The Decade in Horror: The 2000s

"We have a lot of reason to be fearful in the world," Frank Farley, Temple University

One of the common theories used to explain the horror paradox is that people watch horror movies as a way of coping with actual fears or violence. Since one source of our fears in undoubtedly the world in which we live, I thought it would be interesting to look at the popular horror movies of different decades to see how they reflect the general fears and uncertainties of the times.

The 2000s

Horror in the 2000s began in the same dismal state in which it ended in the 1990s.  Then, on September 11, 2001, filmmakers had to take momentary pause to reconsider what was acceptable in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.  I say momentary because, by 2005, horror movies were more plentiful than ever.  Many weeks, horror movies topped the box office charts as audiences were hungry for escape, just as they were in the post-Depression/pre-World War II 1940s.

And the home video market exploded once again as DVDs replaced VHS as the standard and digital technology became popular with filmmakers.  Almost anyone could now make a movie and release it straight-to-DVD.  For me, the difference was that, unlike many straight-to-VHS releases in the 80s and 90s, some of their DVD counterparts were actually good movies that I'd seek out on Tuesday new release days.

While blood and gore in the 80s was excessive and, at times, comical, the "torture porn" movies of the 00s were extremely realistic.  Influenced in part by the global War on Terror and controversy at Guantanmo Bay, movies like Saw, Hostel, The Devil's Rejects and Captivity were not necessarily innovative, but did share something most 80s gorefests didn't: they had mainstream distribution. Further influenced by ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, horror movies like 28 Days Later and Dog Soldiers featured a military presence.

The new realism of horror in the 2000s:  Hostel, 28 Days Later, Dog Soldiers and Saw.

Because of their new point of view, the torture porn movies seemed more original than most of what came out of the 90s.  But we also looked to Asia for fresh ideas, not only with their movies, but with our attempts to remake them.  Dark Water, The Eye, The Ring, The Grudge, One Missed Call, Pulse and Shutter all had foreign versions (and sequels) as well as American remakes (and sequels).  The problem was that, in most cases, "J-Horror" was more about style than making sense, so they were not as effective when remade for a different audience.

J-Horror classics and their American remakes:  The Eye and The Ring.

The other horror subgenre of the 00s that kicked off in 1999 with the release of the unbelievably successful The Blair Witch Project was that of the "found footage" film.  These movies consisted of supposedly real film or video recordings that were found, usually left behind by the missing or the dead.  What might seem like a passing fancy, found footage films showed no signs of ending at any time during the 00s and included movies like REC, Cloverfield, Diary of the Dead, Quarantine and the powerhouse franchise that keeps the subgenre going, Paranormal Activity.

Found footage movies of the 00s:  Quarantine, Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield.

Nearly a subgenre in itself, the 00s also gave us a lot of remakes of horror movies from previous decades.  Victims of modernization included true classics like Thirteen Ghosts, House of Wax and The Last Man on Earth (I Am Legend), as well as more recent classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead, The Amityville Horror, The Hills Have Eyes, Halloween and Friday the 13th, to name (sadly) only a few.  Most of the time, the purpose of these remakes was questionable; however, several of them did stand on their own as legitimate horror entries.  It's a topic of debate and one that I write about frequently in my column on Downright Creepy called Remake Rewind.

I'm not convinced that the horror movies of the 2000s were truly original, but they were certainly being told in an original way.  Not only did the realism of torture porn, the Asian influence of J-Horror, the shaky handheld images of found footage and the new interpretations of horror classics seem somewhat fresh in the decade, but CGI (computer generated imagery) became widespread, making movies look physically different, whether you liked that development in technology or not.  That almost brings us to today.  Are there any new subgenres brewing?  Are we repeating any cycles?  Who or what are the monsters of the 2010s?  Check back tomorrow to find out...

Other 2000s milestones:

2000.  George W. Bush won a hotly contested election for President of the United States.
2003.  The United States ends the regime of Sadaam Hussein in Iraq.
2004.  The strongest earthquake in 40 years hits Southeast Asia, resulting in tsunami.
2005.  Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.
2006.  North Korea successfully performs nuclear test.  (Also in 2009.)
2008.  Barack Obama won election for President of the United States.
2009.  The H1N1 pandemic is declared a national emergency.

Sources:

Horror Film History: Horror Films in the 2000s