5 Unsung 2010 Horror Movies You Can Stream Now [Time Capsules]
In 2010, I was probably really sad. I’m okay now (promise), but as a closeted kid firmly in the throes of high school, life wasn’t easy. Luckily, I’d started working and had enough month-to-month to support not only my physical Netflix subscription, but the new, fancy streaming option, too. It’s easy to forget, but 2010 Netflix streaming wasn’t anything like it is now. Options were scarce, though in terms of finding myself in horror, there was enough between the two subscriptions to introduce me to an entirely new world of genre voices I’d never encountered before.
I certainly hope your 2010 was better, but whether it was good, bad, or a bonafide nightmare, here are some of the best of what 2010 horror had to offer you’ve likely forgotten about. Even better? They’re all currently streaming online.
Trollhunter (dir. Andre Øvredal)
Where to stream: Max
Horror fans undoubtedly know André Øvredal. One of this generation’s most stylish horror filmmakers, Øvredal’s Scandinavian roots are present within his entire filmography. He captures the desolate, icy cold better than most, cultivating a distinct atmosphere without ever sacrificing the more formal, narrative elements of filmmaking. 2016’s The Autopsy of Jane Doe remains one of the century’s scariest movies, and 2019’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was an impossible adaptation Øvredal managed to pull off. 2023’s The Last Voyage of the Demeter may not have been everything audiences had hoped for, but its vampire is still the most viscerally scary the perennial villain has been in some time.
Plus, few filmmakers have a debut as gargantuan and as strikingly original as Øvredal’s Trollhunter. The film fundamentally changed what found footage horror was and could be. Øvredal culled from Scandinavian lore for a herculean-sized mockumentary, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since Cloverfield. University students tracking bear poachers instead encounter the weird, wonderful, and terrifying world of trolls. Øvredal’s beasties are decidedly neutral, creatures simply trying to survive in the modern world. That doesn’t make them any less successful at inspiring awe and terror in equal measure. Trollhunter is ferocious, funny, and best of all, wholly unlike anything you’ve seen before. 2010 horror was off to a banging start.
The Reef (dir. Andrew Traucki)
Where to stream: Prime Video
Andrew Traucki, icon that you are. Sure, the filmmaker isn’t a household name, but horror fans will no doubt recognize his larger body of work and a pretty consistent thematic throughline. Traucki not only loves Australia, but he also loves all the terrifying things living there that could easily, swiftly kill you. His horror is less Mick Taylor, and more 1970s nature strikes back with refreshing realism. His debut, Black Water, merged real actors with real crocodiles for striking, frightening results. The Reef, conceptually Black Water but with sharks, was largely the movie everyone thought Open Water was back in 2003 (I still love you, Open Water).
Since its release, I’ve argued The Reef is the scariest shark movie since Jaws, and more than 15 years later, I maintain the argument. Traucki’s story of waylaid friends stranded in the open ocean after their ship capsizes is horrifying in its minimalism. There aren’t any big set pieces or visceral bouts of action. Instead, Traucki mines terror from the cold, agoraphobic depths of the open ocean. Every time a character dons their goggles to peek below the surface, you’ll be holding your breath. Like Black Water before it, Traucki stitched together footage of real sharks to further solidify the realism. Sharks are our friends, but after seeing The Reef, I’m comfortable never going back in the water again.
Sint (dir. Dick Maas)
Where to stream: Shudder
There’s no shortage of Christmas horror movies to make the long, cold December nights more bearable. Classics like Black Christmas and Krampus remain perennials, and B-movie aficionados no doubt love revisiting the likes of Silent Night, Deadly Night, and Christmas Evil. Recently, Better Watch Out has emerged as a tradition, and I’ve revisited P2 as a grim, nasty little Christmas shocker. In 2010, another classic emerged on the international front. Finnish horror comedy Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale was a critical darling when it was first released, and if you haven’t yet checked it out, add it to your nice list immediately. Simultaneously, Dutch Christmas horror comedy import Sint was released to considerably less fanfare.
Dick Maas of The Lift and Amsterdamned fame returned to the horror genre with his story of the titular Sinterklaas and the power of a full moon. A 1492 flashback sets the stage for modern-day folk to eagerly celebrate the tradition of Dutch Santa Claus, unaware that the forthcoming full moon is going to render him more real, less legend. The homicidal ghost arrives and tears its way through South Amsterdam, leaving Christmas carnage in its wake. Is it a classic? Probably not. Contemporaneous critics cited the lack of cohesion and missed potential. Still, it’s an unsung Christmas horror gem, and now that it’s streaming, I’ll leave it up to you. Is Sint more naughty or nice when it comes to 2010 horror?
Let Me In (dir. Matt Reeves)
Where to stream: Tubi
Matt Reeves’ Let Me In should not have worked. A remake of the Swedish horror film Let the Right One In, itself adapted from the novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let Me In, at first, looked to be another distillation of a classic horror text rendered more accessible for American audiences. Casting kiddie superstars Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloë Grace Moretz didn’t help, and shifting to a Los Alamos, New Mexico setting looked to strip the text of its local flavor. Those were unfounded concerns since Let Me In is incredible, and for some, arguably just as good (if not better) than the original. 2010 horror rarely hit this hard.
Notably, Let Me In does strip away the complex commentary about performative gender and socialization, namely as it applies to Eli (renamed Abby). The vampiric lore is still there and accounted for, but the more pointed trans subtext is unfortunately missing. Otherwise, Reeves’ remake is just as heartbreaking, just as bloody, and just as richly terrifying as the original was two years before. Let Me In veers close to the original, though finds its own footing often enough to augment the original rather than replace it. While horror remakes have slowed down in recent years, Let Me In was one of the late greats to not only do it, but do it remarkably well.
Dream Home (dir. Pang Ho-cheung)
Where to watch: Prime Video
Hong Kong slasher Dream Home only gets better with age. Over the last decade in the United States, rent inflation outpaced currency inflation by an estimated 40.7%. Yeesh (through tears). In Pang Ho-cheung’s vicious slasher, Cheng Lai-sheung (Josie Ho) works two jobs in order to save up enough money for an apartment. Her life has been constrained by misfortune, including an early childhood eviction from low-rent housing to make space for expensive, luxury flats. She promises to one day buy her parents an apartment of their own, though her mother unfortunately passes away. Her father’s illness and an insurance mishap complicates matters, and soon, she’s left with no parents and no money for the apartment she’d been saving for. What’s a girl to do?
Why not brandish a knife and go on a killing frenzy in the building itself? Lai-sheung slashes her way through the tenants, going floor to floor while getting increasingly creative (and brutal) with her methods. Dream Home is pulpy allegory, but effective nonetheless. The extreme violence punctuates damning social and capitalistic critiques. It’s not a pleasant watch, but an effective one, and Dream Home endures 15 years later as one of the century’s best slashers. That it still feels possible—that there’s still some underlying empathy for Lai-sheung’s predicament—is saying something.
Atrocious, Cold Prey 3, and My Soul to Take (rewatch it, please) were liable to be listed here too, though those three titles are only available to rent. They’re absolutely worth checking out, however, once you’ve streamed your way through the list here. What do you think, though? What other 2010 horror hidden gems are worth catching? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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