Best Horror Movies 2006

2006 was a banner year and the best horror movies 2006 list that I present here will be somewhat controversial, but these lists always are. The reason no one can agree on these lists is that while some people consider all slasher movies to be horror, some only think that supernatural elements make up the horror genre. We cant be that picky so we will review them all in the following compendium lest we offend any sensitivities out there.

Feast directed by John Gulager was actually released in 2005 but did not hit the movie theaters until 2006. Featuring the typical zombies run amok plot, it goes off track quickly and remains pretty unsettling. Very gory and scary and definitely a must see.

Six girls get trapped in an underground cave labyrinth while spelunking and are chased by albino earth-dwelling creatures in this very frightening film directed by Neil Marshall. The best thing about this film is that they build the story and characters very carefully so that we as an audience get very involved with each person. We care about what happens to them and as a result the scary parts are even scarier.

Hostel is also in my best horror movies 2006 list even though it does not have a supernatural element to it because it is intensely frightening at times and always disturbing. A group of backpackers going through Europe get lured into a hostel that has gorgeous girls running around in skimpy outfits. They get kidnapped and placed as victims into a torture club for rich sickos. Definitely not for the kiddies.

Another of the best horror movies 2006 is Turistas which a lot of people hated but I liked, mainly because I have spent a lot of time in the jungles of Central America and can relate to the subject matter. Tourists being robbed and set upon by the locals always makes for great suspense cinema. Not really traditional horror but scary enough as a suspense film. What constitutes horror anyway? Does anyone really get horrified anymore? The most these films will do to typical jaded audiences is a shock now and then that makes them jump out of their seat.

The last movie that was truly horrifying was The Exorcist which stayed with you long after you left the theater. That feeling of dread which made you scared to sleep alone at night does not come along very often. Another movie which scared me like that was The Blair Witch Project but I know a lot of people hated it and even got sick watching the moving camera shots. Paranormal Activity was like Blair Witch, with lots of hand held camera parts though not quite as many as in Blair Witch or Cloverfield.

Get the popcorn and gummy bears. Time to get scared!