Every year at our local Comic Con, I always do a panel on horror films. Last year I asked the sub for recommendations, and I got some great ones. Honestly, some of my favorite horror movies from last year came from that post. So I’m asking the question again. What are your favorite horror movies from 2023? Here are the ones that I have seen so far:
M3GAN
Influencer
Sick
Evil Dead Rise
No One Will Save You
Saw X
Scream VI
Skinamarink
Knock at the Cabin
The Boogeyman
The Nun II
Infinity Pool
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Thanksgiving
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
Insidious: The Red Door
The Pope’s Exorcist
The Exorcist: Believer
Just need some help finding some good movies to watch over the next couple of weekends! With so many streaming services and foreign horrors, there will be many I have missed that I should watch. Please help me make a list!
We asked (again), you voted, and the results are in!
Once again, before we get to results, I want to thank everyone that participated and voted. You guys are a great community and I always enjoy doing posts like this where we get together to vote on what movie we thought was the best of the year. 2023 was another great year for horror and I can't wait to see what we get from 2024.
Now enough rambling from me. DRUMROLL PLEASE!
Dreadit's Best Movie of 2023 is ... Talk to Me!
Here are the top 25 movies of the year:
Talk to Me
Evil Dead Rise
When Evil Lurks
Godzilla Minus One
Infinity Pool
M3GAN
Scream VI
Saw X
Thanksgiving
Beau is Afraid
Skinamarink
Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor
No One Will Save You
Totally Killer
Cobweb
Renfield
Knock at the Cabin
V/H/S/85
Sick
Cocaine Bear
Huesera: The Bone Woman
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Saltburn
The Boogeyman
The Wrath of Becky
If you want to see the full top 50 list, here's the link to our Letterboxd list.
If you want to join the official Discord server, here's the link to that as well.
Thank you guys again, and Happy New Year! May your year be as spooky as you wish and may 2024 be full of bangers like the last few years. Cheers!
"when evil lurks" the best horror movie of year 2023. please give this movie a chance you will not regret and if you consider any other movie best movie of the year please let me know
2022 was, for me, an incredible year for horror movies. This year, not so much.
Rather than listing the movies I've watched, and the many that have disappointed me, please let me know of any serious, powerful horror films you've enjoyed from this year. As a reference point, my favourites have been Talk To Me, Dark Harvest, and When Evil Lurks. However, even these didn't blow me away - though Talk To Me came close.
I've seen my fair share of A24 horror films up until now and I really haven't liked most other than Hereditary. I found Midsommar to be incredibly pretentious and it had characters that didn't react like human beings, X was a boring slasher where the kills weren't even that creative and the twist of It Comes at Night made the entire film feel pointless. Talk to Me had some really great performances from Sophie Wilde and Joe Bird, an instantly intriguing premise, some genuinely intense and scary scenes and an actually really satisfying ending compared to most downer films from A24. Who else loved this film like I did?
And by good, I mean I should have a sense of satisfaction after the movie ends, that I’ve seen something worthwhile and haven’t wasted my time. I’ve been pissed off so much over the last few days watching crappy movies (which I thought would be good) and wasting my time.
Last year I made a movie watchlist for my family and I to watch 1 horror movie per day in October. It was so much fun, so this year I'm doing it again! I tried not to double up from last year so hopefully that was successful. Let me know if there's any you want me to include on next year's list! :)
Out of all the ones I have seen, I liked "Talk to Me" the most. It felt refreshing and the addiction comparison blew my mind!
I haven't seen "When Evil Lurks" yet, checking in with others to see if there is anything else I missed that was good.
Every October I like to do a 30 day marathon of horror movies/series and make a list of what I watched that year.
I used to choose what I was going to watch on a day to day basis but this sometimes lead to me not having enough time to choose and missing the 30 day mark.
This year I would like to have a list ready and add a movie per day. I'm also looking to watch recent GOOD horror movies. All genres of horror are welcome.
It’s Halloween season! Here are the 5 best scary movies I’ve watched in 2023, with something about each one.
Huesera: The Bone Woman: Pregnancy/maternal horror, and how both can strip women of their identity, is pretty unexplored, but that serves as the crux to this movie. I absolutely loved the atmosphere in this one, and it stuck with me for a long time after. Instantly became one of my favorite horror movies ever.
Possession: A surreal and haunting psychological horror film from the early 1980s. It starts as the story of a disintegrating marriage against the backdrop of Cold War Berlin, but as Isabelle Adjani’s character takes a very Repulsion or Darling type dive into madness, the story veers hard into strange horror. It is certainly incredibly weird but definitely unforgettable.
A Dark Song: A true hidden gem, this gripping and atmospheric psychological horror film revolves around a grieving mother who hires an occultist to perform a complex ritual to contact her deceased son. It has a slow burn approach and tons of nuance to the characters that hint at all sorts of unspoken connections as it builds escalating dread. Instantly one of my favorite movies of any genre I’ve ever seen, A Dark Song is a masterclass in building tension and exploring grief.
Kill List: Dark, disturbing, and bleak, this movie is about a financially struggling hitman who is pulled back into the world of contract killing—but when his marks all seem to know him, he begins to realize nothing is as it seems. Superbly acted and harrowing, the movie expertly blends elements of crime, psychological horror, and occult mystique to create amazing atmosphere.
The Wailing: Somehow I slept on this when everyone was raving about it several years ago, but this is honestly one of the best made horror movies I’ve ever seen. The story follows a small-town police officer investigating a series of bizarre and gruesome deaths that seem to be connected to a mysterious outsider. With its eerie atmosphere and impeccable cinematography, the movie is deeply unsettling as it explores themes of fear, paranoia, and the clash between traditional beliefs and modern skepticism.
What are the standout horror movies of 2022-2024 so far? I’ve been searching, but haven’t come across any new ones that truly impressed me. Any recommendations?
I end up spending 40 minutes each night scrolling through the options of available movies on HBO Max and/or Netflix before inevitably giving up and just going to sleep. Call it analysis paralysis if you will. I am looking for suggestions on good horror movies available now on these platforms. From the current availability I have seen and enjoyed: Hereditary, Malignant and Barbarian. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Check out the app Just Watch. You can tell them what streaming services you have and it will show you new movies or popular movies on those services. You can filter by genre too.
Some stuff I feel is worth watching on both
Netflix
His House, It Follows, 30 Days of Night, The Platform, Under The Shadow, The Strangers, The Ritual, El Conde, Lights Out, Cargo
Max
It Comes At Night, The Exorcist, Under The Skin, The Blackcoats Daughter, Evil Dead Rise, Scanners, Let Me In, The Lodge, Parasite, Cronos, Midsommer, The Lodge
I spent a few years not watching many horror movies... not sure why, just something that sort of happened. I rediscovered my love for horror last year when I saw that Hereditary was up for streaming, and I will always watch that movie when it is on. After reliving that, I was back on the Horror wagon (Horror Wagon... cool name for a metal band? No?).
I wanted to leave my top 5 Horror movies released in 2023 here and see what you think. I also include some that I was excited for that disappointed me. Would love to hear what you think about the movies I liked, the ones I didn't, and ones that maybe I left off that I shouldn't have.
Top 10:
Evil Dead Rise: It's just so different from the rest. I like the older Evil Dead movies, but this one is just pure brutality. The story was still good though too. It wasn't just blood and guts with no plot. I thought the acting was great as well. Definitely not for the faint of heart!
Thanksgiving: This movie reminded me of a cross between Scream and Halloween. Scream is one of my all-time favorite franchises, and I of course really like Halloween, so I really enjoyed this.
Scream VI: As stated above, huge fan of this series. I'm nervous about where they go after this one since they've already said Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera are out.
Knock at the Cabin: I was taken aback by this one. I accepted that I would just never like another M. Night movie ever again... and then I saw this one and really enjoyed it. Very interesting idea (I know it was based on a book) and, once I realized what exactly was going on, it gave me crazy anxiety (this indicates excellent suspense for me, haha). I also just think Bautista is great.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter: Interesting Dracula film. I love Dracula, and vampires in general (unless they SPARKLE). I thought this was a creepy and suspenseful movie that deserved more attention.
Disappointments (in no particular order):
- Infinity Pool: Damn. Damn, damn, damn... I put off watching this movie for months because I wanted to be in the right setting for it. I was SO excited for it. It started out pretty decent... creepy, not really sure what is going on, weird... all good stuff. Then, it just never really went anywhere. The story completely stalled, and it became JUST weird. Seems like they had an idea they couldn't wrap up so they just said "FUCK IT! Shock value the shit outta this!" Mia Goth is phenomenal in it (duh... she is incredible in everything), but that was my only real highlight.
- Insidious: The Red Door: Wasn't expecting to like this, but had to see it because I saw the rest of them. To me, these movies just kept getting worse and worse as they went on, with this newest one continuing that trend.
- Renfield: More of a comedy, but classified as horror as well so felt I'd include it here. Just..... dumb.
- The Exorcist: Believer: This movie just stunk. The girls made me laugh more than they scared me. And no... it is not a sexist or ageist thing... Samara from the Ring crawling out of that well is still the scariest image I can conjure in my head, and the girl and boy from the Grudge also scared the shit outta me. To be honest, and I may catch a lot of hate here, but I didn't even really like the first Exorcist. I know that is a lot of peoples' "GOAT" horror movie. I don't think it is BAD, I just am not religious, and Demonic Possession isn't something I find scary. "Believer" though WAS just a bad movie.
ALL MOVIES ABOVE ARE ALL THE HORROR MOVIES RELEASED IN 2023 THAT I WATCHED. If a movie is not listed here, it means I didn't watch it (with the exception being Cocaine Bear... I don't see how that is horror at all. Sure "bear = scary" but that was a flat-out comedy. I DID enjoy it though!). Movies I did not watch that came out in 2023 that I still PLAN to watch:
Abigail, Beau is Afraid, Five Nights at Freddy's, Godzilla Minus One, Saw X (I missed a bunch of these movies when I went on my unintentional horror hiatus... only reason I didn't jump all over seeing this right when it came out), The Boogeyman, and V/H/S 85.
Let me know what you all think! AM I wrong about any of these? Anything I am missing that I definitely need to check out? Did I nail it (we all know that's not going to be the case)? Let's hear your thoughts!
Here is my top list:
1.) Beau Is Afraid
2.) Talk to Me
3.) Infinity Pool
4.) When Evil Lurks
5.) Cobweb
Hoping you all have some good ones that snuck by me!