It’s time for our annual run-down of the top 10 horror films of the year! Usually, this list is heavily dominated by smaller, independent fare seen on the festival circuit. However, this year, our top 1o list is primarily mainstream hits featuring such horrors as cheerful demons, vampires big and small, killer spiders, hungry aliens with sensitive hearing and internal misogyny and self-hatred.
It was a strong year for mainstream horror, with two films in particular (Heretic and The Substance) breaking through with critics groups. Horror as a genre has been repeatedly overlooked when it comes to dishing out critics’ awards, so seeing the fine performances of Hugh Grant, Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore being featured alongside the more obvious Oscar-bait fare feels like a small step forward.
Honourable mentions:
Alien Romulus – Both fun and the single biggest disappointment of the year. The digital necromancy was inexcusable. The early plot shenanigans felt and looked like a cheap BBC children’s sci-fi drama. Andy Jonnson carried the film on his back despite being saddled with a character which evoked the worst of tropes- the “magical negro”. Once the alien gets loose, Fede Alvarez’s directing takes flight, but, overall, it lacked tension. Will the upcoming TV series fare any better?
The First Omen – looks beautiful and has great set pieces and a fun scene playing homage to Possession but lacks the courage of its convictions in the last 10 minutes.
MaXXine – My love for Mia Goth knows no bounds but not everything needs to be a trilogy. Go watch X instead.
Oddity – My cold, dead, non-reactive heart was not chilled by this, but it scared the bejesus out of others, so if you’re looking for a sombre chiller, give it a go. Mostly, I just enjoyed my friend guessing the killer in 5 minutes and sighing deeply throughout as if my inability to correctly attune to the motives of the on-screen killer was a deep personal failing of mine.
Strange Darling – Nifty non-linear storytelling featuring fine performances from Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald. Destined to be a cult classic.
Trap – Charming dad slash serial killer Josh Hartnett tries to escape the police at a Lady Raven concert. Remarkably linear for a M Night Shaylaman film this is top-notch nonsense. Shaylaman’s script frequently features lines no actor could ever pull off and it loses steam once the action moves away from the concert. But Shaylaman’s daughter Saleka Night Shaylaman is a convincing faux Taylor Swift (the first in our list!) and Josh Hartnett makes it very clear he is back, open for business and happy to do unnecessary topless scenes. Directors hire this man.
10 – Infested (Vermines) – Arachnophobia with brutal social commentary. Kaleb (Theo Christine) acquires a rare (smuggled) spider as a pet. But he’s a neglectful spider daddy, and soon, his baby and its murderous offspring are growing at an alarming rate and killing every resident of his run-down French apartment building. Unfortunately for Kaleb and his friends, ACAB and the authorities (who care nothing for the inhabitants of the tower block) are happy to leave them to their fate. Sebastian Vanicek (who landed director’s duties on the next Evil Dead movie on the back of Infested) directs with verve. You know how in a monster movie you’re usually waiting with glee for the little critters to start causing havoc as one-by-one characters fall? In Infested Vanicek (and co-writer Florent Bernard) make you care about Kaleb’s rag-tag group of family and friends so that when they start dying it’s HORRIFIC. Utterly harrowing.
Infested is streaming now on Shudder.
9 – Nosferatu – Lily-Rose Depp and Nicholas Hoult are horny for Count Orlok in Robert Eggers’ glossy retelling of the classic tale. As beautifully directed as you would expect, this is a histrionic gothic romance depicted in the highest of registers. Depp gives an impressive, compassionate turn as Ellen, a woman in sway to Count Orlok (an unrecognisable Bill Skarsgard). Skarsgard is mesmeric as the repulsive Orlok who longs for Ellen. Nicholas Hoult has quietly become one of the best actors working today and he is superb as Thomas Hutter. The scene of a naked Count Orlok feeding from Hutter is quite something – you can’t tell if Hutter’s terror is because he is repulsed by Orlok or because he wants him badly. Slightly overlong the pace drags a little in the middle before Willem Dafoe, a man who was made to loudly declaim about vampires by candlelight, appears to kick the movie into high gear. I wish it was a little scarier and a little hornier but it’s a beautiful gothic romance.
Nosferatu is in cinemas now.
8- The Ceremony is about to Begin – a short, sharp, very nasty found footage movie from director Sean Nichols Lynch, which features a documentary filmmaker investigating what happened to the inhabitants of a wellness retreat/cult inspired by the rituals of ancient Egypt. A very clever spin on a modern Mummy movie. Try as I might, I cannot get the last couple of scenes out of my head, and it takes a lot to shake me. The Ceremony is about to Begin screened as part of the SoHome virtual festival, part of Soho Horror Film Festival 2024 (my favourite horror film festival in the UK hands down).
7 – Longlegs -I saw this in a packed Odeon with a non-horror crowd and at the point at which the demonic dolls appeared the woman next to me starting chanting “What the Fuck????” under her breath and didn’t stop for 5 minutes. That’s pretty much all you need to know about this film. Maika Monroe stars as Agent Lee Harper, a junior FBI agent searching for a serial killer (Nicolas Cage) who leaves occult clues at his crime scenes. Writer/director Osgood Perkins has created a film that is 101 minutes of pure sustained dread. The movie oozes menace from every pore. Yet it’s also incredibly funny- the blackest of black comedies. A particular line reading by Blair Underwood late in the film is appalling and hilarious in equal measure. Longlegs manages to be disturbing, silly, horrific, distressing and funny all at the same time. Cage gives it 110% as ever but his over-the-top performance as Longlegs is genuinely upsetting. His character is terrifying (and that terror has nothing to do with the character’s melted appearance which makes him look like the victim of an addiction to plastic surgery). Cage is deeply sinister in the role. Monroe arguably underplays as the buttoned-up Harper but compared to Cage anyone is going to look subtle. Alicia Witt shines as Harper’s mother Ruth.
Osgood Perkins is prodigiously talented and a force to be reckoned with in the horror community and I cannot wait to see what havoc he is soon to unleash with Stephen King adaptation The Monkey.
6 – Late Night with the Devil – It’s a shame that a social media storm over the use of AI graphics overshadowed the launch of writer/directors Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes slick, unsettling homage to Ghostwatch. (Note fuck AI – pay your graphic designers!) David Dastmalchian stars as Jack Delroy, a late-night talk show host in the 70’s. Delroy is grieving the unexpected loss of his wife and struggling with being a permanent runner-up to Johnny Carson in the ratings. In a desperate attempt to shake things up a bit, Jack hosts a live Halloween special including an interview with Lilly (Ingrid Torelli) who claims to be possessed by a demon. Things go horribly awry.
Late Night with the Devil is just plain fun. Gory, creepy and fast-paced, it wears its influences proudly on its sleeve. David Dastmalchian takes centre stage with a rare leading role (hopefully the first of many) and is brilliant as the devastated if wildly ambitious, Jack. If we’re nitpicking it doesn’t feel especially 70s and the ending is a little abrupt (we get to see the press build-up to the live show but not the aftermath). Overall a triumphant entry in the “live TV gone wrong” genre after Ghostwatch and the live episode of Inside No.9 plus I love anything where I have to go back and find hidden ghosts.
Late Night with the Devil is streaming now on Shudder and you can buy a limited edition release from Second Sight Films.
5 – Smile 2 – I loved the first movie – yes, it’s overlong, and the payoff isn’t quite as chilling as it needs to be, but Sosie Bacon is fantastic, and it’s cheerfully nihilistic. In Smile 2, writer/director Parker Finn ups the ante in every way with the premise – hey, what if Taylor Swift got infected by the Smile demon mid Eras Tour? After a savage cold open in which we find out the fate of Kyle Gallner from the first movie, our attentions turn to Skye Riley, a Taylor Swift-style pop icon who is about to launch a massive concert tour. Skye is returning to the limelight after a well-documented struggle with drink, drugs and her mental health following a car crash, which left her boyfriend dead and Skye injured. An ill-fated trip to her dealer sees Skye infected by the smile demon, and chaos ensues. Naomi Scott is brilliant as Skye. Often, when movies try to depict pop stars, they fail dismally, but Scott is convincing as a massive pop diva unravelling under the pressures of stardom. The “Smile” set pieces are unsettling – yes they cheat terribly by hiring Jack Nicholson’s son Ray (a dead ringer for his dad and yes his smile is terrifying) but the scene with Skye’s backing dancers in her apartment is pure nightmare fuel. For a mainstream horror movie aimed at an audience used to tamer fare this is quite the headfuck and incredibly vicious. Bonus points for committing to the ending.
Smile 2 is available to rent/buy on digital now.
4 – Abigail – Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (aka Radio Silence who previously directed Ready or Not and the first two films in the recent Scream overhaul) have an absolute field day with this ridiculously fun tale of a group of mercenaries hired to kidnap a pre-teen girl who turns out to be a bloodthirsty vampire. Writers Stephen Shields and Guy Busick’s script sparklesas Abigail matches wits with her hapless kidnappers. Everyone involved just seems to be having the best time. Dan Stevens continues his commitment to being as weird as fucking possible on screen as Frank, the group’s leader. Stevens is always magnetic on-screen (when did he evolve from floppy-haired Disney Prince to the best character actor Britain has?) and gives the line reading of the year with the iconic “Sammy those are fucking onions”. He also looks very fine drenched in blood in a scene which is a clear homage to Near Dark. Kevin Durand is strangely moving as the dumb as a bucket of rocks hired muscle Peter, who forms a touching relationship with Sammy (Kathryn Newton). Newton is charming as the ditzy, thrill-seeking tech support who falls afoul of Abigail. Alisha Weir gives a tornado of a performance as Abigail – brutal ancient vampire one minute, scared little girl the next. She’s a riot (and the casting of her father given Mr Stevens involvement is a delight).
But the film deservedly belongs to Melissa Barrera. Barrera has had a terrible year after being dismissed from the last film in the overhauled Sceam trilogy for timidly reposting her support for the people of Palestine on social media. The social media storm that followed was unpleasant with Neve Campbell (who had publicly walked from the franchise after not being paid her due) returning to replace Barrera as lead. I confess I was never the hugest fan of Barrera or her character in Scream but her dismissal was unjust. So how wonderful that she got the opportunity to show what a talented actress she is in Abigail. Her character Joey is the beating heart of the movie and Barrera is great in the role. Here’s hoping Joey is the first of many lead roles for her. Let’s also raise a glass to Angus Cloud – gone far too soon.
Abigail is now available to rent/buy on digital
3 – A Quiet Place – Day 1 – A Quiet Place was an over-hyped, high-concept tale of a family dealing with living in a world where making the slightest sound results in instant death by rampaging aliens. When the sequel was announced, the world yelled out that we didn’t want a sequel (even if it did feature the winning pairing of Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt pre-Oppenheimer) but a prequel featuring Blunt and co instead. A Quiet Place Day One gives us our prequel but goes a very different route, focusing on Lupita Nyong’o as Samira. Samira is terminally ill with cancer and living in hospice care in New York, where she is being cared for by helper Reuben (a lovely performance by Alex Wolff). Samira is deeply pissed off that she’s dying, and her mood isn’t helped by aliens invading and eating most of her friends. In the aftermath of the invasion, she teams up with Eric (Joseph Quinn) as they try to reach safety.
Directed by Michael Sarnoski (best known for directing Pig – featuring a career-best performance from Nicolas Cage) A Quiet Place Day One is a mediative, deeply moving film. In a world in which critics allowed more than one or two horror movies a year to get traction Nyong’o and Quinn would be being talked about as Oscar hopefuls. Nyong’o gives the best performance of this list as Samira. Samira is furious, brave and so, so full of life. Nyong’o is emotionally devastating in an unshowy, vanity-free performance. Quinn, who has gone supernova since his role in Stranger Things became an unlikely fan favourite, is sweet and heartbreakingly gentle as the terrified Eric who is determined to care for Samira the best that he can. In a world in which male action stars have contracts which require that they never lose a fight on screen, it feels quietly revolutionary for Quinn to play a character that is openly terrified. In an alien invasion, most of us would be useless and would also follow Lupita Nyong’o if we saw her as she probably knows what she’s doing. Eric is a relatable king. Bonus points for featuring the most chill cat ever to hit celluloid (the fact that Nyong’o was terrified of cats and had to have therapy to act alongside one and is now the most committed cat mum ever is, of course, brilliant). The aliens are invading left, right and centre and this cat just moseys around like he’s John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Zero Fucks to give.
A Quiet Place Day One is a devastating look at life, love and what we leave behind. The last image will destroy you.
A Quiet Place: Day One is now available to buy on Blu Ray and streams on Paramount +
2 – Immaculate – all hail Sydney Sweeney who spent a decade struggling to get Immaculate made. Most actresses want the opportunity to bring literary classics or Shakespeare adaptations to the screen – not Sweeney. No Sir. Her heart was set on bringing this exceptionally nasty slice of nunsploitation to life. Fuck Shakespeare. Sweeney first auditioned for the lead role of Sister Cecilia in Immaculate when she was 16 years old and she so loved the script by Andrew Lobel that once her star started to rise she purchased the rights to the screenplay and asked collaborator Michael Mohan (her director on The Voyeurs) to direct. Sweeny is credited as a producer on the film.
Immaculate features Sweeney as Sister Cecilia, an American nun who travels to a convent in Italy where she becomes pregnant, seemingly by immaculate conception. As she is deified as the new Virgin Mary Cecilia becomes aware that something is terribly wrong at the convent. Both a trashy “evil nuns” flick and a screech of rage against the diminished bodily autonomy of women around the world Immaculate is Body Horror on the grandest of scales. Sweeney is fearless throughout – the movie lives or dies by her and she is exceptional- carrying it effortlessly. Immaculate 1000% sticks the landing, bravely committing to a final horrific scene that is either completely justified or utterly unforgivable depending on your point of view. (Team Cecilia!)
Immaculate is now streaming in the UK on Amazon Prime
1 – The Substance – There was no question what movie was getting the number slot in this list. The Substance by writer/director Coralie Fargeat is our horror of the year. Anchored by brilliant (and yes Oscar-worthy) performances from Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley The SubstancefeaturesMoore as Elisabeth Sparkle. Sparkle is a film star and fitness guru with her own fitness show but time has moved against Sparkle. No longer seen as “cool” or young enough to attract an audience she is drummed out by studio head Harvey (Dennis Quaid, actively repulsive in the best performance he’s given in years). After a minor accident, a nurse at the hospital suggests that Sparkle would be a good candidate for a black-market drug. One which brings about your best, younger self. Desperate for a second shot at life and fame Elisabeth takes the drug and Sue (Margaret Qualley) emerges from the husk of Elisabeth’s body. Sue auditions for Harvey and becomes Elisabeth’s replacement taking over her fitness show and becoming the world’s hottest new star. If Elisabeth and Sue can reach an equilibrium each can live for 7 days independent of each other but Sue and Elisabeth quickly grow to hate the other’s existence. Elisabeth is bitterly jealous of Sue’s youth, sex appeal and fame and Sue loathes Elisabeth for ageing. As they start to take from each other it all builds to a horrifying climax on New Year’s Eve.
Fargeat’s previous film was Revenge, a brilliant, unflinching, rape revenge tale. In The Substance, Fageat turns her attention to the patriarchy and the women who underpin it. Elisabeth and Sue could live a balanced happy life with each other but they can’t. Their internal misogny, self hatred, terror of ageing and desire to be seen as eternally attractive to a male population that seems to reserve a particular loathing for women who age, simply won’t allow them to be happy. The profound callousness with which both Elisabeth and Sue treat each other when they are in prime position leaving the other one dumped on a cold bathroom floor without the smallest act of kindness is almost unbearable to watch. Every women watching will have been left completely heartbroken at the scene where Demi Moore (looking more beautiful than any woman has ever looked) repeatedly changes her outfit and make up before failing to go on a date with a nice man who thought he’d won the lottery when Elisabeth agreed to go out with him because she doesn’t think she looks beautiful enough. It’s devastating to watch.
Fargeat elicits killer performances from her lead actresses. Moore and Qualley are both superb. Moore allows herself to be completely raw and vulnerable in a way we’ve never seen before. Elisabeth is a woman in the height of her power but she is so desperate for attention from people who care nothing for her that she doesn’t realise how exceptional she is. Stripped of vanity and often completely naked Moore is devastatingly brilliant throughout. Qualley is charming, devious, sexy and venal. Both women show themselves to be highly talented comedians – Qualley especially is hysterical as the outraged Sue trying to deal with her older self.
If you haven’t seen it yet and this all sounds a bit depressing it should also be noted that The Substance is absolutely fucking hilarious. It is so gloriously camp (Demi Moore’s yellow coat, sunglasses and Amazon package look is already an iconic Halloween costume). Sue’s workout routines (Sparkle your life!) are so salacious and ridiculous you will end the movie feeling like you’ve seen more of Margaret Qualley than her gynaecologist ever has. At one point Sue goes full Welder Barbie and builds Elisabeth an entire hidden dungeon in her bathroom. Who knew Sue was so handy?
It all builds to a grotesque, grand guignol, balls-to-the-wall finale as Sue and Elisabeth’s battle for perfection ends with a horrifying display of hatred and violence from their male peers. The Substance is brilliant, silly, sexy, hilarious and a screamingly furious look at ageing, misogyny and self-hatred.
The Substance is now streaming on Mubi