From “Speak No Evil” to “Strange Darling”, these 30 terrifying movies from 2024 that went unnoticed will definitely make you shudder. Keep scrolling at your own discretion…
1. “Under Paris”
Xavier Gens’ impressively timely horror-action-disaster-political satire stars Oscar-nominee Bérénice Bejo as a shark expert whose husband was killed by a shark. She springs into action when that same shark swims into the River Sein right before the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where the swimmers competed in the Seine.
2. “Strange Darling”
Director JT Mollner’s film takes place entirely out of order, so just when we think we’ve got our bearings and know what we should be afraid of, he pulls the rug out and makes us scared of everything else. Here, Willa Fitzgerald plays a young woman who, at the beginning of the film, is bleeding and fleeing from a terrifying man.
3. “Speak No Evil”
This movie found a big enough audience to stay off this list, but earlier in 2024, that film’s co-star Aisling Franciosi headlined a twisted psychological horror film that should have made bigger waves. Here, Franciosi plays Ella, a stop-motion animator whose overbearing mother falls into a coma.
4. “Red Rooms”
This film is a chilling horror thriller about a man on trial for kidnapping and murdering girls for a live audience on the dark web. But this story is actually about two women who sit in the back of the trial every single day and have never met the accused killer before.
5. “Oddity”
Damian McCarthy’s deathly terrifying tale stars Carolyn Bracken as Darcy, a blind psychic who collects cursed objects. A year after her identical twin sister’s mysterious murder, she arrives at her brother-in-law’s house and settles in, bringing a horrifying wooden statue with her.
6. “Lisa Frankenstein”
This motion picture has many similarities to mean-spirited 80s teen comedies like “Heathers,” but it’s got much more in common with overlooked eccentricities like “My Boyfriend’s Back” and“Serial Mom.” A bit scary and morbid but also sweet and romantic. This is a cozy horror classic.
7. “Infested“
This horror film stars Théo Christine as a bug enthusiast and small-time fence who brings a rare species of spider into his apartment building. However, when the bug escapes, it breeds out of control, and its babies get bigger and bigger.
8.“In a Violent Nature“
This terrifying movie is an odd but effective experiment, suggesting that the life of the undead may be more spiritual than you probably imagined. You might never look at a slasher movie the same way again after you watch this oddly peaceful and pastoral movie.
9.”I Saw the TV Glow“
Owen is a teenager in the 1990s who is obsessed with a supernatural TV series called “The Pink Opaque,” and bonds with another outsider, Maddy, played by Bridgette Lundy-Paine. When Maddy suddenly vanishes, Owen lives a lonely life until years later, when Maddy returns and drops a bombshell that changes everything.
10. “The Front Room”
Belinda is a pregnant woman whose mother-in-law will leave them a fortune if they let her move into their house. However, the psychological manipulation and the simple task of caring for the elderly and infirm begin to drive the main character insane.
11. “Exhuma”
This movie tells the story of occult professionals, a shaman, her protégé, a mortician, and a Feng Shui expert, who are enlisted to remove a supernatural curse from a family. They plan to dig up the unholy grave of one of their ancestors, exorcise his spirit, and move the body to hallowed ground.
12. “The Devil’s Bath”
This movie is part historical drama but also part psychological horror, part feminist tragedy, and only partly a tale of terror. But by the time the closing credits roll, you will definitely be horrified.
13. “Cuckoo”
Hunter Schafer stars in this movie as a teenager whose parents drag her to the Bavarian Alps, where she’s forced to work at a weird hotel where the guests are all mysteriously sick, and she’s allowed to go outside alone at night.
14. “Arcadian”
This terrifying movie stars Cage as a father fighting to protect his house and family from monsters after the fall of civilization, and if that sounds like a knockoff of “A Quiet Place,” then, you are probably right.
15. “Abigail”
Here, a gang of criminals kidnaps the daughter of a mysterious millionaire, only to discover that they really shouldn’t have. And we won’t ruin the twist for you because all of the trailers did, and that didn’t help this movie sell many tickets when it premiered.
16. “Late Night With the Devil”
In 1977 a live television broadcast goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms. A SXSW 2023 favorite from Aussie brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes, the occult film is a nerve-frazzling nightmare that would send the ghost of Johnny Carson running.
17. “You’ll Never Find Me”
This well-crafted tension-builder story hits its stride when a paranoid man invites a sopping-wet young woman into his RV to wait out a raging thunderstorm. The interactions and conversations you watch during this movie leave a trail of clues, lies, and hair-raising reveals.
18. “The First Omen“
Starring Servant’s Nell Tiger Free as nun-to-be Margaret, the origin story of the devil incarnate takes place in Rome, where the young novitiate’s faith is tested when she learns the church is meddling in dark matters.
19. “Return to Silent Hill“
Gans comes back to the world of Silent Hill, too, this time with a story about a man who ventures into the fog to find his long-lost love.
20. “Tarot“
A Ouija board, a videotape, a cell phone, a doll, the list of portals through which evil is unleashed is never-ending. Here, malevolent forces pierce the thin veil that separates the living from the dead through a set of tarot cards.
21. “The Strangers: Chapter 1“
This movie is the first in a trilogy whose collective time range spans only a few days, and Chapter 3 will tap into the history of the original’s masked murderers.
22. “The Watchers“
The narrative proper unfolds around a young artist who seeks shelter from night monsters with three strangers in Ireland, and stars Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, and Hannah Howland.
23. “A Quiet Place: Day One“
As its title suggests, this movie is set on the first day of the alien invasion that drives the horror and reveals why we’ve been pondering since 2018. Stars include Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, and Djimon Hounsou.
24. “Longlegs“
Here, an FBI agent I assigned to a serial killer case with ties to the occult. Costars include Nicolas Cage, Alicia Witt, and Blair Underwood.
25. “Trap“
This movie is a no-doubt psychological thriller set in Philadelphia (like most of Shyamalan’s films) and takes place at a concert. Josh Hartnett, Hayley Mills, and Vanessa Smythe star here.
26. “Alien: Romulus“
The Alien universe has seen its fair share of directors, but 2024 saw its most relentless auteur yet: Fede Alvarez. Known for Don’t Breathe, the 2013 Evil Dead remake, and Calls, Alvarez unloaded a cosmic nightmare in the sci-fi series originated by Ridley Scott.
27. “Blink Twice“
Blink Twice is a cocktail of genres blending elements of drama, horror, and suspense and follows a tech billionaire, the waitress he whisks away to his private island, and her subsequent fight to survive.
28. “Smile 2“
Writer-director Parker Finn returns to continue his spine-chilling story about an evil entity that preys on its victims’ trauma. The plot for the sequel is still under wraps, but the cast so far includes Lukas Gage and Naomi Scott.
29. “Wolf Man“
Under the direction of Leigh Whannell, the Blumhouse film deals with a man, his family, and the shaggy predator terrorizing them. Ryan Gosling was originally set to star, but is now an executive producer, with Christopher Abbott taking his place opposite Julia Garner.
30. “Heretic“
Hugh Grant stars as an unhinged recluse who gets a knock on the door from a couple of faith spreaders invites them in for blueberry pie, and then tests their faith in a series of challenges. Costarring Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East as the trapped missionaries, this one sounds terrifying.
