Top Ten Horror/Thriller Movies of 2024... so far!
Allright. I am desperate to talk about something beyond politics so let’s talk horror movies. This has been a phenomenal year for horror films and horror is having a renaissance at the theater and in the studios. There are a few IP films here, but a lot of original material, that is good for cinema.
Outside Looking In:
Reagan - A Fever Dream of a movie that is probably the most terrifying movie I watched this year.
Arcadian - The lesser of the Nic Cage Horror movies. It’s bad, plot-wise and script-wise.
Never Let Go - I really wanted to like Halle Berry in a horror movie but it lost the plot about half way in.
Speak No Evil- This one was very good, but you should watch the original, because they dumb it down for Americans. Also I am in for whatever James MacAvoy is doing.
A Quiet Place: Day One - A really good film that expanded the universe and didn’t ruin anything.
I Saw the TV Glow - This movie confounds me. I don’t think it is a thriller, but it definitely has some aspects of that genre. This movie will probably be in my Top Ten of the year, but I can’t rank it in top ten of horror/thriller
Rumours - Cate Blanchett led Canadian comedy that again, is probably a thriller, but I don’t think that is entirely what it is. There are zombie-esque elements. It’s Iannucci meets David Lynch.
MaXXXine - I love this movie as the conclusion of a trilogy and when it was coming out I anticipated it would be very, very high on my list at the end of the year, and here we are. This has been such a superb year for Horror/Thrillers that I had to leave it off the Top Ten. Anyways, watch X, Pearl, and this movie, they are all quite good!
10- Oddity: Irish horror is really fucked up y’all. Might be the potatoes.
9- Blink Twice: You might quibble with this being a horror movie, but especially after what happened on Tuesday, this is one hundred percent a horror movie.
8- Abigail: Vampire movies are hit or miss for me, but this one fucking hits. A haunted house, plus a tiny vampire, sign me the fuck up. I just wish they had done a better job with the trailers and not given away the reveal.
7- Cuckoo: Dan Stevens is a terrifying human being who was also in the movie above. If he wants to just chew up scenery and get killed (SPOILER ALERT) in horror films for the rest of his life I am a-ok with that.
6- Longlegs: The less you know about this film going-in, the better. This is the better Nic Cage horror vehicle. I loved it on first watch, assumed it would be top of my list for the year and then after watching it a second time I was pulling threads and it’s not as good as it should be.
5- Alien: Romulus: Set aside any/all of the issues about franchises and chronology, this is a damn fine haunted house horror flick with all of the body horror, crazy alien and quite a bit of the psychological. I’ll need to update my Alien rankings soon and as an Alien film it’s not the best, but as a straight horror film, 100%.
4- Smile 2: The first Smile was very dour, so I had low expectations, but a friend I trust told me this was really good, and reader, he was right! The film has a really odd relationship with reality but it is much more upbeat and fun than it deserves to be.
3- Heretic: Hugh Grant is an odd cat and there might be a bit of recency bias here, but I loved this movie. Definitely much more of the Thriller than Horror variety. A three-hander worth your time if you can get to a theater soon, or wherever it is streaming ASAP.
2- Strange Darling: This movie took from so many other filmmakers. I don’t want to spoil anything, other than to tell you to watch it, because the scene with Ed Begley Jr and Barbara Hersey cooking breakfast, is my platonic ideal of old married life.
1- The Substance: This is the best Demi Moore has ever been as an actor, Margaret Qualley too. It is absurdly body horror, so if that is not your thing skip it. If it is the last 45 minutes of this movie will blow your fucking mind!
TBD: Nosferatu - Robert Eggers making a Dracula movie, SIGN ME THE FUCK UP YESTERDAY!!!!!!!
Not Considered: Terrifier 3 - Gore is not really my horror kink and while there is some in The Substance it was mitigated by attractive ladies and a kind of circus effect. From my understanding Art the clown literally stabs people in the dick, repeatedly, so gonna pass on this one.