingard was making a $1 million little home invasion thriller called You’re Next, and there’s an argument to be made it’s still his best work. Then again, both The Guest and Godzilla vs. Kong are wonderful.
But You’re Next is so visceral, packed with the best cinematic usage of garrote wire to date (if you know the scene, you know the scene). Other highpoints include a believably tumultuous family dynamic and a charismatic lead performance by Sharni Vinson.
Stream You’re Next on Starz.
14) 2012 — The Cabin in the Woods
image courtesy of lionsgate
First off, The Cabin in the Woods debuted at the Butt-Numb-A-Thon in December 2011, but it was widely released in April the following year. Thus, it’s a 2012 movie.
And, when it was released, it was one of the best theater experiences ever. Entirely unpredictable and loaded with a spirit that felt both referential to the past and brand new, it was and remains a wild ride with a jaw-dropping finale. It was an easy win for Cabin, with its only real competition in the quality department being Sinister and V/H/S.
Stream The Cabin in the Woods for free with ads on The Roku Channel.
13) 2013 — The Conjuring
Image Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Suffice to say, 2013 was a down year for the genre, but it certainly wasn’t without its merits. Bad Milo! is charmingly wacky, but it’s more comedy than horror. Curse of Chucky showed the Good Guy could work on a screen as small as he is. Lastly, Oculus was a fun one-time viewing from Mike Flanagan while Fede Álvarez’s Evil Dead was a blood-soaked, intense nightmare.
But let’s face it, this one was The Conjuring‘s to lose. It kicked off a highly successful franchise that continues to this day for good reason. It’s atmospheric, well-acted, well-shot, and thrives on the intimacy it develops between the viewers and the characters. It’s tough to watch the family get terrorized, just as it was tough to see Regan have her mind torn apart in The Exorcist.
12) 2014 — The Babadook
image courtesy of umbrella entertainment
The Babadook set the ground for the rise of elevated horror (no pun intended). The idea became this: focus on characters and let the scares become more impactful because we care about those who are put in the path of danger.
This is an impactful analysis of grief. We don’t follow a large number of characters, so we are perpetually forced to get to know the mother and her son and become more and more affiliated with their internal pain. The creepy-looking title monster is just there to push everything to its breaking point.
Stream The Babadook on Hulu.
11) 2015 — The Witch
image courtesy of a24
Robert Eggers’ The Witch can be cited as the true start of so-called “Elevated Horror.” At the very least it helped further popularize it after The Babadook.
This was an easy win for The Witch. It’s one of the 2010s’ most important horror films, from confirming once more that ambiance is better than shock to making stars of Eggers, Ralph Ineson, and, especially Anya Taylor-Joy. But it wasn’t the only good horror movie of its year, as there was also Krampus, The Gift, Green Room (another movie that helped cement A24’s status as the house of art film horror), and The Final Girls.
Stream The Witch on HBO Max.
10) 2016 — Train to Busan
Image courtesy of Next Entertainment World
2016 was a solid year for horror. 10 Cloverfield Lane could have taken this spot, but it’s more of a thriller. The Belko Experiment is an underrated bit of office carnage. The Conjuring 2 was a solid sequel with heavy ambiance and the same could be said of Don’t Breathe, save for the sequel part. This was also the year of the first Terrifier, though that would be greatly outdone by its sequels.
But in the end, it came down to the energetic and intense “28 Days Later on a train” movie Train to Busan and Mike Flanagan’s home invasion slasher Hush. We’re giving it to Busan. Even if it’s action-focused it’s still a zombie movie, so we’re counting it as horror-focused.
Stream Train to Busan on Netflix.
9) 2017 — Get Out
image courtesy of universal pictures
An awards season darling that announced funny man Jordan Peele as a horror maestro, Get Out was and remains one of the past few decades’ most inventive and deep horror flicks. It was the easy winner of 2017, but it was also a year of stiff competition.
It, 1922, and Gerald’s Game were excellent Stephen King adaptations, Anna and the Apocalypse is a fun and funny zombie musical, Annabelle: Creation was everything Annabelle wasn’t, The Babysitter helped further establish Samara Weaving as a legend of the genre, Cult of Chucky was another direct to video winner for the iconic franchise, and Happy Death Day is a breezy PG-13 Groundhog Day slasher. But it was always going to be Get Out for the win.
Stream Get Out on HBO Max.
8) 2018 — Hereditary
image courtesy of a24
Ari Aster was only 32 when he made his directorial debut with Hereditary, and it’s hard to imagine anything more impressive. This is one seriously profound and gut-wrenching debut for an auteur, and while he has yet to top it he’s showed himself consistently able to yank on the audience’s emotions.
But, while Aster’s direction is a major asset, we’d be remiss not to mention just how brilliant Toni Collette was in this. Hers was the best performance of 2018, and the fact that she wasn’t so much as nominated for an Academy Award so just how undisputedly biased against horror that organization is.
Stream Hereditary for free on Kanopy.
7) 2019 — Midsommar
image courtesy of a24
Another year another gargantuan horror winner from Ari Aster. Like Hereditary, Midsommar is a truly unsettling, overwhelming experience with a brilliant lead performance. Just as it’s not an easy movie to predict during your initial viewing, it’s also not an easy movie to watch twice. At the very least, you need to give yourself some recuperation time between screenings.
2019 wasn’t without its other solid horror content, e.g. Crawl, the vastly underrated Doctor Sleep, The Perfection, Ready or Not, Saint Maud, and Us, but none of them were quite as powerful as Midsommar. The only one that came close was Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse.
Stream Midsommar on HBO Max.
6) 2020 — A Quiet Place Part II
image courtesy of paramount pictures
Even though COVID-19 decimated the film industry (amongst many others, of course) in 2020, we still got a couple of really phenomenal additions to the horror genre. And at the top of the heap was A Quiet Place Part II, which was even better than its already sublime, character-focused predecessor.
It wasn’t a sure thing victory for Quiet Place, though. Freaky was an enjoyable horror-comedy that showed Kathryn Newton is most comfortable in such genre blenders, Possessor was top-notch body horror, Run Sweetheart Run featured a fantastic star performance by Ella Balinska, and The Rental is an underrated tale of betrayal.
Stream A Quiet Place Part II on Hulu.
5) 2021 — The Black Phone
image courtesy of universal pictures
2021 had some disappointments. Scott Cooper’s Antlers, Army of the Dead, the horror comedy Black Friday, Last Night in Soho, Old, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. They’re all fine, nothing more, nothing less. At least they’re better than Malignant and Spiral: From the Book of Saw.
It came down to the genre-blender Werewolves Within, The Black Phone, and the ultra-violent Halloween Kills. The Black Phone wins out because it’s both the scariest of those three and the one that really takes itself the most seriously. Plus, Ethan Hawke is great as the Grabber.
Stream The Black Phone on Peacock.
4) 2022 — X
image courtesy of a24
2022 was an amazing year for horror. Ghostface was successfully resurrected, Zach Cregger smashed through the genre gates with his Barbarian, Bodies Bodies Bodies is an unpredictable dark comedy, Fresh remains one of Hulu’s better original films, Terrifier 2 announced Art the Clown as the next major horror icon, and M3GAN was a nice hit in January. Sure, Halloween Ends made its trilogy land with a thud and Hellraiser (another Hulu original) felt needless, but for the most part it was a winner of a year.
And at the apex of that win was Ti West. This was win he released not just one, but two installments of his X trilogy. Either X or Pearl could be this entry’s victor. X is one of the few slashers released in the past decade that actually captures the vibe of the subgenre’s ’80s heyday while Pearl is a brilliant character study with a performance by Mia Goth that’s even better than her work in its predecessor. Toss in the fact that this (and Scream) established Jenna Ortega as one of her generation’s definitive scream queens, and 2022 will always be deemed one of the most integral ones for the horror genre.
Stream X for free with ads on The Roku Channel.
3) 2023 — Late Night with the Devil
image courtesy of ifc films
David Dastmalchian finally got the chance to shine in a lead role in Late Night with the Devil, and he didn’t disappoint. But the films ’70s aesthetic and slow burn narrative are also assets in its corner.
Late Night with the Devil wasn’t entirely without its competition, though. Cocaine Bear, Evil Dead Rise, Infinity Pool, No One Will Save You, Renfield, Saw X, and Scream VI will all greatly entertain you or make you think.
Stream Late Night with the Devil on Hulu.
2) 2024 — Terrifier 3
image courtesy of cineverse
Terrifier 2 may have established Art the Clown as horror’s newest A-tier icon, but Terrifier 3 solidified it. It also solidified that Lauren LaVera is a scream queen with considerable range. Sure, the Terrifier movies are disgusting to the point they immediately deflect a substantial portion of the audience, but they’re still a blast for those who can get on their wavelength (and, as the box office returns of Terrifier 3 showed, there are quite a few people who are not turned off by its gore).
Speaking of gore, Abigail was the runner-up for 2024. Radio Silence’s post-Scream movie is a hoot with another performance by Melissa Barrera that helped cement her as one of the biggest up-and-coming stars. Other highlights included Alien: Romulus, Arcadian, Cuckoo, Heretic, I Saw the TV Glow, Longlegs, The Substance, MaXXXine, The First Omen, and Nosferatu.
Stream Terrifier 3 on Prime Video.
1) 2025 — Sinners
image courtesy of wanrer bros.
Sinners isn’t just the best horror movie of the year; it’s one of the best movies of 2025 regardless of genre. The only one that came even close to nipping at its heels, and it wasn’t that close, was Zach Cregger’s Weapons. Naturally, Sinners spans a handful of genres, but at its core it’s about vampires, so we’re counting it as horror.
Other 2025 highlights included 28 Years Later (though The Bone Temple is way better), Bone Lake, the underrated Dust Bunny, successful franchise reboot Final Destination Bloodlines, Influencers, and Good Boy. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, as well, if you count that as horror instead of gothic sci-fi/drama.
Stream Sinners on HBO Max.