The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2000s Creature Features. In this series of horror-themed articles, we’ll be reviewing the creepiest scenes from various creature feature films of each decade. Most films within this subgenre are often a combination of Animals Attack Films, Survival Horror Films and Eco-Horror Films and feature wildlife run amok (often through mutation) and aliens or monsters hunting humans. These articles will showcase some of the subtle (yet terrifying) scares when nature (or an extraterrestrial being) turns on mankind.
Our fourth article covers the 2000s, which is generally considered a down decade for horror. Though there were a few horror classics during the decade including The Descent (2005) and The Mist (2007), the 2000s are mostly known for subpar CGI and a yearly output of forgotten horror amongst a few memorable genre films.
On the creature feature front, animals attack films dominated the subgenre with crocodile attacks in Primeval (2007), Black Water (2007) and Rogue (2007). Lions hunting humans in Prey (2007), venomous snakes loose on a plan in Snakes on a Plane (2006) and sharks on the hunt in Open Water (2004).
As for other subgenre themes, genetic engineering continued its ascent in horror with Isolation (2005) and Black Sheep (2006) while vampire films shifted to a focus on more feral and animalistic vampires in Blade II (2002) and 30 Days of Night (2007).
After we get through each decade, we’ll have a cumulative article with the 25 Creepiest Scenes from Creature Features of All Time and you can find each article below as we post them over the following months:
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1970s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1980s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1990s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2000s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2010s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2020s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from Creature Features of All Time
For our rankings we’re going to use some criteria to help define and refine our list. First, what is considered ‘creepy’ is often subjective. What might be creepy to some people might come off as boring to others. For the list we’ve compiled, we narrowed down the Top 25 to scenes that genuinely scared older members of KBZ when they saw these films at a younger age to recent generations that still found some of these older horror films creepy.
Second, we’re going to use the broadest interpretation of ‘creature features’ as possible to include natural or mutated wildlife, insects and marine life to monsters or aliens that qualify as ‘creatures’.
Third, though we generally don’t include films about vampires, we will include a few films on our list where the vampires are shown as more animalistic and include themes of creature features (such as vampires hunting humans).
Fourth, like our other lists, we’re going to exclude body snatcher alien invasion-themed films such as The Invasion (2007) as these are not true creature feature films.
Fifth, we will include ‘cannibal’ or backwoods horror films where the ‘monsters’ are mutated or animalistic humans. An example here would be Wrong Turn (2003) as the film meshes together Survival Horror and Slasher Horror but features major themes of creature features with its antagonists shown as ‘de-evolved’ humans.
Sixth, though the early half of the decade was dominated by films from the J-Horror and K-Horror subgenres, very few of these films were creature features (with the exception of The Host (2006)). As a result, you won’t see many films from these horror subgenres here, but we did include many of them in our article for The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2000s Horror Films and videos on our YouTube channel for The 25 Creepiest Scenes from Asian Horror Films and 25 More Creepy Scenes from 2000s Horror Films.
And seventh, we had to follow our rule for all of KBZ’s film listings where we only list films that have a 4.0/10 or higher rating and were released between 2000 – 2009.
As we mentioned above, we’ll be releasing additional lists of the creepiest horror films of the decade over the next few months. You can refer to our schedule above or subscribe to our newsletter to get updated as we release each new article.
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The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2000s Creature Features
Ranks 25-1:
#25 Splinter (2008) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#24 She Creature (2001) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#23 Feast (2005) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#22 Trick ‘r’ Treat (2007) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#21 Ginger Snaps (2000) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#20 Rogue (2007) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#19 Altered (2006) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#18 Dagon (2001) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#17 Isolation (2005) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#16 The Burrowers (2008) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#15 Cloverfield (2008) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#14 Prey (2007) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#13 Wrong Turn (2003) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#12 Blade II (2002) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#11 Dog Soldiers (2002) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#10
Pitch Black
Plot: When their ship crash-lands on a remote planet, the marooned passengers soon learn that escaped convict Riddick isn’t the only thing they have to fear. Deadly creatures lurk in the shadows, waiting to attack in the dark, and the planet is rapidly plunging into the utter blackness of a total eclipse. With the body count rising, the doomed survivors are forced to turn to Riddick with his eerie eyes to guide them through the darkness to safety. With time running out, there’s only one rule: Stay in the light..
Scene: Fry discovers the night creatures
KBZ’s Take: In 2000, Pitch Black seemed to come out of nowhere. Vin Diesel was just coming off co-starring roles in Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Boiler Room (2000) and wasn’t yet a household name. That all changed with Pitch Black and the introduction of anti-hero Riddick into the world of Space Horror.
The initial film of the Riddick franchise is the most horror-centric from its opening sequence of a spaceship tearing itself apart while landing to the eventual reveal of the alien creatures that only come out at night. Pitch Black was a genuinely scary film playing off the age-old themes of creatures lurking in the dark that you cannot see and can attack at any time. That’s the stuff nightmares are made of…
Additional Lists: Best Space Horror Films #5
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#9
The Host
Plot: Careless American military personnel dump chemicals into South Korea’s Han River. Several years later, a creature emerges from the tainted waters and sinks its ravenous jaws into local residents. When the creature abducts their daughter (Go Ah-sung), a vendor (Song Kang-ho) and his family decide that they are the only ones who can save her.
Scene: Park Hyun-seo is abducted by the creature
KBZ’s Take: Bong Joon-ho rose to international fame when his film, Parasite (2019), won best film at the 92nd Academy Awards. What’s less well known, however, is that Joon-ho has had a few of the best films about eco-horror and genetic engineering including The Host, Snowpiercer (2013) and Okja (2017).
Of all his films prior to Parasite, The Host is the best film with themes of eco-horror and one of the best overall films of the K-Horror (Korean Horror) film subgenre. Inspired by Kaiju films, it layers a theme involving human negligence with chemical waste that results in a terrifying, mutated monster over a family drama with a frantic father in search of his daughter.
The Host is a horror film at heart, but it is also a satire with many tonal shifts. It’s one of the best creature features of the decade that has a self-awareness of the dangers of eco-horror and shines a horrifying, yet comedic, lens at mankind’s hubris and inability to control itself.
Additional Lists: Top Eco-Horror Films You Haven’t Seen – 2000s #1
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
Plot: This is the story of an isolated Alaskan town that is plunged into darkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. As the last rays of light fade, the town is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on an uninterrupted orgy of destruction. Only the small town’s husband-and-wife Sheriff team stand between the survivors and certain destruction.
Scene: “God? No God…”
KBZ’s Take: The 2000’s was a banner decade for Films About Vampires with Blade II (2002), Underworld (2003), I Am Legend (2007), Let The Right One In (2008), Thirst (2009) and Daybreakers (2009). But despite this roster of terrifying blood suckers, 30 Days of Night was the creepiest by far with its themes of isolation and a town’s human population quickly discovering that they’re on the vampiric menu.
With a host of creepy scenes (involving very animalistic vampires), there’s none more powerful than the scene when a woman discovers that no one – not even God – will be saving her.
Additional Lists: The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2000s Horror Films #5
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#7
The Ruins
Plot: Americans Amy, Stacy, Jeff and Eric look for fun during a sunny holiday in Mexico, but they get much more than that after visiting an archaeological dig in the jungle.
Scene: Nature comes alive…and kills
KBZ’s Take: This film had a mixed reception as it tried to balance Survival Horror with Splatter & Gore. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to appease fans of either camp as gore hounds didn’t find it gory enough while more mainstream horror fans couldn’t take some of the gorier content.
We fall into the camp that it’s a great survival horror film that leans on the psychological impact of body horror. And though the film doesn’t call out a specific eco-horror event (or feature a typical creature), it’s similar to Long Weekend (1979) where nature has its own ideas on how to deal with encroaching humans.
Additional Lists: Top Body Horror Films You Haven’t Seen – 2000s #2, Top Eco-Horror Films You Haven’t Seen – 2000s #3
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
Plot: A brother and sister driving home through an isolated countryside for spring break encounter a flesh-eating creature in the midst of its ritualistic eating spree.
Scene: Darry and Trish discover the creature
KBZ’s Take: The Jeepers Creepers film series is typical of horror film franchises where the first film is the best while slowly degrading in quality (and scares). Though the second film, Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003) is also worth checking out, there’s no dispute that first film is the scariest (and creepiest) while establishing The Creeper as one of the most well-known creatures of the decade.
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#5
Pandorum
Plot: Two crewmembers wake up on a spaceship and realize they’re not alone.
Scene: Bower is hunted by a creature
KBZ’s Take: Pandorum is a great Cosmic Horror film with Lovecraftian elements intertwined with Survival Horror. It’s also a very original film with three core components.
First, the existential dread of the two crew members as they wake up in a spaceship without knowing who or where they are. Second, the pivotal reveal of the ‘creatures’ they discover on the ship (and how they soon become hunted). And third, the final reveal which we admittedly did not see coming.
It’s one of the better “Survival Horror Films in Space” and one of the best creature features of the decade.
Additional Lists: Best Space Horror Films #4, Top Survival Horror Films You Haven’t Seen #5, Top Cosmic Horror Films You Haven’t Seen #7
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#4
Silent Hill
Plot: In search for answers, a mother travels to the enigmatic town of Silent Hill when her daughter begins to suffer recurring nightmares related to the place. It doesn’t take long for her to discover its home to beings as equally haunting as the town itself.
Scene: The tongue man appears…
KBZ’s Take: Silent Hill is considered one of the scariest horror-based video games of all time so it’s no surprise its film adaptation is also one of the scariest horror films of the decade. While most video games based on horror have been hit or miss – Doom (2005) was forgettable though Resident Evil (2002) established a horror film franchise – there’s little doubt that Silent Hill stands alone with the creepiest visuals from game to screen.
Though the film isn’t a typical creature feature, there’s enough monsters in the film from Pyramid Head to The Tongue Man to The Creepers to satisfy any fan of the subgenre.
Additional Lists: The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2000s Horror Films #9
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#3
Slither
Plot: A small town is taken over by an alien plague, turning residents into zombies and all forms of mutant monsters.
Scene: The barn trap
KBZ’s Take: Slither isn’t your typical Alien Invasion film as it deftly balances humor with some very disturbing body horror for one of the creepiest creature features of the decade. Though Grant’s (Michael Rooker) continual transformation into a grotesque monster is the main body horror on display, it’s the alien parasites that steal the show in this very underrated horror film of the 2000s.
Additional Lists: The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2000s Horror Films #22
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#2
The Descent
Plot: After a tragic accident, six friends reunite for a caving expedition. Their adventure soon goes horribly wrong when a collapse traps them deep underground and they find themselves pursued by bloodthirsty creatures. As their friendships deteriorate, they find themselves in a desperate struggle to survive the creatures and each other.
Scene: Creature Found…Creature Appears
KBZ’s Take: The Descent is always our first recommendation to other people who ask for the best horror movie they haven’t seen – and it never disappoints. It has multiple levels of scares from an extremely claustrophobic setting to some very terrifying monsters. It’s known as one of the scariest films for a reason and if you still haven’t seen this film yet, you’re doing yourself (and your horror cred) a serious disservice.
Additional Lists: The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2000s Horror Films #1, The Best 2000s Horror Films for Halloween #1, Top Scariest Halloween Films for Adults You Haven’t Seen #1
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#1
The Mist
Plot: After a violent storm, a dense cloud of mist envelops a small Maine town, trapping artist David Drayton and his five-year-old son in a local grocery store with other people. They soon discover that the mist conceals deadly horrors that threaten their lives, and worse, their sanity.
Scene: The Spiders
KBZ’s Take: Though The Descent (2005) will sit atop any list we have of the best horror of the 2000s, we had to place The Mist in this spot due to the film’s increasingly creative (and scary) monsters.
Easily one of the best Stephen King Film Adaptations, The Mist is a dark and brooding film with some very creepy moments. We’re not sure if the cult themes or inter-dimensional monsters are the scarier aspects of this film, but we can unequivocally say it has one of the best (if not THE best) endings of the entire horror genre.
Additional Lists: The Best 2000s Horror Films for Halloween #5, The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2000s Horror Films #8
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
