Arriving on DVD this July 12, Insidious is the terrifying story of a family discovers that dark spirits have possessed their home, and their son has inexplicably fallen into a coma. Trying to escape the haunting and save their son, they move again only to realize that it was not their house that was haunted.
To prepare for the highly-anticipated impending release, we're getting in the horror-movie mood by taking a look at back at The Most Terrifying Films of the Decade.
28 Days Later
A man wakes up alone in a hospital, only to realize that the entire city has been abandoned. He soon comes to realize the horrible truth: everybody has either fled in terror or fallen victim to the Rage, a blood-borne virus that transforms humans into ravenous undead crazy people. He and a ragtag group of survivors must make their way to safety before they, too, fall victim to the Rage. While it could technically be defined as a zombie film, the Rage plague is as disastrous as any threat to humanity could get.
The Ring
Daveigh Chase's Samara Morgan in The Ring, Gore Verberski's remake of Hideo Nakata's horror about the ghost of a little girl with a murderous lust, is as terrifying as they come. There's something supremely unsettling about a little girl staring dead-eyed into the camera with that creepy voice saying "everyone will suffer," and that whole wall-climbing scene in the well will likely haunt nightmares for another few decades.
Saw
James Wan’s 2004 film Saw gave us one of the most original - and psychologically torturous - screen villains of modern horror, Jigsaw. A nightmare scenario unfolds as two trapped men become nearly-helpless pawns reluctantly pitted against one another in the Jigsaw killer's twisted game. The desperate men are provided with only a few clues and two handsaws by their horrific host, and it soon becomes clear that the saws weren't meant to cut the chains...
Resident Evil
Director Paul W.S. Anderson's adaptation of the popular video game has achieved massive success and a slew of sequels. Milla Jovovich steps into the role of the genetically-altered Alice, struggling to defeat the harrowing supervirus, carried by monstrous sub-humans that have broken free from their underground hive and threatening mass human extinction. Gory, apocalyptic and ripped right out of video-game heaven, the Resident Evil franchise has spawned countless fans and fantasies of beautiful vixens saving the world from the most nightmarish plague imaginable.
Paranormal Activity
Paranormal Activity reminded audiences (much like The Blair Witch Project before it), that you don’t need a big budget to make a terrifying movie, just a solid original idea and a keen sense of audience response refleces. Director Oren Peli’s supernatural sleeper hit went on to become one of the most profitable movies ever made, based on their tiny budget of $15,000, and spawned highly popular ongoing sequels.
Hostel
Director Eli Roth’s 2005 horror film combined a horrific premise (wealthy business people paying to murder people) with a shocking level of violence and gore. The film used the elements of the Slasher genre, but grounded it closer to reality (as long as your version of reality involves gorgeous vacationing students. This film also solidified “Torture Porn” as a fixture in the horror genre world, and spawned numerous copycat films.
The Others
Ghost stories come once every decade or so, but have become less frequent over the years. Alejandro Amenábar's 2001 film The Others explores a more psychological take on the ghost story, in this tale of a family living in a clearly haunted house in post World War II England. Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) is a war widow struggling to raise her two children alone when three new servants arrive, making matters complicated and frightening. Mystery, suspense and tragedy wreak havoc on the viewer... in the best of ways.
Drag Me To Hell
In 2009, director Sam Raimi returned to his roots by co-writing and directing the supernatural horror film, Drag Me To Hell. The film centers on a woman desperately struggling to save her own soul from torturous forces unleashed upon her after being plagued with the Lamia curse, making her life a waking nightmare. It was a critical and box office hit, due in no small part to lead actress Alison Lohman's gripping portrayal of a woman at risk of literally being dragged to hell.
Dawn of the Dead
Michael Bay's remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 2003, opened the door to a great deal of inferior horror remakes to follow, but in 2004, newcomer Zack Snyder brought to the horror universe a remake of a beloved 1978 George Romero cult classic that made good on the remake revival. The film’s apocalyptic first nine minutes convinced us that Snyder had the goods, and the rest of the movie was further confirmation that yes, fast zombies are a whole lot scarier than slow ones.
The Devil's Rejects
A film that's spawned more nightmares than all of Stephen King's novels put together, The Devil's Rejects takes the Firefly family out of the surreal and puts them square in the center of our world, to horrifying effect. Sheri Moon Zombie ("Baby") is a devastatingly hot woman who uses her sweet seduction on men before hacking them to pieces, or sicking her family clan on the task. Her performance is truly not for the weak stomachs, but there's something so deliciously vile about her ruthlessness, it's impossible to look away.
