The Best Horror Movies Of 2024 So Far

Horror movies have enjoyed something of a renaissance over the past decade, with both big studios and independent filmmakers regularly delivering frightful good times at the movies. There's nothing quite like sharing scares with an audience, so horror continues to draw people to theaters even amidst the rise of streaming and the lingering aftermath of COVID. Since you don't need huge budgets or big-name stars to sell the simple appeal of the genre, unexpected blockbusters can come out of seemingly nowhere to blow everyone away. 2024 has already offered up some good ones, and there should be more high-quality horror movies to thrill and chill as the year progresses.

This article will be updated throughout the year to feature the most thorough selection of 2024's horror highlights. Movies that premiered internationally or at film festivals in previous years, but have a confirmed 2024 release date in American theaters or on streaming, qualify for this list, while some the year's best-reviewed horror films that premiered this year at festivals will have to wait for future screenings or their official release to be added.

Cast: Renate Reinsve, Bjørn Sundquist, Bente Børsum, Anders Danielsen Lie

Director: Thea Hvistendahl

Runtime: 99 minutes

Rating: R

Where to watch: PVOD

The Norwegian zombie film "Handling the Undead" premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won an award for its original music by Peter Raeburn, and was released in the U.S. on May 31 by Neon. Director Thea Hvistendahl co-wrote the screenplay with John Ajvide Lindqvist, the author of both the book the film is based on and the modern vampire classic "Let the Right One In."

This is a more mournful and meditative take on the zombie genre than many are used to. When the dead first rise up, the living mainly just want to take advantage of this seeming miracle to spend more time with those whom they've lost — even if these zombies are mere shadows of the people they once were. It's not until over an hour into the 99-minute film that it even truly becomes a horror movie, but that shift into horror arrives with such a visceral crunch that there's no doubt about its genre placement. Between the extremely slow pacing and how shocking the horror is, "Handling the Undead" won't be for everyone, but it's a distinctive and beautifully made film.

Cast: Sara Montpetit, Félix-Antoine Bénard, Steve Laplante, Sophie Cadieux

Director: Ariane Louis-Seize

Runtime: 91 minutes

Rating: Not rated

Where to watch: in theaters

Released in Canada in 2023 before getting a U.S. release from Drafthouse Films in 2024, "Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person" has one of the best titles of any movie in recent memory. The movie itself is a fun one, recommended for teenage horror fans, supernatural romance lovers, and those who appreciate the dark humor of classic Tim Burton movies.

The titular "humanist vampire," Sasha (Sara Montpetit), has long lived off pre-packaged blood bags, but her parents now think it's time that she start hunting for prey herself. Since Sasha doesn't wish to kill anyone, she seeks out a victim who wants to die — but as her potential "consenting suicidal victim" Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard) gets to know and eventually fall in love with her, will this plan actually work out? The path of the story is predictable but heartfelt, with a talented cast, quirky deadpan tone, and enough blood to give its cuteness an edge.

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Cast: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Carla Gugino, Liza Soberano, Joe Chrest

Director: Zelda Williams

Runtime: 101 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Where to watch: Peacock, PVOD

Another Tim Burton-esque monster romcom, "Lisa Frankenstein" is among 2024's most divisive films. Critics either found it a hilarious delight or a tonally confused mess, and judging by the box office, general audiences avoided it entirely. So basically the same thing happened to this film as the last horror-comedy written by Diablo Cody, "Jennifer's Body," which has gone on to overcome its initial poor reception and become something of a cult favorite. Expect the same lightning to strike twice here.

"Lisa Frankenstein" is something of a mess, with a few narrative issues holding it back from greatness, but being funny, well-acted, and stylishly directed (by first-time filmmaker Zelda Williams, daughter of Robin Williams) counts for a lot. It certainly cancels out enough of the logic and character development quibbles to make for a fun experience worth including on this list. Kathryn Newton's great as traumatized teen-turned-gothic-killer Lisa Swallows, as is Cole Sprouse as her undead lover, but it's Liza Soberano who steals the show as Lisa's stereotype-defying cheerleader stepsister Taffy.

Cast: Jung Yu-mi, Lee Sun-kyun, Kim Gook-hee

Director: Jason Yu

Runtime: 95 minutes

Rating: Not rated

Where to watch: available September 27

Released in South Korea in 2023 with plans for an American release by Magnet Releasing in 2024, "Sleep" is sadly one of the final films starring the late "Parasite" actor Lee Sun-kyun. Another "Parasite" connection: "Sleep" director Jason Yu is a protege of Bong Joon-ho, having worked as a sound mixer on "Okja" and consulted the Oscar winner on his personal directing debut. Having seen the film at its Cannes premiere, we can confirm that "Sleep" offers proof that Bong's talent has rubbed off on Jason.

This tightly-paced psychological horror film follows newlyweds Hyun-su (Lee Sun-kyun) and Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi), whose relationship grows uneasy when Hyun-su starts walking and talking in his sleep. As the husband's nighttime episodes grow increasingly violent, the wife and new mother fears for her safety. Could Hyun-su be possessed by ghosts? Evoking "The Shining" and Alfred Hitchcock thrillers, "Sleep" ratchets up the tension while expertly handling sharp turns between chilling horror and dark comedy.

Cast: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Ingrid Torelli

Director: Colin and Cameron Cairnes

Runtime: 93 minutes

Rating: R

Where to watch: Shudder, AMC+, PVOD

"Late Night with the Devil," which premiered at South by Southwest in 2023, is the best-reviewed horror film to open in theaters during the first half of 2024. Unfortunately, it's also been struck with controversy over an unforced error: the usage of AI-generated graphics for its '70s TV talk show. In a movie filled with otherwise excellent practical effects and period detail, it's disheartening that the production somehow couldn't pay a human being to draw a skeleton or a skyscraper.

If you can look past the AI controversy and the changes to movies and TV shows that it bespeaks (admittedly a big ask for some), "Late Night with the Devil" is one hell of a fun time. David Dastmalchian gives a great lead performance as Jack Delroy, a recent widower and talk show host desperate for ratings during sweeps week. The movie presents itself as the live broadcast of his Halloween show, with "behind the scenes" footage during commercial breaks. Delroy's guests include a psychic (Fayssal Bazzi), a skeptic (Ian Bliss), a parapsychologist (Laura Gordon), and a young cult survivor (Ingrid Torelli) who might be possessed by the actual Devil. Naturally, the show doesn't go as planned. Proceed with caution if worms make you uneasy.

Cast: Aisling Franciosi, Stella Gonet, Tom York, Therica Wilson-Read

Director: Robert Morgan

Runtime: 93 minutes

Rating: R

Where to watch: Shudder, AMC+, PVOD

"Stopmotion," a British film that premiered at Fantastic Fest 2023 before hitting theaters in 2024, makes this list almost entirely on the incredible strength of its practical effects animation. The film's story, about a stop-motion animator (Aisling Franciosi) slowly losing her mind while trying to finish a film started by her overbearing mother (Stella Gonet), is intriguing but not the most well-developed: it falls into layers of abstraction without much to grasp onto beyond the stunningly grotesque imagery. But what stunning imagery that is!

Director Robert Morgan, whose work can be seen in "ABCs of Death 2," is an expert at combining stop-motion animation with live-action, and making a film about his craft allows for a brilliant showcase. The puppets grow increasingly terrifying as their creator seeks more disgusting ingredients to build them, and the way the film-within-the-film blurs with the characters' reality creates the effect of a living nightmare. Give this one a go if watching the trailer makes you feel like the guy from that Onion cartoon in the "Sickos" shirt, screaming, "Yes ... Ha ha ha ... Yes!"

Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Dora Romano, Benedetta Porcaroli

Director: Michael Mohan

Runtime: 89 minutes

Rating: R

Where to watch: PVOD

"Immaculate" comes from the arthouse studio Neon, but don't go in expecting the sort of "elevated horror" one might typically associate with them. This leans towards the trashier side of the genre, with loud in-your-face jump scares, gratuitous graphic gore, and twists that just keep getting sillier. But make no mistake: Michael Mohan's film is fun, well-made trash. Those jump scares might sometimes be cheap, but they're effective nonetheless, and the more ridiculous the story gets, the more entertaining it becomes.

At the center of it all is an all-time great Final Girl performance from 2024's big rising star Sydney Sweeney, playing the naive nun Sister Cecilia. An American entering an Italian convent, she finds herself mysteriously pregnant and at the center of a dark conspiracy, but she's ready to fight back as hard as she needs to. The setting provides some beautiful imagery and music as a backdrop to the terror, and as far-fetched as the story is, the messages about bodily autonomy are all too relevant. The ending is a jaw-dropper.

Cast: Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sonia Braga, Charles Dance, Bill Nighy

Director: Arkasha Stevenson

Runtime: 119 minutes

Rating: R

Where to watch: Hulu, PVOD

On the other side of the nun horror coin to "Immaculate" is "The First Omen." A prequel to "The Omen" series, which follows the saga of Antichrist Damien Thorn and his ascension to power, "The First Omen" is a dark, soulful supernatural horror film that tells the story of Damien's birth and the forces behind it. The story is beautifully acted by Nell Tiger Free of "Servant" as Margaret Daino, a compassionate but spiritually conflicted American novitiate who has been plagued by visions throughout her young life. Shortly after arriving at the Italian Vizzardeli Orphanage, she begins to suspect something sinister is bubbling under the surface. 

Through its revelation of the true forces behind the coming apocalypse, the film pulls off a tricky inversion of the franchise's demon child trope. Aided by its setting and an overall vintage supernatural horror aesthetic, "The First Omen" feels more visually connected to the first film in the series than a film produced almost half a century later should. Themes of gaslighting and spiritual abuse add depth to the storytelling as it folds new layers of lore into the canon of this familiar Satanic saga. 

Cast: Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Helena Howard, Lindsey Jordan

Director: Jane Schoenbrun

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 100 minutes

Where to watch: PVOD

One of those rare horror films with ample layers of meaning and depth, "I Saw the TV Glow" imagines a world where exposure to a late-night TV show causes an isolated suburban teen, Owen (Justice Smith), to question reality and his sense of identity. Years after getting turned onto a TV show called "The Pink Opaque," over which he bonds with an older, alienated teen named Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), Owen starts to become haunted by a second reality lying underneath the surface of the world he knows, with his real self actually trapped in the fictional world of the series.

Written by Jane Schoenbrun when they were at the beginning of their transitioning process, the film serves as an allegory for gender dysphoria and transgender experiences and was heavily influenced by the works of David Lynch, as well as Joss Whedon's "Buffy The Vampire Slayer." Transgender film critic Mey Rude wrote of the film in Out, "It's a powerful and deeply resonating trans allegory, but also soars as a horror film, featuring brilliant performances from its two leads and some truly nightmare-inducing creature effects."

Cast: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Giancarlo Esposito, Alisha Weir, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Matthew Goode

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Runtime: 109 minutes

Rating: R

Where to watch: Peacock (after July 19), PVOD

From the murderous mobs of "Children of the Corn" and "Village of the Damned" to the bloodthirsty, doll-obsessed Claudia from "Interview with the Vampire," there's something wonderfully unsettling about l'enfants terribles — deadly monsters lurking behind the sweet, innocent faces of children. What makes "Abigail" such a fun addition to the genre is its imaginative, genre-defying exploration of the trope.

Created by Radio Silence Productions, the filmmaking team behind "Ready or Not," "Scream" (2022), and "Scream VI," this blood-soaked horror comedy is part heist movie and part modern take on the classic monster movie, with a deadly child (Alisha Weir) as its centerpiece. The film follows a small crew of criminals with a simple goal: to kidnap the preteen daughter of a powerful and enigmatic crime lord (Matthew Goode) and demand $50 million in ransom. To pull it off, they'll need to spend 24 hours keeping her under guard in a remote manor straight out of a Gothic horror story — a job that seems easy enough until they learn the small ballerina's appetite is a lot more than they bargained for.

Cast: Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, cats Schnitzel and Nico

Director: Michael Sarnoski

Runtime: 99 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Where to watch: in theaters

Although this prequel to "A Quiet Place" doesn't give a complete picture of the lore behind the creatures that fans call "Death Angels," it does expand upon the narrative that co-creator John Krasinski has long had mapped out in his "Quiet Place" universe. More importantly, the film gives a more complete look at exactly what happened the first day the aliens arrived. But instead of the small town assault shown in "A Quiet Place Part II," "A Quiet Place: Day One" depicts the creatures' arrival as they descend on New York City, as told through the perspective of hospice patient Samira (Nyong'o) and her cat, Frodo. 

The city setting in "Day One" adds to the world-building by giving a more complete sense of the scale of destruction and humanity's ultimately fruitless efforts to stop it. Like the first two films in the series, "Day One" is elevated above a mere apocalyptic monster flick thanks to the humanizing performances of Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn, best known until now as Eddie Munson on "Stranger Things." But the real stars of the film are Nico and Schnitzel, the two cats who play Frodo. As director Michael Sarnoski told Variety, "We managed to get through the whole movie without creating a CG cat, which was a big victory for us."

Cast: Mia Goth, Kevin Bacon, Giancarlo Esposito, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale

Director: Ti West

Runtime: 104 minutes

Rating: R

Where to watch: in theaters

The third entry into Ti West's "X" slasher series, "MaXXXine" finds aspiring actor Maxine Minx (Goth) looking for work in 1985 Los Angeles during the Night Stalker's reign of terror, after surviving the sadistic psychopath behind the killings in "X." While it may not be the trilogy's standout, "MaXXXine" is bloody, wild, campy horror that captures the gritty neon dystopia of 1980s L.A. under siege by crime, glamor, fame, greed, excess, and misogyny. Nods to classic films like "Chinatown" and a host of iconic horror movies make it something of a cinematic "Where's Waldo?," only adding to the fun. The film is also loaded with references to other moments in the "X" trilogy that tend to show up in background props. 

But like the other "X" saga films, it's Mia Goth's performance as resilient final girl Maxine that makes the film worth watching. As Stephen A. Russell mused in Orion's Shoulder, "This really is Goth's show, with West three for three on creating a world that feels like the real deal, winding her up and letting her go." Although West has plans for a fourth film in the works, many reviewers felt "MaXXXine" makes a fitting conclusion for the trilogy if the story ends there.

Cast: Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt

Director: Osgood Perkins

Runtime: 101 minutes

Rating: R

Where to watch: in theaters

A worthy successor to serial killer horror thrillers like "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven," with a healthy serving of wonderfully over-the-top Nicolas Cage at his terrifying best, "Longlegs" is a dark procedural interwoven with supernatural and occult elements. Think "Criminal Minds" meets "Twin Peaks" meets "The X-Files." Set in the 1990s, the film follows clairvoyant FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) as she investigates a series of Satanism-linked murder-suicides going back decades only to learn she is personally connected to them. 

Written and directed by the son of the late Anthony Perkins ("Psycho"), the film has been praised for its dark, unsettling themes and creepy ambience. While the movie offers a mixed bag of familiar horror tropes like serial killer ciphers, cursed dolls, numerology, and Satanic forces, the moody storytelling and pervasive sense of dread looming throughout make it a worthwhile watch. But it's the Nick Cage of it all that really tips "Longlegs" into full-blown camp in the best possible way. As Mashable's Siddhant Adlakha put it, "Before long, trying to catch glimpses of Longlegs becomes about enjoying what loopy decisions Cage might make as a performer, from hunched-over body language to sudden, high-pitched wailing."