Now when we look back to 2002 we are spellbound considering how majestic 2002 was for the horror genre. We have had everything ranging from slasher horror to some classic J-horror, to some award-winning sequels, and much more. Here, you can find the details about the best horror movies of 2002.
The fact that a film like 999-9999(2002) that has loads of caliber in it is ranked 10th in our countdown.
This suggests the prowess of 2002 as a year for horror lovers. Having said that this film is ranked 10th in our countdown, there are many of them like The Mothman Prophecies, or 09 May which failed to feature in this countdown despite being such delightful films and perfectly adding to the legacy of horror as a genre.
Sneak Peek into the Best Horror Movies of 2002:
Dark Water(2002):
Initial Release - 19 January 2002
Director - Hideo Nakata
This wasn’t the original title for the film when it was filmed, earlier it was titled “From the depths of Dark Water” in Japanese. Dark water is an eerie horror film, it has its links closely related to Koji Suzuki’s collection of short stories. The movie follows the struggling life of a proofreader named Yoshimi who has recently become a single mom after getting a divorce and it is not rocket science to predict how hard it is for a single mother to survive and raise her child when financially not so sound.
She moves into a rented apartment with her daughter where soon they start experiencing abstruse events. Yoshimi comes to know about the incident of a missing little girl Mitsuko whose spirit seems to be infatuated with the former. Yoshimi gets in a dilemma while choosing between Mitsuko and her daughter to escape from harsh reality.
28 Days Later(2002) :
Initial Release - 1 November 2002
Director - Danny Boyle
28 Days Later can be classified as a British horror film that is based on the apocalyptic phase of the Earth, which means the earth is close to its end. The film is set in Great Britain where a young boy Jim wakes up from an unconscious state 28 days later after the whole city is collapsed due to a widespread infectious virus through Chimpanzees. The plot then revolves around Jim who fights his way through the infected people to live as he is one of the only survivors left on the planet. Zombie movies are always a feast to watch, and it was the case with this film too.
The survival instinct kicks in real bad in Jim and the other survivors and they beat the skins out of the zombies in order to multiply their chances of making it through.
Amidst this, he meets Selena and Hannah and they all together try to subsist themselves on the deserted earth and manage to pull through the miserable situation.
In My Skin(2002) :
Initial Release - 4 December 2002
Director - Marina De Van
A French film by origin, In my Skin, is a very indulging kind of a movie which will make you gel to tour seats. It is termed as Dans ma peau in french, In My Skin is a transgressive horror film that portrays the theme of self-mutilation acts committed by the protagonist. Some scenes are really disturbing when the girl tries to hurt herself by making cuts on her body. And this reaches to a height when we see her biting her own flesh. Most of you will surely turn your TV sets off after this scene.
The film concerns the young girl named Esther who seems to have a normal life but there is something wrong with her. As she develops a strange habit of hurting herself by making cuts on her arms and thighs after she gets her leg injured unknowingly in the party without feeling any pain. Her obsession with hurting herself increases day by day to an extent where she even chews her own flesh.
Inner Senses(2002) :
Initial Release- 28 March 2002
Director - Law Chi-Leung
A psychological horror film from Hong Kong, also a welcoming film from Hong Kong that lived to the expectations of the international cinema. But that’s not the only highlighted point about it, Inner Senses also serves as the last movie of the male lead before his death. The story of the film revolves around two characters named Jim and Yan who suffer from depression caused by their own past actions.
Yan develops a romantic relationship with her psychiatrist Jim who helps her to recover from her hallucinations which Yan believes to be haunted spirits. On the other hand, Jim behaves out of his nature when he feels the presence of a ghost of a young girl around him. Both of them are of the opinion that they are in the captivity of spirits and are really disturbed, but are they really in captivity or it is just a hallucination.
Deathwatch(2002) :
Initial Release- 6 December 2002
Director - Michael J. Bassett
Deathwatch is a horror film made in the joint production of British and German. This is something you don’t witness daily, I mean Germany and Britain doing something unanimously because most of the past is studded with their incidents of fighting. Anyway, coming back to the film,
Set in early 1900 during World War 1, the film tells the story of lost soldiers who find refuge in an enemy furrow surrounded by dead bodies with strangely jutting wires out of them.
To their surprise they find unknown German bodies appearing from mud to attack them. As the film progresses, soldiers lose their life one by one reaching the deadliest fate while coming to grips with the dead corpses which are reviving mysteriously.
Maléfique(2002) :
Initial Release - 9 November 2002
Director - Éric Valette
This film is a blend of crime and horror, and a beautiful one I must say.
Maléfique is a French mystery horror film that conveys the tale of four cellmates named Paquerette, Marcus, Lasalle and lastly joined by Carrere who all are in for different crimes. Carrere discovers a mysterious book behind the loose brick in the cell wall that seems to belong to the previous prisoner. The book consists of spells and symbols related to black magic.
This book comes as a bad omen for all of them, soon Carrere and others start experiencing bizarre and plaintive visions after they read aloud the spells from the book. But the book is not all about the bewitchery, it has deeper powers than it looks as the cellmates meet the ugliest ending of their lives.
Makdee(2002) :
Initial Release - 22 November 2002
Director - Vishal Bhardwaj
Makdee, translated as Spider in English, is an Indian horror film that is counted as one of the few successful horror films of Bollywood. Bollywood always fails to deliver quality horror flicks, not because the Indian audience does not have the appetite for horror films but majorly because of the content.
The film focuses on the beliefs of ghosts and witches in the modern world. The plot of the film is set in the rural village where a legend goes by about a mansion that is said to be possessed by a witch called Makdee who supposedly turns every human into an animal upon entering a mansion. One day Chunni, a prank full girl, finds herself in despair when her twin sister falls prey to the witch, and then she figures out a way to help her sister out alone when no one in the village helps her as they don’t believe her.
Three(2002) :
Initial Release - 12 July 2002
Directors - Kim Jee-Woon
Nonzee Nimibutr
Peter Ho-Sun Chan
Three is a trio mystery horror film made with the collaboration of three Asian countries- Korean, Thai, and Hong Kong. It consists of three short stories titled- Memories that deal with the lost wife who is looking for her house while at the same time her husband experiences ghostly visions of his wife.
The Wheel that shows the miserable death of a puppet master is caused by the curse of his own puppets.
Going Home unfurls the story of a man who takes care of his ill wife and is waiting for her to wake up so that they can go to their hometown. However, the cop living across them finds that the things that seem to be normal are exactly the opposite of it when he himself is confined by the man.
My Little Eye(2002) :
initial Release - 10 September 2002
Director - Marc Evans
My Little Eye is a British horror slasher film that airs the journey to a pack of five people who come forward to participate in a reality show where they have to live together in an isolated house in the woods for the prize of one million dollars.
It’s way too hard than stated, obviously, nobody is a freak to offer you a million just to spend some days on an island. Twists and turns are bound to come. Twists came, indeed very gory ones, soon each contestant gets delusions when they receive mystic and horrifying signs from their past. The past of the contestants came hunting for them.
999-9999(2002) :
Initial Release - 20 September 2002
Director - Peter Manus
A bit harsh for this film to be placed at 10 but we are out of choices. Also, it is welcoming to witness a Thailand based film making its presence felt on the world stage. 999-9999 is a Thai horror-thriller film that revolves around the group of friends who one by one face a brutal death after they make a wish by making a call on mysterious number 999-9999.
Just imagine how deadly a couple of numbers can prove to be. The myth is that the demon on the other side of the call grants a wish of a caller if called after midnight, but in exchange takes the life of a caller in the most unusual method. So the person whoever makes the call initially gets his wish fulfilled, but death comes looking for him in the most unexpected manner. This was a beautiful concept, worth having a watch for sure.
