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Forums - Movies & TV - The best decade for horror films

 

Your favourite decade for horror

10s 5 19.23%
 
00s 2 7.69%
 
90s 0 0%
 
80s 15 57.69%
 
70s 3 11.54%
 
60s 0 0%
 
50s 0 0%
 
40s 0 0%
 
30s 1 3.85%
 
1920s 0 0%
 
Total:26

This may be a controversial choice, but I think the 2010's has been the best decade for horror and has made me excited for what the current decade will give us in the genre. Here's a list of films that I have stuck out to me from the decade.

Hereditary

Annihilation

The lighthouse

It chapter 1

The Witch

The invitation 

It follows

A quiet place

Climax

Us

Get out

The babadook

Cabin in the woods

Conjuring 1 + 2

Ghost stories

Tucker and Dale vs evil

Happy death day

Halloween

Cam

Doctor sleep

Hush

Color out of space

Gerald's game

Sinister

Don't breath

The autopsy of Jane doe

Midsommar

Suspiria

Mandy

One cut of the dead

The wailing 

Train to busan 

10 cloverfield lane

Troll hunter

Black swan

Insidious

Mother

Maniac

Creep 1+2

Split

Bone tomahawk

Green room

evil dead

What we do in the shadows

The woman in black

The guest

The gift

Upgrade

Under the Shadow

The House That Jack Built

While I don't think all of these films are fantastic I think that they are all at the very least competently made. I'd put this decade up there with the 70s as being the best for horror. I'd love to hear some opinions from you guys on the subject. 

I'll probably continue adding to the list as I see more films.

Last edited by pikashoe - on 28 February 2020

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I agree. While the 70s had some classics and the 80s with the legendary slasher movies which moved into the 90s which finished strong with the likes of blair witch and sixth sense, the Noughties then brought some great supernatural ones aka the ring,grudge,gothika, for me the 2010s has really took it with Insidious, Sinister, The Conjuring and the rest on your list. I really like Blumhouse atm.



I know it's not a movie but The Haunting of Hill House has to be mentioned when talking about the horror genre in the last few years. It's so fucking good!



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TruckOSaurus said:
I know it's not a movie but The Haunting of Hill House has to be mentioned when talking about the horror genre in the last few years. It's so fucking good!

Loved that show so much. I was thinking about mentioning tv, but decided to keep it simple with just films.



I guess I'll be the odd duck and disagree.

I suppose it all depends on what you like/want out of horror.

For the best spooky atmosphere and focus on great acting/storytelling, it has to be the "Golden Age" of horror, with the great Universal classics of the 30s and 40s, as well as the Val Lewton series, and lesser known hits like White Zombie, Island of Lost Souls, She, Dr. X, The Undying Monster, Dragonwyck (great early Vincent Price film), etc.

The 50s and 60s had a lot of great monster movies, and spooky science fiction, as well as more supernatural horror. Movies like Them, Night of the Demon, The Blob, House of Wax, The Haunting, House on Haunted Hill, and even the original Godzilla, set a lot of standards for scary movies. And of course the 60s were stacked with great Hammer Horror and Roger Corman Poe films. The late 60s also saw the rise of more "psychological" horror, with films like Rosemary's Baby and The Devil Rides Out.

The 70s of course saw the rise of the so-called "Slasher" genre, with Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Halloween. It was also a decade of more gruesome "nature goes mad" or "monster on the loose" type films like Jaws, Grizzly, The Swarm, etc. And the continuation of "psychological" supernatural horror, like The Exorcist, The Omen, Carrie, The Sentinel, and The Legend of Hell House.

The 80s seems to be remembered as the "Slasher Decade", due to the sheer volume of Halloween, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street sequels that got shat out, along with the many, MANY copycat films that popped up. But there was also a lot more going on, horror-wise. I'd argue it was an even greater decade for non-slasher horror, such as The Thing, The Howling, Prince of Darkness, The Gate, Fright Night, The Lost Boys, Creepshow, Cat's Eye, Child's Play (the non-cheesy original), Critters, and arguably "hybrid" films like Gremlins and Ghostbusters, etc. There was a lot going on that decade, for sure.


Me personally, I'm split between the classic Universal "Golden Age", and the 80s. The 50s/60s "Silver Age" also has a strong argument, but there's something to me about that classic black and white era. I've never personally been big on slasher films, but I think the 80s produced an awful lot of non-slasher greats, as I pointed out. The 90s did have a few gems, most notably to me, John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. But to me, the further we've gotten along, there's just something about most modern horror that is missing something that the older eras had. At some point, around the 70s and 80s, horror films started being less about spooky atmosphere and trying to tell good stories, to focusing on "shock value" and gore and body count, things like that. And I think that just evolved through the 90s, 2000s and onward, to a point where I've seen too many modern (meaning 2000s/2010s) horror movies that literally just try to be as disturbing and messed up as possible. I've seen many that forgo trying to have good acting, compelling characters, and genuine chills, instead just trying to be as gruesome, at times even sadistic, as possible. Films that are both arguably overly gross, but also just bleak and hopeless.

I guess my point is, why still focusing on being scary, a lot of older horror films from the 30s-80s, were fun. Like they were fun to watch, and yeah, bad things happened, and people often died. But at least to me, the BEST ones left you feeling glad you watched it. I think John Goodman's character in the 1993 Joe Dante film Matinee said it best, that the point of scary movies, is to take the audience on this ride, to distract them from the real world, and have them scared and on the edge of their seats, and then when the movie is over, it's like they can breath a sigh of relief, they get that catharsis from the experience. I just personally feel that with an awful LOT of modern horror films, you don't get that. At least I don't. There have been many modern horror films where I didn't feel glad for watching after seeing it, at all. And maybe that's me. And I'm certainly NOT saying good horror films don't still come out these days. But I do still feel like something is missing these days. *shrug*



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Love me some slashers 80's all the way, although 2010's was very solid. Halloween 1/2 are my favorite, and I have to watch Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street movies if I see them on TV in October.



DevilRising said:

I guess I'll be the odd duck and disagree.

I suppose it all depends on what you like/want out of horror.

For the best spooky atmosphere and focus on great acting/storytelling, it has to be the "Golden Age" of horror, with the great Universal classics of the 30s and 40s, as well as the Val Lewton series, and lesser known hits like White Zombie, Island of Lost Souls, She, Dr. X, The Undying Monster, Dragonwyck (great early Vincent Price film), etc.

The 50s and 60s had a lot of great monster movies, and spooky science fiction, as well as more supernatural horror. Movies like Them, Night of the Demon, The Blob, House of Wax, The Haunting, House on Haunted Hill, and even the original Godzilla, set a lot of standards for scary movies. And of course the 60s were stacked with great Hammer Horror and Roger Corman Poe films. The late 60s also saw the rise of more "psychological" horror, with films like Rosemary's Baby and The Devil Rides Out.

The 70s of course saw the rise of the so-called "Slasher" genre, with Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Halloween. It was also a decade of more gruesome "nature goes mad" or "monster on the loose" type films like Jaws, Grizzly, The Swarm, etc. And the continuation of "psychological" supernatural horror, like The Exorcist, The Omen, Carrie, The Sentinel, and The Legend of Hell House.

The 80s seems to be remembered as the "Slasher Decade", due to the sheer volume of Halloween, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street sequels that got shat out, along with the many, MANY copycat films that popped up. But there was also a lot more going on, horror-wise. I'd argue it was an even greater decade for non-slasher horror, such as The Thing, The Howling, Prince of Darkness, The Gate, Fright Night, The Lost Boys, Creepshow, Cat's Eye, Child's Play (the non-cheesy original), Critters, and arguably "hybrid" films like Gremlins and Ghostbusters, etc. There was a lot going on that decade, for sure.


Me personally, I'm split between the classic Universal "Golden Age", and the 80s. The 50s/60s "Silver Age" also has a strong argument, but there's something to me about that classic black and white era. I've never personally been big on slasher films, but I think the 80s produced an awful lot of non-slasher greats, as I pointed out. The 90s did have a few gems, most notably to me, John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. But to me, the further we've gotten along, there's just something about most modern horror that is missing something that the older eras had. At some point, around the 70s and 80s, horror films started being less about spooky atmosphere and trying to tell good stories, to focusing on "shock value" and gore and body count, things like that. And I think that just evolved through the 90s, 2000s and onward, to a point where I've seen too many modern (meaning 2000s/2010s) horror movies that literally just try to be as disturbing and messed up as possible. I've seen many that forgo trying to have good acting, compelling characters, and genuine chills, instead just trying to be as gruesome, at times even sadistic, as possible. Films that are both arguably overly gross, but also just bleak and hopeless.

I guess my point is, why still focusing on being scary, a lot of older horror films from the 30s-80s, were fun. Like they were fun to watch, and yeah, bad things happened, and people often died. But at least to me, the BEST ones left you feeling glad you watched it. I think John Goodman's character in the 1993 Joe Dante film Matinee said it best, that the point of scary movies, is to take the audience on this ride, to distract them from the real world, and have them scared and on the edge of their seats, and then when the movie is over, it's like they can breath a sigh of relief, they get that catharsis from the experience. I just personally feel that with an awful LOT of modern horror films, you don't get that. At least I don't. There have been many modern horror films where I didn't feel glad for watching after seeing it, at all. And maybe that's me. And I'm certainly NOT saying good horror films don't still come out these days. But I do still feel like something is missing these days. *shrug*

I agree that up until the 00s had a large focus on shock value and gore but the 10s largely doesn't do that. Most of the films I mentioned have very few deaths and aren't particularly gory. Interestingly many of the films you mention liking were considered extremely shocking for the time.

I recommend watching some of the films I listed, they generally have some great performances, atmosphere and stories. Largely what I like about this decade is that it feels like it's going back to what made horror great during the 60s and 70s.



How is this even a question? 80s easy. The best franchises and sequels to the most schlocky and B budgets films to the best horror remake of all time with The Thing. Slasher films. Horror comedy. Serious horrors like Aliens. Using practical effects. Practical effects are like Pizza. Even bad they have their charm. When great nothing is better and again I point to The Thing. Tom Savini. Rick Baker. Stan Winston and more. The greatest minds to ever work with practical effects. It's the most iconic era as well. Horror had so much range then more than ever. You can like other decades more,that's fine but to choose anything but the 80s...you're wrong. The 70s may have given birth to the slasher flick but 80s gave it life. 70s had some good stuff but most of it was forgettable. 80s gave us everything from Aliens/The Thing to Friday the 13th to Freddy to Ghostbusters/Monster Squad to The Gate and Ghost Story plus so much more.

Last edited by Leynos - on 25 February 2020

Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

I'll be the first to give it to the 00s. I happen to like extreme violence and the "torture porn" genre. Directors like Alexandre Aja, Eli Roth, and James Wan gave us some great gore-fests in this decade.

There were some stand-out original films (May, The Descent, Drag me to Hell). There were some solid remakes (The Ring, Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes) plus decade-defining franchises like Final Destination, Saw, and Resident Evil.

The 2000s were all about excessive, over-the-top shock, and I think that works well for the horror genre.



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Not really a fan of Horror movies but The Thing is still my favorite of all time so I voted for the 80s.