The spookiest time of the year is finally here. Whether it’s a Halloween tradition or just a regular dark and stormy night, the conditions are perfect for a scary movie. Luckily, 2024 boasts an impressively horrifying haul of original horror films. If we’re talking candy, the year’s horror highlights feel like trick-or-treating at the house that hands out the biggest chocolate bars.
If you haven’t caught any of these terrifying offerings yet, there’s still plenty of time. Audiences are already calling The Substance a body-horror masterpiece. M. Night Shyamalan whipped up a tantalising Trap, and Nicolas Cage is as unhinged as ever in the unpredictable Longlegs. This year also featured Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut (Blink Twice), Lee Daniels’s first foray into horror (The Deliverance), and even a killer swimming pool (Night Swim). So until Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu scares our socks off at year’s end, you can find the best horror movies of 2024 (so far) right here.
1. The Substance
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The Substance has received rave reviews ever since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. The plot involves an aging Hollywood star (Demi Moore) who takes a miracle drug to create a younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley). Naturally (or unnaturally!), the body-horror masterpiece by director Coralie Fargeat explores entertainingly freaky yet poignant territory regarding female beauty standards and celebrity.
2. Blink Twice
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More horrifying than horror, Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut is a Get Out-esque trip to a billionaire’s private island that ends with one of the most sickening twists you’ll see all year.
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3. Trap
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If you’ve seen the viral trailer, you know the gist: A father (Josh Hartnett) who takes his daughter to a concert finds himself trapped in the venue when the police surround the stadium in search of a serial killer. Hartnett turns out to be the killer (not a spoiler!). Now he must find a way to escape the trap.
4. Alien: Romulus
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The latest Alien film returns the franchise to its horror roots with gnarly effects and unnerving deep-space silence. Alien: Romulus also takes place between the events of the first Alien and its sequel, Aliens—deepening the lore of the original xenomorph.
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5. Longlegs
With a viral marketing campaign, tons of hype on social media, and glowing reviews from horror fans, Longlegs absolutely delivered the goods. Luckily, director Oz Perkins was up to it. His stylish yet highly restrained occult-horror film has haunted viewers since its release. Maika Monroe plays a highly intuitive novice FBI agent who is assigned a decades-spanning serial-killer case. Nicolas Cage plays a role in which he’s almost unrecognisable, but he still unleashes a signature unhinged performance. Longlegs’ creepy, unnerving atmosphere lingers—even after the lights come up in the cinema.
6. In a Violent Nature
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Nature is the keyword for Chris Nash’s In a Violent Nature—a Canadian slasher about a resurrected murderer who roams the Ontario wilderness stalking and cleaving teenagers.
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7. I Saw the TV Glow
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A24 continues its incredible horror hit streak with I Saw the TV Glow from director Jane Schoenbrun. The film combines existential dread with magical realism and the haunting limbo world of childhood. The film follows Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) as they cope with their dysfunctional families by escaping into their favorite TV show. However, the magical world that the show presents to them starts feeling a bit too real and relatable.
8. Humane
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Directed by Caitlin Cronenberg—the daughter of film legend David Cronenberg—Humane envisions an environmental crisis that forces select members of the population into mandated euthanasia. At a family dinner, a couple’s decision to voluntarily enlist erupts into an angry and violent conversation.
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9. The Deliverance
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Lee Daniels makes his horror debut for Netflix with The Deliverance, a story inspired by the 2011 Ammons haunting case in Gary, Indiana. Believing that their house is a gateway to hell, the Jackson family sets out to perform an exorcism. And yes, that last part really happened.
10. The Front Room
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The Front Room could have easily premiered with the title The Mother-in-Law from Hell. The psychological horror film is based on a short story by British author Susan Hill about a woman’s very strange encounter with her mother in-law, starring Brandy and The Tragedy of Macbeth’s Kathryn Hunter.
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11. Apartment 7A
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Speaking of demons, Rosemary’s Baby received a prequel this year titled Apartment 7A. In 1965, a young dancer (Julia Garner) rents an N.Y.C. apartment from an elderly couple only to find that they have ulterior motives for their generosity.
12. MaXXXine
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The much-anticipated final installment in Ti West's X trilogy, MaXXXine, hit cinemas over the summer, with Mia Goth reprising her role as the ruthless and fearless actress Maxine Minx. West wraps up his ode to cinema with this all-out eighties thrill fest. Pulling elements from giallo murder mysteries and VHS sleaze, MaXXXine gives the title character’s blood-splattered journey a Grand Guignol climax. With a scene-stealing supporting cast including Elizabeth Debicki, Kevin Bacon, Giancarlo Esposito, and Halsey, this is a summer horror you won’t want to miss.
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13. Abigail
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Abigail, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, is a sleeper hit. The posthumous release for actor Angus Cloud is packed with unexpected comedic moments and lots of great gore and scares. Although it starts off as a story about six criminals who hold a young ballet dancer hostage, we learn that Abigail is not so innocent after all. We love a movie that keeps us guessing.
14. A Quiet Place: Day One
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Michael Sarnoski took over the helm of the Quiet Place franchise from creator John Krasinski and immediately made a big swing. Well, it truly paid off. Audiences and critics raved about the New York City–set alien-invasion film. Lupita Nyong’o makes her grand return to horror, paired with an adorable feline companion (Frodo!). They’re trying to survive, you guessed it, the first day of the invasion of supersonic-hearing, world-destroying aliens. The sound design and choice of bustling urbanity make this prequel a must-watch.
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15. Lisa Frankenstein
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Director Zelda Williams’s debut feature takes the best parts of campy eighties romance and horror films and gives them a modern sense of humor. Lisa Frankenstein features a depressed teenage girl who becomes infatuated with a deceased Victorian-era boy. Through some lightning magic and miracles, the boy comes back to life, and the two fall in love and get up to some gory, murdery shenanigans. A fun tidbit for horror lovers: Diablo Cody, writer of Jennifer’s Body, also wrote the story for Lisa and says that the two films take place in the same universe.
16. The First Omen
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You remember The Omen, right? Creepy little boy who compels nannies to jump out of windows and makes priests believe they’ve seen the devil? Well, The First Omen delivers the backstory of the Antichrist. A young American woman sent to work in an orphanage in Rome sounds like the beginning of a sweet romantic film, but The First Omen packs in classic scary-movie tropes (haunted kids and body horror!). It’s a prequel you’ll actually want to watch more than once.
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17. Late Night with the Devil
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This found-footage-style horror film garnered widespread praise when it debuted at SXSW. Late Night with the Devil takes the simple premise of a late-night talk show gone wrong and elevates it to horrific heights. David Dastmalchian plays Jack Delroy, a TV host whose show is on the line. When Delroy makes the mistake of bringing on an allegedly possessed young girl as a guest to boost ratings, he unleashes terror on his audience. Endlessly creative and well paced, Late Night is destined to live on as a classic Halloween rewatch.
18. Immaculate
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Sydney Sweeney loved the script for Immaculate so much that she signed on as one of its producers. With this much dedication behind it, the film met horror lovers’ high expectations. The harrowing story, about a young nun who joins a new convent in Italy, dials up the religious scares and doesn’t hold back on the blood and guts.
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19. Imaginary
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A twist on the haunted-toy trope, Imaginary introduces the idea that your imaginary friends may not be quite so friendly. Starring DeWanda Wise as an author of children’s books who has some dark family secrets, the film brings audiences back to their lonely and magical childhood experiences, with a sinister shadow lurking just out of sight. The ending ventures into fantastical territory, which may challenge die-hard horror fans—and delight viewers who enjoy genre benders.
20. Night Swim
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Horror fans had reason to rejoice: A brand-new feature from Blumhouse kicked off the new year. Night Swim marks Bryce McGuire’s directorial debut, and it certainly made a big splash (sorry) when it premiered. The cast boasts Wyatt Russell (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) and Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) as the leads. The movie focuses on the Waller family as they move into a new home and discover that their backyard pool is hiding some sinister secrets. It doesn’t reinvent the horror wheel, but it adds a new venue for your nightmares: your own backyard.
From: Esquire US