It’s been an incredibly challenging year, with the prospect of another Trump presidency looming ominously as December winds down, but happily, 2024 has been a strong 12 months for cinema at large and horror in particular. No matter your unique or hyper-specific tastes, there was something released to satisfy them and for those of us across the pond in Europe, the January blues will surely be eased by the release of Robert Eggers’ highly anticipated Nosferatu (which doesn’t appear on this list because I haven’t seen it yet). There were creature features, religious shockers, and more than one surprisingly great sequel. Women ruled (no surprises there), blood and guts were spilled, and longtime fans of the genre and newcomers alike were left in no doubt that horror, as per usual, is the place to be. Without any further ado:
Alien: Romulus
As of this year, there are officially three great Alien movies. True, Alien: Romulus is undoubtedly the weakest of the trio, but when you’re up against all-time greats like Alien and Aliens, that’s still a massive achievement. For those of us who never managed to get on the wavelength of the increasingly over-complicated and CGI-addled sequels, this Fede Alvarez-directed chiller was a real return to form. Lean, mean, and loaded with xenomorphs and chestbursters galore, Romulus boasts a controlled tone and a tight, sharp focus the likes of which we haven’t seen since Aliens. The movie goes a bit nutty towards the end and the inclusion of the most famous line in the franchise’s history was wholly unnecessary but, for the most part, Alvarez returns to the haunted house in space antics that made many of us fall in love with Alien in the first place and puts his own, modern spin on them. Romulus is also genuinely terrifying, the tension ratcheted up effectively throughout until it’s at throat-constricting levels, while Cailee Spaeny – who’s had a helluva year between this and Priscilla – makes for a compelling lead without falling back on doing a bad Sigourney Weaver impression.
Under Paris
Great sharksploitation movies are sadly few and far between and Netflix doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to creature features. But “sharks in the Seine” is such a ludicrously irresistible premise and, fortunately, the filmmakers behind Under Paris knew exactly what kind of movie they were making. It’s big, dumb fun but what takes this shark-filled shocker to another level, besides the surprisingly decent-looking fish themselves, is how cruel and unyielding it is. There are several terrific jump scares and a whole bunch of deliciously mean deaths, the best of which involves a group of arrogant influencers being torn to pieces in a flooded section of Paris’ famous catacombs, of all places – again, they knew what they were doing with this movie. A sequel has already been announced, which makes sense given how popular Under Paris was, but considering the impressively hopeless ending (and that hilarious animated post-credits sequence!), it would’ve been better to just leave it as is. Delving into this story further risks robbing it of its ruthlessness.
Frankie Freako
Following up a cult hit like Psycho Goreman is no small feat, but writer-director Steven Kostanski clearly understood the assignment, delivering a wacky, wild, and incredibly weird story about a little man named Frankie and the schlubby office drone whose hum-drum life he and his gaggle of neon-colored extraterrestrial pals instantly enliven with their adorably PG antics. Frankie Freako, much like its beloved predecessor, fully commits to the madness without a hint of irony. The joke hit rate is incredibly high once again and Conor Sweeney is endlessly charming in the lead role, not least because he’s frequently the only human character onscreen (much like a messed-up take on the Muppets). The puppetry is hugely endearing in that rickety kind of way that computers just cannot replicate, particularly during a brief voyage to Frankie’s home planet – complete with the requisite miniature work and utterly (intentionally) unconvincing VFX. Shabadoo indeed.
The First Omen
As someone who’s always been more of an Omen than an Exorcist fan, I scoffed upon spotting the poster for this prequel in the lobby of my local cinema. Who needs it? We already know what happens. Immediately, I was concerned about poor Gregory Peck being resurrected using dodgy CGI for a cameo at the end but, happily, Arkasha Stevenson’s moody take on a story we all know a bit too well at this stage was a refreshingly brash, uncompromising twist on the seemingly inevitable birth of the Antichrist. Of the two similarly themed religious horror movies released this year, The First Omen pips Immaculate to the post primarily because Nell Tiger Free’s central performance is so exceptional. Sydney Sweeney gives it her all, and the final moments of Immaculate are impressively balls-to-the-wall crazy, but she’s just not believable as a young woman who’s given her life up to serve God. The First Omen puts its shy, well-meaning protagonist through the ringer and Free is startlingly good even when a campier tone starts to encroach upon the proceedings. Worth seeing for the demon hand emerging from a vagina sequence alone. And it’s on Disney+!
Infested
Let’s face it, we haven’t had a good spider-based horror movie since Arachnophobia, which despite being for children is still completely horrifying. The difference with that John Goodman-starring classic family flick was that they used real spiders, while modern examples like Eight Legged Freaks rely on CGI, so they never feel real enough to be a legitimate threat. Sébastien Vanicek’s French-language shocker establishes from the opening credits that it’s a very different beast, with the most terrifyingly realistic spiders perhaps ever committed to film. This is the kind of movie that’s difficult to watch, and that will make you feel like something is crawling on you long after it’s over. It’s absolutely soul-destroying and I can’t say with any confidence that I could ever watch it again. This year also, notably, gave us Sting, which features some gnarly animatronics but squanders its potential by focusing on a boring, rote family drama instead of the giant spider terrorizing them. Infested is on Shudder if you’d like to ruin your day.
Cuckoo
Horror got super weird this year, but Cuckoo definitely took the proverbial biscuit when it came to memorably freaky imagery. Plus, Dan Stevens gave his second scene-stealing supporting performance of 2024 (the other was in Abigail, which would’ve been way more fun if the trailers didn’t spoil the twist) as the dastardly Herr König, whose masterplan is crazier than anybody could ever imagine. German writer-director Tilman Singer clearly has a singular take when it comes to scary stories since his previous movie, the wonderful, and criminally underseen, Luz, was similarly bizarre and original. He gets extra points for gifting Euphoria breakout star Hunter Schafer her first fully-fledged leading role in a feature film – one which, crucially, has absolutely nothing to do with her being trans. Schafer absolutely kills it, taking to the escalating challenges with aplomb to deliver an intensely physical and surprisingly emotional performance as a grieving teenager who finds herself stuck in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by weirdos who barely react when someone pukes on the floor in the lobby. The location is stunning, the performances committed across the board, and there’s a late-night chase sequence that will go down as one of the most frightening in recent memory.
MaXXXine
Ti West’s trilogy closer got a lukewarm response from fans and critics alike, but anybody who preferred X to Pearl (guilty) got a kick out of him returning to the grindhouse roots of the first film in the series with this grimy, grungy eighties throwback that features returning star Mia Goth’s most attention-grabbing turn yet. The British actor devours the scenery whether she’s crushing a nosy PI (played by a perfectly oily Kevin Bacon) in a junkyard or confidently telling a group of fellow wannabe starlets that they shouldn’t even bother trying to follow her audition. MaXXXine is the latest in a long line of nostalgic horror movies crafted by filmmakers who came of age during the golden age of slasher movies, but it feels more authentic than most of its contemporaries largely because the Los Angeles that the story occupies is so far from aspirational. Typically, there’s a loving, sunny sheen to the proceedings, but the idea that anyone would want to live in West’s Hollywood is laughable. In fact, it’s the ideal playground for Maxine Minx to operate and watching her flourish is way more fun than it should be. A fitting end to a near-perfect modern trilogy.
The Substance
The Substance really broke containment this year, even generating Oscar buzz, which is shocking considering it’s a truly disgusting body horror movie that pulls precisely zero punches. Coralie Fargeat’s highly-anticipated follow-up to her brilliant debut Revenge (the best rape revenge movie ever made, as far as I’m concerned as a hater of that super dodgy subgenre) features Demi Moore in her meatiest role in years – in every meaning of the word. Stylish, slick, and stunningly shot, The Substance is loaded with stomach-churning imagery that is, crucially, practically done using top-tier prosthetics and makeup, but the movie is at its best when ruthlessly excavating the horror we, as women, inflict upon ourselves to be presentable for the rest of the world. The most excruciating moment occurs when Moore cannot bring herself to leave the house simply after looking in the mirror, a moment every woman watching will sadly relate to. Horror rarely gets rewarded by The Academy but if there’s any justice in the world, Fargeat and Moore are shoo-ins. Or maybe it’d be cooler to keep this little freak-show for ourselves?
Longlegs
There were those who (wrongly) claimed that Longlegs was over-hyped because, by the time Osgood Perkins’ latest unholy offering finally arrived in theaters, it felt like we’d all been hit over the head with how capital-T terrifying it was supposed to be. The marketing campaign, which wisely eschewed giving us even a tiny glimpse at Nicolas Cage’s titular serial killer, will go down in history as one of the smartest and most effective – which is even more noteworthy nowadays, considering how much trailers, especially for horror movies, typically spoil. Fans who found themselves disappointed upon watching the movie missed what Perkins was trying to do with it. Longlegs isn’t The Silence of the Lambs for a new generation; rather, it’s a culmination of everything the indie filmmaker – whose work remains an acquired taste, even following the mainstream success of this movie – has learned along the way. It’s got the occult leanings, the blasphemy, the big effing Baphomet lurking in the background, and all the while Perkins maintains complete control of the tone and atmosphere of what will surely become a future all-timer. If you’re not on his wavelength, that’s on you.
Oddity
As an Irish person, it’s incredibly gratifying to see our inherently spooky little island finally deliver some great horror movies after years of wannabe-American dross like Shrooms and Boy Eats Girl. The last few years have been incredibly strong for Irish horror, from Sea Fever to Boys from County Hell, but Oddity is easily our best export yet. Damian McCarthy’s follow-up to the bone-chilling Caveat is the kind of movie that immediately crawls under your skin and makes a home there. From the opening moments, it’s clear he isn’t messing around, but what’s so mind-blowing is that things just get better and more terrifying from there. Carolyn Bracken pulls double duty as estranged twin sisters, one of whom must avenge the death of the other following her mysterious murder one creepy night. There’s a big wooden man (the oddity of the title) but even without his ominous presence looming in the corner of the frame, McCarthy’s sophomore feature would be the scariest, most disturbing, and memorable horror offering of the year. Both it and Caveat are available to watch on Shudder if you’re in the mood for a nightmare-inducing double bill.