(Photo by Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection. SPEAK NO EVIL.)
50 Best New Horror Movies of 2024
Welcome to the best horror movies of 2024, ranking every dark and dreary delight coming out this year by Tomatometer! We start the list with Certified Fresh films (these movies have maintained a high Tomatometer score after enough critics reviews), followed by the pulp-pounding Fresh movies (these are rated at least 60%), and then concluding with the morbidly Rotten.
September additions so far: The Well. Booger. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The Front Room. The Substance. Doctor Jekyll. Consumed. Speak No Evil.
August saw the return of the Alien franchise in a big way, with Romulus becoming the first Certified Fresh movie in the franchise not to be directed by Ridley Scott since James Cameron’s Aliens. Cuckoo was Neon’s first post-Longlegs offering, and Strange Darling offered some twisty takes on thriller tropes, though both struggled to translate high marks into box office interest.
June was a very strong month with multiple Certified Fresh offerings, including Handling the Undead, New Life, The Devil’s Bath, and A Quiet Place: Day One. July followed up with more in Certified Fresh: MaXXXine (see A24 horror movies ranked), Longlegs, and Oddity.
May saw a few pairs, like low-performing major studio releases Tarot and The Strangers: Chapter 1, and then two critically-acclaimed audience-splitters: I Saw the TV Glow and In A Violent Nature.
In April, spiders got spun out with Infested and Sting. Nic Cage, never too far away from the genre, returned with action-hybrid Arcadian. Universal took another bite out of the vampire genre (following last year’s Last Voyage of the Demeter) with Abigail, while another long-in-the-tooth franchise got an update with The First Omen.
March additions: Larry Fessenden’s back with his werewolf-take Blackout. Night Shift. Imaginary (see Blumhouse horror productions ranked). Indian Hindi-language Shaitaan. Late Night with the Devil. Sydney Sweeney’s Immaculate. You’ll Never Find Me. Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2.
In February, terror reared its head in the stop-motion animation medium (don’t forget about Phil Tippett’s Mad God in 2021) with the literal titled Stopmotion.
In 2023, horror kicked off in a big way with M3GAN. There wasn’t a breakout hit in January 2024, with the major genre releases being the COVID-shot Paleolithic thriller Out of Darkness, and the Diablo Cody-penned Lisa Frankenstein, set in the same world as her cult comedy Jennifer’s Body.
New horror movies for 2024 on the horizon include They Follow (sequel to It Follows, with Maika Monroe and writer/director David Robert Mitchell returning), Terrifier 3 (Art the Clown expands his spree into Christmas), Nosferatu (from director Robert Eggers), Alien: Romulus (due in August), Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (September), Return to Silent Hill (original director Christophe Gans returns as well), The Conjuring: Last Rites (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprise their Warren roles).
#1
Adjusted Score: 109700%
Critics Consensus: Delightfully dark, Late Night with the Devil proves possession horror isn't played out -- and serves as an outstanding showcase for David Dastmalchian.
Synopsis: Johnny Carson rival Jack Delroy hosts a syndicated talk show 'Night Owls' that has long been a trusted companion to...
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#2
Adjusted Score: 102733%
Critics Consensus: An elegant and spooky ghost story punctuated with clever jolts, Oddity hews to the fundamentals of fright and achieves shout-inducing results.
Synopsis: When Dani is brutally murdered at the remote country house that she and her husband Ted are renovating, everyone suspects...
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#3
Adjusted Score: 99008%
Critics Consensus: A chillingly effective creature feature with more on its mind than simple creepy-crawlies, Infested draws viewers into its web with stylish efficiency.
Synopsis: Kaleb is about to turn 30 and has never been lonelier. He's fighting with his sister over an inheritance and...
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#4
Adjusted Score: 96574%
Critics Consensus: Conjuring fear with its sense of encroaching unease instead of cathartic jolts, In Flames is an exemplary horror film with something profound to say about the oppression of women.
Synopsis: After the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter's precarious existence is ripped apart by figures from their...
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#5
Adjusted Score: 100300%
Critics Consensus: JT Mollner delivers a thrillingly unexpected and electric ride with two breakout performances by Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner in Strange Darling.
Synopsis: In Strange Darling, nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer's vicious murder...
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#6
Adjusted Score: 96709%
Critics Consensus: Breathing New Life to the genre, this excellently acted brooding horror thriller marks a propitious debut for John Rosman.
Synopsis: Jess is a woman on the run, desperate to cross the Canadian border to escape her past. On her tail...
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#7
Adjusted Score: 94837%
Critics Consensus: Audaciously gross, wickedly clever, and possibly Demi Moore's finest hour, The Substance is a gasp-inducing feat from writer-director Coralie Fargeat.
Synopsis: Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? You, only better in every way. You should try this...
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#8
Adjusted Score: 94068%
Critics Consensus: Stopmotion takes the conflict between art and artist to chilling, visually thrilling extremes, distinguished by director Robert Morgan's excellent effects work.
Synopsis: A talented stop-motion animator becomes consumed by the grotesque world of her horrifying creations -- with deadly results....
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#9
Adjusted Score: 93378%
Critics Consensus: A squirm-inducing period piece that locates true horror in both mind and spirit, The Devil's Bath might be Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz's most chilling directorial effort yet.
Synopsis: In 1750 Austria, a deeply religious woman named Agnes has just married her beloved, but her mind and heart soon...
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#10
Adjusted Score: 104915%
Critics Consensus: Grounded in raw humanity by Lupita Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn, this sideways entry into A Quiet Place finds fresh notes of fright to play amid the silence.
Synopsis: Experience the day the world went quiet....
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#11
Adjusted Score: 94286%
Critics Consensus: Harnessing sick suspense from the glimmer in James McAvoy's eye, Speak No Evil is the rare remake that hushes up concerns of "been there, done that."
Synopsis: When an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family...
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#12
Adjusted Score: 91567%
Critics Consensus: A survival thriller reduced to the bare essentials, Out of Darkness offers a chilling reminder that the horror of looming death might be humanity's most universal experience.
Synopsis: A small boat reaches the shores of a raw and desolate landscape. A group of six have struggled across the...
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#13
Adjusted Score: 106033%
Critics Consensus: Saturated in disquieting mood while leveraging a nightmarishly gonzo performance by Nicolas Cage, Longlegs is a satanic horror that effectively instills panic.
Synopsis: In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to...
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#14
Adjusted Score: 98759%
Critics Consensus: With a distinctive visual aesthetic that enhances its emotionally resonant narrative, I Saw the TV Glow further establishes writer-director Jane Schoenbrun as a rising talent.
Synopsis: Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a...
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#15
Adjusted Score: 98124%
Critics Consensus: Carrying off well-worn vampire tropes with a balletic flourish, Abigail dances around the familiarity of its premise with a game cast and slick style.
Synopsis: After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to...
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#16
Adjusted Score: 94862%
Critics Consensus: Frequently frightening even as it plays within the confines of a nearly 50-year-old film series, this prequel is The First Omen of a bright future for the franchise in quite some time.
Synopsis: When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters...
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#17
Adjusted Score: 83171%
Critics Consensus: Visually and sonically distinctive, You'll Never Find Me heightens its spooky atmosphere and claustrophobic setting with a story that'll keep viewers guessing.
Synopsis: An isolated man living at the back of a desolate caravan park is visited by a desperate young woman seeking...
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#18
Adjusted Score: 105630%
Critics Consensus: Honoring its nightmarish predecessors while chestbursting at the seams with new frights of its own, Romulus injects some fresh acid blood into one of cinema's great horror franchises.
Synopsis: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face...
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#19
Adjusted Score: 90987%
Critics Consensus: As single-mindedly focused on mayhem as its demonic monster, In a Violent Nature serves up a deliciously disgusting feast for gore aficionados.
Synopsis: When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny,...
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#20
Adjusted Score: 88622%
Critics Consensus: Directed with inventive flair by Tilman Singer while given flavorful personality by stars Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens, Cuckoo is a madcap madhouse horror that's on the right side of deranged.
Synopsis: Reluctantly, 17-year-old Gretchen leaves her American home to live with her father, who has just moved into a resort in...
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#21
Adjusted Score: 84390%
Critics Consensus: Led by a trio of strong performances, Arcadian blends family drama and post-apocalyptic horror to visceral, emotionally stirring effect.
Synopsis: In a near future, life on Earth has been decimated. Paul (Nicolas Cage) and his twin teenage sons, Thomas (Jaeden...
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#22
Adjusted Score: 97811%
Critics Consensus: Michael Keaton's devious poltergeist still has plenty of juice left in this madcap return to form for Tim Burton, marrying charming practical effects and ghoulish gags to provide a fun fun time.
Synopsis: Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still...
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#23
Adjusted Score: 77113%
Critics Consensus: Werewolf horror with some extra socially conscious bite, Blackout reaffirms Larry Fessenden as a smart genre filmmaker who prioritizes character-building over kills.
Synopsis: A fine arts painter is convinced that he is a werewolf wreaking havoc on a small American town under the...
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#24
Adjusted Score: 79764%
Critics Consensus: A grounded zombie picture with emotional bite, Handling the Undead shuffles along at a patient pace but succeeds as a poignant and thoughtful addition to the genre.
Synopsis: On a hot summer day in Oslo, the dead mysteriously awaken, and three families are thrown into chaos when their...
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#25
Adjusted Score: 91991%
Critics Consensus: Intoxicating with its maxxximal style, MaXXXine is an uneven but vibrant pastiche that drives a stiletto through Hollywood's heart.
Synopsis: In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious...
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#26
Adjusted Score: 77792%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In small-town Australia, a nightmare is brewing. Sophie is a young filmmaker obsessed with finding a thought-to-be long-lost film. Meanwhile,...
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#27
Adjusted Score: 59848%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: When an experimental drug trial goes horribly wrong, seven young test subjects, after being kept awake for days, must face...
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#28
Adjusted Score: 41043%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Jessica Whitman isn't a witch. Not anymore, at least. She left it behind when she left her hometown almost ten...
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#29
Adjusted Score: 95317%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: New Yorker Anna (Grace Glowicki, Strawberry Mansion) has just suffered the sudden and unexpected death of her best friend and...
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#30
Adjusted Score: 94991%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: When a renowned shaman (KIM Go-Eun) and her protégé (Lee Do-hyun) are hired by a wealthy, enigmatic family, they begin...
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#31
Adjusted Score: 93616%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: THE BECOMERS tells the story of a body-snatching alien who comes to Earth, reconnects with their partner, and tries to...
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#32
Adjusted Score: 71619%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Months after escaping a brutal kidnapping, Meg travels with her husband, Scott, to his family's isolated compound in Cape Cod,...
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#33
Adjusted Score: 91334%
Critics Consensus: Effectively playing on fundamental fears, Lovely, Dark, and Deep is a creepy calling card for debuting director Teresa Sutherland that's further distinguished by Georgina Campbell's haunting performance.
Synopsis: Lennon, a new back-country ranger, travels alone through the dangerous wilderness, hoping to uncover the origins of a tragedy that...
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#34
Adjusted Score: 89078%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Jobless and searching for purpose, Emma and a group of young people from Los Angeles drive up the coast to...
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#35
Adjusted Score: 46947%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In this throwback to 90s horror, a rowdy pro-wrestler, struggling to make ends meet, agrees to fill in as a...
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#36
Adjusted Score: 41257%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In MIDNIGHT PEEPSHOW we are introduced to an unnamed Madame who owns and operates a peepshow offering patrons a tailor-made...
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#37
Adjusted Score: 42117%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: When novice art restorer Lisa Gray goes to a small Italian village to bring a medieval painting back to its...
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#38
Adjusted Score: 88824%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A young woman lost in a series of meaningless connections falls for a charismatic and sensitive man, who hides...
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#39
Adjusted Score: 87626%
Critics Consensus: Hell Hole pokes much needed life into an aging genre, going back to basics and delivering the gory goods.
Synopsis: In the Adams Family's celebration of the classic creature-feature, an American-led fracking crew working deep in the Serbian wilderness find...
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#40
Adjusted Score: 59587%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A twist-filled multi-verse thriller from Graham Hughes (Death Of A Vlogger), HOSTILE DIMENSIONS follows two documentary filmmakers who decide to...
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#41
Adjusted Score: 76496%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: While working her first night shift at a remote motel, a young woman, Gwen Taylor (Phoebe Tonkin), begins to suspect...
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#42
Adjusted Score: 84665%
Critics Consensus: Immaculate in conception if not always in execution, this religiously themed horror outing is saved by a divine performance from Sydney Sweeney.
Synopsis: Sydney Sweeney (Anyone But You, Euphoria, The White Lotus) stars as Cecilia, an American nun of devout faith, embarking on...
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#43
Adjusted Score: 77025%
Critics Consensus: Sting should satisfy horror fans in the mood for a creature feature, even if the end results likely won't linger in the memory.
Synopsis: STING spins a web of thrilling terror when 12-year-old Charlotte's pet spider rapidly transforms into a giant flesh-eating monster, forcing...
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#44
Adjusted Score: 63137%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Mexican-American and queer, high school student Javier doesn't exactly fit in with the popular kids. But he might be the...
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#45
Adjusted Score: 57154%
Critics Consensus: Rich atmosphere and a handful of genuinely disturbing moments are only sporadically enough to outweigh The Seeding's monotonous pace and lack of narrative depth.
Synopsis: In THE SEEDING, a hiker lost in the desert takes refuge with a woman living alone, and soon discovers that...
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#46
Adjusted Score: 65738%
Critics Consensus: An affectionate callback to classic horror comedies of the '80s, Lisa Frankenstein can be fun in its own right despite not quite measuring up to the movies it imitates.
Synopsis: A coming of RAGE love story from acclaimed writer Diablo Cody (Jennifer's Body) about a misunderstood teenager and her high...
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#47
Adjusted Score: 52647%
Critics Consensus: The Front Room gets some mileage out of Kathryn Hunter's memorably grotesque turn as an in-law from hell, but the scatological scares in this family squabble are more off-putting than frightening.
Synopsis: Everything goes to hell for newly-pregnant Belinda (Brandy Norwood) after her mother-in-law (Kathryn Hunter) moves in. As the diabolical guest...
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#48
Adjusted Score: 41897%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Hell of a Summer follows 24-year-old camp counselor Jason Hochberg (Fred Hechinger), who arrives at Camp Pineway thinking his biggest...
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#49
Adjusted Score: 49393%
Critics Consensus: Founders Day brings a few clever bits to bear on its '80s-inspired slasher story, but its scattershot tone and an overreliance on horror clichés prevent it from leaving much of an impression.
Synopsis: In this satirical political slasher from the Bloomquist Brothers, a small town is shaken by a series of ominous killings...
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#50
Adjusted Score: 47991%
Critics Consensus: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 represents an improvement over the original in most respects, although the Poohniverse remains a place made for hardcore slasher fans.
Synopsis: Deep within the 100-Acre-Wood, a destructive rage grows as Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Owl, and Tigger find their home and their lives...
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