Directed by Alejandro Amenábar • 2001 • Spain, United States, France
Starring Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, Fionnula Flanagan
A remote manor; hushed, candlelit atmosphere; and shivery, supernatural menace. With his first English-language feature, Chilean Spanish writer-director-composer Alejandro Amenábar resurrected the classic gothic chiller to create a ghost story of uncommon emotional resonance. Nicole Kidman stars as a World War II–era mother whose imperiousness masks a terrifying pain, as she keeps her light-sensitive children enshrouded in darkness on her country estate. The arrival of three new servants punctures her insular world—and seems to disturb the balance between the living and the dead. With each stunning twist and turn, Amenábar immerses us more deeply in a realm haunted not only by spirits but also by guilt, trauma, and repression.
Up Next in 2000s Horror
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Dahmer
Directed by David Jacobson • 2002 • United States
Starring Jeremy Renner, Artel Great, Matt NewtonBased on one of the most shocking true crime stories of the twentieth century, this deeply unsettling tale of real-life terror explores the truth of a man many called an abomination of nature: Jeff...
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The Descent
Directed by Neil Marshall • 2005 • United Kingdom
Starring Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex ReidBrilliantly exploiting our innate fears of the dark and the unknown to maximum nerve-shredding effect, this intense journey into the void is among the most frightening horror films of the twen...
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May
Directed by Lucky McKee • 2002 • United States
Starring Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto, Anna FarisBy turns disturbing, darkly humorous, and curiously moving, this slasher take on the Frankenstein myth follows misunderstood misfit May (Angela Bettis) as she attempts and continuously fails to connec...
