2024 will soon be a memory, but we’re fortunate it will leave behind some remarkable horror films that we’ll definitely be returning to for many years to come. From new entries in beloved franchises to stories that aren’t afraid to put a spotlight on tough topics, there is so much to look back on fondly, even if that walk down memory lane is littered with body parts and jump scares we’re still recovering from.
Horror is not an easy formula to crack, but when done right it’s a genre that can put a mirror in front of us like none other and ask us some very difficult questions. It can also just provide us with a hauntingly and/or disgustingly good time with friends and family, complete with embarrassing reactions we’ll never stop bringing up. These winners (yes, they are all just different levels of winners, OK?!) epitomize that and remind us why we keep running back to the theater or to our couches with a big bag of popcorn and that unnerving feeling we just can’t get enough of.
Honorable Mentions
While there can only be one best horror movie of 2024 for IGN, there are those select few that deserve nearly as much praise for how well they scared, frightened, disgusted, or caused us to have many sleepless nights. This year, we have to give the most honorable of mentions to two great films that also happen to be prequels: A Quiet Place: Day One and The First Omen.
A Quiet Place: Day One is the perfect example of a prequel done right. Not only does it stand on its own and provide its own major moments of silent terror and tension, but it also makes the two films that came before it even more impactful. As for The First Omen, it made this list because its star Nell Tiger Free and director and co-writer Arkasha Stevenson elevated this latest entry in the almost 50-year-old series to ever-higher emotional heights while still providing shocking moments that nearly led to an NC-17 rating.
Runner-Up: Longlegs
How can you go wrong when you combine a Satanic spin on The Silence of the Lambs, a serial killer/true crime tale, a sprinkle of supernatural, and a good dose of Nicolas Cage? While Longlegs may feel like it’s headed down a spooky road we’ve seen plenty of times before, there’s a reason we choose to keep going down it.
In our Longlegs review, we said director Osgood Perkins “combines the grisly realism of a crime-scene photograph with the startling surreality of a nightmare. The result feels taboo, like something we shouldn’t be looking at and may suffer consequences for seeing.”
We are glad we did choose to make it through the film, however, because it is a journey well worth taking.
Runner-Up: I Saw the TV Glow
We all love jump scares and those moments in horror films where it feels as though our skin is crawling off our bodies, but there is something truly special about a film that can also speak to us on another level and masterfully wrap a personal story amidst the screams. I Saw the TV Glow is that type of film and it’s an impressive second feature for director Jane Schoenbrun.
I Saw the TV Glow follows the life of Owen over the course of years, starting with when we first see him connect with a friend named Maddy over a TV series called The Pink Opaque. This series follows two girls who use their psychic bond to take on supernatural evil, and we get to see clips of the show woven into the tale.
Throughout the film, these characters, this show, and other elements combine to tell a story that tackles such important topics as gender, nostalgia, and finding yourself, and it’s all presented rather beautifully. In our I Saw the TV Glow review, we said that the story is enveloped in “an ephemeral haze that transforms 1990s suburbia into Day-Glo dreamscapes.” Don’t miss this one.
Runner-Up: Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus took this beloved franchise back to its roots, and it was one of the best decisions that could have been made. We’ve talked at length about why Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe director Fede Álvarez and Alien are a match made in “space hell,” and we’re happy to say he didn’t disappoint when taking on the Xenomorphs.
Alien: Romulus is most everything we could have wanted in a new Alien film, and it all begins with a slow set-up that unnervingly welcomes us into this terrifying world once more. From there, a combination of CG and practical effects gives us the feeling we were hoping for, adding up to a perfectly distilled glass of Alien.
And it all circles back to the director as, in our Alien: Romulus review, we said, “like a kid in a Freudian nightmare of a candy store, Álvarez bellies up to a feast of Alien iconography and cryptozoology with abject glee, even and especially in scenes of bone-crunching mayhem.”
Winner: The Substance
We’ve had some truly fantastic horror films this year, but 2024’s biggest honor goes to The Substance. This incredibly gory movie that also not-so-subtly shines a light on celebrity culture’s obsession with youth and beauty won our hearts and minds while also making us feel very uncomfortable.
Demi Moore stars as middle-aged fitness guru Elisabeth Sparkle who, after she is fired by Dennis Quaid’s gross media exec Harvey, uses a remedy called “The Substance” to split the cells in her body and create a younger version of herself (played by Margaret Qualley). Unfortunately, they must switch every week.
This goes about as well as you assume it would and what follows is a fascinating look at our perception of beauty and the perceived notions of aging. In our The Substance review we said, “This is most definitely a film made for the sickos and the freaks: Organs fall out of backs, artery-spray spews on a studio audience in an endless loop, and bodies are beaten senseless.”
However, this is all to serve a purpose. As our reviewer put it, “Elisabeth’s story is a tragedy because those who are allowed to age are actually the lucky ones. To deprive yourself of that grace – physically, mentally, or both – in order to fulfill someone else’s twisted goals is a fate which The Substance hopes no woman will ever have to suffer again.”
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