Poll: Rolling Stone's Greatest Horror Movies of the 21st Century

Results of 2,415 votes:

1. 1.
   

   The Conjuring (2013)

    

   #4 - The Conjuring (2013) isn’t merely a spot-on period re-creation — it's a fiendishly effective throwback to Seventies-style studio horror, back when methodical pacing and an icy tone trumped cheap …
2. 2.
   

   28 Days Later (2002)

    

   #1 - In the wake of 9/11's jolting tragedy, this prescient horror film also spoke to unconscious anxieties about a world in which simmering tensions and seething paranoia felt like a terrible new norm…
3. 3.
   

   Ginger Snaps (2000)

    

   #35 - Werewolves and womanhood walk arm-in-arm in this Canadian B-movie classic.
4. 4.
   

   Martyrs (2008)

    

   #28 - Pascal Laugier's cinematic endurance test is something to be watched on a dare, even for those jaded horror fans who think they've seen it all.
5. 5.
   

   Let the Right One In (2008)

    

   #2 - Filled with enough Swedish angst to make Ingmar Bergman proud and enough genuine scares to appeal to jaded horror fanatics, Let the Right One In (2008) moves quietly and deliberately.
6. 6.
   

   Shaun of the Dead (2004)

    

   #8 - Shaun of the Dead (2004) brilliantly merges horror and comedy in a way that makes the scares exponentially more cutting.
7. 7.
   

   The Others (2001)

    

   #18 - The scares here are low-key but immensely effective, thanks to the film's dreamlike pacing and creepy atmosphere.
8. 8.
   

   The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)

    

   #7 - Black Phillip, the family’s goat, will put you off petting zoos for the rest of your life.
9. 9.
   

   The Descent (2005)

    

   #9 - [T]he film's greatness lies in its use of its main character's raw, red grief as emotional kindling for the catastrophe that follows.
10. 10.
    

    It Follows (2014)

     

    #13 - Never has losing your V-card ever had a higher cost.
11. 11.
    

    What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

     

    #34 - The Real World (1992)-style friction between several undead housemates, including an 8,000-year-old Nosferatu-like bloodsucker, is sharply satirical and yet strangely poignant; you end up feelin…
12. 12.
    

    The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

     

    #5 - Its real feat is being a rare movie that manages to be scary and funny without becoming schlocky or corny in the process.
13. 13.
    

    The Babadook (2014)

     

    #3 - It becomes truly terrifying when the subject shifts to how quickly parental love can turn to hate.
14. 14.
    

    Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)

     

    #26 - [N]ever underestimate the power of someone unexpectedly finding a hand on the back of their scalp.
15. 15.
    

    A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

     

    #33 - Consider this the punk-rock, girl-power Twilight (2008) you didn't know you needed.
16. 16.
    

    I Saw the Devil (2010)

     

    #24 - The film poses the question "How do good people destroy evil without becoming rotten themselves?"
17. 17.
    

    Cloverfield (2008)

     

    #31 - The panic-inducing you-are-there approach to an attack on Manhattan by a berserk, bizarre alien monstrosity is found the dark and desperate heart of a genre too frequently limited to kaiju camp.
18. 18.
    

    Amer (2009)

     

    #32 - It's stylish, terrifying and ironic to the extreme, a kaleidoscope of color and a sensory overload.
19. 19.
    

    You're Next (2011)

     

    #30 - There’s more gore here than you can shake a severed head at, but the script's dark humor and clever plot twists elevate it far above your typical retro-splatter fare.
20. 20.
    

    Antichrist (2009)

     

    #29 - Opening with a child falling out an open window and ending with a horde of faceless women marching ominously through barren woods, Lars von Trier's psychological horror film exudes plenty of sli…
21. 21.
    

    The Strangers (2008)

     

    #27 - Doling out suspense in agonizing drips and drabs, director Bryan Bertino takes his sweet time to get to the mayhem, teasing out the conflict between the victims and the looming threat of their m…
22. 22.
    

    Under the Skin (2013)

     

    #10 - It's like taking a warm bath in pure nightmare fuel.
23. 23.
    

    Pulse (2001)

     

    #6 - It's sad, beautiful and haunting – the rare horror movie that leaves a dark stain on your soul.
24. 24.
    

    Crimson Peak (2015)

     

    #19 - The movie's high style and use of color hearkens back to old-school Mario Bava movies and Hammer flicks.
25. 25.
    

    Drag Me to Hell (2009)

     

    #23 - [J]ust about the time Alison Lohman tells an elderly corpse to "choke on it, bitch!" you realize we'd already got all the new The Evil Dead (1981) movie we needed.
26. 26.
    

    The Orphanage (2007)

     

    #15 - J.A. Bayona’s 2007 film asks the question, "what could be more terrifying than the unexplained disappearance of your child?"
27. 27.
    

    Kill List (2011)

     

    #21 - [T]he fact that Ben Wheatley's jaw-dropping second movie ends as a spiral into hell attests to the gent's ability to meld genres while dropping the rug out from you.
28. 28.
    

    A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

     

    #14 - By the time the movie reveals all its secrets, a dysfunctional family has morphed into its own kind of monster.
29. 29.
    

    High Tension (2003)

     

    #16 - [T]his movie ranks high by living up to its title and presenting enough intense suspense to make it so you can't look away.
30. 30.
    

    Trouble Every Day (2001)

     

    #25 - This is where the Venn diagram of high art and extreme horror meet in the middle, and you will not find a better gut-punch allegory about love as a consuming passion.
31. 31.
    

    The Devil's Backbone (2001)

     

    #11 - Guillermo del Toro's third feature was the one where all the pieces fell into place, and watching him grab hold of his true voice remains a thrill.
32. 32.
    

    Inside (2007)

     

    #22 - It's a gory Gallic violence party of household weapons including knitting needles, a lamp, Lysol, sewing shears and – bonus points – the very creative use of a toaster.
33. 33.
    

    Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

     

    #17 - It's a clever exercise in audience manipulation, making us uncomfortable by showing the fakery that going into producing a good scare – and the delivering the goods.
34. 34.
    

    The House of the Devil (2009)

     

    #12 - The House of the Devil (2009) plays up the spooky atmosphere and retro style – right down to a scene involving a cranked-up Walkman, a song by The Fixx, and our sick fear that everything's about…
35. 35.
    

    The Host (2006)

     

    #20 - It's a funnier, smarter sort of Godzilla (1954)-style B-movie.