The New Horror Classics

Borderland, The Hamiltons, Imprint, The Ruins and Teeth Top the List

Nov 25, 2008

Everyone loves a good horror movie countdown, right?

Countless film institutes, television stations, books, websites, and magazines have produced countdowns of the best horror movies ever made. American Movie Classics, for instance, airs its “100 Scariest Movie Moments” every year around Halloween.

Unfortunately, even the most devoted horror fans may find themselves getting sick of seeing/hearing/reading about the same movies and the same climactic moments from said movies. Of course everyone can agree that The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby are some of the best horror movies - maybe even some of the best movies - ever made. That should go without saying at this point.

So what about the new classics? Horror has experienced something of a renaissance over the last decade. Of the hundreds of new horror films produced, some have been lousy, and too many have been inferior remakes of other nations’ better ones. But many have been original, interesting, and even ground-breaking. They might never reach Exorcist levels, but when it comes to horror, one could argue that originality is everything. The following countdown includes just five of these innovative movies, all produced within the last ten years. Please note that these films are all R-rated for a reason!

Released in 2007 as part of Lionsgate Films' annual After Dark Horrorfest, Borderland effectively combines magic and murder. Supposedly based on true events, the film follows three college students on a trip to Mexico that turns deadly. It may sound like just another Hostel clone, but the characters are surprisingly sympathetic, the gorey action scenes are deftly executed, and its theme of religious cult-gone-haywire is timelessly chilling. Also, the idea that the film's events actually took place (more or less) is disturbingly plausible.

Released in 2006, also as part of the After Dark Horrorfest, The Hamilitons is a darkly-humorous creepfest. It follows the Hamilton family, which is made up of five siblings and headed by adult brother David. David must try to keep the family together following the tragic loss of their parents. It may sound like a heart warming, Boxcar Children kind of story, but don't be fooled: The Hamiltons turns this premise on its head, and these siblings are harboring a dark secret. The film is like an onion, with layers falling away gradually to reveal what is going on, and just when viewers think they've figured out the truth, the rules change again. It's rare for a film to be both bloody and clever, but this one is.

Unlike the other movies on this countdown, this one is not a feature film. It is a one hour mini-movie produced as part of Showtime’s Masters of Horror television series. It aired in 2006 and was directed by renowned Japanese horror director Takashi Miike. Like The Hamiltons, it starts with a seemingly-touching plot – an American returns to Japan to find the love he left behind years ago – but quickly descends into a nightmare. Many Masters of Horror episodes are disturbing, but this one is inarguably one of the most disturbing; it includes intense depictions of torture, abuse, deformity, and of course, murder. Does it have the most well-written script of all time? Not at all. But it continues to replay in the mind long after the credits start rolling.

Are plants scary? They are to people who have seen 2008’s The Ruins. Like Borderland, The Ruins begins with the oft-used premise of a bunch of sexy white kids vacationing in Mexico - in the movies, this is pretty much always a recipe for trouble. But the malevolent force here is not other people (there is not an organ thief to be found in The Ruins) and it’s not ghosts or spirits either. It’s the vines at an overgrown, centuries-old temple that the kids stumble upon. This may not sound frightening, but under Carter Smith’s direction the premise works; the acting is great, the effects are chilling, and the film possesses a tension that builds quickly and doesn’t let go. This movie is a great example of a horror film taking something that seems innocuous and showing how dangerous it can be under the right – or wrong – circumstances.

This film is not for the faint of heart. It follows Dawn, a pretty high-school girl and devout Christian who doesn’t believe in sex before marriage. She avoids the advances of her hormone-driven peers until one day one of them forces himself upon her . . . only to find out she has a sharp set of teeth where one would not expect to find teeth. Bloody mayhem ensues. This 2008 film is not a full-fledged horror film; it is part dark comedy and part thinly-veiled feminist treatise. But it’s one of the most cringe-inducing movies to come out of Hollywood in years and, like all of the films on this list, it is brilliant in its originality.

Fans of horror should check their local video stores for these films a.s.a.p. Just remember to pick up a night-light too!

The copyright of the article The New Horror Classics in Horror Films is owned by Emily Caswell. Permission to republish The New Horror Classics in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.