In this weeks horror takeover on My Life My Migraine, our ghostwriter G.C. digs into the top 101 – 85 horror movies of the 2010 decade.

Did you miss the introductory post of this series? You can check it out here: Horror Takeover Introduction

101. Killing Ground (2017)

Among the most highly realistic films of the decade, this no-frills Aussie thriller is one of the best of its kind since Wolf Creek. This is old hat for Ozploitation cinema, but a freshness arises from a narrative that is subtly fragmented at first, so that when the pieces start to fall into linear place it feels like a noose tightening around the viewer.

100. We Are Still Here (2015)

Though the narrative is not timestamped, there’s no mistaking that this always chilling and sometimes terrifying film, a classic bit of haunted house horror with a healthy application of gore, takes place any time other than the 70s. But it’s a nice bit of perhaps unintentional disorientation as the viewer struggles to determine the period, or as though a lost film has been found, as only films that are set in the present don’t clarify the year in which they’re set.

99. Spring (2015)

On a very basic level, as though the Richard Linklater of the Before Sunrise directed a monster movie. I say on a basic level because, I mean, this movie is no Before Sunrise, but it certainly and uniquely fits the billing.

98. In Fear (2014)

There’s lean and mean, and then there’s In Fear, an 85-minute film about a couple lost on the backroads of an Irish countryside. There’s not much plot, but it keeps you guessing, and fully on the edge of your seat. For all its viscera, its fear is also intensely psychological. It’s this decade’s Ils (Them). Side note: I was recently struck by how few Irish horror films I’ve seen. Are there very few, or am I simply not aware of them?

97. It Comes at Night (2017)

Trey Edward Shults has proven both a perennially acclaimed and divisive filmmaker, and regarding the latter I honestly don’t know why. His films are aggressively dynamic in terms of the camera’s relation to the action, in this film aided by some of the best lighting I’ve ever seen, and it provides a visceral experience, which elevates the intensity of a moody film like It Comes at Night.

96. Housebound (2014)

A delightful horror-comedy, New Zealand style, that excels thanks to the fantastically fun surprises of its mystery plotting.

95. The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2010)

Though it was always treated as a sick joke and its supporters no longer seem to feel the need to go out of their way to praise it, the first Human Centipede film has always felt richly suspenseful and horrifically disorientating in its off-kilter tone and gonzo lead performance. It’s a mad scientist throwback, an art film, and an ingeniously gross bit of provocation with such an insane concept that it cemented itself in the minds of those who haven’t even seen it.

94. CAM (2018)

One of Netflix’s most effective horror movies is this wild trip through the psyche of a woman trying to balance her daily life with her ambitions as a webcam girl.

93. Super Dark Times (2017)

The anti-IT, a pure teen drama that is more terrifying for focusing on the real lives of its protagonists who are dealing with unexpected tragedy as a reflection to a world gone mad.

92. Byzantium (2013)

The most beautifully sumptuous vampire film since Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and a fine companion piece to director Neil Jordan’s own Interview with the Vampire, Byzantium fully re-imagines vampire lore from the ground up and yet still leaves no doubt that you’re watching a vampires in action.

91. Prevenge (2017)

Hell hath no fury like a pregnant woman tracking down the men she deems responsible for the death of her husband in this hilarious horror-comedy that does not skimp on unsettling psychology or intense stalk and slash scenes.

90. The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

The first 45 minutes are absolutely brilliant on every level: unique, intriguing, suspenseful, terrifying. The final 45 are perhaps less interesting, but no less frightening.

89. The Lure (2017)

A dark and nasty Polish fairy tale musical horror fish out of water hybrid, one of the true originals of the decade.

88. Most Beautiful Island (2017)

Perhaps the subtlest horror film on the list, the verité realism of an immigrant navigating her way through city life giving way to a truly strange and unpredictable climax. It’s really a beautifully made film, gripping and somehow unsettling throughout. Like Prevenge, it was written and directed by its female star.

87. Gerald’s Game (2017)

Mike Flanagan’s first adaptation of Stephen King is one of the best adaptations of the author’s work, and perfectly suited to the director’s signature style of editing that links action taking place on multiple planes within the same physical space. Flanagan’s upcoming film is another King adaptation, the belated Shining sequel, Doctor Sleep.

86. The Conjuring (2013)

One of the few classical horror movies that arrived as an instant classic. The only criticism one can level at it is that it doesn’t innovate one single iota, but it also feels like the type of dramatic horror movie that barely anyone had made anymore, and one that is consistently scary throughout, and has now spawned its own film universe.

85. Found Footage 3D (2016)

The ultimate found footage film by design, criminally under-seen but surprisingly great. As you can tell you from the title, it’s very self-aware and tongue-in-cheek, but it’s also extremely smart about its meta-ness, which never interferes with its status as an actually scary movie. Like the best found footage films, the acting is incredibly natural and it cleverly skirts the central problem of found footage while also calling attention to it: why are they still filming in the third act when they should be running? A massively entertaining high wire act and a great achievement for the sub genre.

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Up Next: Top Horror Movies of the Decade 84 – 66

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