10 Scariest Horror Movies Of 2024

10Immaculate

Directed By Michael Mohan

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NEON's film Immaculate shows one young nun becoming embroiled in a religious conspiracy in the midst of an unexpected and seemingly virgin pregnancy. Such a tale invokes relatable fears of motherhood and explores the horrors of society's mistreatment of women. As priests and nuns are shown jumping off buildings, cutting off people's tongues, and branding people with hot irons, this film presents a gruesome depiction of religious extremism that anyone would find upsetting.

Actor Sydney Sweeney left an especially strong impression in Immaculate's agonizing final scene, as her character, Sister Cecilia, gives a painful, bloody birth in one uninterrupted take. One can hear all the anger and torment Cecelia experienced in the film pour out in her screams. This makes Immaculate's conclusion one of the most deeply chilling and disturbing horror movie endings in recent memory.

9Late Night with the Devil

Directed By Colin & Cameron Cairnes

Though there have been countless possession movies throughout cinema history, Late Night with the Devil presents a fresh spin on movies like The Exorcist with its format. Late Night with the Devil, especially its ending, presents a shocking but comedic form of terror with its mockumentary style and hokey, B-movie visuals. Though it takes time to build up to its truly horrifying moments, the film is nonetheless terrifying as it builds terror and suspense surrounding Jack's demonic guest.

A lot of the film's horror can be credited to Ingrid Torelli's unnerving performance as the possessed Lilly. The character switches in and out of a demon on a dime, but she always keeps viewers on edge as she displays a great darkness lurking beneath the surface. Late Night with the Devil culminates in a showstopping climax featuring some incredible body horror effects and shocking deaths, particularly in the film's final moments.

8Smile 2

Directed By Parker Finn

Though director Parker Finn's Smile 2 relies on multiple jump scares to terrify its audience, the movie succeeds in presenting a frightening follow-up to the wildly popular original film. Like the latter, this sequel crawls underneath its viewer's skin with its unnerving sound design, disturbing creature design, and shocking twists. Smile 2's ending, in particular, made for an especially terrifying conclusion due to the death of Skye Riley and the implications it carries for those around her.

Skye's story also adds an extra layer of horror to the movie. Her experiences with drug addiction and surviving a deadly car crash add profound emotional terror, especially when the film cuts back to her fateful accident. Despite featuring a creepy, smiling monster with demonic powers, Smile 2 features plenty of dark realism that allows the audience to empathize with Skye and her story, making her fate at the end of the movie all the more horrifying.

7A Quiet Place: Day One

Directed By Michael Sarnoski

Though the Quiet Place franchise had released two films before, the Death Angels proved to be as scary as ever in this 2024 prequel film. They are especially terrifying in hordes as they shake New York City itself and pursue their prey in a relentless invasion of Earth. Even when they're not on-screen, the film builds incredible tension and suspense with the idea that they could be lurking around every corner and that even the slightest noise can lead to a person's death.

All in all, A Quiet Place: Day One succeeded in presenting a nightmarish vision of the end of the world with its massive scale, breathtaking suspense, and frightening twists.

When the killer aliens suddenly appear in the film, they unleash a jolt of terror so strong into the audience that it's enough to make viewers jump out of their seats. Though the movie holds back on the gore and violence, it doesn't make the Death Angels any less terrifying. All in all, A Quiet Place: Day One succeeded in presenting a nightmarish vision of the end of the world with its massive scale, breathtaking suspense, and frightening twists.

6In A Violent Nature

Directed By Chris Nash

This modern slasher from writer/director Chris Nash presents a unique take on a popular but predictable genre. In A Violent Nature's unique perspective presents its story through the point of view of its masked villain, Johnny, as he hunts down a group of teenagers in the woods in the vein of Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th. The movie presents a frightening realism to its story with its unsettling, long takes and a lack of a musical score.

In the end, In A Violent Nature makes its mark by presenting a fresh but familiar brand of terror that goes above and beyond to shock and disgust viewers.

At the same time, the movie delivers plenty of gory and over-the-top kills one commonly sees in the slasher genre. The movie spends plenty of time on Johnny as he meticulously mutilates his victims in gratuitous ways. That jaw-dropping yoga scene alone cemented this movie's place in horror history. In the end, In A Violent Nature makes its mark by presenting a fresh but familiar brand of terror that goes above and beyond to shock and disgust viewers.

5The First Omen

Directed By Arkasha Stevenson

Image via 20th Century Studios

Though it retreads similar elements from the 1976 Omen film, The First Omen puts a distinctive and terrifying spin on a classic story with frightening echoes of classic horror films like Rosemary's Baby and Possession. Though it features strong similarities to Immaculate, the film features a stronger degree of terror and shock value. Specifically, the film holds nothing back as it presents the terrors of womanhood and religious repression experienced by Sister Margaret and the mysterious Carlita.

Lead actor Nell Tiger Free especially elevates the film's fright factor with her unsettling and layered performance as Margaret, especially when she finally gives birth to the Antichrist in the climax.

While Margaret finds herself tormented and controlled by a Satanic cult throughout the film, The First Omen unleashes graphic and disturbing images of demonic births and mutilated corpses. Lead actor Nell Tiger Free especially elevates the film's fright factor with her unsettling and layered portrayal of Margaret. When the latter finally gives birth to the Antichrist in the film's climax, Free invokes a primal and demonic performance that won't soon be forgotten.

4Alien: Romulus

Directed By Fede Álvarez

Despite being a sequel to a revered horror movie, Alien: Romulus successfully replicates the chilling Gothic atmosphere of Ridley Scott's original Alien film. Many audiences were already familiar with Facehuggers and Xenomorphs by the time this film premiered. However, Alien: Romulus builds incredible suspense and psychosexual terror with its established story, which shows Rain and her friends find themselves stalked by murderous aliens throughout the titular space station.

Alien: Romulus also presents an unsettling depiction of android Andy's sudden loss of identity, invoking relevant fears of AI and how it can turn against humanity. The film's terror reaches its apex when Kay, in a shocking sequence, gives birth to the mutant alien Offspring. All in all, Alien: Romulus managed to create unique and profound scares that lived up to the high standards set by previous Alien films and resonated with modern audiences.

3Terrifier 3

Directed By Damien Leone

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With a much higher budget than its predecessor, Damien Leone's Terrifier 3 went all out delivering its trademark brand of shocking content and ultraviolent gore for the holidays. Art the Clown featured new and inventive ways to mutilate his many victims in this film, and they are nothing short of disturbing. Images of Art hacking two teenagers to pieces in the shower with a chainsaw and force-feeding a woman live rats will not soon be forgotten.

Terrifier 3's possessed new villain Vicki also makes for a frightening antagonist that ranks next to Regan McNeil from The Exorcist, invoking extreme terror and disgust throughout the film. The way she and Art relentlessly torture Sienna and her family makes for an unforgettable and horrifying Christmas movie. On top of that, Terrifier 3's shocking cliffhanger ending leaves Sienna on such a dark note, it makes her character's journey one of the most horrifying in modern movie history.

2Longlegs

Directed By Osgood Perkins

Despite being a slow-burning indie movie, Longlegs went viral as it succeeds at terrifying its viewers much differently than most modern horror films. Director Osgood Perkins's film unnerves its audience as it bombards them with psychedelic and nightmarish images, making for a chilling odyssey into the complex mystery of the film's titular killer. Longlegs himself is an especially strange and unsettling character, thanks especially to the acclaimed performance of actor Nicolas Cage.

Longlegs shined in 2024 for delivering a deep feeling of dread with its unconventional approach to horror. The story also featured an all-but-hopeless ending for protagonist Lee Harker that made it even scarier. As it left it ambiguous whether she will succumb to the curse of Longlegs, the film ensured it will leave a lasting impact on its audiences long after the credits roll, making it one of the most distinctive and popular movies of 2024.

1The Substance

Directed By Coralie Fargeat

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Director Coralie Fargeat's well-reviewed The Substance presented a bold vision of horror not often seen in modern cinema. Like Terrifier 3, this movie features a stomach-churning level of body horror that attacks the viewers' senses with disturbing sights and sounds. Such horror is thanks especially to the film's terrifying makeup and practical effects, which unleash several shocking transformation sequences and Evil Dead-levels of blood and gore.

What makes this story even more terrifying is how its events were the result of one woman's insecurities brought on by men's demanding standards of female beauty.