The 2010s birthed horror’s boldest reinvention—here is the definitive ranking of its finest terrors.

The 2010s marked a renaissance for horror cinema, where filmmakers shattered conventions to weave social allegory, psychological dread, and visceral innovation into nightmares that linger. From indie darlings to blockbuster chills, this decade elevated the genre to critical acclaim and cultural dominance. Our ranking of the top ten horror movies captures the era’s pinnacle achievements, judged by lasting impact, technical mastery, thematic depth, and sheer fright factor.

  • A surge of elevated horror blending arthouse sensibilities with genre thrills, redefining scares for the modern age.
  • Directors like Jordan Peele and Ari Aster who infused personal visions with universal fears.
  • Films that transcended the screen, sparking conversations on race, grief, trauma, and survival.

Charting the Chills: The Decade’s Supreme Slashers of Sanity

The 2010s arrived amid post-recession cynicism, with horror mirroring societal fractures through intimate stories of isolation and invasion. Directors eschewed jump scares for slow-burn unease, drawing from global influences and digital-age anxieties. This ranking prioritises films that not only terrified but transformed the genre, each entry a testament to cinema’s power to unsettle the soul.

#10: Train to Busan (2016) – Zombie Siege on Rails

Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan hurtles viewers through a zombie apocalypse confined to South Korea’s high-speed KTX train, where a detached father, Seok-woo (Gong Yoo), races to protect his daughter Su-an (Kim Su-an) amid escalating carnage. Passengers transform into ravenous undead after a leaked bioweapon ravages the nation, turning the locomotive into a mobile slaughterhouse. What begins as a routine trip spirals into primal survival, with barricades failing and infected breaching compartments in frantic, blood-soaked sequences.

The film’s kinetic energy stems from its claustrophobic setting, where every jolt of the tracks amplifies tension. Hoisting bodies through vents and sacrificial stands evoke raw humanity amid horror, contrasting selfless heroes like the pregnant wife Sang-hwa (Ma Dong-seok) against selfish elites who doom others. Sang-ho masterfully paces the outbreak, building from isolated bites to full infestation, culminating in a heart-wrenching station standoff that blends gore with profound loss.

Thematically, it skewers class divides in modern Korea, with corporate greed symbolised by the virus’s origins and passengers’ initial apathy. Visually, fluid camerawork captures stampedes in tight corridors, while practical effects render zombies as shambling yet explosive threats. Its influence rippled globally, inspiring zombie tales with emotional cores over mindless hordes.

Released amid K-horror’s rising wave, Train to Busan grossed massively on a modest budget, proving international horror’s commercial viability without compromising artistry.

#9: Annihilation (2018) – Mutation in the Shimmer

Alex Garland’s Annihilation plunges into Area X, a quarantined zone where an alien meteor refracts DNA into grotesque hybrids. Biologist Lena (Natalie Portman) leads an all-female team—including psychologist Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and physicist Lomax (Benedict Wong)—to uncover the anomaly engulfing landscapes. As reality warps, mutations manifest: plants bear human teeth, alligators sprout extra limbs, and self-destruction haunts the expedition.

Garland crafts a psychedelic descent, with iridescent visuals from cinematographer Daniel Mindel turning swamps into alien biomes. The bear-hybrid’s screams mimic dying comrades, a sonic horror amplifying psychological fracture. Lena’s grief over her missing husband (Oscar Isaac) mirrors the Shimmer’s self-replicating chaos, questioning identity and evolution.

Effects blend CGI with practical prosthetics for seamless abominations, like the final humanoid’s shimmering form. Thematically, it probes self-destruction, cancer metaphors, and environmental collapse, drawing from Jeff VanderMeer’s novel yet expanding into existential body horror.

Despite studio cuts, its ambition secured cult status, influencing sci-fi horror with cerebral dread over spectacle.

#8: Us (2019) – Doppelgangers from the Shadows

Jordan Peele’s Us unleashes tethered doubles on the Wilson family during a beach vacation. Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) confronts her violent red-clad doppelganger Red, who leads the underground clones in a nationwide uprising. Flashbacks reveal Adelaide’s childhood abduction by these shadows, blurring victim and invader as she fights alongside husband Gabe (Winston Duke) and kids Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex).

Peele’s thriller pulses with social satire, scissors-wielding clones symbolising repressed underclasses. Nyong’o’s dual performance—vulnerable above, guttural menace below—anchors the horror, her rasping voice evoking buried trauma. Choreographed home invasions build dread through symmetry and mirrors.

Productions nods to 1980s hands-across-America campaigns underscore irony, with expansive underground lairs revealing systemic neglect. Sound design by Michael Abels amplifies unease via echoing ‘I Got 5 On It’ remixes.

A box-office hit, it solidified Peele’s voice, spawning discourse on privilege and duality.

#7: The Babadook (2014) – Grief’s Monstrous Pop-Up

Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook traps widow Amelia (Essie Davis) and son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) in their home with a storybook entity demanding presence. After husband Oscar’s death on Samuel’s birthday, the boy’s night terrors manifest the top-hatted Babadook, escalating to physical assaults and Amelia’s breakdown.

Kent, a protégé of Guillermo del Toro, employs shadow play and confined framing to embody depression’s inescapability. Davis’s raw portrayal—from exasperated screams to feral rage—elevates maternal horror, culminating in basement confrontations where expulsion proves impossible.

The pop-up book’s gothic design and repetitive incantation ‘If it’s in a word or in a look, you can’t get rid of the Babadook’ embed psychological permanence. Minimal effects rely on performance and sound, creaking floors heralding doom.

An Australian indie breakout, it pioneered ‘sad horror,’ influencing grief narratives in the genre.

#6: A Quiet Place (2018) – Silence or Slaughter

John Krasinski’s directorial effort follows the Abbotts—parents Lee (Krasinski) and Evelyn (Emily Blunt), deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), son Marcus (Noah Jupe), and newborn—navigating a world where blind aliens hunt sound. Sand paths muffle steps, sign language binds family, and Regan’s cochlear implant becomes weaponised against the creatures’ sensitive hearing.

Krasinski immerses in silence, tension ratcheting through amplified breaths and creaks. Practical suits for aliens, designed by MPC, convey hulking menace with armoured hides and elongated skulls. Child peril peaks in cornfield chases and basement births.

Themes of parental sacrifice and disability empowerment resonate, Regan’s arc subverting victim tropes. Shot in upstate New York, its lean script spawned a franchise.

A sleeper smash, it hybridised family drama with post-apocalyptic horror.

#5: It Follows (2014) – STD as Supernatural Stalker

David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows curses Jay (Maika Monroe) with a shape-shifting entity pursuing at walking pace post-hookup. Transmissible only through sex, it manifests as acquaintances or strangers, forcing relentless flight with friends across Detroit suburbs.

Mitchell’s wide-angle Steadicam tracks the inexorable advance, evoking urban paranoia. Synth score by Disasterpeace channels 1980s retro dread, pools and beaches turning idyllic to infernal.

Allegory for mortality and sexuality, its ambiguous rules heighten anxiety. Low-budget ingenuity shines in entity disguises, from zombified grandparents to towering figures.

A festival sensation, it revived slow-burn horror.

#4: The Witch (2015) – Puritan Paranoia Unraveled

Robert Eggers’ debut The Witch strands the Puritan family—father William (Ralph Ineson), mother Katherine (Kate Dickie), eldest Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), etc.—in 1630s New England woods after banishment. Infant Samuel vanishes to a cackling witch, goat Black Phillip whispers temptations, and accusations fracture bonds amid crop failures and possessions.

Eggers recreates period authenticity via diaries, candlelit interiors fostering claustrophobia. Taylor-Joy’s puberty-tormented Thomasin embodies female scapegoating, woodland pursuits chilling in natural light.

Folk horror roots tap Salem fears, satanic pacts questioning faith. Practical makeup for hags and goat effects unnerve.

A24’s breakout, it heralded prestige horror.

#3: Midsommar (2019) – Daylight Folk Atrocities

Ari Aster’s Midsommar drags grieving Dani (Florence Pugh) to a Swedish commune’s midsummer festival with boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor). Hårga’s rituals escalate from bear costumes to ritual killings, Dani crowned May Queen amid hallucinatory blooms.

Aster flips horror to sunlit fields, prolonged takes capturing floral horrors and ättestupa cliffs. Pugh’s wails pierce communal detachment, exploring toxic relationships and cult assimilation.

Production design layers runes and tapestries foreshadowing gore, with real Swedish locations enhancing immersion. Sequel bait in cliff jumps.

A divisive triumph, expanding Aster’s trauma diptych.

#2: Hereditary (2018) – Inheritance of Insanity

Aster’s Hereditary unspools the Graham family’s doom post-grandma Ellen’s death. Artist Annie (Toni Collette) crafts miniatures of tragedy, son Peter (Alex Wolff) survives decapitation via supernatural aid, daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro) meets grisly fate at a party. Paimon cult reveals matriarchal curse.

Collette’s seismic performance—from seance convulsions to matricidal fury—defines histrionic horror. Pawel Pogorzelski’s cinematography employs deep focus for lurking dread, attic lairs pulsing malevolence.

Grief’s stages manifest literally, decapitations and incinerations shocking. Sound design booms clacks and whispers.

Aster’s magnum opus, blending family drama with occult epic.

#1: Get Out (2017) – Racial Hypnosis Exposed

Jordan Peele’s Get Out sends photographer Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) to meet girlfriend Rose Armitage’s (Allison Williams) white family. Hypnosis via teacup triggers ‘sunken place,’ revealing auction-block neurosurgery swapping minds with elder bidder. Groundskeeper and housekeeper already replaced, brother Jeremy hunts, while cop Walter sprints eternally.

Peele’s script crackles with microaggressions escalating to macro horror, Kaluuya’s wide-eyed terror iconic. Cinematography by Toby Oliver employs single takes for escalating auctions, flashbulb triggers amplifying unease.

Satirising liberal racism, auction bids quantify souls. Practical effects for lobotomies stun, Michael Abels’ score fuses hip-hop with strings.

Best Original Screenplay Oscar-winner, grossing $255m, it redefined horror’s cultural force.

Director in the Spotlight: Jordan Peele

Jordan Haworth Peele, born 21 February 1979 in New York City to a white mother and black father, grew up immersed in cinema via mother’s film classes. Raised in Los Angeles, he honed comedy at Sarah Lawrence College, dropping out for improv with Second City. Breakthrough came via MADtv (2003-2008), then Key & Peele (2012-2015) on Comedy Central, earning Peabody and Emmy nods for sketches dissecting race.

Peele’s directorial pivot stunned with Get Out (2017), blending horror and satire to Oscar glory. He produced Us (2019), directing its doppelganger uprising, and Nope (2022), UFO western starring Keke Palmer. Monkeypaw Productions backed Hunter Killer (2018), Lovecraft Country (2020 HBO series, Emmy-winning), The Twilight Zone reboot (2019), and Candyman’s revival (2021).

Influenced by Spike Lee, Stanley Kubrick, and The People Under the Stairs, Peele champions black genre voices. He voices Rainbow in Kung Fu Panda series, authored children’s book Good Night Mommy (2022). Philanthropy includes Anti-Defamation League support. Upcoming: Super Blue Squad animation. Filmography: Get Out (2017, dir./write/prod.), Us (2019, dir./write/prod.), Nope (2022, dir./write/prod.), plus productions like Barbarian (2022), Scream VI (2023).

Peele’s oeuvre probes American underbelly, earning auteur status.

Actor in the Spotlight: Toni Collette

Antonia Collette, born 1 November 1972 in Sydney, Australia, discovered acting at 14 via stage fright cure. Northern Beaches troupe led to Spotswood (1991), but Muriel’s Wedding (1994) as bubbly Toni Mahoney launched her, earning Australian Film Institute Award.

Hollywood beckoned with The Pallbearer (1996), Emma in Sixth Sense (1999), Oscar-nominated. Golden Globe for About a Boy (2002), Emmy for Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006). Broadway A Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2015). TV triumphs: United States of Tara (2009-2011, Golden Globes), The Staircase (2022 miniseries).

Horror peak: Hysterical mother in Hereditary (2018), cult May in Hereditary kin. Recent: Knives Out (2019), Dream Horse (2020), I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020), Nightmare Alley (2021), Shrinking (2023 Apple TV, Emmy nom). Filmography: Muriel’s Wedding (1994), The Sixth Sense (1999), Hereditary (2018), Knives Out (2019), The Staircase (2022); stage: Wild Party (2000 Tony nom.); music with band Toni Collette & the Finish (2006 album).

Married since 2003 to Shakespearean actor David Galafassi, two children. Advocate for endometriosis awareness. Versatile force across drama, comedy, horror.

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Bibliography

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Kendrick, J. (2021) Ari Aster: Trauma and Folk Horror. Wallflower Press.

Middell, E. (2017) ‘The Witch and Historical Authenticity in Horror’, Film Quarterly, 70(4), pp. 22-29. Available at: https://filmquarterly.org (Accessed 15 October 2023).

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