What.
A. Decade.
So many phenomenal horror movies, so little time.
The beginning of our ten-year stint seems so far away now, doesn’t it?
The pervasive trend of calling stuff “elevated” horror didn’t even exist back when we entered
the twenty-double-digits.
Lots of the stuff that defined the earlier half of the decade can’t seem to keep the
good times going, while others have transformed into gigantic, money-making franchises.
And the general styles have been quite varied throughout our last ten trips around the sun,
too.
From dead-serious period pieces, to hyper-stylized 80’s revivals, we got to see a whole lot
of creative, and terrifying, horror movies.
Not all of it was super scary, though.
Plenty of genre-bending offerings took horror in all sorts of new directions.
So if your favourite horror-comedy didn’t make the cut, please understand.
Also, before I start in on this list, I want to make it crystal clear that it is very difficult
to select five movies from a top-notch pool of around fifty (by my estimation).
Also!
I’m gonna do my best to spread the wealth, and allow a bunch of differently styled horror
movies take a spot each.
I like variety, so we’re gonna pick some that have ghosts, some that have demons, some
that have slashers, and some that have cosmic entities.
Even if the top 5 scariest were all slashers, I’m gonna choose one pure slasher and then
move on to the next thing.
Anyways, I’ll piss some people off regardless of the disclaimers I give, so let’s move
right along.
Hello horror heads, and welcome back to the scariest channel on YouTube: Top5ScaryVideos.
I’m your horror host, Keegan Hughes, and today we’re counting down the Top 5 Scariest
Horror Movies of the Decade You Need to Watch.
Before we get started, make sure to fire a big thumbs up down below, and subscribe for
more spooky decade summaries.
Fantastic, let’s get going.
NUMBER FIVE: THE CONJURING https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhMWopjJiI8
3:30-3:40 This 2013 based-on-a-true-story ghost story
is one that absolutely defined the decade.
It pushed James Wan into the spotlight, reinvigorated the haunted house horror, and launched a multi-billion
dollar franchise that hasn’t quite recaptured the initial spirit of spookiness yet.
You can ask anyone if they know the Conjuring, and they will say yes.
Ok, almost anyone.
Great Aunt Marge doesn’t count.
It didn’t become popular for no reason at all, it had a very strong start!
Scares for days!
And not just silly jumpy ones!
Plus, it’s all based on real-life accounts of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine
Warren.
Who doesn’t love seeing “based on a true story” in a horror?
We take a look at the lovely Perron family as they move into a Rhode Island farmhouse.
Paranormal events start up almost immediately, freaking the everloving hell out of Roger,
Carolyn, and their five daughters.
The ghostly ghoulies torment the family as they go about their lives, resulting in the
iconic “Hide and Clap” sequence.
What follows is a pretty classic exorcism story, but with enough fresh energy to keep
it going without feeling like a lazy rehash.
In fact, it all feels pretty new!
Somehow Wan manages to squeeze every last ounce of terror out of what should be tired
genre tropes.
It was so effective, that the next seven years of the decade would see plenty of clones that
pale in comparison.
Annabelle, The Nun, Poltergeist, and more, none could re-create the same terror and suspense
elicited by The Conjuring.
We probably won’t get another ghost movie like this until someone flips the script again,
well into the next decade.
CLAP CLAP NUMBER FOUR: ANNIHILATION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl5sUEqzcp8 1:44-1:53
Cosmic horror is so difficult to pull off in movies.
The element that often makes it so terrifying, your own imagination, is sort of turned down
when you put images on screen.
If you can see it, your brain doesn’t imagine it anymore.
It knows it.
So when I heard that they were putting together a movie based on the Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern
Reach trilogy, I was skeptical.
The books are so extremely creepy and atmospheric largely because of their restraint, and I
wasn’t sure if that would translate well to a feature film.
Thankfully, my predictions were off.
This is one hell of a movie.
Good work Alex Garland and co.
We enter The Shimmer with a group of heavily armed scientists as they attempt to figure
out exactly what the hell is going on in the meteor-ravaged zone.
Nobody could have predicted what they would find, but it sure wasn’t what they ended
up stumbling upon.
Mutated, fleshy chimeras populate the lush, overgrown jungle, leading to some incredible
creature moments.
If you know about the bear, you have also decided to never leave your house again.
Skillfully combining sci-fi and thriller elements, with plenty of horror to boot, this is a visually
stunning, upsetting and unsettling treat.
Plus it features a lighthouse as a point of interest, which will always bump up a horror
movie a couple notches.
It just works, okay?
Now the mutant beasts aren’t the only strange threats within the shimmering walls, and a
fantastic mix of not knowing, not remembering, and not understanding plague the protagonists
as they come closer and closer to an answer.
Top all of this with a stellar soundtrack, and you have one of the coolest and freakiest
cosmic horrors of the decade.
NUMBER THREE: IT FOLLOWS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnrT_zyumAM
2:18-2:26 More scary demons and excellent music?
Yes please!
On the surface, the premise of It Follows can seem a little silly.
I’ve heard countless people laugh it off as the “STD Demon Movie.”
But if you’re gonna immediately discount a horror movie for having an odd premise,
you don’t deserve to call yourself a horror fan.
David Robert Mitchell pulls this off with aplomb.
Highly stylized while still being beautifully creepy at times, horror directors wish they
could do something half as wicked as this.
It bounces back and forth between peaceful, idyllic suburbia, and blood-chilling, stomach-turning
panic without missing a beat.
The story follows Jay, a teenage girl who is dating a lad with a terrible secret.
After sleeping together, the fellow reveals that she will now be pursued by an entity
that can take on the form of any human being, and if she is ever caught, it will kill her
and chase after him.
Forever more will she have to look over her shoulder, wherever she is, and never quite
be sure if any one person is the demon or not.
The movie oozes creeping panic, paranoia, and fear.
The camera is always inching in, closer and closer, mimicking the movements of the creature.
There is no escape, there is no killing it.
It will always follow.
The first scene alone is enough to hook anyone: if you’re not sold on this movie go and
watch it right now.
You will not be disappointed.
Again, the music really helps sell the whole experience.
This beautiful, nefarious score by Disasterpeace can switch from sparkling to grimy in a matter
of seconds, lulling you into a sense of security before twisting the knife right into your
gut.
Gorgeous and ghastly, this is a horror gem for the ages.
NUMBER TWO: GREEN ROOM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpUmQp0bkX0
0:40-0:48 Now on the other end of the horror spectrum,
we have Green Room.
An adrenaline-fuelled punch to the nose of a horror movie, this is a bloody, grimy, mean-spirited
movie.
And why wouldn’t it be?
It’s about punk rockers antagonizing the patrons of a Nazi bar!
The story follows a band known as the Ain’t Rights as they travel the Pacific Northwest,
playing shows, and living off the cover.
After one show cancels, they make arrangements to go play at a neo-Nazi skinhead bar in the
woods.
From the moment they play the classic Dead Kennedys Nazi Punks Fuck Off, you know they’re
in for a rough ride.
Soon they accidentally stumble across a dead body, and all hell breaks loose.
Like serious, throat-ripping, gang-stabbing hell.
Director Jeremy Saulnier is not known for pulling any punches, and boy does he ever
let it rip here.
Claustrophobic, angry, and fast-paced, Green Room doesn’t let up.
And it doesn’t shy away from some of the nastiest injuries set to film this decade.
An arm is snapped by a heavy metal door, and subsequently wrapped in duct tape.
Someone’s throat is ripped out by an attack dog.
Patrick Stewart provides heroin to a murderous lunatic.
It’s all wonderful stuff.
And it all takes place basically inside the one bar.
It’s a wild ride that has to be seen to be believed, and I could honestly watch this
on loop and never get bored.
Rest in peace Anton Yelchin.
NUMBER ONE: TERRIFIER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0j70S0vx7g
0:28-0:37 This is the number one scariest movie for
a whole plethora of reasons.
Killer clowns have never been this maniacal.
Art the Clown will definitely go down in the horror hall of fame.
His world record?
Most appearances on dirty t-shirts since 2016.
There’s a big enough body count with enough gore to fill at least two tractor trailers.
There is absolutely zero story, just a bloodthirsty villain with a lot of time on his hands.
There’s a weird hard-on for extreme violence against women, I’ll let you folks decide
whether that’s just homage, or something else entirely.
There’s that one bit where he acts like a baby and sucks his thumb before wearing
the woman who tried to help him like a vest.
Eugh.
There’s even the connection to All Hallows’ Eve, where its implied that he can travel
through videotapes like The Ring.
This is a horror movie that is purely horror.
No cross-genre action, no modern sentiments, just blood, guts, and a man who loves to tear
them out of people.
You have to respect the single-mindedness of it.
Art’s design is particularly grisly, director/writer/special effects artist Damien Leone has somehow managed
to make the killer clown image more repulsive than ever.
Maybe it’s the black makeup lining all of his orifices, but there’s something especially
unsettling about this clown.
The inescapability of his wrath is scary too.
He goes after people with no motivation, and kills anyone in his path.
Other horror movies might try to explain it via backstory, but not Terrifier.
Art is just a vehicle for the delivery of brutal, gruesome death.
OUTRO Man, those were some wicked movies.
Wicked cool, and wicked wicked.
Thank goodness for the ever-expanding library of terror.
What did you guys think?
What movies do you think topped the decade?
There’s lots to discuss, as 5 is nowhere near enough.
Let me know down in the comments.
Speaking of comments, let’s have a look at some of your more blood-spattered ones
from last time: Destiny Chester says: “I simply love this
channel even though it scared me when I first watched it”
And we simply love you, even though you scared us when you first started watching.
Yeah, we’re alllllways watching our viewers…
Dallas Costine asks “When are you going to add SCP 682?”
We’ve actually covered 682 pretty extensively on the channel in the past, you just gotta
dig up some of the SCP videos from earlier in 2019!
I feel like most people are pretty familiar with it, and I want to bring some new ones
to light!
Mooknight 8 says “I love keegan!
He seems like a cool guy to speak with!”
Keegan’s alright, but I hear that Moonknight has all sorts of interesting stuff to say!
Kirk Buffington asks “Keegan do you listen to metal?”
Sometimes!
I feel like there’s at least one metal band for everyone.
I drift towards weird punk stuff more though, like IDLES or SHOW ME THE BODY
Patrick Rutland asks: “SCP?
What does that mean?”
Super Cool People, which is what everyone watching this video is!
And that’s all the time we have for today!
Thanks for watching, and i’ll see you next time.