10 Modern Horror Movies to Watch on Halloween

Yes, it's the time of year that everyone, their brother, and their brother's gothically-inclined dog trots out a definitive list of scariest movies ever made, prompting a wave of derisive tirades in the comments section about why "Suspiria is way too far down on your list, bro!" (chances are it's always too high up).

So, what business does your humble go-to ad agency have publishing our own list?

Well, DOPE is in the business of emotions. If you can’t move your customer on an emotional level, you’re not likely to move them to buy the products and services you’re selling. And while we prefer to use a less cynical means of communication, there’s no doubt that fear and anxiety have certainly been an effective means of persuasion in media (case in point: this public information film from the 1970s, which frightened a generation of British children into avoiding even the most innocuous puddles on their way home from school).

As horror movie buffs, we’re always watching out for new tricks to steal to help us move our own audiences. For instance, a good scare isn’t just about the moment of surprise, it also depends on our concern about the characters and their fate. In our own storytelling and advertising, we invest our audience in characters in whom they can relate, and imagine themselves in the same shoes, and (hopefully) seeing value in the solutions we promote.

So, in the spirit of Halloween, we’d like to recommend some of our favorite fright flicks. What makes our list different? Three things:

1) We've limited our choices to films released in the 21st Century. There's no shooting fish in a barrel here, since we're ruling out the more obvious choices like The Exorcist, Jaws, and Psycho, which most have you have seen.

2) We're very hard to please. For decades, we've delved deep into the film mines, learning to sift through dirt, granite, and Giallo films, to extract diamond-grade movies to bring to the surface. In doing so, we like to think we've developed a sophisticated palette of motion picture taste and a fine-tuned criteria we use to bestow a cinematic chef's kiss on those rare films that pass muster. If, like our friends, you think this means we're "film snobs", then you're welcome to tell us so in the comments section.

3) There's no comments section. That's right, feedback is for wimps! So, yes, in advance, horror buffs, we're aware there's a film called "The VVitch", and no, we didn't think it was good enough to include.

Without further ado, here are each of our top 5 horror movies of the 21st Century:

Kris’ #5: LAKE MUNGO - 2008 - Dir: Joel Anderson

Synopsis from IMDB: Strange things start happening after a girl is found drowned in a lake.

Kris: What I truly loved about this movie is that I honestly couldn't determine whether this was a documentary, or fake. Everything about this film tells me that it's a legit documentary, and yet with the constant plot twists and turns, and spine tingling hair-raising moments I had to question whether or not it was real. You'll have to watch for yourself to decide.

Danny: Solid pick here. The “first-hand” accounts are littered with the kind of idiosyncratic details you’d expect to be included in a real-life documentary but are often eschewed in a fictive narrative. It lends the movie that crucial sense of authenticity which makes the understated eeriness that much more effective.

Danny’s #5: A DARK SONG – 2016 – Liam Gavin

Synopsis from IMDB: A determined young woman and a damaged occultist risk their lives and souls to perform a dangerous ritual that will grant them what they want.

Danny: For the skeptics among us, it’s increasingly hard to find fear in the supernatural as the light of technology and connectivity renders mundane what was once mysterious. A Dark Song presents the most credible onscreen depiction of an occult ritual to date, implying just how hard—and rare—it might be to invoke otherworldly powers. It’s a slow-burn which utilizes its limitations to great effect, and is that rare film that manages to suspend the disbelief of this hardened skeptic.

Kris: I remember seeing this movie, and I recall seeing it with you, Danny, but that’s about the only memory I have of this film. I had to watch the trailer to remind me of what happens, a woman hires a man who yells at her a great deal and then something “magical” or spooky or spooky magical happens.

Kris’ #4: THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE - 2016 - Dir: Andre Øvredal

Synopsis from IMDB: A father and son, both coroners, are pulled into a complex mystery while attempting to identify the cause of death of a young woman who was apparently harboring dark secrets.

Kris: Autopsy has some genuine scares in it, and brims with suspense throughout. I also love that there is a theme and character growth tied up in all of this, as the father and son team slowly unravel the mystery of Jane Doe, which becomes more and more disturbing the deeper the autopsy goes.

Danny: Genuinely scary, with some compelling mystery-solving along the way. Plus, it’s hard to go wrong with Brian Cox.

Danny’s #4: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY – 2007 – Dir: Oren Peli

Synopsis from IMDB: After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.

Danny: Chances are you've seen at least one of the entries in this long-running franchise. But in the glut of found footage horror films that inundated us post-Blair Witch Project, it's easy to forget how well the early entries in this series created its own formula for creating low-frills terror. If you like the first one, I highly recommend watching the second and third entries, which find increasingly inventive ways to escalate tension and play with your expectations.

Kris: The brilliance of this film is in its low budget concept and execution (every producer’s dream, $0 spent leads to Million$), husband and wife suspect paranormal activity at night, so they buy a camcorder to capture said events. Simple and cheap. Unfortunately my takeaway from this movie is the clip you always see in the trailer; the bedroom door slamming, and that the husband was kind of a jerk so I didn’t care what happened to them.

Kris’ #3: TRAIN TO BUSAN - 2016 - Dir: Yeon Sang-ho

Synopsis from IMDB: While a zombie virus breaks out in S. Korea, passengers struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan.

Kris: Another great character piece about a father's redemption, this time set against a zombie apocalypse. This film could easily be classified as an action film as well as horror, but what makes it stand out above everything else is that every major character in the film is a reflection of the film's thematic core. On top of that, there are some truly creative and inventive filmmaking and zombie tricks throughout.

Danny: Admittedly I just watched this for the first time for the sake of this blog entry, having long since tired of two and a half decades of zombie media. If that’s what’s holding you back from giving this a watch, I recommend holding your nose and jumping in. Train to Busan doesn’t reinvent the zombie movie, but it does bring it back to its nail-biting roots.

Danny’s #3: KILL LIST – 2011 – Dir: Ben Wheatley

Synopsis from IMDB: Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.

Danny: Folk horror has experienced a renaissance in the past ten years, and while many laud 2019’s Midsommar as the successor to The Wickerman’s thorny crown, it's this unassuming offering from Ben Wheatley that improves on repeated viewings. There’s nothing slick or flashy about the blue-collar hitmen in Kill List, or the violence doled out on their victims. It’s frank, cold-blooded approach to the brutality often makes for difficult viewing,

Kris: Like, Danny, I also watched his #3 choice specifically for this list. At first, I thought, “Oh, good, another movie about hit men… I haven’t seen one of these since I first woke up this morning.” Then after sifting through what seems like 3 hours of art house torture porn (but is actually only 60 minutes) I arrived at why Danny must like this film,when the film takes a left hand turn and trots out the folk horror cult.

Kris’ #2: X - 2022 - Dir: Ti West

Synopsis from IMDB: In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in a rural Texas farm, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the crew find themselves fighting for their lives.

Kris: There are a few moments in this film that I felt had a little too much blood letting for my own personal taste, but I marvel at it for its craftsmanship. A terrific mixture of humor and suspense, this flick delivers what it promises - it could have easily been subtitled THE TEXAS PORNSTAR MASSACRE. It features an unlikely, yet sympathetic villain, and more than anything director Ti West knows exactly where to place the camera at every moment, and never wastes a pixel of framespace.
Danny: Color me baffled as to why this was a favorite of so many critics, and even more so that this run-of-the-mill genre film made Kris' otherwise solid list.

Danny’s #2: HEREDITARY - 2018 - Dir: Ari Aster

Synopsis from IMDB: A grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.

Danny: Hereditary is a rollercoaster of raw emotion and well-executed scares, with a knockout performance from Toni Collette. Aster serves up a barrage of emotional punishment for his characters, and makes his audience bear witness to some seriously uncomfortable moments. This one packs a serious dramatic punch and pulls off some brilliant frights along the way.

Kris: I liked this movie better the first time I saw it when it was called Ordinary People. I do actually love the most dreadful moment in this film; watching the son lying in bed as we hear the parents discover the family tragedy off screen, which is then followed by what feels like unnecessary pyrotechnics and wait for it… a cult living in the family tree house.

Kris’ #1: Shaun Of The Dead - 2004 - Dir: Edgar Wright

Synopsis from IMDB: The uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.
Kris: As much as I am oversaturated with zombie movies, I can’t believe that I have two in my top three. While Shaun is more of a comedy than a horror film, it does have lots of dramatic moments (even if they happen to be funny). This one also features (surprise, surprise) a strong character arch of self discovery. I think this film probably tops the list because Director Edgar Wright has so clearly designed this film from the first frame to the last, including a hidden synopsis of the entire story which is spelled out for us in the opening scene, to some crackerjack editing. It also features one of the best first acts I’ve seen in a long time.
Danny: What's not to love here? It's a blast from start to finish. Even if it isn't really a horror movie...

Danny’s #1: IT FOLLOWS - 2014 - Dir: David Robert Mitchell

Synopsis from IMDB: A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter.
Danny: On paper, the premise--a group of teens are terrorized by an entity stalking the carrier of a supernatural STD--sounds like a million terrible movies you've seen before. But Mitchell's execution renders it something special; rife with eerie long shots, spooky electronic music, low-key performances, and a villain that hides in plain sight, it only stops ratcheting up the sense of dread to shock you with moments of bizarre and unnerving horror. Just ten years after its release, it already feels like a classic. Here's hoping the much-anticipated sequel, They Follow, lives up to its forebear.

Kris: There are a couple of nice sequences in this film, particularly the moments where we see “It” far in the background, getting closer and closer to our unsuspecting teens, and when the “giant” enters the room, but the film completely lost me in a scene at the beach where “it” decides to play with the victim’s hair like an invisible Warren Beatty in Shampoo. Sure, that makes sense, “I’m gonna kill you, but first, I can’t resist your hair, it’s so luxurious.”

What’s your safe word?