The arrival of a new year means that numerous horror movies will celebrate turning ten, twenty, thirty, and even forty in 2021. In 2011, there were several franchises that either started or expanded as well as major remakes of iconic sci-fi horror flicks that ultimately defined what the 2010s had in store for the genre as a whole. Here's every horror movie turning ten in 2021.
The year 2000 was an incredible moment for horror, and the 2010s continued to distribute equally as impressive movies. While Blumhouse Productions released several unforgettable projects in the 2000s, they really began to shine in the following decade when the Paranormal Activity franchise boomed with sequels and prequels. Blumhouse quickly transformed into one of the most reliable production companies in the horror genre. As the 2020s are well underway, Blumhouse has continued being a key component in rebooting major horror movies such as 2018's Halloween, which brought back Jamie Lee Curtis's Laurie Strode, and The Craft with The Craft: Legacy, which featured a major cameo from Fairuza Balk as Nancy Downs. While Blumhouse was making their own mark a decade ago, the found footage craze continued with Quarantine 2: Terminal and the paranormal sub-genre blossomed in unforgettable ways with movies like The Awakening. There was even a revival of classic slashers from the 1980s and 1990s, proving there's an enduring timelessness to them.
While there were several incredible horror movie releases in 2011, there were, of course, some pretty mediocre to outright bad ones. 2011 was one of the years that contained a vast range of sub-genres such as body horror, torture porn, paranormal, slasher, sci-fi, and more — because the genre was so scattered, it became easier to find the highlights and low points. Without further ado, here's every horror movie turning ten in 2021.
The Awakening
Nick Murphy's British supernatural horror movie The Awakening takes place during the year 1921 and follows Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) as she investigates a boarding school for boys that's reported paranormal happenings. While the darkness of the entity's haunting begins to unravel, so does Florence's forgotten past. The Awakening currently holds a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is incredibly accurate as the pacing of the movie is slow throughout its entirety, but the story itself is enough to captivate audiences in the beginning and the end. The middle is where this movie truly suffers.
Bag Of Bones
While Bag Of Bones is technically considered a miniseries, it released in two parts and then together, making it an over two-hour long movie. Adapted from Stephen King's 1998 novel of the same name, the story features a best-selling novelist - a common theme in the author's works - and an eerie curse on his family's bloodline. With extremely mixed reviews and a bit too much campiness, Bag Of Bones isn't the most remarkable of all of Stephen King's miniseries adaptations or even one of the most memorable releases of 2011.
Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
Guillermo Del Toro is known for directing and producing some of the most imaginative fantasy and horror movies, but Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark failed to impress fans and critics when it released in 2011. The movie lacked originality and relied too heavily on paranormal cliches, such as jump scares. While it isn't the most exciting horror movie, it does make for perfect casual viewing. The movie's atmosphere and setting are incredible, the actors' performances are impressive, but Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark could've been better than it was had it not fallen into the same mistakes that usually cause other paranormal horror movies to fail.
Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night
The horror comedy Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night had the potential to be way better than it is. Based on Tiziano Sclavi's comic book, the movie follows Dylan Dog (Brandon Routh) as he navigates New Orleans investigating all things supernatural or paranormal. The movie includes black market body parts, vampires, werewolves, and more. Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night had the right concept for what could've become a successful franchise, but ultimately had the wrong execution.
Final Destination 5
Ten years ago, Final Destination 5 released, which was the last time viewers had the opportunity to witness a new iteration of death's grand design. Directed by James Wong, the concept for Final Destination originated as a spec script for The X-Files. Luckily, it expanded into a feature-length movie that spawned four interconnected sequels. Final Destination 5 ends at the beginning of the franchise, which seemed to tie it up nicely. With a sixth movie on the way, it's clear that Wong's franchise remains relevant in the 2020s. 2011 merely set up the opportunity for it to expand with possible parallel universes as well as an even more complex set of rules and exceptions to death's design.
Fright Night
Starring the late Anton Yelchin as Charley Brewster, Fright Night is a 2011 remake of Tom Holland's 1985 original movie. After Brewster grows suspicious that his neighbor may be a vampire, horror ensues as he and his friends tackle the supernatural. In comparison to the original movie, Fright Night 2011 doesn't necessarily hit the mark, but it's not the worst remake by far. In fact, it even spawned its own sequel in 2o13 titled Fright Night 2: New Blood.
Grave Encounters
Grave Encounters follows a team of paranormal reality television stars as they investigate a psychiatric hospital known for being filled with restless spirits. The found footage horror movie is the first of two in the series. While it wasn't necessarily received well by critics, it was considered comparable to 2002's The Ring, which likely assisted in its ability to create a follow-up movie. Overall, Grave Encounters mirrors popular reality television shows about ghost hunting, such as Ghost Adventures, but falls flat in some areas which may be due to the rise in found footage movies that follow a similar structure.
Hellraiser: Revelations
Clive Barker's Hellraiser continued to frighten audiences in 2011 with Hellraiser: Revelations. While Pinhead's original image had been a fixture in the horror genre for decades, the ninth movie in the franchise featured a gorier design of the iconic slasher character. Like most Hellraiser movies that followed the first few installments, Hellraiser: Revelations went straight to video and received less than favorable reviews. Regardless of its poor performance, the franchise has yet to slow down, and as of this writing, has both a new movie and TV show in the works.
Hostel: Part III
The sub-genre known as "torture porn", which was popularized in the 2000s, was slowly growing less relevant in the 2010s, but that didn't stop the Hostel movie series from expanding with a third and final movie in 2011. It was the only project that didn't involve its original creator, Eli Roth, who is largely attributed to creating and popularizing this particular horror sub-genre. Hostel: Part III never released theatrically, and instead went straight to DVD, which was indicative of its inability to survive in the new decade.
The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)
The Human Centipede took audiences by storm in 2009 with its horrifying bodily torment that featured a sadistic doctor's creation of a literal human centipede. While it didn't receive overwhelmingly positive reviews, it did spawn a sequel in 2011 titled The Human Centipede 2. The first installment pertained to the medical accuracy of joining a person's mouth to another's anus, which attributed to a much higher rating than its follow-up received. The Human Centipede 2 is far more visceral and unsettling, revolving around a man's desire to create a much longer human centipede. The sequel doesn't have the same uniqueness as the first movie and shouldn't have made a third movie possible, but it still happened in 2015.
The Innkeepers
Sara Paxton had a relatively successful career in horror movies during the late-2000s and 2010s. She starred as Claire in The Innkeepers, a movie about two employees of a supposedly haunted inn who spend the last days of its operation investigating the legend of a woman who hanged herself in the 1800s. While most paranormal horror movies can be overly serious, The Innkeepers benefits from its ability to keep its haunting light-hearted.
Paranormal Activity 3
The Paranormal Activity timeline became even more complicated with the third installment in the franchise, but also benefitted from this addition. Following the second movie, fans were left questioning what caused the haunting that's plagued Katie and Kristi's adulthood. With Paranormal Activity 3, they finally received answers via the introduction of Tobi/Toby, a demonic entity conjured by their grandmother and her cult of witches. While it's often hard for sequels to beat the success of the first installment, this one in particular comes very close.
Quarantine 2: Terminal
During a flight to from the West Coast to the Midwest, passengers begin to transform into horrific, rabies-infected, zombie-like creatures. Quarantine 2: Terminal is a found footage movie that surprisingly lives up to the original. The concept of a zombie outbreak in a small and contained area is a scary possibility, and while it only takes up half of the movie's run time, it did add to the zombie sub-genre as a whole with this new location.
Red State
Kevin Smith's Red State features themes pertaining to religion, sin, assault, and the potential apocalypse. While the originality of the movie is enough to grant it several positive reviews, its poor execution led to numerous negative ones. Red State failed to perform in the ways that it should've, and left viewers wanting more from what was supposed to be a thrilling horror movie. Regardless of poor critical and overall viewer reception, it has garnered a relatively loyal fanbase, but not much else.
Scream 4
Wes Craven's Scream 4 (stylized as SCRE4M) followed up on Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott after the events of the third installment, which released in 2000. Fans of the Scream franchise may have assumed that Scream 3 would be the end, as the meta slasher flick somewhat became the very thing it criticized. As such, it came as a surprise when a fourth installment was announced eleven years later and, even more surprising, a fifth one is in the works and set to release in 2022. Scream 4 was criticized for being dated, but garnered praise for being better than Scream 3. Despite mixed reviews, it doesn't truly impact the movie franchise as a whole.
Shark Night 3D
A year without a shark horror movie wouldn't be a well-rounded year of horror releases. Shark Night 3D is a classic "so bad, it's good" flick that offers very little to the killer shark sub-genre, but makes for perfect summertime viewing. Starring Sara Paxton and Dustin Milligan (Final Destination 3), Shark Night 3D follows a group of university students who go to a lake house to enjoy a weekend on Lake Pontchartrain when a deadly shark shows up to ruin their fun.
The Thing
The Thing (2011) is a direct prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 sci-fi horror movie of the same name. Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane) as Kate Lloyd, she and her crew come face to face with an otherworldly creature that promises nothing but bodily destruction. The movie didn't perform well overall, as it couldn't live up to Carpenter's original. The Thing was criticized for relying on too heavily on replicating the same effects of its source, and failed to fully capture its creativity and uniqueness. Despite the prequel's ties to John Carpenter, a horror icon, the 2011 movie is widely considered a massive flop in comparison to its predecessor.
You're Next
You're Next is a brilliant slasher movie that's somewhat framed to be a home invasion horror movie. With masked killers lurking in the darkness, a dysfunctional family must figure out how to survive the night or fall victim to their devious plan. There are incredible twists and turns in You're Next, which causes the movie to stand out from others with similar contents, such as The Strangers. You're Next didn't spawn a sequel, but retains the title as one of the greatest standalone slasher movies to come out of the 2010s. Traditionally, movies in the sub-genre are intent on expanding into franchise territory. You're Next didn't necessarily end with a sequel set-up, but this ultimately worked in its favor, as slasher movies weren't necessarily popular again until the late-2010s.
More Horror Movies Turning 10 In 2021
There are even more, lesser-known horror movies turning ten in 2021. These titles range from horror comedies to anthologies all the way to foreign horror and indie flicks. Chillerama is a comedic horror anthology that is so bizarre that it actually works. Chillerama uses classic monsters to craft four unique stories. The Cat and Ghastly are two incredible paranormal horror movies that showcase the immense creativity that comes from South Korea's most promising directors. There are several French movies turning ten as well, including Livid, Last Screening, and The Incident.
2011 really was a great year for horror releases, as it displayed which sub-genres would go on to later define the decade as a whole. Paranormal horror unquestionably continued to dominate the 2010s with the release of Insidious and The Conjuring, as well as the continuation of the Paranormal Activity franchise. Slashers continued to grow in popularity, which showcased a slow increase from 2011. Each horror movie that released in 2011 has its own, unique qualities that deserve to be celebrated as they turn ten in 2021.