The Best Horror Movies of 2024 (So Far)
From Lisa Frankenstein to Late Night with the Devil, the genre’s boom times are still going strong.
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It’s always a good time to watch a horror movie. You don’t need to wait until Halloween, or even a cold, dark night, to pop in a scary movie—especially when there are original, creative, and terrifying examples constantly streaming and in theaters. Spring is just beginning, but we’ve already seen surprise independent-film successes (Late Night with the Devil) as well as major-studio home runs (Night Swim).
With auteurs such as M. Night Shyamalan, Robert Eggers, and Ti West cooking up new features for the summer and beyond, we’re looking at another stellar year for the horror genre. Plus, we’ll see a barrage of franchise sequels, including MaXXXine—which will conclude West’s phenomenal X trilogy—and Saw XI, the latest installment of the long-running series. But you can find the best of the best of the year in horror (so far) right here.
Lisa Frankenstein
Director Zelda Williams’s debut feature takes the best parts of campy eighties romance and horror films and gives them a modern sense of humor. Lisa Frankenstein follows a depressed teenage girl who becomes infatuated with a deceased Victorian-era boy. Through some lightning magic and miracles, the boy comes back to life, and the two fall in love and get up to some gory, murdery shenanigans. A fun tidbit for horror lovers: Diablo Cody, writer of Jennifer's Body, also wrote the story for Lisa and says that the two films take place in the same universe.
The First Omen
You remember The Omen, right? Creepy little boy who compels nannies to jump out of windows and makes priests believe they’ve seen the devil? Well, The First Omen delivers the backstory of the Antichrist. A young American woman sent to work in an orphanage in Rome sounds like the beginning of a sweet romantic film, but The First Omen packs in classic scary-movie tropes (haunted kids and body horror!). It’s a prequel you’ll actually want to watch more than once.
In theaters
Late Night with the Devil
This found-footage-style horror film garnered widespread praise when it debuted at SXSW. Late Night with the Devil takes the simple premise of a late-night talk show gone wrong and elevates it to horrific heights. David Dastmalchian plays Jack Delroy, a TV host whose show is on the line. When Delroy makes the mistake of bringing on an allegedly possessed young girl as a guest to boost ratings, he unleashes terror on his audience. Endlessly creative and well paced, Late Night is destined to live on as a classic Halloween rewatch.
In theaters
Immaculate
Sydney Sweeney loved the script for Immaculate so much that she signed on to serve as one of its producers. With this much dedication behind it, the film met horror lovers’ high expectations. The harrowing story, about a young nun who joins a new convent in Italy, dials up the religious scares and doesn’t hold back on the blood and guts.
In theaters
Imaginary
A twist on the haunted-kids’-toy trope, Imaginary introduces the idea that your imaginary friends may not be quite so friendly. Starring DeWanda Wise as an author of children’s books who has some dark family secrets, the film brings audiences back to their lonely and magical childhood experiences, with a sinister shadow lurking just out of sight. The ending ventures into fantastical territory, which may challenge die-hard horror fans—and delight viewers who enjoy genre benders.
Night Swim
Horror fans had reason to rejoice: A brand-new feature from Blumhouse kicked off the new year. Night Swim marks Bryan McGuire’s directorial debut, and it certainly made a big splash when it premiered. (Sorry.) The cast boasts Wyatt Russell (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) and Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) as the leads. Night Swim focuses on the Waller family as they move into a new home and discover that their backyard pool is hiding some sinister secrets. The movie doesn’t reinvent the horror wheel, but it adds a new venue for your nightmares: your own backyard.
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