Whether you’re enjoying the Black-led, action-horror romp that is “Sinners” or diving into the unnerving mysteries of “Weapons,” 2025 has already cemented itself as a standout year for horror. With the ever-evolving genre spoiling viewers everywhere, it’s hard to believe that it was in a far worse position only 15 years ago. From cheap gimmicks and boring thrills to oversaturated remakes and a focus on gore over substance, 2000s horror is, without a doubt, the genre’s worst era.
Horror truly came into its own in the 80s, spanning plenty of beloved franchises such as “Friday the 13th,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” and “Child’s Play” alongside other heavy hitters such as “The Thing,” “Aliens,” “Poltergeist,” and more.
Once the genre found its footing in the 90s, we received another beloved franchise in “Scream,” as well as other one-offs such as “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Misery,” “The Sixth Sense,” “The Blair Witch Project,” and more. Horror even managed to snag a few Oscars during this decade. However, as the thriller genre began to take off, traditional horror began to lose its identity.
And this is where the 2000s comes in. While many people will complain about theaters being filled with remakes today — a statement that is constantly blown out of proportion — nothing can compare to the heaping pile of horror remakes two decades prior.
“Black Christmas,” “Halloween,” “My Bloody Valentine,” “Friday the 13th,” “The Hills Have Eyes,” “Children of the Corn,” … the list goes on. While some exceptions, such as the 2003 “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” remake, exist, a majority of these updates were poor at best, so much so that many of these franchises have stayed buried to this day. And if American remakes weren’t bad enough, just turn the corner to 2004’s “The Grudge” and 2002’s “The Ring,” two Americanized-remakes of Japanese horror classics that, frankly, never understood the source material. But hey, there has to be some great original horror content out there, right? Sure, if you consider movies like “Cabin Fever” and “One Missed Call” as good.
However, yes, there are more than a few solid 2000s horror films, a few of those being “Martyrs,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Let The Right One In,” “The Descent,” “28 Days Later” and more. The catch? None of these were American-made films. Whether they were made in the United Kingdom, Australia, Korea, Mexico, and so on, it wasn’t until halfway through the 2010s that America began to catch up to its competition, finally releasing instant classics such as “A Quiet Place” and “Hereditary.”
The one place in the genre that America did excel in? Funnily enough, horror comedies. The subgenre managed to thrive during this drought with films such as “Drag Me to Hell,” “Jennifer’s Body,” “Zombieland,” “American Psycho” and even the original “Scary Movie.” The decade also saw other comedies such as “Meet the Fockers,” “The Hangover,” “Devil Wears Prada” and “Hitch” rule the silver screen, so who’s to say that horror comedies didn’t happen to catch the table scraps of these box office hits.
The final nail in the coffin for 2000s horror is in the shape of gimmicks. Whether it was the slew of 3D-based scares like “My Bloody Valentine”, the “gore porn” sub-genre created by “Saw” or the found-footage genre rejuvenated by “Paranormal Activity” and “Cloverfield,” almost every film during this age had to include a gimmick of some kind, even if said gimmick would ultimately harm the film critically.
2000s horror was the graveyard of originality and creativity, but with films such as “The Substance,” “Pearl” and “The Menu” being just the tip of the iceberg for the genre in recent years, perhaps this previous decade of slop is best mostly forgotten.