Looking for something to watch this spooky season, and you’re sick of Jason, Freddy, and Michael? (It’s impossible to be sick of Chucky.) Lucky for you, it’s been a solid year for horror. But what is the best horror movie released so far in 2024? Let’s figure it out in time for Halloween. Below, you’ll find three categories to determine 2024’s best horror movie: what the critics think, what the people think, and, least importantly, what I think.
There’s plenty of intriguing horror movies left to come this year, including Smile 2, Heretic, and Nosferatu, but don’t overlook the following titles.
Critics (Rotten Tomatoes)
There are nine horror movies with a Rotten Tomatoes score over 90 percent released in 2024 so far: it’s a mix of indies (Stopmotion, Infested, New Life), potential Oscar winners (The Substance, which should get two actress nominations for Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, and The Devil’s Bath, Austria’s submission for Best International Feature Film), and not a single sequel. The top slot goes to Late Night with the Devil, with a 97 percent “Fresh” rating. Written and directed by Colin and Cameron Cairnes, the part-documentary, part-found footage film stars David Dastmalchian as a late-night talk host, and the supernatural lengths he’s willing to go to improve ratings.
Over on Metacritic, 2024’s best-reviewed horror film is Jane Schoenbrun’s excellent I Saw the TV Glow, followed by the twisty Strange Darling.
Commercial Success (Box Office)
Is $$$ the sign of creative success? Well, considering the highest-grossing film of the year is Deadpool & Wolverine, not really. But it’s still worth looking at the horror films that have done well at the box office, and thankfully, the top two performers are both worthwhile. Domestically speaking, A Quiet Place: Day One is #1 with $138.9 million; worldwide, the honor belongs to Alien: Romulus ($350.4 million), which is actually one of the highest-grossing horror films of all-time when not adjusted for inflation. You could do a lot worse than to watch these two prequels (Alien: Romulus is technically a prequel!).
Personal Preference (Me!)
Ultimately, “best” is subjective and is often used interchangeably with “favorite.” I think The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the best horror film ever made, and it’s also my favorite, but if someone were to make the claim for The Exorcist or Scary Movie 2 (featuring a parody of The Exorcist), I’m not going to try to convince them otherwise. My best/favorite pick for 2024 so far is feminist body horror masterpiece The Substance, with silver and bronze showings for Oddity (behold, a new nightmare) and Strange Darling (Willa Fitzgerald is a freaking star). I haven’t seen Terrifier 3 yet, but I’ll include it as an honorable mention because I love that under-17 teens are buying tickets for the PG-rated The Wild Robot, and sneaking into the killer clown movie.
Here’s where you can stream the horror movies mentioned above
–Late Night with the Devil is on Shudder
–I Saw the TV Glow is on Max
–Strange Darling is on Prime Video
–A Quiet Place: Day One is on Paramount Plus
–Alien: Romulus is on Prime Video
–Oddity is on Shudder
–The Substance is still in theaters