Horrormovies in any era reflect people’s collective anxieties. Sometimes, the source of the horror - be it a psycho killer in a slasher or a mythical monster in a supernatural horror film - is a metaphorical stand-in for what causes people to feel anxious, and sometimes it’s the characters' response to danger and horror that represents the source of anxiety in people. So, for example, amongthe best horror movies of the 2020sisThe Host, which is premised on the kind of social isolation that the world was forced into during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The development of the discourse on body politics over the past years prompted director Coralie Fargeat to makeThe Substance,the highly successful horror movie starring Demi Moore. Meanwhile, the trend for remakes also continues in 2024, withNosferatu, which earnedhigh Rotten Tomatoes ratings on its debut. The best horror movies of the past 10 years present a mix of feminist sensibilities, other political ideas, reclaiming monsters, and a return of traditional genre approaches,which reflects the collective nostalgia of the era, whereby remakes and reboots recontextualize classic tales for modern audiences.
It Follows
Cast
It Follows is a horror-thriller film released in 2014 and follows a college student named Jay who is terrorized by a specter of a woman that follows her everywhere she goes. When Jay has sex with her new boyfriend, he ties her up and reveals that this mysterious woman will now haunt her until she passes it on to another or is killed by her. Now haunted by a woman that only she and those once afflicted by her can see, Jay will attempt to survive and find away to break the curse.
It Followswas Maika Monroe’s breakout role asa bona fide scream queen that made her the staple for horror moviesthat she’s become now. It was released a few months afterThe Guestestablished her as an actress with potential. While her performance and the moody soundtrack, particularly the atmospheric score, make the film immersive, it’s nonetheless flawed in its ideology and has a few thematic inconsistencies which keep it from being a masterpiece.
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The setting ofIt Followsand its jump scares, which there’s no dearth of, create the perfect spooky atmosphere necessary to tell the story of a monster that’s a metaphor for STDs or simply a cinematic tool to demonize sex itself. Either way, the message being sent is questionable because of the way the curse works. Apart from featuring an unnecessary sexual assault scene,It Followsdisrupts immersion by breaking its rules far too often. However, thefinal scene ofIt Followsis genuinely scary despite simultaneously feeling convenient and contrived. Moreover, it sets up a sequel that could be better.
A Quiet Place
A Quiet Place, directed by John Krasinski, follows a family navigating a post-apocalyptic world where they must live in silence to evade deadly creatures that hunt by sound.
While Krasinski’s directorial debut predatesA Quiet Placeby nearly a decade, he came into his own as a filmmaker with the highly successful horror film that has grown into one of the fewmodern horror franchisesthat wasn’t conceived in the previous century. With a simple but terrifying premise, the film sets up a world that functions as the audiovisual equivalent of anxiety. The performances, particularly Emily Blunt’s, elevate the film to scary heights where viewers will hold their breath with her not to make a noise. The horror crosses the threshold of the screen through her.
However, as brilliant as the premise is, the execution doesn’t always meet the standards necessary to become a timeless work of art. The noise-driven jumpscares are effective horror devices, but they seem overused after a point of time, andA Quiet Placerelies on typical genre conventions more than its hype, as an innovative film would suggest.The writing is perhaps the greatest point of contentionbecause, with very little time, it manages to flesh out the characters as real people, but features questionable decision-making which dials up the horror, but makes no sense in the film’s world.
Pearl
Pearl, a prequel to the film X, follows the story of a young woman named Pearl residing on a secluded farm during the early 20th century. Directed by Ti West, this psychological horror explores Pearl’s descent into madness, delving into her troubled psyche and the haunting circumstances that surround her. Starring Mia Goth, the film provides a chilling backdrop and a character study of ambition and isolation gone awry.
Feminist politics over the past few years, especially after the #MeToo movement, has scrutinized how the film industry mistreats women and ruins their lives and careers. So, a horror movie that uses the industry’s neglect of talented women as a source of horror isn’t unexpected, butPearlisn’t concerned with politics as much. Instead, it gets stuck in a tug-of-war between trying to gather sympathy for a homicidal protagonist whose motivation for murder is questionable at best and creating memorable gory murder set pieces. As afeminist gender-switched twist on theAmerican Psychoarchetype, it’s, however, a masterclass in writing.
The trilogy ofPearl,X, andMaxxinewas completed with the third film in 2024, but it’s the most underwhelming offering in the franchise, with a measly 75% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Mia Goth’s performance inPearldeserves a spot on the list of all-time best horror performances, especially after the six-minute uncut monologue which she delivers with such gusto that viewers will feel enthralled, entertained, and empathetic towards her. As a prequel to the grindhouse horrorX, however,Pearlseems to strugglein carving out its own territory. The balance between social commentary and entertaining gore is very delicate and while the film walks the line well, one can’t help but feel that it could’ve been done better.
Train to Busan
Train to Busan is a South Korean action-horror film released in 2016. Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, it centers on passengers aboard an express train from Seoul to Busan during a sudden zombie outbreak. As the virus spreads, the survivors must navigate the chaotic and dangerous environment to reach safety.
Zombies have arguably been the most common subject of reinvention and reintroduction for horror filmmaking in cinema history. But few films have come close to reviving the genre to the heights that Sam Raimi took it to with hisEvil Deadmovies likeTrain to Busan. With a necessary class consciousness and abeautifully composed short first act that fleshes out and introduces all the key players with minimum detailing, it takes no time in diving into the horror and generically lies somewhere between horror and action thriller with its fight choreography.
Train to Busanremains one of the best zombie movies ever.
The emotional thread, while thin, is compelling enough to tug at viewers' heartstrings asTrain to Busanspeeds its way to a climax which is sadder than the second act would suggest. The elaborate fight sequences, once a staple of the genre, set up viewers for an entertaining time, butTrain to Busanalso features one ofthe saddest tearjerking scenes in horror movie history. However, the third act also relies on typical action genre tactics, like putting characters into archetypes and introducing a villain. Despite that,Train to Busanremains one of the best zombie movies ever.
Hereditary
The feature film debut of writer-director Ari Aster, Hereditary tells the story of the unwittingly cursed Graham family. Annie Graham (Toni Collette) lives with her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne) and their children Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro). After the death of Annie’s mother, the family is beset by disaster and stalked by a supernatural entity that dredges up a past that Annie had spent her life trying to overlook.
In just five years, Ari Aster established himself as a new master of the horror genre with a roster of disturbing and weird films which all tell elaborate stories of grief, steeped in gore, shock, and trauma. However, his debut featureHereditaryremains his best work, as one ofthe scariest supernatural horror movies. It features one of the most shocking death scenes of all times, and then ramps the horror up from there with deft patience as viewers are forced to sit in anxiety through a slow burn buildup to a fiery Hellish climax, literally and metaphorically.
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Toni Collette’s monologue hasalready become part of horror movie historybecause of her fierce performance and the scary atmosphere created by the framing and blocking choices that make her face terrifying as she enunciates with anger. Beyond that, exploring grief as a motivating factor for questionable decisions that seem understandable through the lens of sympathy makesHereditaryparticularly effective as a horror movie. The foreshadowing reveals the ending to viewers who are paying attention, and the slow burn just feels like a test of endurance as the inevitable approaches.
The Wailing
The arrival of a mysterious stranger in a quiet village coincides with a wave of vicious murders, causing panic and distrust among the residents. While investigating the suspect, a policeman realizes that his daughter may have been a victim of the attack.
One ofthe most terrifying Korean ghost horror movies,The Wailing,has the potential to redefine intellectual horror filmmaking, with its complex narrative that takes a close look at the impact of mistrust and crisis on a close-knit community. The intricacies of the plot add to the mysticism of the location, which is shot beautifully to complement the haunting and emotionally taxing story. While it is a ghost story with an intense amount of gore, there’s nothing gimmicky aboutThe Wailing. The scares are particularly effective because a sense of paranoia hangs over every frame.
A deleted ending scene forThe Wailinglater resurfaced, but since it clarifies the meaning of the last scene and kills the ambiguity, most viewers agree that cutting it from the theatrical cut was the best decision.
The complexity in the characterization of the Demon is another unique feature ofThe Wailingthat sets it apart from contemporaries of the same genre. Itinvokes sympathy from viewers with inexplicable moments of benevolencethat complicate the fear and hatred it otherwise elicits. The film is intentional with repetitive sequencing to sell how systemic the experience is for the characters. While that adds to the sensation of unease by overwhelming the audience and dials up the horror, it could feel a tad tedious for some viewers.
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse is a psychological thriller directed by Robert Eggers. Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star as Thomas Wake and Ephraim Winslow, two lighthouse keepers who begin to experience strange and supernatural phenomena after they get stranded on a remote island in the 1890s.
One of the most eminent voices in horror filmmaking to rise in recent years is Robert Eggers, who directed the 2024 remake ofNosferatu. His sophomore feature,The Lighthouse, is a terrifying exercise in world-building and atmospheric horror. The mythology Eggers created for the setting can truly horrify a viewer to the core as they attempt to figure out how the protagonists will survive in such dire circumstances. The characters gradually lose their minds throughout the film, andthe calculated performances by Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinsonmake the situation impactful on viewers.
“The Smalls tragedy that The Lighthouse is based on can be considered an important, albeit incredibly dark, moment in maritime history” - Katy Rath & Tom Russell
The Lighthouseis one of thescariest black-and-white horror movies ever, and it uses the vintage texture to enhance the impact of the mythical presences in the film. WatchingThe Lighthousefeels like going through a rollercoaster of terrifying visuals, as the barrage of gore and scare never stops. It’s particularly interesting because the characters start doing things of questionable morality, which creates a scary dichotomy between rooting for them and doubting their intentions.
One Cut of the Dead
One Cut of the Dead is a Japanese indie film directed by Shinichirou Ueda. The story follows a film crew shooting a low-budget zombie movie, only to be interrupted by real zombies. The film showcases an innovative take on the horror-comedy genre, with surprising narrative twists that defy the typical conventions of zombie cinema.
If they had been making the movie fromTropic Thunderon a very low budget in the world where Edgar Wright setShaun of the Dead, people would experience what the characters ofOne Cut of the Deaddo. A love letter to filmmaking that pays homage to the zombie comedy genre and revives it to the heights that Wright did with his film,One Cut of the Deadis thepeak of low-budget horror comedy filmmaking. With an invigorating uncut opening sequence of 37 minutes that leaves viewers reeling, it offers almost everything a fan of cinema will appreciate.
The number of laughs and scares per minute is so high that anyone who loves filmmaking and zombies will be utterly entertained for the entire runtime.
The last few years have mostly observed a rise in good high or elevated horror filmmaking, so the sheer quality of this B-movie makesOne Cut of the Deadparticularly important. Not only does it subvert genre expectations with wacky editing, intelligent writing, and meta filmmaking, but the number of laughs and scares per minute is so high that anyone who loves filmmaking and zombies will be utterly entertained for the entire runtime. Even the music choices almost make no sense, but they add to the utter chaos that makesOne Cut of the Deadsuch a perfect horror comedy!
The Wolf House
The Wolf House, directed by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, follows María, who escapes from a sectarian community in Chile. She seeks refuge in an abandoned house in the forest, as she flees the oppressive regime of Colonia Dignidad, led by the tyrannical Paul Schäfer.
It might be hyperbolic to callThe Wolf Housethe darkest animated film of all time, but it’s right up there with the likes ofGrave of the Fireflies. Based on a depressing real-life cult-like community from World War II Chile, itreimagines the classic fairy tale of the three little pigsand tells it through the heartwrenching perspective of a child trapped in the community. While there’s archival footage which still doesn’t spell out the name of La Colonia Dignidad, the setting isn’t addressed inThe Wolf Housedirectly.
However, every frame drips with an overwhelming terror and melancholy that subtly alludes to the condition of those who live in the community. The endlessly creative animation allows the fable to morph into a terrifying account of persecution that will leave viewers traumatized. While the visual horror is anxiety-inducing and imaginatively scary, the real horror is experienced by pondering on the lived experiences to whose storiesThe Wolf Houserefers. It is a one-of-a-kind mode of political horror filmmaking and one can only hope for more of its kind in the years to come.
Get Out
Jordan Peele made his directorial Horror debut with Get Out, a terrifying Psychological Horror film starring Daniel Kaluuya. In the 2017 release, Chris Washington heads to Upstate New York to meet the family of his girlfriend, Rose. What follows is a horrifying ordeal for the anxious photographer.
One of theonly six horror movies nominated for Best Pictureat the Oscars,Get Outis one of the most important horror films released in recent times. Addressing the role of systemic racism in today’s America, coupled with the anxieties surrounding slavery, it tackles the collective anxieties that inspired the BLM movement. Eternally relevant,Get Outeffectively uses the elements of surprise and misdirection to misguide viewers into a false sense of security before revealing the horror.
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The critical and commercial success of his debut film hasmade Jordan Peele an unmissable director for the horror genre, with fans counting the days to his next release every time he announces a new project. The cinematography inGet Outmeticulously creates an atmosphere where the concept of racism turns into almost a supernatural horror being, dictating every framing choice. Daniel Kaluuya’s performance makes the experience personable and allows Peele to impress the fear of living in a racist state on the audience’s mind. He was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, another rare achievement for ahorrormovie.
