The Best Horror Movies to Bring Fear into What's Left of 2024

Once upon a time, horror movies lagged behind superhero fare and animated flicks for kids as the bread-and-butter of the box office. Sure, "Deadpool and Wolverine" (Shawn Levy) may monopolize half the screens in the country, but this is a rarity, perhaps the last kicks of a dying order. Marvel fumbled the ball in the generational exchange post- "Avengers: Endgame" (Anthony & Joe Russo, 2019). Animation behemoths went through their come-to-Jesus moment, weathering work-practice sandals and cutting off a good part of their workforce. The movies may be money-making machines, but they take a long time to produce.

Who's there to pick up the ball? Scary movies, alright. The first half of the year gave us an embarrassment of riches with "Stop Motion," "All You Need is Death," "The Coffee Table," "The Vourdalak," and "Cold Blows the Wind." And that's just the indie movies we have reviewed at The Indie. A bunch of Hollywood fares haunt the public, like "The Last Exorcism" and "Immaculate." At least in sheer numbers, as the following rundown of titles capping off 2024 as a new golden age of horror. Are we reaching full horror saturation at the cinema? If you have arrived at a screening with enough time to partake in the half-hour of trailers projected before the main attraction begins, you would think so. The slate is brimming with genre offerings. As many as 15 scary movies will be - or already are - vying for your attention.

Here's a rundown of the most notorious horror movies haunting the second part of 2024.

Longlegs

If your name sets your destiny, Oz Perkins was marked at birth to scare filmgoers. But the son of Anthony Perkins, legendary star of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" is not coasting on dad's fame. Slow but steady, he has risen as the most distinctive American horror director.  Mike Flanagan may cast a spell on the mainstream, but Perkins aims for something more prickly and, therefore, more unsettling. Ever since the premiere of his first feature, the Netflix Original "I Am the Pretty Thing Who Lives in the House" (2014), he aimed for something more elliptical and atmospheric than your standard jump-scare fest. "The Blackcoat's Daughter" (2016), with Kieran Shipka and Emma Roberts, proved Perkins was not a one-hit wonder. The disturbing fairy tale adaptation "Gretel and Hansel" (2019) proved he could work in a commercial key without compromising his vision, even if the pandemic shutdown compromised the movie's rollout.

Alas, nothing can prepare you for "Longlegs," a genuinely nightmarish combination of police procedural and satanic panic thriller. Maika Monroe, the first great Scream Queen of the XXI century after cult hit "It Follows" (David Robert Mitchell, 2014) and Sundance fave "Watcher" (Chloe Okuno, 2022), stars as a morose FBI rookie whose sixth sense pushes her to pursue a serial killer who mysteriously dispatches nuclear families, somehow convincing the fathers to kill wives and kids in a most gruesome way - echoes of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's masterful "Cure" (1997).

Moore plays it straight, contrasting Nicolas Cage's mad turn as Longlegs. Perkins sets the plot in an intentionally banal version of North Anywhere, USA. Desolate country roads, cookie-cutter middle-class homes, and rustic farms lull you into a sense of normalcy, jarred by the increasingly fantastic developments. The proceedings may make you recall indie auteurs like David Lynch and Todd Solondz, but the unstable dramatics are pure Perkins. 

Perhaps since "The Babadook" (Jennifer Kent, 2014), I had not felt a movie so volatile and unnerving. As it careens towards its inevitable conclusion, you experience the ultimate horror: facing an unavoidable, tragic end. It just had to be this way. Nicolas Cage creates pure fuel nightmare in a genuinely experimental and mesmerizing performance. He looks and sounds both horrifying and ridiculous. In a smart throwaway joke, Perkins undermines his monster. You'll recognize the scene when it comes up.   It's not an appeal to easy laughs but a sly way to recognize how context delineates the contours of our fears. For Longlegs to deploy his evil force, we must help him supply our gullibility. One person's demon is another one's clown. "Longlegs" is one of the best movies of the year.

Oddity 

Unfortunately, the success of "Longlegs" pushed this sneaky chiller out of the public's consciousness. Director Damian Mc Carthy only has a handful of shorts and a feature under his name - "Caveat" (2020) - but his sophomore long-form nightmare betrays a twisted sensibility. The plot follows Darcy (Carolyn Bracken), an antiquary with psychic powers, investigating the brutal murder of her sister on the first anniversary of her death. Like "All You Need is Death," the unfamiliarity with the Irish cast and location adds a layer of volatility to the proceedings. We don't have a recognizable star or lore to give us hints of how the nightmare will develop. 

Smile 2

The low-budget tall tale that turned into a surprise hit reconfigures in a glitzy pop context. In the original, Susie Bacon played a shrink facing a smiling demon who possessed people around her with self-annihilation impulses. Now, the protagonist is a successful pop singer, half Lady Gaga, half Taylor Swift. Naomi Scott looks like the dead ringer of the mother of Little Monsters. She becomes increasingly frantic as fans, executives, and members of her entourage besiege her.

Heretic

Is Hugh Grant entering his Joan Crawford phase, quickly receding into genre cash-grab roles in genre movies? You might think so when you get a glimpse at "Heretic." No, it's not a new version of the much-maligned "The Exorcist" sequel (1977). Grant, the dithering dandy of decades past, plays a genial, warm stranger who opens his door to an unsuspecting couple of Mormon missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe  East. They are happy to bring him the word of their lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Playing them like a fiddle, he identifies as a man of faith and invites them in for preaching and blueberry pie. What's not to like?! But when he closes the door behind them, he kidnaps them in a terrifying game of cat and mouse with twisted faith. undertones.

Alien Romulus

After remaking "Evil Dead" (2014) and scoring a hit with "Don't Breath" (2017), Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez is getting the keys to one of the best franchises of our time. Seven years after Ridley Scott returned to the xenomorph farm with "Alien: Covenant" (Ridley Scott, 2017), another space-bound splatter-fest comes. The good news is that it looks like a throwback to the original "Alien." The bad news is that the generic, young cast makes this look like the CW's"Nostromo," at least if we judge by the trailer. Then again, those promos can be deceiving. Let's give it the benefit of the doubt. 

Speak No Evil

You don't have to have seen the original Dutch film, a Sundance Midnight hit from 2021, to know what happens in this seemingly unnecessary remake. If you had seen the original, you would have noticed that the trailer gave all the plot points away unless director James Watkins keeps some surprises under wraps. A top-notch cast may tempt you into indulging in one of those movies that exploit ordinary people's capacity to roll with the punches until oblivion catches up with them. Ben (Scoot McNairy) and Louise (Mackenzie Davis) are a well-to-do couple establishing a surprising friendship with Paddy (James McAvoy) and Ciara (Ailing Franciosi) during a European Vacation. Months later, they take on their invitation to visit their home. As usual, nothing is as it seems. It may be a retread, but McAvoy in psycho mode is constantly enticing. After "Stop Motion" (Robert Morgan, 2023), Aisling Franciosi is primed to become a horror star for the ages. 

Nosferatu

Regarding remakes, no classic movie is sacred; "Nosferatu" is the least of them. After all, the primal silent "fear opera" was a whole-cloth appropriation of  Bran Stoker's sensational "Dracula." The rat-faced fiend was also invoked by other filmmakers, like Werner Herzog, but none seems more fit for the period trappings than David Eggers. "The Witch" auteur enrolled Alexander Skarsgaard, Willem Dafoe, Lilly Rose Depp, and Nicholas Houston for another round of sexy, blood-sucking fun. 

Never Let Go

I was curious about this Halle Berry starring vehicle when the trailer revealed that Alexandre Aja is the director. The French auteur broke into the international scene with the shocker "Haute Tension" (2003) and delivered an extreme remake of "The Hills Have Eyes" (2006). He gave us a witty and gimmicky "Piranha 3D" (2010), performing the hat trick of honoring Joe Dante's original and justifying the stunted XXI century revival of 3D movies. I'd be a poor excuse for a film critic if I did not point you toward "Crawl," his 2019 revival of the classic creature feature, with Kaya Scodelario struggling to escape from gigantic alligators in the middle of a Florida hurricane.

"Never Let Go" combines horror with post-apocalyptic tropes. Berry stars as a mother fiercely protective of her two small children in the aftermath of a catastrophe that decimated the world as we know it. The family has retired to a cabin in the woods for reasons that will become clear once we see the movie. They can venture out of it only as far as a rope connected to the house allows. If they lose connection…all hell breaks loose. Or something. It might end up daft, but I would not miss it for the world. 

The Front Room

The critical and box-office success of "Fatal Attraction" (Adrian Lyne, 1987), in which Glenn Close plays the psycho lover of an adulterous yuppie (Michael Douglas), unleashed a thrilling trend that, as usual, Hollywood drove into the ground and exploited well into the '90s. The sidepiece from hell begat the nanny from hell - Rebecca de Mornay in "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" (Curtis Hanson, 1992) -, the roommate from hell - Jennifer Jason Leigh in "Single White Female" (Barbet Schroeder, 1992) -, and the cop from hell - Ray Liotta in "Unlawful Entry" (Jonathan Kaplan, 1992) -. Man, 1992 had a big crop of those. 

You get the gist, and now, you can get a brand new "…from hell" movie. Kathryn Hunter, the physically prodigious performer who rose to fame for playing all three witches in "The Tragedy of Macbeth" (Joel Coen, 2021), is now a nightmarish mother-in-law. In old age, she goes to live with her devoted son (Andrew Burlap), much to the chagrin of daughter-in-law Belinda (Brandy Norwood), who is very, very pregnant. Soon enough, the sweet old lady drives a wedge between man and wife with shenanigans of mounting sinisterness.

A "Rosemary's Baby" retread with '90s R&B star Brandy in the Mia Farrow role? Yes, please! Even more intriguing, Max and Sam Eggers, the writing-directing duo behind this familial nightmare, are brothers of "Nosferatu" director David Eggers. How many of them are there? Do they all make horror movies? Now that's scary!  

Strange Darling

Can a young woman exercise her freedom to find pleasure without crossing paths with a serial killer? Not if we go by JT Mollner's scary thriller. Willa Fitzgerald dooms her one-night stand when she asks Kyle Gallner if he is a serial killer. Is this like a drug bust situation, where the pusher has to tell you he is a cop if you ask him? Way to kill the mood, girl! The setup leads to a pulse-pounding game of cat and mouse. Or does it? Whatever the result is, we can look forward to supporting roles by Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley Jr.

Check out the trailer. You'll experience the scariest words seen on the screen this year: "Cinematography by Giovanni Ribisi." I kid, I kid. The eccentric '90s actor is a great DP. His IMDB profile says he lensed two video clips for Jonsi, the Sigur Ros frontman who, from time to time, tables in a solo career. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt, shall we?

Cuckoo

Eons away from "Downton Abbey," Dan Stevens lets his freak flag fly higher with this vacation-from-hell thriller. He is the manager of a mountain retreat where families go to enjoy nature and each other's company. That is until the host unleashes an otherworldly menace upon them. Or something like that. Unlike the "Speak No Evil" trailer, this little promo hits the sweet spot of revealing too much and nothing at all simultaneously. Taylor (Hunter Schafer) is a teen final girl, wise beyond her years.

Blink Twice

Actress Zoe Kravitz recruits partner Channing Tatum to play the big bad in her debut film as a director. Tatum is Slater, a wealthy tech bro inviting a group of friends to a dream vacation on a paradisiacal, secluded island. Naomie Ackie is a young waitress. He picks up and charms off her feet to come along. She is about to get something she did not sign up for. The plot may sound too much like "Glass Onion" (Ryan Johnson, 2021) - or rather, Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" - but the star-studded cast makes this a must-see: Alia Shawkat, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Geena Davis and Kyle McLachlan.  How could I not sign up for this? 

In a compelling bit of trivia, the director revealed the studio balked at the original title she wanted for the movie: "Pussy Island." In a way, I give the marketing department the reason. You want to make the film scary for all audiences, not just incels! 

AfrAId

Fans of M3GAN, be afraid. Be very afraid. Or happy, depending on how much you loved the Killer Doll movie. A new AI-gone-amok nightmare comes to torment an ideal family. James Cho and Katherine Waterstone installed a virtual home assistant. The sneaky software makes itself dependable soon enough so that when it begins encroaching on the parental role, the couple barely notices until it's too late. Let's hope this handsome pair makes it through unscathed!

Trap

M. Night Shyamalan's latest comes blessed by positive word of mouth and the first significant role for Josh Barnett after returning to Hollywood's radar with a solid performance in the ensemble of "Oppenheimer." He is the father of a young teen girl, taking her to a multitudinous concert. Think Taylor Swift in The Eras Tour -. Police presence and a blabbermouth employee alert him to the presence of a serial killer in the venue. Per the trailer, Dad goes into Rambo mode. Is he taking on the mission of catching the most wanted man? Or is he - gasp! - the killer himself? The trailer is mercifully vague about it. But we can be sure of one thing. There will be a twist since this is an M. Night Shyamalan film. Or two. Or three. 

The Substance

Once upon a time, every veteran actress headlining a horror movie was seen as slumming. There even was a whole sub-genre, gleefully named hagsploitation. Well, the stigma dissolves in the air. You can get in touch with your inner hag and win acclaim, not pity. Demi Moore, '80s survivor of the Brat Pack, comes back in Coralie Fargeat's Cannes award winner. Yes, Cannes. The movie took the Best Screenplay prize and was in the run for the coveted Palm d'Or. Moore plays the role of Elizabeth Sparkle, a star of the fitness industry sent packing when she hits 50. An unexpected lifeline appears when a rogue medical company proposes she tests an experimental serum that will turn her into "the best version of herself." What could go wrong? Well, you have to see Roger Corman's "The Wasp Woman" (1959) or Robert Zemeckis' "Death Becomes Her" (1992) to get a clue: Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid costar.