I was talking to friends the other day, and I realized that it has been just over a decade ago that I was listening to Dick Clark counting backwards and watching my computer to see if it was going to go nuclear. I started thinking about key releases in the last ten years in the horror genre. I came up with twenty that mean something to me in some in some way.

Horror has no specific qualifications to make my list, though I do like my gore bloody and nudity full frontal. The only rule is that the movie can be watched at any time, and from any point in the film. Otherwise there’s a variety of reasons that make a movie special – originality, effects, actors, and the emotional factor. So here’s my top twenty Horror films of the double zero decade, in no particular order.

1. House of 1000 Corpses (2003) – Rob Zombies directorial debut introduced us to a beautiful, chaotic terror. Captain Spaulding and the Firefly family embody most psychoses in the guise of some truly lovable and uniquely evil characters we’ve rooted for. And we did want the four travelers to get what they deserved. That’s what makes this movie great.

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2. Resident Evil (2002) – Loosely based on the Capcom game, Resident Evil introduces us to intrigue, espionage, genetic manipulation, and the world of survival horror.

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3. Rob Zombie’s Halloween II (2007) – Rob’s fourth movie successfully combines the best aspect of Halloween II and gives a sense of finality to the Michael and Laurie story that Halloween III didn’t.

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4. Diary of the Dead (2007) – George Romero tells another version of the zombie outbreak, and even though he didn’t take the story back to 1969 we still get that feeling of confusion and urgency from the invasion.

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5. Zombie Diaries (2006) – This British version of the zombie outbreak is told in three parts – the outbreak, the loners and survivalists. What makes this unique is the intertwining of characters in the stories and the blurring of the line between monster and human.

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6. Dismal (2009) – -This is a landmark movie for me because it is the first festival film I got to review. The fact it’s a darn good movie helped cement it’s place on the list.
Look for this release in 2010

7. Hard Candy (2005) – Hayley seduces and traps a pedophile who she believes raped and killed her friend. What makes this a compelling film is that we are watching Kitty Pryde and Juno star, Ellen Page, torturing and tormenting the killer.

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8. The Collector (2009) – Another first because this was my first review of a movie before its release date. A combination of The Strangers and Saw, a home invader and the family are at the mercy of another home invader with a sadistic streak and booby traps.

9. Wizard of Gore (2007) – This is simply a complex and beautiful movie that has reality manipulation and Suicide Girls.

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10. Midnight Meat Train (2008) – Based on a 1984 Clive Barker story, Midnight Meat Train delves into a seldom seen world – keeping the peace between the monsters and humanity. Original and disturbing. Look for the Ted Raimi cameo.

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11. Feast (2006) – This is an over the top study of the human condition in group conditions when under a common stress factor. Who am I kidding; Feast is the horror equivalent of fart jokes. There’s horny monsters, heroes, cowards, a variety of body fluids, Jason Mewes dying a horrible death, and Henry Rollins in pink sweat pants.

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12. Teeth (2007) – This movie is a study of the female condition, but seeing as I’m a guy I couldn’t explain exactly what it is. What I do know is that vagina dentata makes for a truly original film that guaranteed to have males squirm in their seats for 94 minutes.

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13. Trick 'r Treat (2008) – Bryan Singer brings back the anthology horror movie. In Trick 'r Treat four tales are cleverly woven together with the help of Sam, the spirit of Halloween. Check out our cast interviews on YouTube.

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14. Mother of Tears (2007) – The third part of Dario Argentos' Three Mothers trilogy has witches from around the world converging on Rome to take over the world.

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15. Battle Royale (Batoru rowaiaru) (2000) – Based on the Koushun Takami novel of the same name, this story pits forty two 9th grade students, trapped on an island, and forced to fight until only one survives. What always disturbed me is how far someone might go to survive, and how some might relish the chance to harm their peers.

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16. 30 Days of Night (2007) – Based on the Steve Niles story, these vampires are something vampires hadn’t been in a while – devolved predators. No romantic characters here.

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17. Cloverfield (2008) – The movie that succeeded where Blair Witch Project failed in making a film from the point of view of the participant. Take something for the headache you’ll get from the shaking camera and be experience the first person point of view.

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18. The Ring (2002) – This movie led the flood of redoing the Asian horror that gave us The Grudge, The Eye, One Missed Call, and The Uninvited.

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19. Let the Right One In (2008) – A Scandinavian vampire film that plays on the manipulation of innocence. Worthwhile, even with subtitles. Movies like this give new credability to foreign film makers.

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20. Thir13en Ghosts (2001) – This movie should have done for ghosts what Night of the Living Dead did for zombies. These are twelve of the meanest, nastiest, ticked off, and interesting ghosts I can think of.

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