We got a little bit of everything in the horror genre in 2023: legacy sequels, big studio popcorn flicks, experimental arthouse films, jaw-dropping feature debuts. The continued growth of the direct-to-streaming market is paying dividends for fans of diverse, albeit lower budget, movies. Whatever your particular brand of scary movie, you’ll find something to like in the list below.
10. Birth/Rebirth
A mourning mother encounters an antisocial, genius medical worker who just might have a cure for what ails her. The issue is the secret sauce isn’t so easily attainable, and the two go to increasingly dangerous and disturbing lengths to keep one’s daughter, and the other’s science project, alive. Birth/Rebirth has some Pet Sematary themes but with a more thoughtful and creative approach, and it ends up much more creepy than outright terrifying. Still, the acting of the leads is fantastic, and the plot continually surprises and disturbs.
9. Attachment
If you like your horror movies with plenty of romance, a la Bones and All or Spring, you will enjoy Attachment. It starts off as practically a romcom, with just a few hints that something is wrong under the surface. As we learn more about our love interest’s history and family, we start to question how much we would put up with in a new lover. Strange health issues? Fine. Crazy protective mom? Par for the course. A bad case of the dybbuks? Oy vey! Incidentally, the Jewish mythology at the heart of this one is a lot of fun to explore and feels like it has untapped potential for future films (although The Golem and The Vigil were both relatively recent and successful attempts at the same).
8. Totally Killer
The elevator pitch is as simple as it is effective: Back to the Future, but Marty has to find and stop a serial killer. This one takes place in the 80s, and our fish-out-of-water protagonist is given plenty of funny lines highlighting how times have changed since then. The jokes never feel trite or obvious – the dialogue is a strong point here. The scifi elements don’t always make sense, but the film acknowledges this with a wink and a nod, letting you know not to take anything too seriously. It’s not going to chill you to the bone or change your worldview, but Totally Killer is a fun twist on the slasher genre and worth checking out.
7. A Haunting in Venice
Forgive me if you’re a stickler for genre labels, I know this is much more mystery than horror; but come on, it takes place in a gothic haunted house and features seances and ghosts going bump in the night. If you’ve seen Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express, you know what to expect here: our old pal Poirot is back on the case, using deduction and social engineering to figure out who is responsible for a string of murders. This time, he’s also trying to debunk some supernatural occurences along the way. It’s masterfully crafted, the setting is gorgeous, the characters are fun. Once again, you aren’t going to be jumping out of your seat, but the creepy atmosphere is palpable and adds to the tension of the plot.
6. Infinity Pool
What do the filthy rich do on vacation? According to Infinity Pool, whatever the hell they want. After discovering there are no real consequences in their resort or the surrounding third-world town, our protagonist is welcomed into a club of elites who proceed to do increasingly dispicable deeds. There’s a scifi twist that brings up some interesting philosophical questions and some deeply disturbing images. Altogether, Infinity Pool is deep enough to dive in, but it’s not so artsy fartsy that the narrative gets drowned.
5. When Evil Lurks
Demian Rugna’s follow up to the excellent Terrified (2017), When Evil Lurks follows a pair of brothers as they flee from an ancient evil in their rural town. The world building here is phenomenal; it’s kind of a possession movie, but the rules and the nature of the entity are way outside of what we’re used to. It makes everything feel fresh even when we hit familiar story beats. The acting across the board is great, and the main character is well developed. We don’t know all the details of his past, but we know he’s not necessarily a good guy; he’s just trying to do the best he can right now for the people he cares about. It also features some of the most surprising and disturbing visuals I can remember – it is a tough watch and it never cuts away to give you a break. Nonetheless, it’s a must-watch for horror fans.
4. Talk to Me
What if a Ouija board actually worked and it was getting passed around in the TikTok era? That’s sort of what Talk to Me is about, but instead of a piece of cardboard and a planchett, we get a plastercast hand that allows the user to see, talk to, and even get possessed by a real ghost. Kids take turns dabbling in the spirit world as a kind of party trick, or a designer drug – thrilling and dangerous, but eventually also rather routine. It’s all fun and games until somebody’s little brother bashes his face against a table. It’s a tightly written plot, an interesting premise, a reflection on what it’s like being a teenager today, and it even has some good scares. What more could you want?
3. No One Will Save You
This is two movies in one: a thrilling and well-made alien home invasion movie a la some of the best scenes in Signs, and a character drama about a young woman with a tragic past using fantasy to escape her feelings of isolation after the passing of her mother. For some people who just want the one or the other, this might feel disjointed or confusing. For those that can see how the two inform each other and make them better, it’s brilliant. I will say the flashback to the tragic backstory isn’t handled particularly well, but that’s a tiny moment in an overall excellent film.
2. Poor Things
I debated whether or not to include Poor Things, as, although I loved it, it’s an open question on whether or not it’s a horror film at all. Sure, it’s got the Frankenstein theme, but it’s played for comedy and romance; but then again, so is Bride of Frankenstein, and nobody debates that classic’s genre merits. It’s got a mad scientist, and creepy experiments, and body horror scenes. It has a chilling premise, to put it mildly, with regards to the origin of Bella herself. It has a few very tense scenes in the final act where we learn that the mad doctor’s creation isn’t the real monster after all. It’s got way more naked Mark Ruffalo than I’m entirely comfortable with.
Regardless of how you classify it, it’s one of the best movies of the year, and I would be remiss not to recommend it here.
1. Godzilla Minus One
Confession time: I’ve never been a Godzilla fan. When I was a kid, my cousin Paul would play all the old movies over and over again whenever I slept over, and although I enjoyed recreating the scenes by smashing Lego towers with his Godzilla toys, I was utterly bored by the movies themselves. The themes were lost on me and the rubber suits and bad dubbing were too silly to take seriously.
Well, times have changed. The monster in Godzilla Minus One is legitimately scary, with epic scenes of destruction that leave your jaw on the floor and stakes made all the higher by the excellent character development, writing, and acting. It’s riveting storytelling from start to finish in the same way as the best Spielberg blockbusters. It was the best in-theater experience for me since Maverick, and I liked the film itself much more than the Top Gun sequel, so try to see it on the biggest screen possible.