10 Most Visually Stunning Horror Movies of the 21st Century (So Far) – Screen Rant

These 21st-century horror movies went a step beyond what many fans were used to and created something visually stunning.

Horror movies are not always the prettiest movies. Many of the best horror movies in history were shot cheap, and the money didn't go on set design or production aesthetics. However, there are those movies in the horror genre that went a step beyond what many fans were used to and created something breathtakingly beautiful to contrast the horrific stories.

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Some of these movies were shot in ways that beefed up the set design to create a visually dynamic gothic atmosphere.Some directors went the other direction and created a film that was all about the pop synthetic of the '80s or even the golden era of television, to make something that looked like nothing else.

Released in 2001, The Others was a movie that took place in the days after World War II. Director Alejandro Amanabar shot most of the film in Spain and used some fantastic locations to create his Gothic horror movie, including the Lime Walk at Penshurst Place in Kent in Britain.

The film told the story of a woman who believed a presence had moved into her country home and sought to protect her children at all costs. The film won several Goya Awards, including Best Production Design.

If The Others was a movie that lived within a gothic atmosphere, Mary Harron's American Psycho went in the other direction. Released in 2000, the film, based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, was set right in the middle of the '80s, and Harron used all the colors and gaudy looks that the era of excess was best-known. American Psychostars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a successful yuppie who might also be a serial killer.

Based on the 2004 horror novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In tells the story of a young lonely and bullied boy who meets the new girl who has moved in next to him. Soon, the two developed a friendship, and the boy realizes she is a vampire, one that will do anything to protect him but at a high cost. The film was shot in Sweden,a beautiful Scandinavian horror movie, both with production design and thehorrific appearances of Eli throughout the film.

When Darren Aronofsky creates a film, it is bound to be a visual spectacle. He had previously made one of the most visually captivating films in science fiction in the 2000s with The Fountain; he was back at it again with his 2010 horror movie, Black Swan.

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The movie starred Natalie Portman as a ballerina who is competing for the role of the White Swan for the Tchaikovsky ballet Swan Lake. However, when she realizes she is competing with a rival ballerina who fits the part of the Black Swan, she starts to lose her mind in this psychological thriller. Forty different ballet costumes were designed for the dancers.

Guillermo Del Toro is on this list twice, both films based on his gothic sensibilities concerning fairy tale stories. InThe Shape of Water, Del Toro tells the story of a woman in 1962 who falls in love with a sea monsterheld at a government laboratory.

When she decides to break the creature out to free it, both woman and creature find their lives in danger. Del Toro initially created The Shape of Water as a loose remake of Creature From the Black Lagoon, and the film picked up 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and winning for Best Production Design.

Some critics blast Tim Burton for making all his films look similar, using his gothic sensibilities. However, looking at his past films, they are almost all universally beautiful, from Edward Scissorhands to Batman to Alice in Wonderland. In 2007, Burton made the horror movie Sweeney Todd, based on the dark stage musical of the same name, and brought the Victorian story to life as only he could. The film picked up three Oscar nominations, winning one for Best Art Direction.

In 2006, Guillermo Del Toro made his masterpiece with the Spanish-language film Pan's Labyrinth. There were two worlds in this horror movie. The first featured the real-world horrors of Franco's Spanish Civil War. Here, Dep Toro made it as ugly and horrific as it was.

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However, the second world in Pan's Labyrinth was the fantastical world thatOfelia entersso she can escapethe horrors of war, only to find even more horrific creatures here. del Toro movies feature some of the most horrifically beautiful creatures in cinema and that was on display in this film. The movie won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Makeup.

Tarsem Singh's first two films were visual masterpieces, and his last three movies, while not as beloved, were still visually dynamic. His debut film was the horror movieThe Cell and proved from the start that Tarsem brought something new to horror cinema.

The story is abouta scientist named Deane (Jennifer Lopez) entering the mind of a comatose serial killer named Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio). She needs to find his latest victim, and most of the film takes place in his mind, asthe dominant killer captures the scientist within his mind.

In 2019, Robert Eggers released a movie that was not like anything Hollywood has released into theaters in years.The Lighthouse was shot in black and white, with two actors (Robert Pattinson and Willem Defoe). The lightkeepers in The Lighthouse begin to lose their sanitywhen they are strange on a remote island as a storm rages on. The film picked up several award nominations, including one for Best Cinematography at the Oscars.

Fido is a Canadian horror movie released in 2006 that all fans of zombie movies need to see. The film takes place after humans won the war on zombies and have created collars that allow them to control the zombies. The cast is excellent, withDylan Baker (Spider-Man 2) as a man with traumatic memories of the zombie apocalypse.

Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) is his wife, who brings in a new zombie (Billy Connolly) to work as their servant. The movie has a distinctive look, shot in the idyllic '50s style of Leave it to Beaver, and this low-budget film might be one of the best zombie films of the last 20 years.

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Shawn S. Lealos is a freelance writer who received his Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma with a minor in Film Studies. He has worked as a journalist for over 20 years, first in the world of print journalism before moving to online media as the world changed. Shawn is a former member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle before relocating to Texas and has work published in the Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma Gazette, Vox Magazine and Loud Magazine and on websites like The Huffington Post, CBS, Time Warner Cable, Yahoo, The Movie Network, Chud, Renegade Cinema, 411mania and Sporting News. Shawn is also a published author, with a non-fiction book about the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers and has begun work on a new fiction series as well. Visit Shawn Lealos' website to learn more about his novel writing and follow him on Twitter @sslealos.

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10 Most Visually Stunning Horror Movies of the 21st Century (So Far) - Screen Rant