2024 will be remembered for some truly great horror films. Nosferatu alone is worth rewatching endlessly, and Heretic was even nominated for multiple awards for Best Screenplay. In this list, we’ve gathered the best horror movies of last year. Find the perfect pick for your next movie night.
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Nosferatu
IMDb: 7.2/10
2024, Fantasy, Horror
USA, R
Director: Robert Eggers
Top Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp
This is a new version of F. W. Murnau’s classic Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922). Count Orlok gets a fresh portrayal here. The story is set in the 1830s: young real estate agent Thomas Hutter travels to Transylvania to close a deal with the mysterious Count Orlok. What Thomas doesn’t realize is that Orlok has deliberately arranged this meeting, because he has a strange connection to Thomas’s wife, Ellen. After meeting Thomas, Orlok’s dark obsession with Ellen only grows stronger, and he will stop at nothing to reach them, bringing plague and terror along the way.
Count Orlok is played by Bill Skarsgård. For the role, he had to drastically alter his voice, working with an Icelandic opera singer and adding elements of throat singing. The makeup process took up to six hours each day.
Alien: Romulus
IMDb: 7.1/10
2024, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
USA, UK, R
Director: Fede Álvarez
Top Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Isabela Merced
Another film in the Alien series. The story takes place between Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), set in the year 2142.
In 2142, a group of young colonists ventures into the depths of an abandoned orbital station in search of fuel. Instead, they uncover an ancient cosmic horror. Trapped in the station’s tight corridors, they must fight for survival. Technology can’t save them here, their true enemies are the terror they’ve awakened and the ticking clock.
Smile 2
IMDb: 6.7/10
2024, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
USA, Canada, R
Director: Parker Finn
Top Cast: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage
This is what happens when stress spins out of control and takes over. Pop superstar Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), while preparing for her world tour, feels the crushing weight of fame. Soon, she’s haunted by frightening and unexplainable events. To regain control of her life and career, Skye must confront her past, and uncover the truth about the presence that’s “watching” her from behind the smile.
Terrifier 3
IMDb: 6.3/10
2024, Horror, Slasher
USA, Unrated (US)
Director: Damien Leone
Top Cast: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Samantha Scaffidi
Like many horror films, Terrifier 3 is set at Christmas. Art the Clown returns to Miles County, hunting both new and familiar victims against the backdrop of holiday cheer. His prey is completely unprepared. Sienna, still reeling from the events of the second film, is only beginning to rebuild her life, but the nightmare comes knocking again, just in a different guise. This is a Christmas slasher about trauma, resilience, and madness that feels never-ending.
What makes Terrifier 3 stand out are its practical effects, done entirely on set without digital tricks. One of the most talked-about scenes took eight days to shoot and pays tribute to Psycho and Scarface.
MaXXXine
IMDb: 6.2/10
2024, Crime, Horror
USA, R
Director: Ti West
Top Cast: Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Kevin Bacon
MaXXXine takes us to Los Angeles in 1985. Maxine Minx dreams of becoming a Hollywood actress, but for now she’s only a star in adult films. At last, she gets her big break: the lead role in a studio horror movie, The Puritan II, directed by an ambitious filmmaker.
At the same time, a killer is on the loose in the city. A detective and the police start following Maxine, digging into her past, and it seems they suspect something. Step by step, the story turns into a neon-soaked whodunit about the price of fame and the shadows of scandal that are hard to escape.
Heretic
IMDb: 7.0/10
2024, Horror, Thriller
USA, Canada, R
Director: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Top Cast: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East
Two Mormon missionary sisters visit the home of the mysterious Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant). What starts as a polite conversation quickly turns into an intellectual game of survival. Reed tests their faith, cuts off any way of escape, and forces them to face a terrifying choice.
This is an intimate psychological horror about manipulation, belief, and the cost of doubt. The film and Hugh Grant received wide acclaim: he won Best Actor at both the Golden Globes and BAFTA, while Beck and Woods’ screenplay was nominated for Best Screenplay at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Oddity
IMDb: 6.7/10
2024, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Ireland, R
Director: Damian McCarthy
Top Cast: Carolyn Bracken, Gwilym Lee, Tadhg Murphy
This Irish supernatural horror mixes psychological drama, a touch of mysticism, and a hefty dose of the classic “cursed object” story.
The setup is traditional: in a remote country house, Dani, the wife of psychiatrist Ted, is brutally murdered. The main suspect is one of Ted’s former patients, Olin Boole. But soon Olin is also found dead, leaving the case even murkier.
A year later, Dani’s blind twin sister, Darcy (both roles played by Carolyn Bracken), unexpectedly arrives at the house. She brings with her a disturbing “gift”: a life-size wooden golem.
Ted’s new partner, Yana, notices the figure seems to move on its own. Later, she discovers horrifying “trophies” hidden inside its head: a tooth, blood, photographs. And she’s right to be afraid: little by little, the golem comes to life and unleashes terror.
Presence
IMDb: 6.1/10
2024, Horror, Thriller, Drama
USA, R
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Top Cast: Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang
Presence starts off harmless enough. Like many horror films, the story takes place in a suburban house. A family moves in and almost immediately realizes they’re not alone.
The entire film is shown through the “eyes” of the unseen presence: the camera itself acts as the spirit, watching the family, their secrets, and the cracks in their relationships. It’s a quiet, intimate horror-drama about a family and an invisible force whose true intentions aren’t clear at first.
The Soul Eater
IMDb: 5.8/10
2024, Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Horror
France, Belgium, Not Rated (US)
Director: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Top Cast: Virginie Ledoyen, Paul Hamy, Sandrine Bonnaire
Far-far away, in the Vosges mountains, Paris police officer Elisabeth Guardiano and gendarmerie captain Franck de Roland investigate a brutal double murder and a string of child disappearances. Locals whisper about an old legend, the “soul eater.” But as the investigation deepens, myth collides with a very real horror. This is a dark crime thriller laced with elements of horror and folklore.
The film was shot in the Vosges, with the abandoned Altenberg sanatorium at the Col de la Schlucht serving as one of the key locations, appearing multiple times on screen.
Immaculate
IMDb: 5.8/10
2024, Horror, Thriller
USA, R
Director: Michael Mohan
Top Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli
Young American Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney) arrives at a picturesque Italian convent, where the nuns care for elderly sisters. At first, everything seems perfectly devout — Italy, a monastery, a life of piety. But the illusion soon cracks. Cecilia begins to notice strange rituals and unsettling signs among the nuns. It all builds up to a so-called “miracle” she isn’t prepared for, sparking a fight for her freedom and control over her own body.
Sydney Sweeney not only stars in the film but also produced it. She first read Andrew Lobel’s script as a teenager, and years later brought it back to life as her own project.
