The Top 10 Horror Movies of 2024

In 2024 the Horror genre continues to prove that it's not defined by A24 or Blumhouse, Shudder brought some strong indie fare. Social Media certainly shapes the way horror is marketed to us now. However, there was more buzz than hype for most of these movies. Most of the years more hyped films like "I Saw the TV Glow" were not horror or live up to the hype, thus not making the list, There was less word of mouth with these movies, some I never hear being brought up. The key to horror is it has to somehow make me feel uneasy. Just gore is not enough, This year the things that went bump in the night included classics like vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts, and psycho killers., 

These might not be the movies that got the best Rotten Tomatoes score, though they all did pretty decent, nor are they the most popular as the most mass-marketed movies tend to be for the lower common denominator. If your favorite movie is not on the list, it is not because I did not see it as I saw most horror movies that graced small screens and the inner webs this year, it is because in some cases your favorite movie was unimpressive or trying too hard, in other's well it was not that scary. So, these are movies that proved to engage me in some way more than the other horror movies not on this list. Here are the top ten horror movies of 2024

10-Werewolves 

This movie takes the Purge and combines it with werewolves. It reminds me of the late 80s, sometimes this works better than other times when the werewolves look too much like puppets, I had to pretend this movie was from the 80s, but it was fun, despite its faults.

   

9-Oddity

Ireland has been busting out some decent horror in recent years, and this one is another notch in its belt. The Lovecraftian vibes are what earn its place here. It's a slow burn but maintains its eerie mood. Sure there are some plot holes, but suspension of disbelief is easy to maintain.

 

8-Terrifier 3 

With a bigger budget, comes a more fully fleshed-out story, that takes Art the Clown in a more Nightmare of Elm Street direction as supernatural elements continue to expand the mythos.  It's entertaining and works off the hype of having to make each film more extreme, but it also wanders away from what made the first film a classic. 

https://nastiferateau.blogspot.com/2024/10/film-review-terrifier-3.html

7-In a Violent Nature

I really enjoyed the "If Friday the 13th was an art film" feel of this movie. The pacing is very deliberate and not for everyone. Some of the gore scenes felt like they were from the 80's with Terrifier levels of absurdity which was an odd choice in its contrast, thus keeping it out of the top 6. 

https://nastiferateau.blogspot.com/2024/07/film-review-in-violent-nature.html

6-Nosferatu

I understand why this is a love-it-or-hate-it film. It really depends on how invested you are in the 1922 version. I think where they dropped the ball was not sticking to the classic Orlok look. Aside from that, the movie looked great, though Dafoe carries it when it comes to acting as Orlok keeps to the shadows. It is a feast for the eye, that entertained me. 

https://nastiferateau.blogspot.com/2024/12/film-review-nosferatu.html

5-the Substance

I like this movie's take on Hollywood and the ugly face of it. The cinematography was perhaps the year's best, but the writing did not have as much behind it, and the movie fell apart by the end, it ranked this high because it's such a good-looking horror movie with cool practical effects. 

 

https://nastiferateau.blogspot.com/2024/10/film-review-substance.html

4- Longlegs 

If David Lynch had directed "Silence of the Labs" then the results might have been similar.  It was creepy and carried a lingering bleakness, that might not have come across as scary as the movies that took the top three places, but its atmosphere solidified its place here. 

https://nastiferateau.blogspot.com/2024/07/film-review-longlegs.html

3-Abigail 

This movie was a lot of fun. Sure it worked off a familiar trope, but it did deviate from your typical vampire fare. It looked good but was creepy and tense. This tension gave classic horror fans more of what they wanted than, movies that were pretty to look at or more atmospheric in nature. 

2-Late Night With the Devil

Sure there were some campy elements when it came to some of the effects and overacting, but it did a great job capturing the stylistic mood it sought to capture, and carried a looming sense of dread., underneath the smile the host gave the camera. It beat out the other eight films on this list thanks to a more original concept, despite pulling from a few familiar horror motiffs. 

https://nastiferateau.blogspot.com/2024/06/film-review-late-night-with-devil.html

 

 1-Outside 

This Netflix movie from the Philippines takes the zombie genre and all its tropes and shapes them into something very bleak. It's as much about generational trauma as it is a s commentary on the end of the world.  Things never get better only worse. This is more effective than jump scares. It takes the building tension of a movie like the "Shining" and gives you nowhere to run. Well made and effective in the way to goes after your psyche. It took the number one spot as it had da better ending than the other movies, better effects, and acting that felt real. 

Film Review : "Nosferatu"

 

Eggers remake of the 1922 silent film finds him keeping the mood of the original film and building off it to create his own gothic vampire story that like the original is another retelling of the Bram Stoker story, though where the original would depict Orlok as a different character from the Dracula we would later come to know from 1931 "Dracula" as a suave seductive gentleman to Orlok's creepier monster persona. The first elephant in the room is the fact I had seen promotional pictures from the movie that showed Bill Skarsgard in makeup much closer to the original portrayal of Orlok, than what would appear in this film. I can appreciate keeping him in the shadows, but this new persona made him a more shambling wreck of a creature, perhaps to create more of a contrast and make Deep's relationship with him more shameful.  But I kept waiting for him to shed the mustache and emerge as the classic Orlock which did not happen. 

The film's strength was in its visually striking cinematography and the world that Eggers created. There were few shots wasted and even less than were not stunning to look at. Eggers said that he did not want the film to be contaminated by other cinematic vampire portrayals. He succeeded in doing this , though he comes closest to Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula from 1992. Both stick close to Stoker's book, though Egger's takes the slant of Orlok's arrival bringing a plague to the city. Willem Dafoe and Raph Ineson give the film's two strongest performances, with Dafoe stretching himself the most, while Ineson pretty much does what he does, it just falls into place here. Skarsgard serves as a body for make-up to be applied to and pantomimes his way through the film. Considering the original was a silent film this might be for the best. 

Deep looks good in the costumes and once again serves as a body holding the place of a character who is walking through life in a dream-like trance. Her experience as a model comes in handy, as she sells the look more than tapping into an emotional connection with the role, and does not have any chemistry with anyone, though Dafoe carries the scenes with her. But perhaps this is intentional, as she could not connect to anyone so called forth a spirit to be with her, which is the crux of the movie, though it feels more told than shown despite that is how the film opens, a little more interaction with Orlok might have sold this fact better, but it worked well enough. I can understand where fans of the original are going to complain, this movie is more of a art piece based on concepts from the original. I enjoyed the bleak miserable mood it creates, and the darkness that envelopes it. It's not a happy Hollywood ending, which I also value in horror movies. A great experience to look at even at the cost of the high expectations that come with the source material.