StudioCanal

Back in my day, the grizzled old (amateur) movie critic begins, they made horror movies with real panache that actually scared people. It wasn't all shaky-cam this and jump-scare that. We had true villains, like Freddy and Michael and Jason; there were demons and babies and demon-babies; everything out there today is just derivative claptrap and hogwash (spittoon noise)!

While that curmudgeonly old-timer is fictional, his sentiment is all too real. So many people seem to think that horror has been on a downward quality spiral since the 80s or (for the true hipsters) maybe even the 20s. Nowadays, practical effects have been replaced by CGI, precise framing has been replaced by amateur handheld work, and all of the storylines seem to be recycled or at least unoriginal. Oh, what the lens of nostalgia can do.

This article isn't here to argue that movies from the old days are bad - the ones that are remembered today are definitely remembered for a reason. But that doesn't necessarily mean that todays movies are not up to snuff. This article takes a look at the 12 best horror movies of this millennium and together they make a compelling argument that the genre isn't just alive; it might actually be better than ever.

