The Best Fantasy Horror Movie of the 2000s Officially Hits HBO Max

While the 2000s saw the rise of fantasy blockbusters like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, it was also a great time for stories that wove more darkness into the genre. The decade marked the rise of Guillermo del Toro as one of the world’s most prestigious directors, in part thanks to his Oscar-winning Pan’s Labyrinth, which intertwined the real and mythical in horrific and beautiful ways. Sweden’s haunting coming-of-age vampire flick Let the Right One In and the Keanu Reeves-led DC-inspired Constantine also possessed the screen, the former being hailed by Roger Ebert as “the best modern vampire movie” at the time and the latter becoming a beloved macabre cult classic with a sequel on the way. Among the best dark fantasies of the era, however, were not just live-action productions, but painstaking and chilling stop-motion animation that launched a prestigious studio.