45+ Best (and worst) Horror Movies of 2024 So Far, Ranked

The best (and the rest) of horror cinema in 2024. Each movie is ranked and briefly reviewed, with links to extended reviews included when available.

Infested skitters its way to the top of the list (so far)!

Table of Contents

We’re only a few months into 2024, and there have already been many good horror movies, a few great ones, and some that aren’t as entertaining. But every movie has the potential for greatness (or at least goodness). So instead of ranking only the best horror movies of the year, we like to rank everything that we see. From the best to the worst.

There are still plenty of highly anticipated horror films yet to come in 2024: MaXXXine, The Watchers, Terrifier 3, The Strangers: Chapter 1, Longlegs, Alien: Romulus. The list goes on and on. Therefore, you should expect this list to grow and change regularly throughout the entirety of 2024. Our Best of 2023 list grew to over 100 movies, and you can expect this year’s to be even bigger.

As always, what we consider to be a “new” horror movie for inclusion in this ranking is any film given its first wide release in North America sometime during 2024. The release can be in theaters, streaming, or physical media, but it must be a release that most people reasonably have a chance to see. That means you might see a few international movies listed that were released prior to 2024 in other countries, and there are movies here that were given film festival screenings or limited theatrical releases prior to 2024. But those movies weren’t released widely in North America until 2024.

The Top 10 Horror Movies of 2024 (so far)

1. Infested

Manon is caught in a web and holds a lighter as a spider approaches her face in Infested (2023).
The director of Infested, Sébastien Vanicek, was announced in February of 2024 as the director of an upcoming Evil Dead movie. (pictured: Lisa Nyarko as Manon in Infested)

Infested is pure, skin-crawling adrenaline. It follows Kaleb (Théo Christine) and a small group of his family, friends, and neighbors as they try to survive and escape when their rundown apartment building is overrun with large, vicious, and rapidly-reproducing spiders. The film is claustrophobic even if you’re not prone to being nervous in tight spaces, it’ll get under your skin even if you’re not an arachnophobe, and it even has some good character development to make you care about the characters who are in tight spaces with more spiders than they can count. Also, the movie looks great, with impactful camera movements, fittingly distressed locations, and great uses of light and darkness.

2. Stopmotion

Ella works on her film in Stopmotion (2023).
At times Stopmotion might get too ambiguous and “arthouse” for some viewers, but it’s amazing effective if you can connect with it.

Stop-motion animation is already creepy in the most calming of settings. Put it in a horror movie, especially in a horror movie where the stop motion is combined with live action, and you have the makings of a visually enthralling and totally unsettling film. Stopmotion is a psychological horror movie about about Ella (Aisling Franciosi), a stop-motion animator who, after working for her filmmaking mother for years, is attempting to create her own short animated film for the first time in her life. Ella struggles with self confidence and her creative side, and when inspiration comes to her in the form of a young girl living in the same apartment building, Ella’s work begins to take over her life and mind.

3. Immaculate

Sydney Sweeney in Immaculate (2024).
Immaculate has, hands down, the best final shot of any horror movie released so far this year (but we’re not going to spoil it here, so this image of Sydney Sweeney as Cecilia is not taken from the final scene).

Immaculate is an insidious horror movie. It starts off perfectly fine, though it is somewhat similar to other religious thriller and horror movies of the past, such as Deliver Us which was released late last year. But at a certain point early in Immaculate, you can tell it’s something special. The visual style is superb, and Sydney Sweeney is fantastic as Cecilia, an American nun who has just taken her vows in an Italian convent where she finds herself inexplicably pregnant. Immaculate draws on the history of nunsploitation and even more general religious-themed horror movies, but that’s not a bad thing. Immaculate is beautiful, unsettling, and has a finale that is going to be hard to beat this year.

4. Frogman

A man's face is affected by his encounter with the Frogman in Frogman (2023).
Frogman is best viewed on VHS if you can find a copy.

It can difficult for a found-footage movie to be made so that it appears truly authentic. Frogman excels in its authenticity, and it does so in a highly entertaining fashion. The story is about a struggling filmmaker named Dallas (Nathan Tymoshuk) who decides to make a documentary about a cryptid known as the Frogman of Loveland, Ohio. Dallas saw the Frogman when he was young, but nobody believes him. So, he travels to Ohio with two friends and, using the same camera he had when he first saw the Frogman, they go about making their documentary. The structure is a lot like The Blair Witch Project (1999) in how it starts with lots of talking and interviews before venturing into the woods for some scares. It’s a classic formula that works extremely well here, and the climax of the film is a ton of fun.

Read our extended review of Frogman.

5. The First Omen

Nell Tiger Free prays as Margaret in The First Omen (2024).
Nell Tiger Free isn’t exactly new to horror (she was in the TV series Servant from 2019–2023), but she did introduce herself to many new horror fans with her performance as Margaret.

Most of the time, a prequel struggles to tell a story that makes it truly meaningful when placed next to the movies that came before it (but take place after it). So, since we know basically where any prequel to The Omen (1976) is going to end (with the birth of the Antichrist), the movie needed to be really good for it to have a true impact. Thankfully, The First Omen is really good. The story follows Margaret, a noviate in a Catholic orphanage in Italy during 1971. Margaret begins to develop bad feelings about her new home, and she is drawn into a conspiracy that could lead to, well, the birth of the Antichrist. The film is surprising engaging thanks to a great cast and a wonderful attention to detail. It does stray into the area of sequel baiting from time to time, and some of its references to the other Omen movies teeter on the edge of drawing too much attention to themselves, but the core of The First Omen is very well done.

6. Double Blind

Millie Brady as Claire in Double Blind (2023).
Double Blind is an excellent first-time feature for director Ian Hunt-Duffy. (pictured: Millie Brady as Claire, looking at the foreboding pills of the drug trial)

Double Blind is a tense thriller that builds up to a psychological horror finale. It is about a double-blind drug trial taking place in a completely isolated underground facility. The volunteers don’t know what the drug does, but they all submit to the trial for various reasons (mostly for the money they’ll receive). The effects of the drug turn deadly when the volunteers realize they will die if they fall asleep. Double Blind doesn’t take too many big risks with its storytelling, it just does everything exceedingly well. The sterile look of the production design supports the themes, the visual metaphors are clear and unobtrusive, the cast is engaging, and the suspense is tight and effective.

7. Lisa Frankenstein

Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse in Lisa Frankenstein (2024).
Lisa Frankenstein is the feature-film directorial debut of Zelda Williams. (pictured: Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse)

Zelda Williams (the director), Diablo Cody (the writer), and Kathryn Newton (the star) should collaborate more often. Lisa Frankenstein is a cute horror comedy that emulates movies like Beetlejuice (1988) and Edward Scissorhands (1990) in a loving way. Though it doesn’t quite live up to those classics, Lisa Frankenstein still manages to elicit laughs and a few dark surprises in its tale of an outcast in 1989, Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton), who is surprised to find that a young man who died in 1837 has risen from the grave due to fate and a critical misunderstanding of a wish Lisa makes.

8. Abigail

Alisha Weir as the vampiric Abigail in Abigail (2024).
Alisha Weir (pictured) is one part of a stellar cast that also includes Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, William Catlett, Angus Cloud, and Giancarlo Esposito.

What is there to say? Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett simply know how to make fun horror movies. The first part of Abigail plays out like a crime thriller as we watch the kidnapping of 12-year-old Abigail and get to know the culprits, their personalities, and their growing distrust for the job and each other. Then, in a twist not so dissimilar from the switch in From Dusk till Dawn (1996), a crime movie becomes a vampire movie. Abigail the vampire attacks her kidnappers, and it’s a cat-and-mouse style bloodbath. A good cast, suitable writing, and amusing chases make Abigail a pleasure to watch.

9. Blackout

Charley transforms into a werewolf in Blackout (2023).
Blackout has a wonderfully classic aura to it from its werewolf design, to the way it slowly introduces the horror aspects while focusing on the drama of its main character and the people around him. (pictured: Alex Hurt as Charley in mid-transformation)

Blackout is a modernized tribute to classic monster movies, specifically Lon Chaney Jr.’s Wolf Man, but it’s not a remake of any of those Universal films. Instead, Blackout takes the idea of those movies being products of their time while portraying the monster (at least, the monster’s human side) in a sympathetic way. Blackout is about a painter, Charley (Alex Hurt), who knows he is a werewolf and is responsible for the unexplained deaths in the small town of Talbot Falls. Charley has a way to deal with his curse, but before he does he wants to make a lasting positive impact by taking down the racist, manipulative businessman who has bullied his way into a leadership role in the town.

10. Late Night with the Devil

David Dastmalchian, Ian Bliss, Ingrid Torelli, and Laura Gordon in Late Night with the Devil (2023).
As late-night talk show host Jack Delroy, David Dastmalchian is fantastic in Late Night with the Devil. (also pictured: Ian Bliss, Ingrid Torelli, and Laura Gordon)

Late Night with the Devil begins as a pseudo-documentary detailing talk show host Jack Delroy’s career, and the rise and decline of his show Night Owls. The movie then transitions into a found-footage style presentation of a recently discovered episode of Night Owls that “shocked the nation” when it aired live on Halloween night in 1977, a night in which Jack plans to showcase guests with connections to the supernatural. Sticklers who want their found footage to feel authentic might be irked by some scenes (and not only in the last twenty minutes), some of the early exposition hints at too much, and the final sequence isn’t going to work for everyone. Regardless, there’s more good than less-good in Late Night with the Devil, making it an enthralling and imaginative crowd-pleaser.

2024 Horror Movies Ranked 11-40

11. Destroy All Neighbors

Vlad is thrown towards the screen in Destroy All Neighbors (2024).
Special effects artist Gabe Bartalos—whose previous effects work includes Darkman (1990), The Guyver (1991), Shaky Shivers (2022) and much more—created the character makeup designs for Destroy All Neighbors.

Destroy All Neighbors is a loud, weird, and cacophonous horror comedy about a hapless musician who can’t stop accidentally killing his neighbors. Jonah Ray Rodrigues (Mystery Science Theater 3000) stars as William, an underachieving prog-rock musician who has been working on his first album for years. Vlad (Alex Winter under a ton of prosthetic makeup) moves in to the apartment next to William’s, and the two get into an altercation that starts William down a path of accidental murder, desperation, and, oddly, inspiration. If you like strange and slightly surreal films that are akin to an assault on your senses (but in a good way), Destroy All Neighbors might be for you.

Read our extended review of Destroy All Neighbors.

12. Somewhere Quiet

Jennifer Kim and Marin Ireland in Somewhere Quiet (2023).
The subjective point of view of Somewhere Quiet will push some viewers away, but director Olivia West Lloyd’s commitment to telling the story in such an affecting way is admirable. (pictured: Jennifer Kim and Marin Ireland)

Somewhere Quiet is, as its name would suggest, a very quiet style of psychological thriller. Jennifer Kim stars as Meg, a woman who is trying to resume some semblance of her previous life after escaping from being abducted for six months and presumed dead. Meg travels with her husband Scott (Kentucker Audley) to his family’s isolated house in the woods where they are joined unexpectedly by Scott’s cousin Madeline (Marin Ireland). Meg’s struggles to find normalcy are exacerbated by Scott and Madeline’s increasingly odd behavior, but is it real, or is it all in Meg’s head? Somewhere Quiet is agonizingly tense throughout, and its way of handling the psychological aspects of the film in a way that encloses viewers completely in Meg’s perspective is fantastic.

13. Lowlifes

Two families sit down together for a meal in Lowlifes (2024).
Of all the Tubi Original horror movies released so far this year, Lowlifes is easily the best.

Lowlifes is a nice surprise. It’s a Tubi Original that, judging by the trailer, appears to be a somewhat typical backwoods cannibal movie. That’s partially a true statement, but the first act of Lowlifes sets something up that makes everything that follows even more enjoyable than you might expect. It also does a really good job of building interesting characters, some of whom you’ll pull for to survive, and some you’ll really want to see get taken out. It’s all very well done.

14. Night Shift

Phoebe Tonkin as Gwen in Night Shift (2023).
There’s a lot of mystery within Night Shift, and as Gwen, Phoebe Tonkin navigates the unknown extremely well.

Night Shift is a blending of genres, and it uses the varying expectations of those genres to propel its central mystery. The story follows Gwen (Phoebe Tonkin) as she, alone, works her first night shift at a rundown motel in the middle of nowhere. As we get to know Gwen, it’s clear she is on the run from someone, and her night gets worse when she’s told that the motel she’s working at is haunted. It sounds like it could be a lot, and it is, but it all comes together to tell a satisfyingly twisty story that leans on psychological horror more as the plot unfolds.

Read our extended review of Night Shift.

15. Here for Blood

Shawn Roberts as Tom O'Bannon in Here for Blood (2022).
The star of Here for Blood, Shawn Roberts, has a long career in genre films, and he played the role of Albert Wesker in Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil franchise.

Here for Blood is goofy fun. Tom O’Bannon (Shawn Roberts) is an independent professional wrestler who volunteers to cover for his girlfriend by babysitting a young girl named Grace (Maya Misaljevic) in her place. The job takes Tom to a secluded house where he ends up fighting for his and Grace’s lives when masked intruders break in. The plot veers in some wild directions after that, but it’s more fun if you let the movie take you where it wants to go. Just know that there is a lot of blood, a good amount of silliness, and a fair amount of watching a pro-wrestler beat people up

16. Monolith

Lily Sullivan in Monolith (2022).
Monolith takes place entirely in a single location with only one actor, Lily Sullivan, appearing on screen (she speaks to everyone else over the phone).

Monolith is a cerebral thriller made for fans of slow burns and great acting. Lily Sullivan (Evil Dead Rise) is an unnamed journalist who starts a podcast after her career is derailed by a scandal concerning one of her articles. Her podcast is about strange mysteries, and her dismissive attitude about the stories changes when she starts following the trail of a story about odd artifacts described as black bricks. The mystery might be a little underwhelming or unsatisfying for viewers looking for simple answers, but the questions Monolith raises, and the acting of Lily Sullivan, carry the film very well.

17. Founders Day

The Founder flashes a peace sign in Founders Day (2024).
The Founder has a unique look that would fit nicely alongside the killers from Uncle Sam (1996) and The Tripper (2006).

Founders Day is a fun slasher that feels like an homage to the gimmicky slashers of the 1990s and early 2000s. Despite its premise of a masked killer in a powdered wig going on a murder spree in the days before a heated mayoral election, don’t expect any particularly pithy political satire. Instead, expect some light political posturing to go along with a Scream-like mystery and a few good kills.

Read our extended review of Founders Day.

18. The Bridge Curse: Ritual

Wang Yu-xuan as Ting in The Bridge Curse: Ritual (2023).
The Bridge Curse: Ritual is a sequel and it does have connections to the movie that came before it, but it works well as a (mostly) standalone film, so you don’t need to see The Bridge Curse (2020) in order to enjoy it. (pictured: Wang Yu-xuan as Ting)

Like the movie that came before it, The Bridge Curse (2020), The Bridge Curse: Ritual asks its viewers to go along with it on a journey that doesn’t always make perfect sense. If you can get into the spirit of it though, it’s a good time. The story is about a group of students developing an augmented reality game. They test the game in their school which is already haunted, and, well, you get the idea. This Taiwanese ghost movie is surprisingly entertaining, though the finale does act like it makes things up as it goes along.

19. Laced

Dana Mackin as Molly in Laced (2023).
Molly (Dana Mackin) is at the center of Laced, and she has to think quickly as her plan falls apart repeatedly throughout the night.

Laced has a simple and gripping premise: a wife plans to murder her abusive husband, but nothing goes according to plan. The film is set in an isolated cabin during a snowstorm, which keeps the cast small and the tension high as more and more twists and turns pop up throughout the evening. The plot does start to veer off track at times, but all together Laced is a nicely-made thriller.

20. You’ll Never Find Me

Patrick and The Visitor plays cards in You'll Never Find Me (2023).
Brendan Rock and Jordan Cowan star in You’ll Never Find Me.

A woman stranded in a storm takes shelter in the mobile home of a man. They don’t know each other, they both have secrets, and they’re stuck together until the storm passes. You’ll Never Find Me is a tense and claustrophobic psychological thriller that progresses at a deliberate pace. The finale might not be worth the buildup for some viewers, but it is engrossing the way the film handles the back-and-forth batting of suspicions between the two characters.

21. Dagr

The and Louise watch footage from a tablet in Dagr (2024).
There are different levels of found footage in Dagr, meaning we’re sometimes watching footage of people watching footage of someone else, and it works surprisingly well. (pictured: Riz Moritz and Ellie Duckles as Louise and Thea)

Dagr begins by introducing viewers to online pranksters/criminals Thea (Ellie Duckles) and Louise (Riz Moritz). In a found-footage format, we watch as the pair record themselves as the plan their greatest heist yet. They’re going to steal from the crew of a commercial being filmed in an isolated mansion, but what they don’t know is that the town the mansion is located in is the home to supernatural happenings. Naturally, Thea and Louise soon discover the danger for themselves. Dagr is really good, and the structure of its plot is something unique and tremendously memorable for found footage.

Read our extended Dagr review.

22. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Garraka's eyes shine in Ghostbuaters: Frozen Empire (2024).
The Big Bad in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Garraka, could’ve used more personality.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is satisfactory big-budget franchise filmmaking. It’s entertaining and has its charm, but the writing is just okay most of the time, and the cast—although great—is too big to be able to keep a strong focus on the main plot thread. There is a lot going on, and not all of it is explored well enough, or even conceived well enough. But yeah, it’s totally fine. People say funny things from time to time, the current Ghostbusters team up with the previous Ghostbusters, and there’s a big ice monster.

23. Bag of Lies

Matt and Claire hesitate before a kiss in Bag of Lies (2024).
Patrick Taft and Brandi Botkin as Matt and Claire are the biggest highlights in Bag of Lies.

Bag of Lies has an odd premise, but once you get into the story and meet the two main characters, it will draw you in. Claire (Brandi Botkin) has cancer at an advanced stage, and her husband Matt (Patrick Taft) can’t bear the thought of losing her. Matt conducts a ritual that involves blood and a large bag with something in it that should not be looked at, touched, or spoken to once the ritual is complete. This leads to a story that is part supernatural horror and part heartfelt drama about a husband and wife who no longer understand where each other is coming from.

Read our extended review of Bag of Lies.

24. Model House

Model House (2024)
Model House was written and directed by Derek Pike.

In Model House, five swimsuit models are staying together in a rented house when two masked intruders break in. The intruders have a cunning (and naive) plan to make money off the models, but things go awry, trust is threatened, and violence takes over. Parts of the second half of Model House don’t work as well as the first half, but it’s still a good recommendation for fans of crime thrillers that are, for the most part, character-driven.

Read our extended Model House review.

25. My Bloody Galentine

Ella-Rae Smith, Miriam-Teak Lee, and Cassie Clare in My Bloody Galentine (2024).
It’s okay if you don’t know what a “Galentine” is, they explain it in the movie. (pictured: Ella-Rae Smith, Miriam-Teak Lee, and Cassie Clare)

My Bloody Galentine is kind of like a slasher version of an anti-rom-com. It’s about a naive/innocent American woman who becomes friends with two of her new coworkers in London when they bond over their displeasure with men and romance in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. They plot revenge on their exes, but a killer in a mask is adding to their revenge with murder. My Bloody Galentine is quite silly most of the time, but it’s also really charming.

Read our extended review of My Bloody Galentine.

26. Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey II

Tigger prepares to kill in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 (2024).
Tigger (pictured) is a welcome new addition to the Pooh Universe (officially called the Twisted Childhood Universe), but Owl is probably the most interesting character in the entirety of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey II.

We said that Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey II would be better than the first Blood and Honey, and it is. By a lot. Pooh and his friends look better, there’s more killing, and the story is greatly improved. Christopher Robin (played by Scott Chambers) drives the story this time as he deals with the effects of the first film and memories of his past when he first became friends with Pooh. The movie does run out of steam by the end, but seeing Pooh and Tigger run wild through a rave is great.

27. Departing Seniors

Ignacio Diaz-Silverio as Javier in Departing Seniors (2023).
Departing Seniors was directed by Clare Cooney and written by Jose Nateras. (pictured Ignacio Diaz-Silverio as Javier)

Departing Seniors is a high-school slasher comedy with a supernatural twist. After Javier (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio) is bullied and tumbles down a flight of stairs, a knock on his head unlocks a psychic power. Javier can now see into the past and future of any person he touches. This leads him to the discovery of a killer dispatching his classmates, so Javier and best friend Bianca (Ireon Roach) try to stop the murderer before they strike again. Departing Seniors is light and cute, but the action can be awkward, and the mystery ultimately isn’t very mysterious.

28. The Camp Host

The camp host stands in front of a bloody tent in The Camp Host (2024).
The first half of The Camp Host is better than the second, but the movie as a whole is still entertaining throughout. (pictured: Brooke Johnson as the camp host)

Brooke Johnson stars as the title character in The Camp Host, and she is a woman who takes her job way too seriously. Sadie (Rachel Colwell) and Ed (Dillon Casey) are living the van life and decide to stop at a scenic campground for the night. They meet the camp host who tells them the rules of her forest, and they realize too late that breaking her rules could very well mean death. This isn’t a straightforward slasher movie though. It turns into something else about halfway through which keeps things interesting even if it does stretch believability pretty far.

29. All You Need is Death

Olwen Fouéré as Rita in All You Need is Death (2023).
Olwen Fouéré, who plays Rita in All You Need is Death, was named as the 22nd greatest Irish actor of all time in 2020 by The Irish Times.

All You Need is Death is a unique blending of folk horror and cosmic horror. It follows a couple, Anna (Simone Collins) and Aleks (Charlie Maher), who travel throughout Ireland looking for rare folk songs to secretly record and sell. It’s a strange premise that gets even stranger when they meet a woman, Rita (Olwen Fouéré), who sings a forbidden song for them that has disastrous effects on their minds (and possibly more). The pacing of All You Need is Death is rather slow, but it tells its story in a way that supports the ideas of musicality and creeping dread.

Read our extended review of All You Need is Death.

30. Slay

Heidi N Closet, Cara Melle, Trinity the Tuck, and Crystal Methyd in Slay (2024).
Slay stars (from the left): Heidi N Closet, Cara Melle, Trinity the Tuck, and Crystal Methyd.

Slay is essentially From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) meets To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), and it’s as fun as that sounds. It is a horror comedy about four drag queens who mistakenly book a show at a dive bar in a remote and (mostly) unwelcoming town, and during their performance vampires arrive to crash the party. Now the queens and the locals are forced to work together as vamps surround the bar while trying to find their way in. The movie might be a bit long at an hour and forty minutes, and some of the jokes are run into the ground by the end, but Slay still provides plenty of laughs with its unabashed campiness.

Read our extended review of Slay.

31. Prey for the Bride

The Wolf in Prey for the Bride (2024).
The killer in Prey for the Bride has a simple look, but it’s good for this style of low-budget slasher flick.

A weekend getaway for a bachelorette party turns into a bloodbath when a killer in a wolf mask arrives uninvited. Prey for the Bride is a decent slasher movie with a few good twists and some nice slasher kills. The ending sequence is a bit odd and awkward, but the mystery leading up to it is handled well. Without giving too much away, the story involves a secret being kept by one or more members of a bride’s close circle of friends, and it soon becomes clear that the killer knows what that secret is.

Read our extended review of Prey for the Bride.

32. The Seeding

Scott Haze as Wyndham Stone in The Seeding (2023).
The Seeding was shot on location in the city of Kanab, Utah. (pictured: Scott Haze as Wyndham Stone)

The Seeding is a gorgeous movie, but it never becomes as dangerous or surprising as it should. The Seeding tells the story of Wyndham Stone (Scott Haze) who becomes trapped in an enclosed canyon when he gets lost in the desert. At the center of the canyon is a dilapidated house where a woman named Alina (Kate Lyn Sheil) lives, and now Scott lives there too. The drama between Wyndham and Alina is set against the fear of the gang of boys who watch from above and keep them trapped.

Read out extended review of The Seeding.

33. No Way Up

Sophie McIntosh stars as Ava in No Way Up (2024).
Sophie McIntosh stars as Ava in No Way Up (2024).

With the sheer number of shark movies that come out every year, how can you possibly make one that stands out? No Way Up does it by putting a shark in an airplane after it crashes into the ocean in exactly the right position so that a tiny group of survivors have a pocket of air. If you enjoy a lot of the lower-budget, lower-profile shark movies that are released with regularity, then you’ll probably enjoy No Way Up as well.

Read our extended review of No Way Up.

34. Baghead

Baghead points to Iris in Baghead (2023).
Baghead could’ve been great, but it loses its way towards the end.

Baghead begins with an intriguing premise somewhat reminiscent of Talk To Me (2022) in how its horror could be approached. Iris (Freya Allan) inherits her estranged father’s pub, and after arriving there she finds something strange in the basement. A creature, the eponymous Baghead, lives in the walls of the basement with the ability to not only channel the spirits of the dead, but to completely take the dead’s form. The movie is quite creepy and intriguing for the first two thirds, but the story takes a strange, convoluted turn towards the end that leaves a lot of its most interesting drama and character development behind.

35. Refuge

Aston McAuley in Refuge (2023)
Refuge was directed by Renny Harlin. (pictured in the foreground: Aston McAuley)

Refuge has the feeling of a well-made made-for-TV movie. Like an impressive Hallmark Channel movie, but with horror. Refuge is about an American soldier, Rick, who encounters something supernatural while deployed overseas. He comes home with what is thought to be PTSD, but he’s actually possessed by an evil spirit, and his only hope might be the Imam of a local mosque. There are good ideas here, but the delivery of those ideas comes across as melodramatic thanks to the dialogue, and largely superficial thanks to stock characters with little development. It’s not bad, it just feels very slight, especially when considering the heavy topics it attempts to explore.

Read our extended review of Refuge.

36. Imaginary

Chauncey the Bear in Imaginary (2024).
The “imaginary friend” in Imaginary initially takes the form of a teddy bear named Chauncey.

Imaginary stars DeWanda Wise as Jessica, a wife and mother who is doing her best to connect with her two step-daughters. The family moves into the house where Jessica grew up, but Jessica remembers almost nothing about living there as a child. Her youngest step-daughter finds a stuffed bear in the basement, and that begins a series of increasingly dangerous events as the girl begins doing whatever her new imaginary friend tells her. The story of Imaginary isn’t bad, though the execution isn’t always the most exciting or scary.

Take a look at a few movies similar to Imaginary.

37. Primbon

Flavio Zaviera as Rana in Primbon (2023).
Primbon is an Indonesian horror movie from director Rudy Soedjarwo and writer Lele Laila. (pictured: Flavio Zaviera as Rana)

After getting lost in the woods and remaining missing for a week, Rana (Flavio Zaviera) is presumed dead by everyone except her mother. Rana unexpectedly returns home, but most people don’t believe it’s Rana who returned. Instead, they think something sinister from the forest that has taken Rana’s form. The first half of Primbon is rather clichéd with its attempts to scare, but the second half of the movie—when the drama starts to really pick up—is actually pretty good.

38. Night Swim

Kerry Condon as Eve in Night Swim (2024).
Night Swim is based on a short film of the same name. The director of the feature, Bryce McGuire, also co-directed the short with Rod Blackhurst. (pictured: Kerry Condon as Eve)

If you think movie about a haunted swimming pool would be hard to pull off, then Night Swim proves you right. Despite a good cast led by Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon, Night Swim is just okay. It does have a few good scenes and creepy moments, but they all add up to something very average.

39. ROMI

Maddie covers her ears in ROMI (2023).
ROMI tries to do a lot, and it doesn’t always work, but it can be a mildly diverting film for fans of movies about AI gone wrong.

ROMI is a smart-home thriller with supernatural elements, potential stalker vibes, and family drama. It’s a lot, and it doesn’t always mesh well, but it’s intriguing more often than not. The story is about a young woman, Maddie (Alexa Baraja), who runs afoul of the artificial intelligence installed in the house she is temporarily staying in. Maddie has serious troubles with her mother, the AI won’t listen to her half the time, and the technician who installed the system is getting a bit too friendly. Plus there might be a ghost in the machine.

40. Sunrise

Guy Pearce in Sunrise (2024).
Guy Pearce is great as the villain Reynolds in Sunrise.

Guy Pearce costars in Sunrise as the film’s outrageously infuriating villain, and he is the best reason to watch the movie. The plot involves a mysterious man named Fallon (Alex Pettyfer) who wanders into town and winds up staying with a single-parent family led by Yan Loi (Crystal Yu). Fallon has dangerous secrets, some of them involving his past enemies, and some of them involving exactly who (or what) he is. There are good ideas in Sunrise, but it is slow to get where it’s going, and it disappointingly falls apart towards the end.

2024 Horror Movies Ranked 41 and Beyond

41. History of Evil

Ron watches TV alone at night in History of Evil (2024).
The mental journey of Ron (Paul Wesley), the father figure in the family on the run, has the potential to be very interesting, but his character is handled very haphazardly.

In a near future where America is overtaken by extremist ideology, a family of three is on the run as terrorists and fugitives. Accompanied by a member of the resistance, the family stays at an old house in the woods until a rescue team can pick them up. Why do they think the house is safe from the prying eyes of the enemy? Because the house is said to be haunted. History of Evil is kind of like The Shining (1980) in how the house affects the family (specifically the father), but it’s nowhere near as good. It’s like History of Evil can’t decide what to focus on—the horror, the politics, or the family drama—so it waters down all three. It also fails to realize what the most tense part of the movie is, getting rid of it prior to the actual finale.

42. Last Night at Terrace Lanes

A masked man speaks into a microphone in Last Night at Terrace Lanes (2024).
Jamie Nash, the director of Last Night at Terrace Lanes, also wrote and codirected the 2006 low-budget Christmas horror movie Two Front Teeth.

Last Night at Terrace Lanes is a horror comedy that feels almost disjointed in its switch from the drama and horror buildup in the beginning, to the weird comedy and nonsensical plot points towards the end. The story is about young woman, her father, and her friend/crush who try to survive the night when members of a cult invade a bowling alley. There are some fun gore effects, and the movie is fine overall. There’s just too much squandered potential.

43. Festival of the Living Dead

People parade into the Festival of the Living Dead in Festival of the Living Dead (2024).
Festival of the Living Dead was directed by the Soska Sisters (American Mary, Rabid).

Festival of the Living Dead is set 55 years after the events of Night of the Living Dead (1968). Ash (Ashley Moore), the daughter of Ben from George Romero’s original movie, attends a music festival with her douchey boyfriend and his friends. Then a zombie outbreak occurs. The result is an okay action-horror movie that would have been much better (but still only okay) if it hadn’t tried to associate itself with one of the classics of the zombie genre.

Read our extended review of Festival of the Living Dead.

44. Punch

The Mr. Punch killer from Punch (2023).
Basing a slasher villain on Mr. Punch is a great idea.

Punch is a slasher set in a small seaside town in England featuring a killer wearing a mask inspired by the Mr. Punch character from the puppet show “Punch and Judy.” Frankie (Alina Allison) is back in her hometown for a few days before returning to university, and as she reconnects with a few estranged friends, the Punch-masked killer appears to be murdering his way towards her. Punch is a decent slasher, but the pace slows down at times, and it ends up coming across as a little flat overall.

45. Project Dorothy

Project Dorothy (2024).
Scream queen Danielle Harris is the voice of the malevolent AI in Project Dorothy.

Project Dorothy is a sci-fi/crime thriller that follows two criminals who hide from pursuing police in what appears to be an abandoned warehouse, but is really a scientific facility that houses a dangerous artificial intelligence. The idea is good, but the execution struggles to provide much sympathy for the humans, or much tension between the humans and the machines (which mostly consist of AI-controlled killer forklifts).

46. Séance Games – Metaxu

A seance is held in Séance Games - Metaxu (2024).
The most unbelievable thing in Séance Games – Metaxu is the absurd number of livestream viewers the characters get (but they had to get to 666 million!).

Séance Games – Metaxu has some interesting ideas, but its mixture of haunted house, vengeful spirits, streaming influencers, relationship drama, and online “games” is a bit too much for it to handle. The basic plot is about four aspiring social media influencers who take part in a game/challenge to stream from the scariest places they can find. They decide to perform two séances over two nights at an old house in the middle of nowhere. The séance conjures something real, secrets are revealed, and people start dying in what is an unnecessarily convoluted supernatural horror film.

47. Horny Teenagers Must Die!

Horny Teenagers Must Die keeps it simple. The story is about a group of friends who go to a cabin in the woods and end up dying one by one.

Billed as an homage to slashers from the 1980s, Horny Teenagers Must Die is a valiant attempt at a slasher comedy that is unfortunately underdeveloped in most ways. It is eye-rolling in a way that might connect with people who love bad movies, but otherwise it’s really awkward a lot of the time.

48. Byte

The werewolf in Byte (2024)
The “werewolf” costume in Byte absolutely looks like it has the head of a hairy bat creature. Look at the flat nose (instead of a snout) and the tall, ridged bat ears. The costume also does not match the more wolfish monster on the film’s promotional art.

Byte appears to be one of those movies that started with a clever(ish) title, then the script was written to somehow make sense of that title. Byte is a movie about a mobile app that turns people into werewolves. A guy performs the ritual required by the app, he turns into a werewolf, and his friends try to figure out how to save him. The movie is silly enough to be funny, but it’s also dumb enough to be, well, just dumb.

49. Alice in Terrorland

The Rabbit in Alice in Terrorland (2023).
The characters inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, like the White Rabbit seen here, are all presented in disappointingly static scenes that don’t add up to much.

Alice (Lizzy Willis) is orphaned when her parents die in a fire, so she moves in with her grandmother Beth. Beth claims that her house is where Lewis Carroll used to live, and when Alice becomes gravely ill, she begins having nightmares about twisted versions of characters from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The movie never takes full advantage of its whimsical source material, instead opting to be a psychological thriller with a mystery that becomes tedious when it becomes very obvious what is happening early in the proceedings.

Read our extended review of Alice in Terrorland.

50. Snow Valley

Barbara Crampton and Rachel Michiko Whitney in Snow Valley (2024).
If you’re watching Snow Valley for Barbara Crampton, you’ll probably be disappointed because she’s barely in the movie. (also pictured: Rachel Michiko Whitney)

In Snow Valley, Laura (Rachel Michiko Whitney) learns a lot of things she didn’t know about her boyfriend Heath (Cooper van Grootel) when they spend a weekend at Heath’s family ski chalet. There’s also the matter that the land might be cursed, and that Laura senses a strange presence in the lodge. Snow Valley feels unfinished in a lot of ways, and it takes some very abrupt transitions from tepid thriller, to bizarre comedy, to tacked-on horror.

Read our extended review of Snow Valley.

51. They Turned Us Into Killers

Scout Taylor-Compton and Brian Anthony Wilson in They Turned Us Into Killers (2024).
They Turned Us Into Killers is a sequel to Room 9 (2021), so maybe this movie makes more sense if you’ve seen that one. (pictured: Scout Taylor-Compton and Brian Anthony Wilson)

They Turned Us Into Killers is like watching three or four different movies thrown into a blender and dumped onto the screen. The plot is amazingly convoluted which keeps viewers at a safe distance from coming close to anything like tension, excitement, or coherence. The basic idea is about revenge, but trying to explain the full story is pointless. It’s frustrating to watch, and all the detours lead to nowhere in particular.

Further Reading

Meet The Author

Chris has a degree in film studies at Temple University’s campus in Tokyo, Japan. He is a renowned expert on horror cinema.