#126-#250
The 21st Century’s Most Acclaimed Horror Films: 126-250
126. (-2) The Final Girls
Todd Strauss-Schulson
AKA:
2015 / USA / 88m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Alexander Ludwig, Nina Dobrev, Alia Shawkat, Thomas Middleditch, Adam DeVine, Angela Trimbur, Chloe Bridges, Tory N. Thompson
“Final Girls” isn’t the first movie to show self-aware characters using their knowledge of horror films to plot an escape. Drew Goddard’s “Cabin in the Woods” and Wes Craven’s “Scream” mined that ground a while back. But give director Todd Strauss-Schulson some serious credit here. “Final Girls” still manages to use a quick wit and a few surprises to keep things interesting for the audience… The most surprising thing about “Final Girls” is how sweet it is. The subplot about Max and her mother leads to a number of tender scenes, and “Final Girls” has a genuine heart in the middle of all of its experimentation and social commentary. None of the characters are especially deep, but almost all of them are easier to cheer for than the cannon fodder of the “Friday the 13th” films.” – Josh Terry, Deseret News
Genres:
127. (-12) Irréversible
Gaspar Noé
AKA: Irreversible
2002 / France / 97m / Col / Drama | IMDb
Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Jo Prestia, Philippe Nahon, Stéphane Drouot, Jean-Louis Costes, Michel Gondoin, Mourad Khima, Hellal
“What we have here is a genuine outlaw work of art. They are to be treasured. From Louis-Ferdinand Celine’s twisted tales of the perverse in ’30s Paris to Henry Miller’s examination of the extremes of heterosex and John Rechy’s of the extremes of homosex, and Jim Thompson’s bleak, nihilistic noir fables, to Sam Peckinpah’s blood-spattered Götterdämmerungs, they are tough to sit through and impossible to forget. They get way deep inside, to the reptile walnut of brain still in the center of the head…. it seems to be Noe’s first philosophical position, that natural man is a monster.” – Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
Genres:
128. (0) The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Scott Derrickson
AKA:
2005 / USA / 119m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Jennifer Carpenter, Colm Feore, Joshua Close, Kenneth Welsh, Duncan Fraser, JR Bourne, Mary Beth Hurt
“By giving us the facts as seen through the eyes of the various beholders, the film is asking us to be the jury that decides the case, and the information provided is very intentionally left open to interpretation. Rather than seeming wishy-washy and indecisve, this results in a film with a great deal of tension and suspense. Structuring the story as a courtroom drama increases the horror because it takes place in a believable context: whether you think Emily is ill or possessed, what happens to her is almost beyond endurance. Moreover, because the fate of the priest rests on the trial’s outcome, it’s clear that the horrific events in the story have dramatic consequences: what happens is part of a convincing story, not just a series of gratuitous special effects shocks.” – Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique
Genres: Legal Drama, Supernatural Horror, Psychological Horror, Religious Film, Supernatural Horror
129. (-9) Suspiria
Luca Guadagnino
AKA:
2018 / Italy / 152m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Doris Hick, Malgorzata Bela, Chloë Grace Moretz, Angela Winkler, Vanda Capriolo, Alek Wek, Jessica Batut, Elena Fokina
“Guadagnino fashions his own menagerie of nightmares, some of which would feel right at home in Argento’s own phantasmagoria: shots of girls creeping down halls, discovering secret passageways and other gruesome findings. Rather than recreate the original’s iconic murder sequences, he crafts his own indelible sequences of brutality, leaning on horrific imagery, Thom Yorke’s haunting (and, again, comparatively restrained) score, and an array of impressively diabolical gore effects. One girl’s body unnaturally contorts against itself, falling victim to the witches’ curse, leaving her in a lifeless, mangled heap; other victims aren’t so lucky, as they’re left rot in the school’s hidden passageways, their skin seemingly flayed off. Horrific, scattered bursts are but preludes to the blood-soaked crescendo, where exploding heads play like staccato grace notes of a twisted concerto.” – Brett Gallman, Oh, The Horror!
Genres:
130. (-5) Snowtown
Justin Kurzel
AKA:
2011 / Australia / 119m / Col / Crime | IMDb
Lucas Pittaway, Bob Adriaens, Louise Harris, Frank Cwiertniak, Matthew Howard, Marcus Howard, Anthony Groves, Richard Green, Aaron Viergever, Denis Davey
“It’s Australian director Justin Kurzel’s first feature, and on the basis of this, he’s not only remarkably assured at telling a story as economically as possible through images, but also knows how to conjure up an authentic sense of place — in this case, the working-class milieu of Adelaide, Australia’s northern suburbs—and come up with the right visual shorthand to vividly evoke mood and reveal character. Kurzel also seems to have a sure touch with actors, judging by the utterly natural performances he elicits from a mostly nonprofessional cast. All of this helps to make The Snowtown Murders an indubitably unnerving experience; as a horror film about an innocent teen who somehow becomes an accomplice to a band of serial killers, Kurzel’s film is grimly, viscerally effective.” – Kenji Fujishima, Slant Magazine
Genres:
131. (-10) V/H/S/2
Various
AKA:
2013 / USA / 96m / Col / Anthology | IMDb
Lawrence Michael Levine, Kelsy Abbott, L.C. Holt, Simon Barrett, Mindy Robinson, Mónica Sánchez Navarro, Adam Wingard, Hannah Hughes, John T. Woods, Corrie Lynn Fitzpatrick
“More tales of terror are unearthed from another pile of dusty old videos in this slick sequel to the 2012 horror anthology. Like the original, the top-and-tail story takes place in an “abandoned” house where, on this occasion, it’s two private investigators on a missing-persons case who come across the cassettes. But whereas the first film’s quintet of stories were of varying quality, the calibre of the four shorts here is consistently higher… the pick of the bunch is Safe Haven, co-directed by Timo Tjahjanto and The Raid’s Gareth Huw Evans, in which a film crew’s visit to the compound of an Indonesian cult turns decidedly nasty. The deceptively sedate beginning soon gives way to a cornucopia of artery-rupturing gruesomeness, which will assuredly have some viewers all a-splutter.” – Jeremy Aspinall, Radio Times
Genres:
132. (-13) We Are What We Are
Jim Mickle
AKA:
2013 / USA / 105m / Col / Drama | IMDb
Kassie Wesley DePaiva, Laurent Rejto, Julia Garner, Ambyr Childers, Jack Gore, Bill Sage, Kelly McGillis, Wyatt Russell, Michael Parks, Annemarie Lawless
“We Are What We Are” is mostly not terrifying, offers almost nothing in the way of traditional horror-movie shocks and jolts, and does not get bloody until the last 20 minutes or so. (At which point, whoo-boy.) It’s a sinister, wistful and even sad portrait of one family that has followed the insanity and bloodthirstiness of American history into a dark corridor with no exit. There’s a hint of Terrence Malick (or David Lowery, of “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”) in the often-gorgeous photography of Ryan Samul, and a hint of Shakespearean grandeur in Sage’s portrayal of a dignified and honorable American father infused with an ideology of madness. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen an exploitation film played so effectively as human tragedy.” – Andrew O’Hehir, Salon
Genres:
133. (-15) The Grudge
Takashi Shimizu
AKA:
2004 / USA / 91m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, William Mapother, Clea DuVall, KaDee Strickland, Grace Zabriskie, Bill Pullman, Rosa Blasi, Ted Raimi, Ryo Ishibashi
“For the American émigrés that populate ‘The Grudge’ are portrayed as struggling with the basics of Japanese language, confused even by the products on a Japanese supermarket shelf, and generally lost and out of place and it is a mutually uncomprehending relationship between an American and a Japanese which turns out to have engendered the curse at the heart of the film. Shimizu, it seems, is not only exploiting this cultural clash to amplify his characters’ alienation, hopelessness, and terror, but also to comment wryly on the bizarre love affair between America and Japan which makes a film like this possible. It is as though the original ‘Ju-on’ had been merged with Lost in Translation, and the result is an intelligent reflection on Hollywood’s flawed attempts to recreate Oriental horror in its own image as well as a great scare or three for the uninitiated West.” – Anton Bitel, Movie Gazette
Genres: Haunted House, Supernatural Horror, J-Horror, Psychological Horror, Hyperlink Cinema, Police Procedural
134. (+11) Cuando acecha la maldad
Demián Rugna
AKA: When Evil Lurks
2023 / Argentina / 99m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Ezequiel Rodríguez, Demián Salomón, Silvina Sabater, Luis Ziembrowski, Marcelo Michinaux, Emilio Vodanovich, Virginia Garófalo, Paula Rubinsztein, Lucrecia Nirón Talazac, Isabel Quinteros
“It places instances of graphic, shocking (and shockingly graphic) sudden violence right alongside moments that are singularly quiet and eerie, communicating wrongness with surprising restraint. It’s as content to put everything in our faces as it is to suggest and leave things off-camera, and the result can be a little disorienting, but not in a bad way. There’s a real absence of safety in this approach, and the rhythms of the film are such that those moments will absolutely catch you off-guard. It’s a film that has no interest in letting you catch your breath and that’s as much about its willingness to abandon predictability as the urgency of Pedro’s situation.” – Cliff Evans, A Lifetime in Dark Rooms
Genres: Supernatural Horror, Splatter, Body Horror, Family Drama, Folk Horror
135. (new) 28 Years Later
Danny Boyle
AKA:
2025 / UK / 115m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, Rocco Haynes, Haley Flaherty, Harriet Taylor, Hannah Allan-Robertson, Annabelle Graham, Olivia Morley, Theadora Rawlings, Darcie Smith
“28 Years Later shifts narrative and tonal gears in such a manner that some will deem it muddled or inconsistent. But I found it enlivening, entirely congruent with Boyle’s uptempo, patchwork style. It offers a distinct intensity from the director, who indulges in enough distracting stylistic flourishes, the film feels hectic and overwhelming during the first act. But Boyle – notably shooting entirely on iPhones – concocts some otherworldly imagery, memorable for its strange beauty and suggestiveness. The film does eventually find its groove, when Spike and Isla undertake their adventure, leading to a third-act left turn that somewhat mirrors that of 28 Days Later, and lifts it provocatively out of the confines of genre.” – John Serba, Decider
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Zombie, Coming-of-Age, Thriller, Horror, Epidemic, Family Drama, Survival, Splatter, Adventure, Action
136. (-10) Housebound
Gerard Johnstone
AKA:
2014 / New Zealand / 107m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Morgana O’Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru, Ross Harper, Cameron Rhodes, Ryan Lampp, Mick Innes, Bruce Hopkins, Wallace Chapman, Millen Baird
“It’s difficult to talk too much about Housebound without spoiling it. First-time writer-director Johnstone’s ingenious script consistently wrong-foots the audience and shifts from one subgenre to another without ever once losing its grip on the comedic elements. It’s creepy, tense and scary. The film’s greatest success is the relationship between Kylie and her mum. Their back and forth, complete with ancient resentments, is beautifully observed, and both O’Reilly and Te Wiata are absolutely spot-on as the bitter teen and the well-meaning mum respectively. It’s also worth mentioning Harper, who is a particularly deadpan delight as Graeme.” – Jonathan Hatfull, SciFiNow
Genres: Mystery, Black Comedy, Horror, Horror Comedy, Haunted House, Crime, Slapstick
137. (+17) Saint Maud
Rose Glass
AKA:
2019 / UK / 84m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, Lily Knight, Lily Frazer, Turlough Convery, Rosie Sansom, Marcus Hutton, Carl Prekopp, Noa Bodner, Takatsuna Mukai
“This brilliantly unsettling horror film sweeps in on a humdrum English coastal town with a fierce cargo of religious mania, psychological power games and the odd moment of nightmarish ickiness… Ehle is great as the worldly, weary Amanda, and in a just world, Clark would be winning awards for a remarkable piece of physical acting. It spans convulsions of divine ecstasy and a quiet unravelling as Maud shuffles through the gaudy seafront arcades and pubs of the town (unnamed but filmed in Scarborough) convinced of her higher purpose. You suspect you know where it’s all going to end up, but that drains it of precisely none of its guttural power.” – Philip De Semlyen, Time Out
Genres:
138. (-9) Stake Land
Jim Mickle
AKA:
2010 / USA / 98m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Connor Paolo, Gregory Jones, Traci Hovel, Nick Damici, James Godwin, Tim House, Marianne Hagan, Stuart Rudin, Adam Scarimbolo, Vonia Arslanian
“Making the most of a modest budget, director and co-writer Mickle profitably focuses on establishing character and the film’s overall haunted tone rather than simply conjuring gratuitous mayhem. An effective economy of style and the faded color scheme admirably suit this stripped-down aesthetic. The lead performances are solid, despite somewhat generic characterizations, and all-importantly, the vampires’ acting, makeup and costuming are persuasive, even if they appear nearly as dim-witted as a typical zombie. Stake Land’s trenchant worldview, both dystopian and completely rational, shows more affinity with the likes of The Road, 28 Days Later and Night of the Living Dead than it does with movies inclined to romanticize or demonize vampires. The message that America, with all of its social ills and conflicts, is a nation devouring itself seems particularly appropriate as budget battles and culture wars rage on unabated.” – Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter
Genres:
139. (-7) Revenge
Coralie Fargeat
AKA:
2017 / France / 108m / Col / Exploitation | IMDb
Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombe, Guillaume Bouchède
“Loud, brash, neon-colored and shot like a music video, the flick is unabashedly cool. Fargeat is not afraid of being slick or stylizing the action. Even the gallons of blood she utilizes are of the stickiest, gooiest, reddest variety. They cling to the actors’ bodies like latex skin-suits… Revenge is sexy, but the female gaze is steadily applied throughout. The rape itself is quick, and mostly off-screen — a deliberate departure. Male nudity is cleverly utilized; first, for power and strength, before Fargeat strips the veneer away and leaves her antagonist naked, injured and struggling to fight against her strong, marginally more clothed heroine.” – Joey Keogh, Vague Visages
Genres:
140. (+66) Longlegs
Osgood Perkins
AKA:
2024 / USA / 101m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee, Dakota Daulby, Lauren Acala, Kiernan Shipka, Maila Hosie, Jason William Day
“Gloom and evil fascinate Osgood Perkins. Implacable, patient, cruel malice permeates his films, and none more so than Longlegs, a nerve-racking and dour excursion into diabolical and gruesome terror. His films feel like a reaction to the recent trend in horror that posits the monster is more interesting than its victims – an idea that is often a crutch for weak filmmaking and worse character development. Even when Perkins’ protagonists find themselves sliding slowly to become the antagonist, it’s true, seeping, simmering, seething evil that is the ultimate threat, pervasive as fog or the smell of rot under your nose.” – Richard Whittaker, The Austin Chronicle
Genres: Police Procedural, Psychological Horror, Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Supernatural Horror
141. (-19) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Marcus Nispel
AKA:
2003 / USA / 98m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, Andrew Bryniarski, R. Lee Ermey, David Dorfman, Lauren German, Terrence Evans
“The main problem with the film is that it feels like a cynical repackaging of an already established classic. However, as remakes go, it’s very well made and decently acted and it never approaches ‘bad movie’ levels – even the script is pretty good… It is, however, much gorier than the original – the violence and pain on display here is worse than anything in Kill Bill. Legs get chainsawed off (chainsawn?), people get hung on meat-hooks (as in the original), people get chainsawed in the back, and so on – it’s pretty much non-stop terror from the moment the first one of them disappears and you’re more or less guaranteed to end up hiding behind your hands at some point.” – Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Genres:
142. (-5) Berberian Sound Studio
Peter Strickland
AKA:
2012 / UK / 92m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Toby Jones, Cosimo Fusco, Antonio Mancino, Fatma Mohamed, Salvatore LI Causi, Chiara D’Anna, Tonia Sotiropoulou, Eugenia Caruso, Susanna Cappellaro, Guido Adorni
“Berberian Sound Studio has something of early Lynch and Polanski, and the nasty, secretive studio is a little like the tortured Mark Lewis’s screening room in Powell’s Peeping Tom, but that gives no real idea of how boldly individual this film is. In fact, it takes more inspiration from the world of electronic and synth creations and the heyday of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and it is close in spirit to Kafka’s The Castle or to the Gothic literary tradition of Bram Stoker and Ann Radcliffe: a world of English innocents abroad in a sensual, mysterious landscape… With a face suggesting cherubic innocence, vulnerability and cruelty, Toby Jones gives the performance of his career, and Peter Strickland has emerged as a key British film-maker of his generation.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Genres:
143. (-2) The Conjuring 2
James Wan
AKA:
2016 / USA / 134m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Madison Wolfe, Frances O’Connor, Lauren Esposito, Benjamin Haigh, Patrick McAuley, Simon McBurney, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Simon Delaney
“In this Conjuring, the haunted-house tropes play second fiddle to something less graspable, even though there’s no question that a game of fright is in full, masterful swing. Cinematographer Don Burgess’ camera prowls and swoops, Bishara’s choral score sends shivers up the spine and Wan uses prolonged silence as well as sounds — creaking floorboards, a screeching backyard swing — to maximum unsettling effect. The director knows how to turn objects, from an antique zoetrope to a ringing telephone, into icons of free-floating evil or, in the case of a crucifix, into tools of redemption.” – Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter
Genres:
144. (-5) Mother!
Darren Aronofsky
AKA:
2017 / USA / 121m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brian Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson, Jovan Adepo, Amanda Chiu, Patricia Summersett, Eric Davis
“mother! is more successful in how it goes about its concerns as opposed to what it’s about. This speaks to Aronofsky’s filmmaking in general, which is defined by its confrontational, oft-times discomforting qualities… But the virtuosity of his filmmaking, a kind of sensibility that combines cinema vérité with a distinct spiritual omnipresence, gives the auteur a distinct voice. He’s a filmmaker that is capable of projecting anxious gestures from the movement of his camera. The way he spirals around his characters suggests an apprehension that’s unspoken but felt… However uneasy or discomforting mother! may be thematically, Aronofsky’s formal bravura has reached an apex.” – Daniel Nava, Chicago Cinema Circuit
Genres:
145. (-12) We Are Still Here
Ted Geoghegan
AKA:
2015 / USA / 84m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Barbara Crampton, Andrew Sensenig, Lisa Marie, Larry Fessenden, Monte Markham, Susan Gibney, Michael Patrick Nicholson, Kelsea Dakota, Guy Gane, Elissa Dowling
“Bored with shiny horror movies featuring perfect-looking, plastic-souled teens you care for not one jot? Then this throwback haunted house pic is for you. Not only does it feature middle-aged protagonists, genuine suspense and a creepy mythology, it boasts some of the best ghosts since The Devil’s Backbone… Then, just as you’re thinking We Are Still Here is akin to Ti West’s The House Of The Devil and The Innkeepers in its old-school, modulated menace, it takes a left-turn into balls-out bloodletting. Arteries spray, torsos spill, heads pop. It might have unbalanced the movie were it not an extension of the carefully seeded fun – far from being cruel and torture porn-y, this is Geoghegan now tapping the outré horrors of the ’80s. He splashes in plasma and viscera like a kid in a puddle, and his joy is infectious.” – Jamie Graham, Games Radar
Genres:
146. (+31) Host
Rob Savage
AKA:
2020 / UK / 57m / Col / Found Footage | IMDb
Haley Bishop, Jemma Moore, Emma Louise Webb, Radina Drandova, Caroline Ward, Alan Emrys, Patrick Ward, Edward Linard, Jinny Lofthouse, Seylan Baxter
“Host is a Zoom-inspired flick that, in less than an hour, gets more mileage than all The Conjuring movies combined. A circle of friends hire a psychic to conduct a séance online and spice things up in the midst of the COVID epidemic. Like in every group, there’s a skeptic all too happy to sabotage the ceremony — only instead of poking holes, this creates a virtual vessel that allows spirits to travel to the mortal plane. Host has no fat and makes great use of personal screens’ negative space and the social dynamics that unfold on Zoom. The jump scares are effective as is the incidental comedy.” – Jorge Ignacio Castillo, Planet S Magazine
Genres:
147. (-13) The Sacrament
Ti West
AKA:
2013 / USA / 99m / Col / Found Footage | IMDb
Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz, Kate Lyn Sheil, AJ Bowen, Gene Jones, Kentucker Audley, Shawn Parsons, Madison Absher, Derek Roberts, Donna Biscoe
“A clever and thoroughly chilling tale of group psychosis, Ti West’s thriller “The Sacrament” takes its inspiration (and many of its details) from the 1978 events at Jim Jones’ People’s Temple in Guyana… If you don’t know what happened at Jonestown, this film will shock you; if you do know, it brings an entirely different kind of horror — that creeping-up knowledge that something inevitable and awful is coming, and can’t be stopped. West’s found-footage structure doesn’t always entirely make sense, but it’s easy to forgive “The Sacrament” its flaws. The eerie quiet, near its end, is utterly haunting; a lost Eden, in the sunshine.” – Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
Genres:
148. (-17) The Ruins
Carter Smith
AKA:
2008 / USA / 90m / Col / Natural Horror | IMDb
Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Laura Ramsey, Shawn Ashmore, Joe Anderson, Sergio Calderón, Jesse Ramirez, Balder Moreno, Dimitri Baveas, Patricio Almeida Rodriguez
“Enjoyable, well made and genuinely creepy horror flick that transcends its ridiculous premise thanks to a strong script, some sure-handed direction and superb performances from a talented young cast… The script is excellent and director Carter Smith gets the tone exactly right, playing everything straight, despite the ridiculous premise, and orchestrating some genuinely creepy scenes. He also includes some impressively nasty gory moments that, crucially, derive naturally from the characters and situations rather than just looking to gross you out for the hell of it… In short, The Ruins is a worthy addition to the Tourism Is Bad genre that ensures that you’ll never look at a rustling vine quite the same way again.” – Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Genres:
149. (+2) Possessor
Brandon Cronenberg
AKA:
2020 / Canada / 103m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Gabrielle Graham, Hanneke Talbot, Matthew Garlick, Daniel Park, Andrea Riseborough, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hrant Alianak, Rachael Crawford, Rossif Sutherland, Gage Graham-Arbuthnot
“There’s brutally visceral and punitively realistic gore galore on display here, but Cronenberg’s sophomore effort also deals in strikingly contemporary issues. Personal privacy and the paranoia arising from the dwindling availability of it via faceless, corporate data-scrapers, technology-enabled mind control and assassination in the pursuit of unknowable reasons by shadowy, pseudo-governmental organizations, and the erosion of personal identity and the accompanying mental decay all thread throughout the film like live wires throwing off giddily lethal sparks.” – Marc Savlov, The Austin Chronicle
Genres:
150. (-7) Srpski film
Srdjan Spasojevic
AKA: A Serbian Film
2010 / Serbia / 104m / Col / Exploitation | IMDb
Srdjan Todorovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Jelena Gavrilovic, Slobodan Bestic, Katarina Zutic, Luka Mijatovic, Ana Sakic, Lena Bogdanovic, Miodrag Krcmarik, Nenad Herakovic
“The escalating incidents of pedophilia, incest, and necrophilia that follow reflect a country traumatized by otherwise unspeakable acts of violence committed under the auspices of war. We witness the disgusting underbelly of a broken civilization where human values no longer exist. There are no degrees of separation from a communal psychosis that affects every citizen. By putting the narrative in a psycho-sexual-cinematic context Spasojević invites the viewer to compare his made-up pornography of death to the similar underlying nature of capitalism’s commercial cinema of the West and its attendant sponsors. In order to see the message of Srđan Spasojević daring work of filmic art you need only consider the capitalist aspect that makes it possible.” – Cole Smithey
Genres:
151. (-16) The Woman
Lucky McKee
AKA:
2011 / USA / 101m / Col / Splatter | IMDb
Pollyanna McIntosh, Brandon Gerald Fuller, Lauren Ashley Carter, Chris Krzykowski, Sean Bridgers, Angela Bettis, Marcia Bennett, Shyla Molhusen, Gordon Vincent, Zach Rand
“A harrowing and often darkly hilarious horror satire about family values, feminism, and the nature of violence from the twisted minds of Lucky McKee and Jack Ketchum. A true find at Sundance for all fans who love gore and the twisting of Americana… When most horror movies today are concerned about gory pay offs instead of character driven violence or death, McKee connects us to the family and their dramatic dynamic through a series of musically-cut vignettes that add a haunting layer to the underlying theme of American Dream traveling through the bowels of hell. While the main focus is on Chris and the woman, each one of the characters in the Cleek family give exceptional performances.” – Benji Carver, Film School Rejects
Genres:
152. (-12) The Signal
David Bruckner & Dan Bush & Jacob Gentry
AKA:
2007 / USA / 103m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Anessa Ramsey, Sahr Ngaujah, AJ Bowen, Matthew Stanton, Suehyla El-Attar, Justin Welborn, Cheri Christian, Scott Poythress, Christopher Thomas, Lindsey Garrett
“An outright horror film that nonetheless veers on occasion into surreal black comedy, The Signal… takes Marshall McLuhan’s famous statement “the medium is the message” to extremes not explored since David Cronenberg’s seminal, frighteningly prescient Videodrome in 1983… The Signal is a shuddery critique of the ultrapervasive influence of big (and little) media on humanity and the paranoia engendered by its sheer invasiveness. It’s also a snarky stab at the desensitizing aspects of everything… Both apocalyptic and suitably vague, The Signal’s only serious weakness comes from some borderline histrionic performances; then again, it’s tough to call hysteria anything other than a sane response to a world gone mad.” – Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
Genres:
153. (-7) Sam gang 2
Fruit Chan & Takashi Miike & Chan-wook Park
AKA: Three… Extremes
2004 / Hong Kong / 118m / Col / Anthology | IMDb
Bai Ling, Pauline Lau, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Meme Tian, Miriam Yeung Chin Wah, Sum-Yeung Wong, Kam-Mui Fung, Wai-Man Wu, Chak-Man Ho, Miki Yeung
“These short films collectively are an ambitious, well-conceived, beautifully presented example of what can be achieved when a director is allowed to present a completely original concept around a common theme, without censorship or meddling studio hands to muck things up. While most if not every frame presented shows an original and new spin on the term “horror”, these films present an elegance that surpasses one singular, often cheaply-perceived genre. Each director has his strength: for Fruit Chan, a strong narrative and a coherent and intriguing plotline; for Chan-Wook Park , a macabre new version of the classic guts and gore mystery; and for Takashi Miike, it’s a surprisingly sympathetic, subtle, and thoughtful philosophical work that is as heavy on the eyes as it is on the viewer’s emotions.” – Tyler Robbins, Snowblood Apple
Genres:
154. (-1) It Chapter Two
Andy Muschietti
AKA:
2019 / USA / 169m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Martell, Wyatt Oleff
“It lacks the structured tightness that the first film had in abundance where its contained environment reigned supreme. However, with so much crazy and ancient mysticism to cover (but never to the point where its integrity suffers), Muschietti’s direction maintains an enjoyable pace throughout. It does enough to hold itself together in its poignant moments, but serves the jump scares as well-timed defibrillator shocks to give you that necessary jolt to the system… It was always going to be a challenge to re-capture lightning in a bottle knowing the bases it had to cover. But it embraces all of its craziness (faults and all), and if you’ve come this far and willing to embrace its tonal shifts, the immense fun waiting to be experienced will be worth the wait.” – Kelechi Ehenulo, Confessions From A Geek Mind
Genres:
155. (-13) The Eyes of My Mother
Nicolas Pesce
AKA:
2016 / USA / 76m / BW / Psychological | IMDb
Diana Agostini, Olivia Bond, Will Brill, Joey Curtis-Green, Flora Diaz, Kika Magalhães, Paul Nazak, Clara Wong
“A striking palette of black and white cinematography from Zach Kuperstein recalls the scarred, destitute lives from the ruins of Arturo Ripstein’s filmography, a macabre yet uncharacteristically sound portrait of psychological unraveling. We all know the kind of potent degeneration to be fashioned on isolated farmhouses where dysfunctional children are paired with musings of surgical practices… [director Pesce] debuts a spectacularly gruesome calling card which may deconstruct the notion of the physical lens through which living beings observe the world, but seems to hint these particular organs are hardly inherent windows to the soul.” – Nicholas Bell, IONCINEMA.com
Genres:
156. (0) Doctor Sleep
Mike Flanagan
AKA:
2019 / USA / 152m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis, Zahn McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lind, Selena Anduze, Robert Longstreet, Carel Struycken, Catherine Parker
“It’s typical King stuff, really, with small-town intrigue, sharply drawn and instantly recognizable players, and enough chewy New England accents to fill Boston Garden. But from the opening shots and synth notes — which build a bridge between the tone of “The Shining” and Flanagan’s own, thoughtfully constructed edifice — to a spectacularly chilling closing scene, “Doctor Sleep” makes a convincing case for its own greatness. Part of that is allowing the characters to breathe as they rapidly develop from one ominous scene to the next. “Doctor Sleep” may be a terrifying reminder that the world is a hungry place, that the darkness wants nothing more than to swallow up the light. But the wordless moments of humor and heart in the quieter scenes show Flanagan’s deft way with storytelling.” – John Wenzel, The Denver Post
Genres:
157. (-13) Frontière(s)
Xavier Gens
AKA: Frontier(s)
2007 / France / 108m / Col / Splatter | IMDb
Karina Testa, Samuel Le Bihan, Estelle Lefébure, Aurélien Wiik, David Saracino, Chems Dahmani, Maud Forget, Amélie Daure, Rosine Favey, Adel Bencherif
“There’s enough blood in the unrated French horror film “Frontier(s)” to satiate even the most ravenous gore hounds. The real surprise here is that this creepy, contemporary gross-out also has some ideas, visual and otherwise, wedged among its sanguineous drips, swaying meat hooks and whirring table saw. Much like other recent French-language horror films (“High Tension,” “Calvaire,” “Inside”), this one owes a debt to the modern American slasher flick, the original “Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” among many others, though “Frontier(s)” adds an amusingly glib and timely political twist to its wholesale carnage… “Frontier(s)” finally works because its shivers are as plausible as they are outrageous.” – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
Genres:
158. (0) Relic
Natalie Erika James
AKA:
2020 / Australia / 89m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Robyn Nevin, Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, Steve Rodgers, Chris Bunton, Robin Northover, Catherine Glavicic, John Browning, Jeremy Stanford, Ellie Dewhurst
“With relatively simple though often distressing visual effects, Relic (the title might refer to the house, to Edna or to a gene variant, among other things) delivers some of the most disturbing, close to the bone horror to grace the screen for years, in a film that is also tender and humane. The aching loss at its core reflects more than one person’s disintegration. James speaks to deep terrors of the sort we can avoid only by eschewing realism; horrors that do not recede when the screen goes black.” – Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film
Genres:
159. (-10) Død snø
Tommy Wirkola
AKA: Dead Snow
2009 / Norway / 90m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Vegar Hoel, Stig Frode Henriksen, Charlotte Frogner, Lasse Valdal, Evy Kasseth Røsten, Jeppe Beck Laursen, Jenny Skavlan, Ane Dahl Torp, Bjørn Sundquist, ørjan Gamst
“I’m not going to bother here with the argument that tremendously over-the-top gore like this is or isn’t a wicked thing, or a guilty pleasure, or balls-out fun; when I’m watching a movie in which the filmmakers are plainly loving their gore as much as Tommy Wirkola plainly loves gore, that is what I am going to respond to. Dead Snow is a movie made with a childlike glee for the material, which translates into marvelously playful geysers of blood. It’s all so much fun, made with a minimal level of contempt for the characters that makes it far unlike so many American horror films, and for this reason the comedy in the film (which is a horror-comedy more than it is a horror film with comedy relief) actually works, better than the comedy works the vast majority of English-language horror. This is the sprightliest movie about mowing down revenants with a chainsaw that you are are ever likely to see.” – Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
Genres: Zombie, Black Comedy, Splatter, Horror, Horror Comedy, Supernatural Horror, Nazisploitation
160. (-8) Oldeuboi
Chan-wook Park
AKA: Oldboy
2003 / South Korea / 120m / Col / Crime | IMDb
Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu, Hye-jeong Kang, Dae-han Ji, Dal-su Oh, Byeong-ok Kim, Seung-Shin Lee, Jin-seo Yoon, Dae-yeon Lee, Kwang-rok Oh
“The violence remains appalling, but it’s an essential element in this brutally inspired mystery. The low-tech dentistry, the masticated octopod, they’re part of the modern hell in which a Korean businessman finds himself… [Oldboy] tantalizes and tortures you as it lures you into its mysterious vortex. You die from what you see and from what you don’t know. And it takes looking beyond the violence to realize the power of Choi’s performance… There is a conclusion to all this, an existential punch line that explains everything in a climactic pileup of melodramatic detail. But whatever you make of that, you will surely leave this movie shocked, shaken and surprisingly moved. And definitely stuck on that poor octopus.” – Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Genres:
161. (+3) La piel que habito
Pedro Almodóvar
AKA: The Skin I Live In
2011 / Spain / 120m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes, Jan Cornet, Roberto Álamo, Eduard Fernández, José Luis Gómez, Blanca Suárez, Susi Sánchez, Bárbara Lennie
“Everything made by Pedro Almodóvar seems to have been developed from the outside in: surfaces yield psychology, decor becomes depth, kitsch proves porous, a parade of pop props dimpled with wells of violently conflicted feelings and frustrated lusts. Seen through this lens, The Skin I Live In, based on Thierry Jonquet’s 1995 novel Tarantula, can be read as a work of perfect unity between its filmmaker’s MO and its fabulous premise… An uneasy forecast of looming advances in posthuman sciences, an extravagant extrapolation of Eyes Without a Face, and a fresh opportunity for Almodóvar to fix his unapologetically (queer) male gaze on more immaculate female flesh, The Skin I Live In embodies a rather studied sort of perversion that nonetheless resonates with Almodóvar’s evolving concerns in interesting ways.” – José Teodoro, Film Comment Magazine
Genres:
162. (-7) Hounds of Love
Ben Young
AKA:
2016 / Australia / 108m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Emma Booth, Ashleigh Cummings, Stephen Curry, Susie Porter, Damian de Montemas, Harrison Gilbertson, Fletcher Humphrys, Steve Turner, Holly Jones, Michael Muntz
“Hounds of Love is a reminder that men can make feminist films. Like recent indie movie Berlin Syndrome, Young’s offering boasts a male psychopath and a resourceful victim (not to mention a protective mother). Yet the movies are poles apart. While Cate Shortland’s heroine is never more than the sum of her much-ogled parts, Young’s has a point of view that can’t be ignored. The result is psychologically impressive and fiendishly involving. Everything — from the flawless cast to the malnourished decors and oppressive, electronic soundtrack — hooks us into the teen’s fight for survival.” – Charlotte O’Sullivan London Evening Standard
Genres:
163. (+3) Koroshiya 1
Takashi Miike
AKA: Ichi the Killer
2001 / Japan / 129m / Col / Splatter | IMDb
Tadanobu Asano, Nao ômori, Shin’ya Tsukamoto, Paulyn Sun, Susumu Terajima, Shun Sugata, Toru Tezuka, Yoshiki Arizono, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Satoshi Niizuma
“‘Ichi the Killer’ is a bizarre sado-masochistic love story, an unnerving excursion into criminal and sexual extremes, and a comicbook explosion of lurid colours and freakish characters – but most of all, it is a furious, frenetic and at times very funny piece of bravura filmmaking, with outstanding performances, spectacular setpieces, dizzying moodswings, a killer soundtrack, and a mindbending conclusion. Guaranteed to amaze, shock, disgust and intrigue in equal measure, ‘Ichi the Killer’ is one of the most striking films ever made.” – Movie Gazette
Genres:
164. (-14) Calvaire
Fabrice Du Welz
AKA: The Ordeal
2004 / Belgium / 88m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Laurent Lucas, Brigitte Lahaie, Gigi Coursigny, Jean-Luc Couchard, Jackie Berroyer, Philippe Nahon, Philippe Grand’Henry, Jo Prestia, Marc Lefebvre, Alfred David
“It helps to find the very dark, dark humor in “Calvaire,” a grueling, disgusting and quite effective horror film from Belgium. Part “Psycho,” part “Deliverance” and all creepy, it is simultaneously off-putting and absorbing… What sells this movie is the realistic attention to detail and the bravura direction of Fabrice Du Welz, who draws a gut-wrenching performance from Lucas, who cries, squeals and screams with the best of them… this feels different and fresh. At the very least, it gets under your fingernails.” – G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
Genres:
165. (+9) His House
Remi Weekes
AKA:
2020 / UK / 93m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Sope Dirisu, Wunmi Mosaku, Malaika Wakoli-Abigaba, Matt Smith, Javier Botet, Yvonne Campbell, Vivienne Soan, Lola May, Kevin Layne, Maureen Casey
“With his remarkable feature debut His House, British writer-director Remi Weekes achieves what seasoned horror filmmakers struggle to pull off: tackling social issues like immigration, xenophobia, genocide and gender roles, alongside weighty themes like psychological trauma and grief, all while delivering throat-clenching scares. It’s one of the rare movies that can be enjoyed simultaneously by horror fans as a straight-up fright flick and by non-genre fans as a wrenching, timely drama.” – Mark H. Harris, Black Horror Movies
Genres:
166. (-9) Silent Hill
Christophe Gans
AKA:
2006 / Canada / 125m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger, Kim Coates, Tanya Allen, Alice Krige, Jodelle Ferland, Colleen Williams, Ron Gabriel
“The film is overlong, with too many unnecessary scenes (a lot of the movie seems like pointless running around), but it packs in a few scary moments and offers a nicely ambiguous conclusion. In Silent Hill, atmosphere trumps storyline… I have never played the game Silent Hill, but that didn’t stop me from appreciating some of what director Christophe Gans (who displayed a similar visual flair in Brotherhood of the Wolf) puts on the screen – although I suspect aficionados will have a better grasp of what is transpiring. Silent Hill looks great. The town is suitably eerie and the periods of darkness are ominous. The movie is all about visual appeal, feel, and tone, because the story underwhelms.” – James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Genres:
167. (+1) The Visit
M. Night Shyamalan
AKA:
2015 / USA / 94m / Col / Found Footage | IMDb
Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Kathryn Hahn, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Samuel Stricklen, Patch Darragh, Jorge Cordova, Steve Annan
“While the “documentary” conceit demands a certain suspension of disbelief, Shyamalan is resourceful about finding ways to tell the story without cheating… As personal as anything Shyamalan has done, the film maintains an unusual mood that combines low-key comedy with intangible unease. As usual, there are oddball digressions that serve no apparent purpose, such as a crazed monologue about aliens who trap people in a pond; the ending is disconcerting in a different sense, supplying an upbeat moral that doesn’t quite gel with what has come before. What remains clear is that Shyamalan hasn’t lost his disgust with humanity: whatever twists lie in wait, the main source of dread is the mundane horror of old age.” – Jake Wilson, Sydney Morning Herald
Genres:
168. (new) Dangerous Animals
Sean Byrne
AKA:
2025 / Australia / 98m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Sean Byrne, Nick Lepard, Hassie Harrison, Jai Courtney, Josh Heuston, Ella Newton, Liam Greinke, Rob Carlton, Ali Basoka, Michael Goldman
“If the skin-deep connotation of his titular creature wasn’t apparent enough, it might be because the real subject at hand isn’t the shark, or the man who feeds it, but the lust for blood that sustains he who feeds and watches it. And given how much the film hums with the warbles of Ozploitation, this is no mere conjecture. Set to a propulsive score by Michael Yezerski, its screenplay, courtesy of Nick Lepard, slickly dispenses with the cheap thrills we’ve come to expect without saturating the mix. In examining the death drive and its fetishistic obsessions, Dangerous Animals should, in theory, be a nauseating experience. That it should exploit these obsessions and make us gleefully willing subjects of them reveals not shoddy writing, but a deft and knowing hand.” – Morris Yang, In Review Online
Genres: Thriller, Sharksploitation, Natural Horror
169. (new) The Long Walk
Francis Lawrence
AKA:
2025 / USA / 108m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Francis Lawrence, JT Mollner, Stephen King, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Jordan Gonzalez
“This isn’t a horror movie in the traditional sense; the terror comes from the growing, ratcheted-up exhaustion each of our characters feels, as each new stumble or logistical hurdle puts them on an instant clock for death. The deaths themselves are brutal to the point of splattercore—skulls burst open with the force of bullets, legs are pulverized by tank treads—which punctuates how psychologically damaging it must be for the kids. Lawrence delights in showing us what it must feel like to force yourself to keep walking after your ankle is broken, or to get a bullet in the brainpan because you can’t stop shitting yourself fast enough to take another step. Children cry out for their mothers, or beg for mercy, or worse, defiantly try to go out on their own terms.” – Clint Worthington, RogerEbert.com
Genres: Death Game, Dystopian, Thriller, Road Movie, Young Adult Dystopian, Buddy, Psychological Drama, Psychological Thriller, Melodrama, Survival, Satire
170. (-22) 28 Weeks Later
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
AKA:
2007 / UK / 100m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack, Idris Elba, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton, Amanda Walker, Shahid Ahmed
“Coincidence or not, the visual aesthetic and energy of Fresnadillo’s film bears a striking resemblance to Cuarón’s — both use a pallette of dull and desaturated colors, as if the colors itself were weary of the worlds they’re inhabiting. Fresnadillo’s camerawork, like that in Children of Men, is jittery, so restless and panicky, in fact, that you think it might burst forth from the screen. It’s the director’s deft and sylish hand with this material that makes 28 Weeks such a refreshing jolt, plying a genre routinely deadened by sub-par slasher-fests. The exhilaration evident in the smartly-cut action sequences, the glances at pathos in the sequences of loss, betrayal, guilt, and abandonment underscore Fresnadillo’s considerable directorial powers; the man is taking his job seriously and at full-steam, never condescending to it.” – Jay Antani, Cinema Writer
Genres: Zombie, Horror, Dystopian, Epidemic, Thriller, Post-Apocalyptic, Action, Family Drama, Science Fiction, Survival
171. (-24) The Children
Tom Shankland
AKA:
2008 / UK / 84m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Eva Birthistle, Stephen Campbell Moore, Jeremy Sheffield, Rachel Shelley, Hannah Tointon, Rafiella Brooks, Jake Hathaway, William Howes, Eva Sayer
“For parents, the film will play on their personal fears and insecurities. Some parents (non-horror fans and insecure parents) will likely be appalled by the idea of children killing their parents, and vice versa (likely the reason why the film didn’t see a theatrical release). Others will simply enjoy the scary good ride – which is a brilliant byproduct of our own fears driven by pandemic paranoia. Director Tom Shankland skillfully crafts intensity through mostly non-scary images. With the help of his equally talented editor (Tim Murrell), Shankland intercuts several horrifying moments, juxtaposed with an energetic, pitch-perfect score from Stephen Hilton. And with such quick, focused intensity at play, seemingly innocent images like pinwheels and coffee mugs, or shots of children playing, drive fear into the hearts of his audience.” – R. L. Shaffer, IGN DVD
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Christmas, Slasher, Science Fiction, Epidemic, Evil Children
172. (+18) Coraline
Henry Selick
AKA:
2009 / USA / 100m / Col / Fantasy | IMDb
Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., Ian McShane, Aankha Neal, George Selick
“You know from the very first sequence that Coraline is an extraordinary movie that is going to rattle the bejeezus out of young audience members and – the truth be told – their fathers as well… the most imaginative film in memory, a carnival of wonders – magical gardens, a charmingly choreographed circus of mice, a couple of old actresses who get together to put on a fairly lewd but very funny variety show – that at the same time seems to come directly from your nightmares. Seeing Other Mother change from button-eyed ideal to long-necked witch with steel-needle fingers and a hunger to keep you prisoner, is a deeply shaking transformation that isn’t easy to throw off once the show is over. Coraline will haunt you.” – Jay Stone, Canada.com
Genres: Puppet Animation, Portal Fantasy, Fantasy, Horror, Gothic, Dark Fantasy, Gothic Horror, Fairy Tale, Family, Coming-of-Age, Haunted House, Surrealism, Body Horror, Mystery, Family Drama, Supernatural Horror
173. (-13) Mientras duermes
Jaume Balagueró
AKA: Sleep Tight
2011 / Spain / 102m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Luis Tosar, Marta Etura, Alberto San Juan, Petra Martínez, Iris Almeida, Carlos Lasarte, Amparo Fernández, Roger Morilla, Pep Tosar, Margarita Rosed
“As the film’s character based plot wraps its well scripted hands around the viewer’s neck, the same noose closes in on César, as he dodges and uses his false smiles and quick thinking to avoid detection. Both eerily realistic and uncomfortable, the viewer can never be sure whether what they are watching borders on the absurd. But the movie loses all pretension that is found in more Americanised horrors, and avoids the temptation of over-scoring itself in an attempt to add drama, and instead lets the looks and silence in-between them to create the tension. This ensures a well rounded but by no means flat film, that will leave you squirming in, and on of the edge of, your seat.” – Ross Shapland, Shapstik on Screen
Genres:
174. (+12) Barbarian
Zach Cregger
AKA:
2022 / USA / 102m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake, Kurt Braunohler, Jaymes Butler, Sophie Sörensen, Rachel Fowler, J.R. Esposito
“A tricky film to advertise without revealing its conceit — even its distributors have largely avoided disclosing the nature of Justin Long’s role — Barbarian plays like a midnight festival darling, bucking expectations while maintaining artistic finesse… The film’s rapid swinging between styles can be distancing at times, with shifts in narrative focus that often arrive just when the tension begins to crescendo. But these mildly jarring resets are part and parcel of the film’s devious game of tonal hopscotch, and Cregger knows exactly how and when to twist each screw, reminding the viewer how funny, intense and disturbing a movie can be, all at the same time.” – Siddhant Adlakha, Empire Magazine
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Satire, Black Comedy, Hyperlink Cinema
175. (-8) Unfriended
Levan Gabriadze
AKA:
2014 / USA / 83m / Col / Found Footage | IMDb
Cal Barnes, Matthew Bohrer, Courtney Halverson, Shelley Hennig, Renee Olstead, Will Peltz, Mickey River, Heather Sossaman, Moses Jacob Storm, Jacob Wysocki
“Rather than attempting to take us on a Hackers-style trip behind the screens, Unfriended plays on the addictive pull of the screen itself. Like James Woods being physically seduced by his TV in David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, the real horror here is our irritating antiheroes’ inability to pull themselves away from their laptops. Despite repeatedly telling each other to “just log off”, all are compelled to stay online; to open links that can only work their destructive magic if empowered to do so by the “user” – a word with entirely appropriate drug-addiction overtones. While the cast expend much energy trying to figure out the identity of their tormentor (the narrative follows the familiar “anniversary of death” riffs of Halloween, My Bloody Valentine, I Know What You Did… etc), the film forces its audience to spend 80-odd minutes effectively staring the bogeyman straight in the face.” – Mark Kermode, Observer
Genres:
176. (-6) Splinter
Toby Wilkins
AKA:
2008 / USA / 82m / Col / Body Horror | IMDb
Charles Baker, Jill Wagner, Paulo Costanzo, Shea Whigham, Rachel Kerbs, Laurel Whitsett
“A really smart little horror flick. How horrific is it? I’m far from brave, but good at temporary detachment – at the eager restoration of disbelief – and I still had to turn away at several points… This modest little genre piece is smarter than most of the overproduced and heavily marketed studio fare that’s been filling the multiplexes this fall. It’s short, taut, nicely shot, well-acted, astutely directed, specific where it might have been generic, original enough to be engrossing and derivative enough to be amusing. In other words, it knows exactly where it belongs and how to be its best self. What a revolutionary concept.” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
Genres:
177. (-15) Wrong Turn
Rob Schmidt
AKA:
2003 / USA / 84m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Jeremy Sisto, Kevin Zegers, Lindy Booth, Julian Richings, Garry Robbins, Ted Clark, Yvonne Gaudry
“This horror flick about young campers stalked and slaughtered by gruesome backwoods barbarians is a fairly decent crossbreeding of Friday the 13th and Deliverance. Despite the typical hunky-guys/babes-in-tank-tops Hollywood cast, Wrong Turn is gritty and uncompromising, and it includes several suspenseful and shocking moments. Unlike Deliverance, though, it’s not consistently believable enough to make you think seriously about cancelling that next trip into the forest… If screenwriter Alan B. McElroy had found more plausible ways to put his characters in danger, Wrong Turn could have been a real doozy of a fright flick. But it’s still chilling enough to please fans of nature-set nasties like The Hills Have Eyes.” – Steve Newton, Georgia Straight
Genres:
178. (-19) Orphan
Jaume Collet-Serra
AKA:
2009 / USA / 123m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder, Jimmy Bennett, Margo Martindale, Karel Roden, Aryana Engineer, Rosemary Dunsmore, Jamie Young
“Spaniard Jaume Collet-Serra’s wickedly entertaining, if slightly over-stretched, variation on the familiar ‘evil child’ scenario displays an unusually complex grasp of twisted psychology… Producer Joel Silver regularly specialises in routine horror remakes, such as Collet-Serra’s previous ‘House of Wax’. But here, courtesy of an insidious screenplay by David Leslie Johnson, we are in more disturbing territory. More of a psychological thriller than a horror movie, ‘Orphan’ does contain explosions of shocking, though not especially graphic, violence.” – Nigel Floyd, Time Out
Genres: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Horror, Family Drama, Psychological Horror, Evil Children
179. (-18) The Devil’s Candy
Sean Byrne
AKA:
2015 / USA / 79m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Ethan Embry, Shiri Appleby, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Kiara Glasco, Tony Amendola, Leland Orser, Craig Nigh, Oryan Landa, Richard Rollin, Shiela Bailey Lucas
“What makes “The Devil’s Candy” a standout is how well-developed these characters are. This is ultimately a movie about parenting, and how even “hip” moms and dads fear the choices they make are hurting their young. More importantly, Byrne is as skilled as ever at constructing sequences at once bizarre, suspenseful and oddly beautiful. In his cinematic universe, even something as simple as a pane of red glass or a heavy metal guitar riff can turn in an instant from innocuous to ominous.” – Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times
Genres:
180. (new) Companion
Drew Hancock
AKA:
2025 / USA / 97m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén, Rupert Friend, Jaboukie Young-White, Matt McCarthy, Marc Menchaca, Woody Fu
“Companion is an absolute delight of a film, shocking without being overly gory or nasty, and constantly escalating the stakes with striking images and a perfect, iconic ending that begs for some kind of world expansion. The world of unread user agreements, controlling men shirking judgement and technology used to cover up for rampant male inadequecy springs vibrantly to life, and Thatcher stakes her claim to being the scream queen du jour after last year’s Heretic. Companion is a fresh, easily recommendable thriller precisely because the ideas are fresh and modern, and explored in an original way” – Film-Authority.com
Genres: Artificial Intelligence, Thriller, Black Comedy, Satire, Techno-Horror, Romance, LGBTQ, Crime
181. (-18) The Guest
Adam Wingard
AKA:
2014 / USA / 100m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser, Lance Reddick, Tabatha Shaun, Chase Williamson, Joel David Moore, Steve Brown
“Director Wingard and his regular screenwriter collaborator Simon Barrett are interested in genre mash-ups and the dramatic possibilities of comedy-horror, as evidenced by their previous full-length feature “You’re Next.” “The Guest” goes even further in that direction. The music (by Steve Moore) suddenly blasts throughout, with moments of pulsing techno unease, as Anna, crouched in her bedroom decorated with Goth-Girl skull-and-crossbones, desperately tries to figure out more about the hot interloper… Wingard and Barrett have a perfect eye and ear for this type of material. They have fun with their influences, paying homage to John Carpenter and others. They’re not afraid to be silly and bold.” – Sheila O’Malley, RogerEbert.com
Genres:
182. (-17) Halloween
David Gordon Green
AKA:
2018 / USA / 106m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle, Haluk Bilginer, Will Patton, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall, Toby Huss
“[Director Green] clearly has an eye for the cozy, autumnal feel of Carpenter’s original film. From moment one through to the explosive denouement, Green’s Haddonfield feels like a real place filled with real people. And while he does indeed borrow from Carpenter’s cinematic toolbox, this is still very distinctly a Green film. He has brought the imagery into a modern lens, without leaning into the gaudy, aggressive modernity that Zombie tried to invoke with his tale on the material. In the same way that Pineapple Express borrows from a lifetime of crime films to create an atypical stoner comedy, Halloween is reverent to even the worst entries in the preceding franchise, while creating a film wholly its own in both style and structure.” – Dan Scully, Cinema76
Genres:
183. (-14) Ju-on
Takashi Shimizu
AKA: Ju-on: The Curse
2000 / Japan / 70m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Yûrei Yanagi, Yue, Ryôta Koyama, Hitomi Miwa, Asumi Miwa, Yumi Yoshiyuki, Kazushi Andô, Chiaki Kuriyama, Yoriko Dôguchi, Jun’ichi Kiuchi
“So this is where it all began. Sort of. In 1998, recommended by Kiyoshi Kurosawa to write and direct one or more of the segments for the Kansai TV horror film anthology “Gakko no Kaidan G”, Takashi Shimizu introduced Japanese audiences to Toshio and Kayako Saeki… If a film can cause a reaction without needing to rely on exposition or narrative, then you know that visually it’s doing something right. And Shimizu has the power to do that. There aren’t many directors that are able to create such a feeling through the use of lighting, composition and montage, I’d say Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Hideo Nakata are the only others who can do this effectively, but Shimizu is in the league of these greats. “Ju-on” is not the perfect horror film. It’s a little rough around the edges, but it’s the start of a style that Shimizu would perfect, and that’s something beautiful.” – Matthew Hardstaff, J-Film Pow-Wow
Genres:
184. (+5) Jennifer’s Body
Karyn Kusama
AKA:
2009 / USA / 102m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, Sal Cortez, Ryan Levine, Juan Riedinger, Colin Askey, Chris Pratt, Juno Ruddell
“The movie could have explored its intriguing ideas in even more depth, and it certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Jennifer’s Body is still a better-than-average horror movie, and considerably more pointed too. Several moments are genuinely creepy. Other moments are darkly funny. Cody’s script – under the director of Girlfight’s Karyn Kusama, who brings a top-notch visual style – manages to combine those things into something that is a lot of wicked fun. The message: inside every adolescent girl is a figurative man-eater waiting to be unleashed. And inside every teen boy is a desire to be feasted on by the hottest girl in school. You can agree with that sentiment or not, but it may just define adolescent sexuality. If nothing else, it makes for a hell-raising good time at the movies.” – Mike McGranaghan, The Aisle Seat
Genres: Teen Movie, Supernatural Horror, Black Comedy, Horror Comedy, Satire, LGBTQ, Slasher, Psychological Horror
185. (-9) Bubba Ho-Tep
Don Coscarelli
AKA:
2002 / USA / 92m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce, Heidi Marnhout, Bob Ivy, Edith Jefferson, Larry Pennell, Reggie Bannister, Daniel Roebuck, Daniel Schweiger
“Campbell could have been born to play Elvis – he completely nails both the voice and the mannerisms, even under a hefty amount of old age make-up. It’s a superb performance – if there were any justice, Campbell would get an Oscar nomination. Davis is equally good and the pair make a great screen couple – their friendship is genuinely touching… Bubba Ho-Tep isn’t quite the full-on schlock-fest you might be expecting – in fact, it’s relatively short on action, and the actual showdown, though funny, is rather anti-climactic. Instead, the film emerges as a surprisingly moving story about death, dignity and doing what needs to be done. (Noting, in the process, that anything’s better than meeting your maker while on the toilet).” – Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Genres:
186. (new) Final Destination Bloodlines
Zach Lipovsky & Adam B. Stein
AKA:
2025 / USA / 110m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein, Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor, Jon Watts, Jeffrey Reddick, Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Rya Kihlstedt, Richard Harmon
“Final Destination Bloodlines has no pretension of being anything other than a great Final Destination movie. It clears that bar and then some, bringing back the same meticulously absurd kills the franchise is known for while also adding new twists to the formula and depth. This isn’t a film that wants to investigate what makes Final Destination good; it’s a film that knows exactly what draws people in and plays almost exclusively to that appeal. The results are one of the most purely satisfying horror franchise entries to come out in a good while.” – James Preston Poole, But Why Tho?
Genres: Supernatural Horror, Thriller, Black Comedy, Splatter, Family Drama, Horror Comedy, Disaster
187. (-5) The Night House
David Bruckner
AKA:
2020 / USA / 107m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Evan Jonigkeit, Stacy Martin, David Abeles, Christina Jackson, Patrick Klein, Crystal Swann, Catherine Weidner
“The Night House provides a truly unique horror experience. Similar to movies like Midsommar and Vertigo, the horror depicted goes beyond simple scares. It’s a journey into the very heart and soul of a person. It speaks to the universal process of grieving and the secrets we keep to protect the ones we love. When loss comes, the desperation to fill the void left can trump every other need. The Night House captures these truths in this unforgettable psychological horror.” – Lindsey Dunn, 1 of My Stories
Genres: Psychological Horror, Mystery, Haunted House, Psychological Thriller, Psychological Drama
188. (-17) It Comes at Night
Trey Edward Shults
AKA:
2017 / USA / 91m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo, Riley Keough, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Griffin Robert Faulkner, David Pendleton, Mikey, Chase Joliet, Mick O’Rourke
“Like many of the current crop of art horror films, director Trey Edward Shults’s film has a strong social subtext. Like most zombie movies, it’s about what happens when society fails and it’s every man and woman for themselves. But by removing the zombies from the equation, its solutions to the question become much more stark. What happens in a hypercapitalist society where everyone is heavily armed, resources are scarce, and cooperation is taboo? It looks something like Travis’ nightmares, which provide the spooky counterpoint to the brutal, bloody realism of the rest of the film. What is the frightening “it” that comes at night? It’s us.” – Chris McCoy, Memphis Flyer
Genres:
189. (-6) 30 Days of Night
David Slade
AKA:
2007 / USA / 113m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Boone Junior, Mark Rendall, Amber Sainsbury, Manu Bennett, Megan Franich, Joel Tobeck
“Like “28 Days Later,” this is a film in awe of its creations, eager to unleash them into a world that lacks the glitz and polish of a supernatural thriller and focused in the intent to expand their visage into one of remarkable believability. There are moments here when we are not just staring back at movie villains or even watching on with misplaced hope at the antics of a cluster of desperate survivors. If a good horror picture means to transport us into the fabric of its bleak narrative and imprison us there, then here is one of those rare movies that penetrates the membrane separating all those disposable “gotcha” scarefests from genuinely engrossing supernatural thrillers, and finds a resonating chord.” – David Keyes, Cinemaphile
Genres: Vampire, Horror, Splatter, Survival, Siege Film
190. (-18) The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
Tom Six
AKA:
2009 / Netherlands / 92m / BW / Body Horror | IMDb
Dieter Laser, Ashley C. Williams, Ashlynn Yennie, Akihiro Kitamura, Andreas Leupold, Peter Blankenstein, Bernd Kostrau, Rene de Wit, Sylvia Zidek, Rosemary Annabella
“So what is the use of a genre film that doesn’t conform to the conventions of genre? Plenty. You know this movie is called The Human Centipede. You will watch the film knowing you will see a human centipede. And when it is over, you will be able to claim you have now seen a human centipede. The evocative title, the lack of motive and the absence of genre tropes are completely intentional – Six is giving us what we want, reminding us all the while that getting exactly what we want is usually the last thing we should ever really have. Basically, The Human Centipede is a better, more effective satire (experiment?) than Michael Haneke’s Funny Games.” – Simon Miraudo, Quikflix
Genres:
191. (-3) Nope
Jordan Peele
AKA:
2022 / USA / 130m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Brandon Perea, Michael Wincott, Steven Yeun, Wrenn Schmidt, Keith David, Devon Graye, Terry Notary, Barbie Ferreira
“Opening with an incredibly morbid and disturbing sequence that will later be expanded upon, Jordan Peele’s Nope is an intriguing mystery box of a film that once again proves Peele knows how to really get under the skin of an audience while delivering plenty of subtle humour throughout. Peele likes placing his main characters in such extraordinary circumstances and his writing really does a great job in emphasising the fear and uncertainty they possess in the midst of it all, Nope being the perfect title for this film with how OJ and Emerald approach their many encounters with the unidentified flying object and the strange happenings that occur when it appears.” – Josh Barton, Barton Reviews
Genres: Giant Monster, Alien Invasion, Horror, Mystery, Cosmic Horror, Thriller, Neo-Western, Satire, Comedy
192. (+2) Titane
Julia Ducournau
AKA:
2021 / France / 108m / Col / Body Horror | IMDb
Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle, Garance Marillier, Laïs Salameh, Mara Cisse, Marin Judas, Diong-Kéba Tacu, Myriem Akheddiou, Bertrand Bonello, Céline Carrère
“As with Ducournau’s feature debut “Raw,” “Titane” is fascinated by the body’s vulnerabilities and urges, its ravenous processes, and how the collective “we” attempt to deal with all of this, either by gorging ourselves or, conversely, by sublimating the need into other things. Neither process is pleasant and/or socially acceptable. You can’t control the inherently uncontrollable. “Titane,” this year’s Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival, is an extreme movie, violent and pitiless and funny, but the space it provides for not just tenderness but contemplation makes it an “extremely” thought-provoking film as well.” – Sheila O’Malley, RogerEbert.com
Genres: Body Horror, New French Extremity, Psychological Drama, Family Drama, Magical Realism, LGBTQ, Crime, Black Comedy, Psychological Drama, Queer Cinema
193. (-20) Cheap Thrills
E.L. Katz
AKA:
2013 / USA / 88m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Pat Healy, Sara Paxton, Ethan Embry, David Koechner, Amanda Fuller, Laura Covelli, Todd Farmer, Elissa Dowling, Eric Neil Gutierrez, Ruben Pla
“Katz walks a fine line between humor and malevolence in his directing debut and handles it deftly, making sure that a laugh is never far away even if you’re cringing at the next method that Colin dreams up for Vince and Craig to debase themselves. And while it would be easy for a movie like this to descend into simple torture porn or gross-out comedy, it never does because we are invested in Healy’s poor schlub right from the start. His desperation and looming financial and housing crises ring all too true, and even as Craig begins to lose touch with his basic decency, you root for him because he’s trapped in an unwinnable situation.” – Don Kaye, Den of Geek
Genres:
194. (-19) Hatchet
Adam Green
AKA:
2006 / USA / 85m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Joel David Moore, Tamara Feldman, Deon Richmond, Kane Hodder, Mercedes McNab, Parry Shen, Joel Murray, Joleigh Fioravanti, Richard Riehle, Patrika Darbo
“For people who miss the early-’80s heyday of the slasher film, Hatchet will seem like a gift from the horror-movie gods; for everyone else, it’ll at least be a fun way to kill 80 minutes… There’s nothing revolutionary about Hatchet; with its simplistic plot and cameos from horror legends Robert Englund and Tony Todd, it’s a deliberate throwback to the uncomplicated slasher movies of yore. But Green re-creates the style with affection and a knack for building suspense. The acting is above average, the bits of comic relief are actually funny, and multiple limbs are severed in highly graphic fashion. What more could you ask for?” – Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly
Genres:
195. (+89) Nosferatu
Robert Eggers
AKA:
2024 / USA / 132m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, Adéla Hesová, Milena Konstantinova
“There’s not a single facet of Nosferatu that doesn’t impress for the sheer artistry on display. Night scenes aren’t simply well-lit; they’re re-envisioned as monochromatic nightmares, evocative of black and white gothic horror classics. Craig Lathrop’s exquisite production design whisks audiences on a tactile journey filled with dread-inducing decrepit castles, a city torn asunder by plague, gypsy camps, and beyond. Robin Carolan’s triumphant score, combined with Damian Volpe’s unsettling sound design, only furthers the immersive gothic spell. As beautiful as the costuming, set pieces, and dreamy cinematography can be, complete with quiet long takes and ethereal camera work, it’s equally matched by the horror on display. Violent deaths, an excess of blood, and necrophilia ensue in great abundance.” – Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting
Genres:
196. (+13) Donnie Darko
Richard Kelly
AKA:
2001 / USA / 113m / Col / Mystery | IMDb
Jake Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daveigh Chase, Mary McDonnell, James Duval, Arthur Taxier, Patrick Swayze, Mark Hoffman
“Maybe Richard Kelly’s fate is to be the cult circuit’s Michael Cimino — forever admired for one great film amid subsequent missteps, including a director’s cut of the same movie. Kelly has yet to match the mysterious mood or magnitude of his filmmaking debut, 2001’s “Donnie Darko” — a collision of time-travel sci-fi, commentary on ’80s Reaganomics malaise and teen angst that’s simultaneously witty and poignant… And what works as nervy comedy also foreshadows Donnie’s burden and reinforces Kelly’s thematic idea that teens can be capable of amazing, world-changing things. Concluding with compassionate nobility and an unforgettable epilogue, “Donnie Darko” represented the one moment when Kelly’s eccentricities weren’t extraneous and ambition matched his grasp.” – Nick Rogers, The Film Yap
Genres:
197. (-6) Happy Death Day
Christopher Landon
AKA:
2017 / USA / 96m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Charles Aitken, Laura Clifton, Jason Bayle, Rob Mello, Rachel Matthews, Ramsey Anderson, Brady Lewis
“Landon is careful not to let his focus stray too much, though, nor does he allow that schmaltzy sentiment to overwhelm the horror sensibilities here. In fact, he and co-writer Scott Lobdell deviously play against audience expectations, gleefully stringing them along with an increasingly unhinged murder mystery with outrageous twists and turns that would feel quite at home in a giallo. Despite taking an obvious cue from Ivan Reitman’s seminal film, the script isn’t expressly concerned with capturing existential angst of Groundhog Day, preferring instead to send audiences on an unrelenting thrill ride full of deviations, red herrings, and a wildly trashy finale.” – Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!
Genres:
198. (-18) Dagon
Stuart Gordon
AKA:
2001 / Spain / 95m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Ezra Godden, Francisco Rabal, Raquel Meroño, Macarena Gómez, Brendan Price, Birgit Bofarull, Uxía Blanco, Ferran Lahoz, Joan Minguell, Alfredo Villa
“Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon returns to literary horror with Dagon, another H.P. Lovecraft adaptation that takes his trademark grisliness to Spain for a real fish-out-of-water yarn having to do with love, sex and demon worship… Despite the Lovecraftian pedigree, what we really have here is a cheap horror potboiler: Stuart Gordon’s Attack of the Fish People. I swear that’s not a bad thing… Given the downright conservative tone of most horror films lately, the ripping and raping that caps Dagon’s leisurely build is itself startling. Replete with gore and nudity, the final reels make it to giddy exploitation territory.” – Bryant Frazer, Deep Focus
Genres:
199. (0) Climax
Gaspar Noé
AKA:
2018 / France / 95m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub, Kiddy Smile, Claude-Emmanuelle Gajan-Maull, Giselle Palmer, Taylor Kastle, Thea Carla Schott, Sharleen Temple, Lea Vlamos
“Noe’s superb direction makes all the difference. While this kind of story could easily wind up as a suffocating, sensory overload, Noe’s camera follows each subject in Climax with a steady and curious, if emotionally distanced, eye. He’s not afraid to ditch one agonised torture subject to follow another more interesting (read: dirtier and more gruesome) one. The sheer artistry and skill of that is something to behold. It’s comparable to a poet composing a sonnet with broken glass and rusty nails. But the intent behind this artistry is so god damn devious and borderline juvenile. Because the mere act of watching this fictional movie nearly emotionally aligns you with the real-life perverts and voyeurs.” – Rhys Tarling, Isolated Nation
Genres:
200. (-22) 1408
Mikael Håfström
AKA:
2007 / USA / 104m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
John Cusack, Paul Birchard, Margot Leicester, Walter Lewis, Eric Meyers, David Nicholson, Holly Hayes, Alexandra Silber, Johann Urb, Andrew Lee Potts
“Whatever its weaknesses, 1408 holds you captive. The film may seem like a one-room version of THE SHINING, condensed and tight rather than big and sprawling like the Kubrick movie, but Hafstrom does an impressive job of keeping its limited space visually interesting for feature length, and when all else fails the story succeeds on the strength of Cusack’s performance. The actor is allowed to give a virtual one-man show, ranging from funny to fearful, alternating between broad physical action (when the character explodes in rage against the room’s asault on him) with quieter interludes of angst and despair. Forcing the audience to experience his terror with an almost first-hand immediacy, Cusack runs the emotional gamut, delivering a performance as layered and complex as any of the 2007s Oscar nominees. Thanks in large part to his efforts, 1408 comes close to being a character study rather than a horror film – WILD STRAWBERRIES, with ghosts. Unlike too many movies that aspire to more than mere horror, this one achieves its goal without neglecting the fear factor.” – Steve Biodrowski, ESplatter
Genres: Haunted House, Psychological Horror, Psychological Thriller, Psychological Drama, Family Drama, Surrealism, Chamber Film, Time Loop
201. (-22) Dead End
Jean-Baptiste Andrea & Fabrice Canepa
AKA:
2003 / USA / 85m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Ray Wise, Lin Shaye, Mick Cain, Alexandra Holden, Billy Asher Rosenfeld, Amber Smith, Karen S. Gregan, Sharon Madden, Steve Valentine, Jimmie F. Skaggs
“Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa’s Grimm fable is hardly blessed with originality, its road trip to hell device being a staple of everything from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to the recent Wrong Turn. Moreover, those with even a passing acquaintance with the genre will guess how the movie pans out long before it reaches its abrupt and rather unsatisfying conclusion. Where it scores is in its canny exploration of family dynamics and a jet-black gallows humour that will have you tittering into your popcorn… while there’s ultimately less to Dead End than meets the eye, it remains an ingenious exercise in nerve-shredding tension that makes a virtue of its limited means.” – Neil Smith, BBC
Genres:
202. (-17) Candyman
Nia DaCosta
AKA:
2021 / USA / 91m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo, Kyle Kaminsky, Vanessa Williams, Brian King, Miriam Moss, Rebecca Spence, Carl Clemons-Hopkins
“While DaCosta ably toys with the usual genre trappings — jump scares, things that go bump in the night, eye-popping gore — the filmmaker, directing only her second feature, effectively adds unexpectedly artful touches. Rife with reflective surfaces, DaCosta cleverly uses every mirror, sparkling window, even a particularly ill-fated compact mirror to show just as much as she wants, just enough to scare both her audience and her characters (hint: it’s usually that goddamn hook). Blood spatters and splotches, even pours down in a dripping sheet, every kill a new way to explore the many ways a human body can be brutalized.” – Kate Erbland, IndieWire
Genres: Supernatural Horror, Slasher, Body Horror, Silhouette Animation, Mystery
203. (new) Frankenstein
Guillermo del Toro
AKA:
2025 / USA / 149m / Col / Gothic | IMDb
Guillermo del Toro, Mary Shelley, Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, Charles Dance, David Bradley, Lars Mikkelsen
“Del Toro has always had an eye for the ways beauty and brutality weave themselves together in human life, and “Frankenstein” is an ideal text for that interest. But the movie also spotlights something he understands intuitively: the difference between the destruction of life — nasty, brutish and quick, as when an unhinged act of violence results in the twisting of limbs or the cracking of bones or a bullet to an eyeball — and the heartbroken and lovely form that life can take at its end. There are some images so stunning I could barely look at them in “Frankenstein,” and some I blinked away from for exactly the other reason. ” – Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times
Genres: Science Fiction, Gothic Horror, Period Drama, Gothic, Melodrama, Body Horror, Psychological Drama, Epic, Tragedy
204. (-11) The Ritual
David Bruckner
AKA:
2017 / UK / 94m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, Sam Troughton, Paul Reid, Matthew Needham, Jacob James Beswick, Maria Erwolter, Hilary Reeves, Peter Liddell
“The Signal director David Bruckner’s deft adaptation of Adam Nevill’s acclaimed novel is an effective serving of woodland terror laced with psychological depth and eerie creature-feature spectacle, and proves old-school horror can be upgraded in a chillingly relevant way. After the violent murder of their best friend, four mates go on a hike of remembrance in northern Sweden’s mountain terrain. Taking an ill-advised shortcut through dense forest, they stumble on a derelict cabin where their pagan nightmares truly begin. Commandeering imagery from The Wicker Man, Troll Hunter and the Blair Witch franchise, Bruckner pulls off merciless tension between the well-played-out bickering to get up an uncommonly spooky head of scream.” – Alan Jones, Radio Times
Genres:
205. (-24) Krampus
Michael Dougherty
AKA:
2015 / USA / 98m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Emjay Anthony, Adam Scott, Toni Collette, Stefania LaVie Owen, Krista Stadler, Conchata Ferrell, Allison Tolman, David Koechner, Maverick Flack, Queenie Samuel
“it never takes itself too seriously, yet plays its ridiculousness completely straight, sending out legions of killer toys, evil gingerbread men, and even an evil Christmas tree angel to torment the family at its center (scored with eerily retooled version of familiar Christmas tunes by Douglas Pipes). Krampus himself is an ingenious creation, using practical effects and puppetry rather than relying on CGI, giving the film the feeling of something out of the 1980s. It’s refreshing throwback to see a modern horror film that’s so creature heavy use CGI so sparing, but it really pays off, making Krampus a much more tangible (and frightening) figure in the film.” – Matthew Lucas, From the Front Row
Genres:
206. (-8) ParaNorman
Chris Butler & Sam Fell
AKA:
2012 / USA / 92m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, Jodelle Ferland
“ParaNorman” creeps and crawls out of the mind of writer/co-director Chris Butler, a storyboard artist who honed his skills on Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride” and Henry Selick’s “Coraline.” It’s no wonder, then, that when Butler receives free rein to tell his own story, he comes up with a spooky, creature-infested campfire story laced with valuable lessons about teamwork, responsibility, courage and the celebration of our inner outcast… After a creaky start, “ParaNorman” comes to life once the dead rise. Zombies stomp, trees throw dagger branches, purple-faced clouds loom, and this roller-coaster ride through an expertly crafted house of terrors culminates with an unfortunately busy finale” – Sean O’Connell, Washington Post
Genres:
207. (-15) Freddy vs. Jason
Ronny Yu
AKA:
2003 / Canada / 97m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Robert Englund, Ken Kirzinger, Monica Keena, Jason Ritter, Kelly Rowland, Chris Marquette, Brendan Fletcher, Katharine Isabelle, Lochlyn Munro, Kyle Labine
“Two dead horror franchises and two one-note jokes combine their burnt-out story lines and collective myths in “Freddy Vs. Jason,” and the result is a horror movie that’s better than it has any right to be… The Jason (‘Friday the 13th’) and the Freddy Krueger (‘Nightmare on Elm Street’) series were limp self-parodies long before they went dormant. But something in the combination of the two villains wakes things up. The presence of Freddy liberates this Jason entry from the monotony of a guy lumbering about with a ski mask and a sword, while the presence of Jason liberates this Freddy film from the monotony of the usual endless dream sequences… Director Ronny Yu… keeps it as light as possible.” – Mick LaSalle, SFGate
Genres:
208. (+10) The Dark and the Wicked
Bryan Bertino
AKA:
2020 / USA / 95m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Marin Ireland, Julie Oliver-Touchstone, Lynn Andrews, Tom Nowicki, Michael Zagst, Xander Berkeley, Charles Jonathan Trott, Ella Ballentine, Mel Cowan, Mindy Raymond
“Although it’s filled with dread, Bertino maintains a slow-burning tempo that avoids most tropes. His themes involve isolation, depression, elderly neglect, all lined within the scope of political and religious allegories. These complex ideas are often explored through basic everyday household objects. The phone keeps ringing but it’s usually an apparition of their mother on the line commanding them to “get out and go away.” – Eamon Tracy, Irish Film Critic
Genres:
209. (-13) Upgrade
Leigh Whannell
AKA:
2018 / Australia / 100m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Logan Marshall-Green, Melanie Vallejo, Steve Danielsen, Abby Craden, Harrison Gilbertson, Benedict Hardie, Richard Cawthorne, Christopher Kirby, Richard Anastasios, Kenny Low
“The latest sneak attack from genre kings Blumhouse is an unusually patient, detailed and visceral cyber-thriller that plays like a Black Mirror rethink of The Six Billion Dollar Man, and may be the closest any mainstream production is likely to get to Japan’s cult Tetsuo movies… at its best – in a boundless chase round a hackers’ hangout, and a high-speed freeway pursuit – Upgrade is as fluid and exhilarating as anything the Wachowskis signed their names to in the days when they were brothers: the kind of nifty, sometimes nasty surprise our multiplexes sorely need.” – Mike McCahill, Guardian
Genres:
210. (-23) Frozen
Adam Green
AKA:
2010 / USA / 93m / Col / Natural Horror | IMDb
Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers, Ed Ackerman, Rileah Vanderbilt, Kane Hodder, Adam Johnson, Chris York, Peder Melhuse
“Adam Green’s fun 2006 horror film ‘Hatchet’ revelled in the art of self-aware pastiche, but it is in his second major work that he has found a legitimately great concept out of which to wring more nuanced thrills… If anything, Green suggests here that is likely a much better director than a writer; especially exciting is an overhead shot of the lift as a wolf darts by in the distance. The lean nature of the narrative dictates that the small things count, and as such, Green chooses to focus on them – frostbite scabs, the barely-threaded bolts on the ski-lift, and the frayed steel wires holding them precariously in place – to chilling effect.” – Shaun Munro, What Culture
Genres:
211. (+29) Oddity
Damian Mc Carthy
AKA:
2024 / Ireland / 98m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Carolyn Bracken, Gwilym Lee, Steve Wall, Joe Rooney, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Johnny French, Ivan de Wergifosse, Shane Whisker, Joshua Campbell
“Oddity” is genuinely and consistently unsettling. Instead of relying on cheap jump scares, McCarthy goes for mood—a much harder thing to pull off, but he does exactly that. “Oddity” has a cold, unpredictable aesthetic that makes it equally riveting and tense. The economy of characters and storytelling allow McCarthy to deliver in terms of craft, turning viewers into residents in a remote Irish home in the middle of the night, a place where the skeletons in the closet might be literally deadly.” – Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
Genres:
212. (-17) Crawl
Alexandre Aja
AKA:
2019 / USA / 87m / Col / Natural Horror | IMDb
Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Morfydd Clark, Ross Anderson, Jose Palma, George Somner, Anson Boon, Ami Metcalf, Tina Pribicevic, Srna Vasiljevic
“Clocking a little under 90 minutes, he also keeps the pace lean and tight while finding efficient time to establish the estranged daughter-father relationship between Kaya Scodelario’s Haley and Barry Pepper’s Dave without stalling the momentum. It also helps that both of them each give above-average performances, which are actually saying a lot for this kind of genre movie… Kudos also go to Aja for staging some of the effective yet well-timed suspenseful moments, particularly the way he executes close calls and near-death experiences during the few encounters with one or sometimes more alligators. Several jump scares are also employed in this movie but thankfully, Aja does not utilise them for the sake of cheap thrills just to evoke the viewers’ reactions.” – Casey Chong, Casey’s Movie Mania
Genres:
213. (+48) Funny Games
Michael Haneke
AKA:
2007 / USA / 111m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart, Boyd Gaines, Siobhan Fallon, Robert LuPone, Susi Haneke, Linda Moran
“This transposed Funny Games registers more strongly than the original as a film about privileged white people… Next to their Austrian equivalents, Corbet and Pitt seem less outwardly presentable, more outlandish and fey… While both iterations of Funny Games are schematic to a fault, their anti-illusionism opens up a Pandora’s box of unanswered questions. Haneke scolds us for our bloodlust, yet leaves us wondering how the suffering of a fictional character can carry any weight at all. As onscreen narrators employed to articulate these puzzles, Peter and Paul could be cousins to the Joker in The Dark Knight or Javier Bardem’s smiling assassin in No Country For Old Men.” – Jake Wilson, The Age
Genres:
214. (-30) Stoker
Chan-wook Park
AKA:
2013 / UK / 99m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, David Alford, Matthew Goode, Peg Allen, Lauren E. Roman, Phyllis Somerville, Harmony Korine, Lucas Till, Alden Ehrenreich
“Park Chan-wook’s long-awaited English-language debut is a gorgeously mounted family mystery dressed up as a gothic fairytale. The atmosphere is suffocatingly effective, and if the scarcity of shocks leaves some viewers feeling cheated (Park created the South Korean Vengeance trilogy after all), this misdirection is also one of the movie’s great strengths. Stoker is a puzzle. Its lush visuals, allied with Clint Mansell’s eerily dynamic score, are MacGuffins to some degree. After Sunday night’s world premiere at Sundance, Chan-wook spoke of his admiration for Alfred Hitchcock and homage courses through Stoker like, well, blood… Literary references and symbolism abound in Stoker. You can get tied up trying to figure out who is what. That is the idea. All the clues are there. You just have to look closely.” – Jeremy Kay, The Guardian
Genres:
215. (+38) Rang song
Banjong Pisanthanakun
AKA: The Medium
2021 / Thailand / 130m / Col / Found Footage | IMDb
Narilya Gulmongkolpech, Sawanee Utoomma, Sirani Yankittikan, Yasaka Chaisorn, Boonsong Nakphoo, Arunee Wattana, Thanutphon Boonsang, Pakapol Srirongmuang, Akkaradech Rattanawong, Chatchawat Sanveang
“Despite its generic title, The Medium not only understands how to maximize the striking power of the found footage style, but its pacing, balance, and grounded execution make it one of the most terrifying films of the year. It’s a film that works on the surface as a slow-burning story of possession but also manages to embed a thematic religious layering that deepens the experience in some fascinating ways.” – Matt Reifschneider, Blood Brothers
Genres:
216. (new) Heart Eyes
Josh Ruben
AKA:
2025 / USA / 97m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Josh Ruben, Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon, Michael Kennedy, Alex Walker, Lauren O’Hara, Latham Gaines, Alex McColl, Karlton Laing, Amy L. Workman
“Heart Eyes walks the fine line between a ’90s slasher with a modern savage edge and a romcom with rare, white-hot chemistry without ever feeling novel or gimmicky. It’s simply a breathlessly entertaining ride that leaves you cheering for love and creative kills in equal measure. Heart Eyes doesn’t shake up the slasher or romcom formulas but seamlessly marries the two and puts its characters first. It’s arguably the best mashup of two seemingly disparate genres yet, and this charming, violent, and romantic slasher feels all but destined for sequel status. ” – Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting
Genres: Slasher, Romantic Comedy, Horror Comedy, Police Procedural, Black Comedy, Satire
217. (+38) Late Night with the Devil
Colin Cairnes & Cameron Cairnes
AKA:
2023 / Australia / 93m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Georgina Haig, Josh Quong Tart, Steve Mouzakis, Paula Arundell
“While none of it reaches the traumatising, ghoulish levels of Jimmy Fallon’s fake laugh that haunts our current TV screens, the Cairnes’ already strong direction becomes even more effective once the film begins to add panic into the mix. The ramp-up of tension and body horror jolts that happen during the actual show are impressively visualised and they don’t rely on cheap tricks even if sceptics would like to believe so. Despite some unintended irregularities that happened during my screening experience (which might fit the ”uncovered tapes” aura), the resourcefulness concerning both the practical—such as Marie Princi and Russell Sharp’s makeup work—and digital visual effects is noticeable and admirable.” – S.J., After Misery
Genres: Supernatural Horror, Analog Horror, Chamber Film, Satire, Black Comedy, Found Footage Horror, Halloween, Mockumentary, Psychological Horror, Period Drama, Surrealism, Body Horror, Folk Horror, Postmodernism
218. (-21) A Dark Song
Liam Gavin
AKA:
2016 / Ireland / 100m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Steve Oram, Catherine Walker, Susan Loughnane, Mark Huberman, Nathan Vos, Martina Nunvarova, Breffni O’Connor, Sheila Moloney
“Fans of Ben Wheatley’s oeuvre will recognize a certain amount of that director’s offbeat influence… but ultimately Gavin’s debut is its own brand of nightmare. Walker and Oram are perfectly cast here. It’s impossible to figure out who’s the madder one, so driven by their collective need to break the bounds of reason. The harsh, atonal score by composer Ray Harman is a masterpiece of hair-raising instrumentality that’s every bit as grand and discomfiting as the images onscreen, and cinematographer Cathal Watters’ use of natural light – or the lack thereof – is profoundly distressing, in the best possible way.” – Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
Genres:
219. (-16) Gau ji
Fruit Chan
AKA: Dumplings
2004 / Hong Kong / 91m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Pauline Lau, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Bai Ling, Meme Tian, So-Fun Wong, Miriam Yeung Chin Wah, Miki Yeung
“A refreshing change from the usual lank-haired ghost stories of extreme Asian cinema, this Hong Kong horror trades on nausea rather than nerve-jangling. Cooked up by mysterious medicine woman Bai Ling, the titular delicacy takes years off desperate housewife Miriam Yeung thanks to a sinister special ingredient. It’s a blackly comic comment on society’s obsession with appearance… Fruit Chan’s movie is an expansion of his 37-minute contribution to 2002 omnibus Three Extremes. At times there’s a sense that it should’ve stayed in its shorter form; the plot treads water in places, especially in the lead-up to the final sick-trigger surprise. On the other hand, you can never have too much of ace cinematographer Chris Doyle’s (Hero, In The Mood For Love) lip-smacking work.” – Matthew Leyland, BBCi – Films
Genres:
220. (-19) Signs
M. Night Shyamalan
AKA:
2002 / USA / 106m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones, M. Night Shyamalan, Patricia Kalember, Ted Sutton, Merritt Wever, Lanny Flaherty
“What makes Signs such an odd but enthralling film is the way its story is open to interpretation. Taken literally, it’s War of the Worlds populated with characters carrying a lot of baggage. At the same time, it’s a metaphor for faith and an examination of how beliefs shape reality. In fact, the surreal and detached atmosphere offers debate for what exactly is “real” in this movie. Enough peculiarities pop up here and there to make you wonder… If you’re not interested in symbolism with your cinema, rest assured that Signs also boasts a good deal of thrills at face value. Tension and unease abound, and the movie has its fair share of sudden jolts and monsters in unseen places.” – Andrew Manning, Radio Free
Genres:
221. (-13) Malignant
James Wan
AKA:
2021 / USA / 111m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Jean Louisa Kelly, Susanna Thompson, Jake Abel, Jacqueline McKenzie, Christian Clemenson, Amir AboulEla
“And it’s all paced with a wonderfully delirious sense of escalation. By and large it seems like the story of a young woman who has some kind of mysterious psychic link to a killer, and it continues along in that vein until the last act, when everything gets more grisly before going utterly apeshit. It gets much weirder and much bloodier than everything preceding it without getting any more serious in tone, blending the giallo-style flashbacks that reveal exactly how everything really happened with some classic body horror. Like everything else about this film, it swings for the fences and I found my jaw in my lap at how melodramatic and audacious the whole thing ended up being.” – Cliff Evans, A Lifetime in Dark Rooms
Genres: Mystery, Horror, Body Horror, Police Procedural, Slasher, Action, Splatter, Psychological Thriller, Supernatural Horror
222. (-18) The Neon Demon
Nicolas Winding Refn
AKA:
2016 / USA / 118m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Elle Fanning, Karl Glusman, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Desmond Harrington, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, Charles Baker, Jamie Clayton
“For all its shimmery surface modernity, this story about the commodified consumption of youth is as old as the hills, a carefully choreographed carnival of voyeurism in which corruptible beauty is “the only thing” and every look comes with daggers. Motel rooms are stalked by beasts both real and metaphorical (Keanu Reeves giving good creep) and photographers are indistinguishable from serial killers (shades of Eyes of Laura Mars). But while Jesse may faint like Sleeping Beauty, with rose petals falling around her goldie locks, it’s her own image that grabs her by the throat. Mirrors are everywhere, to be stared into, scrawled upon, kissed and smashed. And the more Jesse looks, the more she sees nothing but herself…” – Mark Kermode, Guardian
Genres:
223. (-10) Dans ma peau
Marina de Van
AKA: In My Skin
2002 / France / 93m / Col / Body Horror | IMDb
Marina de Van, Laurent Lucas, Léa Drucker, Thibault de Montalembert, Dominique Reymond, Bernard Alane, Marc Rioufol, François Lamotte, Adrien de Van, Alain Rimoux
“It’s mostly the suggestion of what Esther is doing to herself that worms its way into your mind and won’t leave you alone, and that’s what people were finding so uncomfortable that they couldn’t continue to watch the film. Being confronted with a sudden boundary between “me” and “my body” isn’t something many of us have dealt with, and our innate inclination for self-preservation tells us to run from the suggestion that such a thing is possible. That might make In My Skin the ultimate horror movie, one the proposes that, given the right stimulus, we ourselves could be our own worst mortal danger.” – MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
Genres:
224. (+26) Skinamarink
Kyle Edward Ball
AKA:
2022 / USA / 100m / Col / Experimental | IMDb
Lucas Paul, Dali Rose Tetreault, Ross Paul, Jaime Hill
“It’s certainly a film that demands your concentration, a movie that works best if you know nothing about it going in and are willing to get lost in something with strange, unsettling visual language. But it’s also the kind of thing that would work best if somehow a viewer could just stumble upon it in the middle of the night on some obscure cable channel, unsure of what they’re watching but increasingly terrified as they do so, like they’re watching something they shouldn’t see. Ball attempts to recreate that feeling when you wake up at like 2:46 AM and it seems like something is just … wrong. We all know it. We’ve all felt it. And the best parts of “Skinamarink” convey that unsettled space between nightmare and reality that feels legitimately dangerous.” – Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
Genres: Analog Horror, Experimental, Supernatural Horror, Psychological Horror, Surrealism, Structural Film, Slow Cinema, Haunted House, Chamber Film
225. (-25) The Crazies
Breck Eisner
AKA:
2010 / USA / 101m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker, Christie Lynn Smith, Brett Rickaby, Preston Bailey, John Aylward, Joe Reegan, Glenn Morshower
“Don’t be afraid of the horror remake stigma here; be afraid of The Crazies’ constant, electric hum of dread. Be afraid of the unpredictable bursts of violence and well-earned jump scares. Be afraid of director Eisner’s unexpected mastery of the material — he seems to have been a standout horror filmmaker-in-waiting all this time, and The Crazies shows that off in a huge way. He understands timing and mood and how important a good score is to a horror film (Mark Isham’s synth score is noticeably great, like a quiet callback to John Carpenter’s way of scoring horror). He gets the actors to take the material seriously, he’s not afraid to go bleak and nasty, and he knows how to build suspense (a talent too rare in studio horror).” – John Gholson, MovieFone
Genres:
226. (new) Together
Michael Shanks
AKA:
2025 / Australia / 102m / Col / Body Horror | IMDb
Michael Shanks, Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Damon Herriman, Mia Morrissey, Karl Richmond, Jack Kenny, Francesca Waters, Aljin Abella, Sarah Lang
“Together, the psychological and body horror film from writer-director Michael Shanks, blends relationship drama with creeping dread and visceral transformation in ways that feel both fresh and unsettling. Starring real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, the film starts with the deceptively simple setup of a couple relocating to the countryside. What follows is an increasingly strange and eerie spiral into supernatural territory, where the boundaries between love, identity, and physical self begin to blur. It’s intimate and bizarre in equal measure, offering an experience that feels deeply personal even as it veers into the grotesque.” – Kyle Wolfe, Cinefied
Genres: Body Horror, Romance, Psychological Horror, Supernatural Horror, Black Comedy
227. (-15) Censor
Prano Bailey-Bond
AKA:
2021 / UK / 84m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Niamh Algar, Michael Smiley, Nicholas Burns, Vincent Franklin, Sophia La Porta, Adrian Schiller, Clare Holman, Andrew Havill, Felicity Montagu, Danny Lee Wynter
“We know now that all those horror movies didn’t warp anybody’s mind, at least not in any kind of mass way. Censor, on the other hand, asks us to suppose that too much consumption of them could impact one’s point of view. Even more chilling is the idea that it could happen without knowledge, thereby plunging a person into a hell they never see coming. Bailey-Bond is smart to marry that concept to the very human element of Enid never fully accepting her sister’s likely fate. It grounds the story, causing us to fear for the character the further she goes on her quest. Atmospherically photographed, effectively edited, and possessing several genuinely shocking moments, Censor is a terrific horror movie about horror movies.” – Mike McGranaghan, The Aisle Seat
Genres:
228. (-26) Mama
Andrés Muschietti
AKA:
2013 / Spain / 100m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse, Daniel Kash, Javier Botet, Jane Moffat, Morgan McGarry, David Fox, Dominic Cuzzocrea
“Mama proves to be a great horror film for about half of its running time — the half in which we can’t see who or what this Mama character is… unfortunately, the more we learn about Mama, the more it seems as though she’s just malnourished and misunderstood… To make up for the dearth of suspense, there is at least great acting. Chastain toughens up to portray one of those rare heroines in a horror film who isn’t about to walk down to the basement on her own when the power is out… Devotees of this genre should make a point of seeing the film, if only because it’s a great example of how to be creepy without resorting to cliché. But don’t expect any true horror to emerge” – Vanessa Farquharson, National Post
Genres:
229. (0) Evil Dead Rise
Lee Cronin
AKA:
2023 / USA / 96m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Mirabai Pease, Richard Crouchley, Anna-Maree Thomas, Lily Sullivan, Noah Paul, Alyssa Sutherland, Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, Nell Fisher, Billy Reynolds-McCarthy
“However, once “Evil Dead Rise” really gets going, it doesn’t let up. This is a loud, giddy, packed-house-at-midnight type of movie, and its premiere at SXSW was accompanied by much hollering, cheering, and genuine screams of fright from the audience. Cronin unabashedly uses both jump scares and “look behind you!”-type of gags to punctuate this pummeling bloodbath, and one scene in particular in the film’s roller coaster of a middle section seems bound to inspire a lot of yelling at the screen in multiplexes around the world.” – Katie Rife, RogerEbert.com
Genres: Supernatural Horror, Splatter, Body Horror, Zombie, Sadistic Horror, Chamber Film, Haunted House
230. (new) Good Boy
Ben Leonberg
AKA:
2025 / USA / 72m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Ben Leonberg, Alex Cannon, Indy, Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, Larry Fessenden, Stuart Rudin, Hunter Goetz, Anya Krawcheck, Max
“GOOD BOY takes a premise that seems almost too simple—experience a haunting through a dog’s eyes—and treats it with a straight face and a careful hand. The result is a lean, tactile thriller where the camera crouches to floor level, the edges of the frame feel unsafe, and every empty corner becomes a question. Ben Leonberg’s film lives or dies by the honesty of that point of view, and it largely lives: not by turning the dog into a human surrogate with quippy inner thoughts, but by building a level of attention—ear twitches, held stares, cautious steps—that the audience learns to read. It’s a clever gambit executed without cheats, and it gives the familiar haunted-house shape a freshness.” – Chris Jones, Overly Honest Reviews
Genres: Pets, Supernatural Horror, Haunted House, Psychological Horror, Family Drama, Mystery
231. (+12) X
Ti West
AKA:
2022 / USA / 105m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, Kid Cudi, Martin Henderson, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, James Gaylyn, Simon Prast, Geoff Dolan
“It is a film that kills both in its comedic sensibility and gruesome inclinations. At my screening, you could both feel the audience release all their pent-up energy and hear them exclaim in joy at these moments. It all reveals how West is completely in control, both narratively and formally, as he wrenches the maximum amount of payoff out of every single moment he can. From the way the headlights of a car change color in an extended violent outburst to a more reserved subsequent scene where a character remains asleep, everything is impeccably attuned to create maximum impact. It makes for one of the most fully realized pieces of horror cinema in recent memory that never sets a wrong foot even as its characters do nothing but. It is a dynamic, deadly work of filmmaking that achieves all its lofty ambitions and then some to become an absolute masterwork.” – Chase Hutchinson, Collider
Genres: Slasher, Hixploitation, Sexploitation, Black Comedy, Southern Gothic
232. (-25) Split
M. Night Shyamalan
AKA:
2016 / USA / 117m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Haley Lu Richardson, Jessica Sula, Izzie Coffey, Brad William Henke, Sebastian Arcelus, Neal Huff, Ukee Washington
“Though the central character of “Split” is a man with a split personality, the film also tells the story of a split in the world. Just as “Unbreakable” suggested the origins of a superhero in a near-death childhood experience, so “Split” shows a young woman able to combat evil because of the strength she has developed from horrific personal trauma. With its crude realization of the shibboleth that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, the movie is more than a story of feminist survivalism; it also makes the perversely tawdry suggestion that a woman’s tragic knowledge—and necessary power—comes with an unbearably high price.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker
Genres:
233. (-28) Rare Exports
Jalmari Helander
AKA:
2010 / Finland / 84m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Tommi Korpela, Rauno Juvonen, Per Christian Ellefsen, Ilmari Järvenpää, Peeter Jakobi, Jonathan Hutchings, Risto Salmi
“This is a story about the true meaning of Christmas, old-style. Its 15 certificate is no accident, though unfortunate, as there’s little here that’s really inappropriate for younger viewers – it’s just that it’s so damn scary. There’s a creepiness here from the outset and no amount of dark humour can alleviate it; as the tension escalates grown adults will also find themselves hiding behind the seats. It successfully captures the sense of something otherworldly, mixing snowflakes and fairy lights with something that might have been written by Dennis Wheatley or HP Lovecraft. Yet despite this, it is at its core a classic children’s adventure.” – Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film
Genres:
234. (-23) Fritt vilt
Roar Uthaug
AKA: Cold Prey
2006 / Norway / 97m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Rolf Kristian Larsen, Tomas Alf Larsen, Endre Martin Midtstigen, Viktoria Winge, Rune Melby, Erik Skjeggedal, Tonie Lunde, Hallvard Holmen
“Roar Uthaug’s debut feature is a conventional but nicely handled slasher pic that makes good use of spectacular mountain range locations. Widescreen lensing format and above-average perfs add a touch of class to the tale of five snowboarders who take shelter in the wrong mysteriously abandoned (or is it?) ski lodge… Likeable characters are given more personality than the usual genre cannon fodder, and, while the basic premise is routine, pic orchestrates its scares with brute effectiveness. The only letdown is the killer himself, a generic “Halloween”-y faceless ghoul in goggles and heavy winter wear.” – Dennis Harvey, Variety
Genres:
235. (-21) The Endless
Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead
AKA:
2017 / USA / 111m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Callie Hernandez, Tate Ellington, James Jordan, Emily Montague, Lew Temple, Justin Benson, Ric Sarabia, Aaron Moorhead, Kira Powell, Peter Cilella
“The Endless opens with a quote from cult horror author H.P. Lovecraft, whose dread-filled mythos of ancient alien gods and terrifying occult knowledge is a key influence on Benson and Moorhead’s work. But the tone here is more classic low-budget indie drama, restrained and cerebral, than nightmarish horror. Initially, at least… A key future challenge for the duo will be how to bring this fine-grained auteur approach into the commercial mainstream without diluting their strongly original vision.” – Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter
Genres:
236. (-9) Open Water
Chris Kentis
AKA:
2003 / USA / 79m / Col / Natural Horror | IMDb
Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein, Michael E. Williamson, Cristina Zenato, John Charles
“Chris Kentis, who wrote, directed, edited, and shot the film (with his wife, Laura Lau), is working with prime pulp material—but he doesn’t have a pulp sensibility. I mean this as a compliment. Shot on digital video and micro-budgeted, Open Water is terrifying precisely because it doesn’t go in for cheesy shock tactics and special effects. (Those sharks are real.) Strictly speaking, it’s not even in the shark-attack genre—it’s more like a black comedy about how things can go horribly wrong on vacation. You think you’re safe, and the next thing you know you’re lost at sea and something’s nibbling your gams. That’s an apt metaphor for a lot more than scuba diving.” – Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
Genres:
237. (-20) Afflicted
Derek Lee & Clif Prowse
AKA:
2013 / Canada / 85m / Col / Found Footage | IMDb
Derek Lee, Clif Prowse, Michael Gill, Baya Rehaz, Benjamin Zeitoun, Zach Gray, Jason Lee, Edo Van Breemen, Gary Redekop, Lily Py Lee
“To take the handheld genre and some creature mythology and push it forward is fun to witness, especially for a work that simply doesn’t feel like a freshman effort. Showing a surprising understanding of what makes a film like this work, the duo gets us to care for our characters before dragging them through hell and back. Additionally, the use of practical effects helps sell the chaos even more, particularly with a low budget… While the use of the cameras in the found footage genre often feels tacked on, here it’s not only integral to the way it is shot, but the story itself. Every action and shot is so painstakingly planned out that it becomes fascinating to think about how they possibly created the effects they did without the use of heavy CGI sequences.” – Bill Graham, The Film Stage
Genres:
238. (-19) Wai dor lei ah yat ho
Ho-Cheung Pang
AKA: Dream Home
2010 / Hong Kong / 96m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Josie Ho, Juno Mak, Hee Ching Paw, Michelle Ye, Hoi-Pang Lo, Eason Chan, Ying Kwan Lok, Norman Chu, Kwok Cheung Tsang, Chu-chu Zhou
“Dream Home” is a ghastly, disturbing and, in its depiction of a person who can’t seem to get ahead in a competitive, unforgiving economic climate, surprisingly melancholy horror show. Unspooling out of sequence for a reason, with Sheung’s killing spree interlaced with the telling of the events that have led her to such drastic measures, the film does not condone her actions, but does show how someone could be pushed in such an extreme direction. Indeed, Sheung has a passable apartment as it is, but her obsession with moving up in status turns her into a monster who will stop at nothing to get what she thinks she deserves.” – Dustin Putnam, The Movie Boy
Genres:
239. (-29) The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Yorgos Lanthimos
AKA:
2017 / UK / 121m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Barry G. Bernson, Herb Caillouet, Bill Camp, Raffey Cassidy, Denise Dal Vera, Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan, Nicole Kidman, Drew Logan, Alicia Silverstone
“Lanthimos commands ]the] world with precise craftsmanship, resulting in a crisp aesthetic underscored by unsettling rumbles of bass and strings. All of this congeals into an atmosphere of fragility and natural unease, which escalates into pure dread by the end. While it features little of the blood and spectacle of a studio horror film, Sacred Deer frightens in a more unconscious manner. It introduces a nightmare concept and milks it for every drop of morbid, deeply uncomfortable dread. From the first scenes, Lanthimos tells the viewer that this world is far from normal, as Kidman mimics an unconscious patient for Farrell’s delight, or Keoghan seduces Cassidy with unreadable intent. The strangeness only escalates from there, until it reaches a point of either confusion or terror, depending on the viewer. The film’s anxiety feels closely tied to our country’s current state—the privileged paranoia that an outsider will take your safety from you, leaving you at the mercy of senseless, violent nature.” – Ben Larned, Daily Dead
Genres:
240. (+29) I Saw the TV Glow
Jane Schoenbrun
AKA:
2024 / USA / 100m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Ian Foreman, Helena Howard, Lindsey Jordan, Danielle Deadwyler, Fred Durst, Conner O’Malley, Emma Portner, Madaline Riley
“Far too often, when filmmakers graduate up the ledger, they become conservative, safe, and careerist; it feels like they’re making the current film solely with the mindset of remaining at the budgetary level they’ve just attained. With “I Saw the TV Glow,” the director’s glossy follow-up to their resourcefully executed “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” Schoenbrun films like a director who doesn’t want to live in regret of the shot they didn’t get, the risk not taken, the leap that never left the ground. The earworm original soundtrack, exciting practical effects, intoxicating photography, and risky editing—blending together conscious and imagined worlds—are the big, adventurous swings of an undaunted filmmaker.” – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
Genres: Techno-Horror, Psychological Drama, Queer Cinema, Coming-of-Age, Teen Movie, Surrealism
241. (-26) Bug
William Friedkin
AKA:
2006 / USA / 102m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Collins, Brían F. O’Byrne, Neil Bergeron, Bob Neill
“Bug is not surprisingly being advertised as being “from the director of The Exorcist,” which says almost as much about the lingering power of that 1973 horror classic as it does about the disappointing nature of Friedkin’s career over the past three decades. The comparison is not just a marketing ploy, though, as Bug allows Friedkin to play on his strengths as a director–namely, managing actors in close quarters. For all the talk about pea soup and head-spinning in The Exorcist, that film was in many ways a chamber piece, with its issues of faith, religion, and the true nature of evil playing out largely within the tight confines of a little girl’s bedroom. By the end of Bug, Agnes’s motel room is as unrecognizable as Reagan’s bedroom was, transformed from a place of ordinary existence into a realm of extraordinary degradation in which two people finding love and acceptance culminates into a literal inferno.” – James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
Genres:
242. (-26) The Lords of Salem
Rob Zombie
AKA:
2012 / USA / 101m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Sheri Moon Zombie, Bruce Davison, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Judy Geeson, Meg Foster, Patricia Quinn, Ken Foree, Dee Wallace, Maria Conchita Alonso, Richard Fancy
“Movies by Rob Zombie, the goth rocker turned cult filmmaker, aren’t for everybody. But he couldn’t care less. He makes movies exactly the way he wants to, with no thought of pleasing mainstream audiences. They can like it or lump it. His latest effort, “The Lords of Salem,” is true to form… [fans] will want to rush out to see this stylishly lensed work, which references Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” and Dario Argento’s “Suspiria,” Others are advised to look elsewhere for fun in the dark.” – V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Genres:
243. (-23) The Girl with All the Gifts
Colm McCarthy
AKA:
2016 / UK / 111m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Gemma Arterton, Dominique Tipper, Glenn Close, Anamaria Marinca, Paddy Considine, Sennia Nanua, Lobna Futers, Daniel Eghan, Fisayo Akinade, Anthony Welsh
“This fiercely intelligent British chiller from Scottish director Colm McCarthy, whose small-screen credits include Doctor Who, Sherlock and Peaky Blinders, breathes new life into age-old horror tropes, taking familiar fears of zombies, the apocalypse and eerie children and spinning them in surprising ways. Although writer Mike “MR” Carey’s narrative about a fungal plague that turns victims into cannibalistic “hungries” occupies a post-28 Days Later landscape, the central obsessions explored here are closer to the identity crises of Never Let Me Go (both book and film), with a strong underlying strain of the very British weirdness of John Wyndham.” – Mark Kermode, The Observer
Genres:
244. (-12) Fear Street: 1994
Leigh Janiak
AKA: Fear Street: Part One – 1994
2021 / USA / 107m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Maya Hawke, Charlene Amoia, David W. Thompson, Noah Bain Garret, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Ashley Zukerman, Kiana Madeira, Jana Allen, Benjamin Flores Jr., Julia Rehwald
“But “1994” strikes a great balance between building backstory and tying it into the chaotic present-day: the mythology settles in, and the movie focuses on lean and extra mean thrills that include a couple of excellent slasher set-pieces in the high school and a grocery store, all with an expressive, playful lighting palette. The most fun parts of “1994” display a strong balance of the brutal and the playful, and yet while its energy is a developing charm of the series, it’s the overall tone created by Janiak that’s the most impressive.” – Nick Allen, RogerEbert.com
Genres: Slasher, Supernatural Horror, Teen Movie, LGBTQ, Teen Movie, Romance
245. (-20) Grave Encounters
Colin Minihan & Stuart Ortiz
AKA:
2011 / Canada / 92m / Col / Found Footage | IMDb
Ben Wilkinson, Sean Rogerson, Ashleigh Gryzko, Merwin Mondesir, Juan Riedinger, Shawn Macdonald, Arthur Corber, Bob Rathie, Fred Keating, Max Train
“The crew for a fake TV ghost-hunting show has an unfortunate brush with genuine supernatural phenomena in “Grave Encounters.” Debut feature for duo Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz, who’ve dubbed themselves the Vicious Brothers (not to be confused with fellow horror helmers the Butcher Brothers), treads by-now-familiar scary-mockumentary terrain… Still, pacing is taut, the setting eerie, and eventual scares are fairly effective if never particularly original. If a somewhat formulaic air hangs over whole enterprise, it’s nonetheless creepier and less cookie-cutter than your average mainstream slasher. Tech/design factors are polished within the faux-verite concept.” – Dennis Harvey, Variety
Genres:
246. (-22) Kim Bok-nam salinsageonui jeonmal
Chul-soo Jang
AKA: Bedevilled
2010 / South Korea / 115m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Yeong-hie Seo, Seong-won Ji, Min-ho Hwang, Min Je, Ji-Eun Lee, Jeong-hak Park, Jang-hun Ahn, Su-yeon Ahn, Su-ryun Baek, Shi-hyeon Chae
“Bedevilled” is a far more morally complex and challenging film than this synopsis might suggest, and is by no means a straightforward revenge thriller in the traditional sense. Similarly, despite its setting, the film isn’t an exercise in exploitative backwoods fear, nor is it an overtly feminist rant, with Seoul being portrayed as a bleak place full of random violence, and with the island being run by a monstrous matriarchy whose members are every bit as bad as Bok Nam’s male abusers, reinforcing oppression and ignorance. The film also eschews a typical revenge narrative or indeed the usual patterns of victims and abusers as protagonists, beginning with Hae Won as the main character, and later shifting to Bok Nam, only for things to be turned on their head when she turns devilish aggressor.” – James Mudge, Beyond Hollywood
Genres:
247. (-21) Triangle
Christopher Smith
AKA:
2009 / UK / 99m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Melissa George, Joshua McIvor, Jack Taylor, Michael Dorman, Henry Nixon, Rachael Carpani, Emma Lung, Liam Hemsworth, Bryan Probets
“After his passable, low-budget horror movie, Severance, the British writer-director Christopher Smith takes a big leap forward with this clever and compelling occult thriller. Shot on the coast of Queensland but set in Miami, it interweaves to potent effect Nietzsche’s theory of “eternal recurrence”, the mystery of the Mary Celeste and Sutton Vane’s once popular play Outward Bound… It’s creepy, atmospheric stuff and at every twist of this Möbius strip we wonder how Smith will keep things going. But he manages it with considerable skill and we leave his picture suitably shaken.” – Philip French, The Observer
Genres:
248. (-27) Only Lovers Left Alive
Jim Jarmusch
AKA:
2013 / UK / 123m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Anton Yelchin, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Jeffrey Wright, Slimane Dazi, Carter Logan, Aurelie Thepaut, Ali Amine
“The film is marked by a mood of exhaustion, an end-of-era fatigue that comes across as strangely heady in its world-weariness. Jarmusch undertakes this project in the full knowledge that if you’re making a vampire film now, you might as well be making it as if it were to be the very final example of its genre: a genre facing its exhaustion, even luxuriating in it. For this is an authentically Romantic (with a capital R) take on vampirism and on certain of its elements in particular: blood-linked love; immortality and its attendant ennui; the need to withdraw into nocturnal isolation; and the idea that if you had endless time to live, then you might benefit by accruing endless knowledge, however useless on the earthly plane that knowledge might be.” – Jonathan Romney, Film Comment Magazine
Genres:
249. (-19) Infinity Pool
Brandon Cronenberg
AKA:
2023 / Canada / 117m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Cleopatra Coleman, Alexander Skarsgård, Dunja Sepcic, Adam Boncz, Jalil Lespert, Mia Goth, Zijad Gracic, Amar Bukvic, Alan Katic, Thomas Kretschmann
“Infinity Pool is a glorified horror flick that tickles the senses if audiences can get behind the blood and gore that comes along with it. The film will stick with the audience long after the credits. It is provocative and visceral no matter how one will look at the screen. It may make some people uncomfortable to watch, but it is hard to look away. Not a lot of films are taking chances, but there are a few like Infinity Pool that tests an audience and makes bold choices.” – Mufsin Mahbub, All Ages of Geek
Genres: Psychological Thriller, Science Fiction, Psychological Horror, Satire, Crime, Surrealism, Erotic Thriller, Body Horror, Toronto New Wave, Dystopian, Sadistic Horror
250. (-28) Better Watch Out
Chris Peckover
AKA:
2016 / Australia / 89m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Olivia DeJonge, Levi Miller, Ed Oxenbould, Aleks Mikic, Dacre Montgomery, Patrick Warburton, Virginia Madsen, Alexandra Matusko, Georgia Holland, Beau Andre
“In the end, even with some hesitations going into the film, Better Watch Out soars as a modern instant Christmas horror classic that will find its way into the yearly seasonal rotations of many genre fans. Its concept is consumable, the execution is sharp in handling the genre shifting between horror and often extremely dark humor, and its self-referential approach make it both entertaining and fulfilling as a piece of horror cinema. It plays its narrative and plot loose and fun while maintaining a wink-wink sense of attitude as it runs through the tropes of the usual home invasion/survival film.” – Matt Reifschneider, Blood Brothers
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