25 Best Horror Movies Of 2022 That Gave Us Nightmares

Bones and All

There seems to be considerable disagreement about whether or not Bones and All by Luca Guadagnino counts as a horror movie. Even though I’ve always pushed for the broadest definition of genre, I don’t really care how Bones and All is categorised as long as everyone agrees that it’s one of the best films of the year. It is all of those things, of course, in addition to being an artistic horror movie about two young cannibals in love. You can call it a coming-of-age drama, a road trip movie, or a tragic romance.

Maren and Lee, two “eaters,” are portrayed by Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet with genuine tragedy, and you can’t help but fall madly in love with them because of their irresistible chemistry—even though, yes, they occasionally kill and eat people. Guadagnino’s empathy for his characters is infectious, but he also never backs away from the truth of their bloody appetites. One of Bones and All’s most remarkable accomplishments is that acts of grotesquery are transformed into something nearly beautiful thanks to the filmmaker’s vision and the two emotionally charged performances at its core.

Deadstream

The main issue with the vast majority of horror comedies is that they try to be too hilarious and too scary at the same time, which makes them neither scary enough nor funny enough to be worth seeing. The excitement of witnessing something that is successful on both counts is unmatched. A found-footage film about a fired YouTuber seeking to livestream his comeback has been created by Vanessa and Joseph Winter, both of whom are, you guessed it, making their feature directorial debuts.

Shawn, the influential figure in issue, is portrayed by Joseph Winter, and he decides to spend the night in a haunted mansion in order to restart his career. The ghosts in this horror movie are real, of course, but they appear in surprising ways. However, that isn’t Deadstream’s biggest surprise, which is the way it grips you while you watch a truly unlikeable human struggle for survival (and livestream viewers).

Fresh

Today, cannibalism is very popular. Even if this film is admittedly less about real love than the other on this list, the release of two cannibal romances in the same year is almost enough to establish a trend. (Cannibalism also appeared in the Netflix original film Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and the Showtime series Yellowjackets.) Of course, it makes sense that, despite the prevalence of flesh-eating zombies and blood-sucking vampires in horror movies, the taboo of people eating other people still has the ability to shock.

However, Fresh first presents itself as a romantic comedy featuring the exceedingly attractive Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan. With skill, director Mimi Cave draws you in before abruptly pulling the rug out from under you. The messages here aren’t particularly subtle—men treat women like meat and treat them as such. However, Fresh continues to push the edge in its all-too-real portrayal of unorthodox tastes by combining the gore with a gratifying ending that makes it easier to swallow.

Hatching

Not everyone will enjoy the Finnish body horror: Others may not necessarily want to watch gory visuals and some people may not want subtitles. (No relation!) But if you find a bizarre bird-human hybrid endearing, you might enjoy Hanna Bergholm’s quirky horror movie, which centres on 12-year-old Tinja (Siiri Solalinna) as she struggles to come to terms with a twin that emerged from a massive egg.

In a more literal sense, Hatching is about a monster, with some of the best practical creature effects I’ve seen in a long time. It is about influencer culture and the quest of perfection—or at least perfection for appearances sake. The movie would be worth seeing even if that were its only redeeming quality. Thankfully, Hatching is considering other things.

Hellbender

Definitely a family affair, Hellbender John Adams and Toby Poser, along with their daughter Zelda Adams, wrote and directed it. Izzy, a teenage girl who lives in the forest with her mother, is played by Zelda in the film (played by Poser, naturally). Izzy starts to understand her abilities and her family’s history of practising witchcraft. (John and his other daughter Lulu Adams, who also edited, scored, and helped to shoot the film with Zelda, had minor appearances in it.)

There is a version of this movie that is too exclusive for outsiders to experience, surviving alone like Izzy and her mother. Hellbender seems personal and grounded because of its small size and incredibly low budget, not because of them. Despite its small size, the film manages to include some fascinating and original witch lore in addition to an unexpected yet well-earned scary conclusion.

Hellraiser

I approached the reboot with the same sense of excitement and dread that is typically associated with those who are attempting to solve the Lament Configuration. I have seen Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II countless times, and I generally like to pretend that the numerous sequels that followed don’t exist. The latest Hellraiser, which is thankfully the best film in the franchise since Hellraiser II in 1988, elegantly avoids the fact that the standard has been set extremely high.

The filmmakers behind the award-winning The Night House, David Bruckner and Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, deserve much of the credit for successfully capturing the feel and tone of Clive Barker’s original story while also adding some of their own flourishes, such as some cool Cenobite creature design. While it may be difficult to accept a fresh Pinhead, Jamie Clayton (I’m very sorry for this) makes the character her own and absolutely nails it.

Nanny

This year’s list includes a number of movies from directors who are making their feature directorial debuts, serving as yet another example of the increasing talent in the horror genre. However, Nanny is the one that most excites me about what its director may do next. Drawing on African mythology to produce something that feels entirely new, Nikyatu Jusu provides such a rich representation of her own perspective. Additionally, the film is simply lovely to look at, for which Rina Yang, the cinematographer, is equally deserving of appreciation.

Aisha, played by Anna Diop, is a Senegalese immigrant who wants to start over in New York so that she can bring her son with her. The mystery concealed at the centre of Nanny nonetheless manages to catch you off guard even though there is a sense of growing dread while Aisha works as a nanny for a couple who appear to be kind (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector). It’s not your typical horror film, but it doesn’t make it any easier to shake off because it’s supported by good performances.

Nope

How fortunate are we that Jordan Peele continues to make horror movies when he could be creating movies in any genre? It naturally makes sense. The first reason is that Peele is obviously a fan; he proudly lists his influences. The second reason is that horror is possibly the greatest genre for the subjects Peele wants to explore. His films’ social criticism and satire, particularly Get Out, helped mainstream audiences become familiar with the idea of socially conscious horror, though that subgenre has always existed.

D aniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer play Hollywood horse trainers OJ and Em Haywood’s brothers in the movie Nope. When they discover a UFO hovering above their family’s land, their lives take an unexpected turn. The movie received a slightly less enthusiastic reception than Peele’s prior works, but maybe that’s because it’s neither as straightforward as Get Out or as suspenseful as Us. Having all that, Nope contains some of Peele’s most intense scenes to date, including one that is frightful for what you can hear more than what you can see.

Orphan: First Kill

Do you recall having fun? Orphan: First Kill recalls enjoyment. The eagerly anticipated prequel to 2009’s Orphan, a movie most remembered for the deliciously bonkers revelation that nine-year-old Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) is actually a violent 33-year-old Estonian child, is released today. Fuhrman, who is now 25 years old, reprises the part while using special effects and costumes to make her appear young. The most bizarre aspect of this film, though, is not that casting decision.

Esther is given slasher icon status by Fuhrman, who is better than ever in the role. Julia Stiles, who plays Tricia Albright, the matriarch of the family who adopts Esther, joins her with an equally enthusiastic performance. Of course, there’s a second major shock, and while it’s difficult to match the original’s infamous revelation, First Kill gets close by embracing the ridiculousness and revelling in it. Both writer David Coggeshall and director William Brent Bell are quite serious about their goal of making horror occasionally humorous.

Pearl

I promised to discuss Mia Goth more, and what better time to do so than at Pearl’s premiere, Ti West’s unexpected follow-up to X that for the first time poses the hypothetical question: What if you made a Sirkian melodrama that was also a slasher movie? The origin story for the killer from the film X, Pearl is a success in and of itself, in large part because of Goth’s passionate performance. She gives it her all whether she is giving an eight-minute speech or controlling a scarecrow. She is equal parts heartbreaking and terrifying.

The argument over which of the two 2022 Ti West movies starring Mia Goth is better, in my opinion, boils down to whether film does a better job of translating and mocking the style it is emulating. The musical fantasy passage in Pearl, with its vivid Technicolor colours striking like a pitchfork to the chest, exemplifies this. With next year’s MaXXXine, West will wrap up his trilogy, but let’s hope he and Goth work together on a number of further horror movies in the future.

Piggy

Piggy, a film by Carlota Pereda that was both written and directed, is a challenging watch. It resembles a darkly comic thriller or maybe a forbidden romance for the majority of its running period rather than a horror movie. Sara, played by Laura Galán, encounters a singular moral conundrum after seeing the stranger abduct the girls who had been cruelly harassing her (Richard Holmes).

Piggy’s twists and turns ultimately make it more intriguing since they allow for genre and narrative deviations that keep things (intentionally) chaotic. By the time the film reaches its gory finish, it’s really difficult to guess how things will turn out, especially when it comes to Sara’s intended course of vengeance.

Prey

Even though I’ve never been a great fan of the Predator series, it turns out that all I needed to delight myself was to see the Predator engage in combat with a young Comanche warrior in the 18th century. Naru, played by Amber Midthunder, aspires to hunt like her brother Taabe even though she is studying to be a healer (Dakota Beavers). When a Predator enters the Great Plains and begins causing mayhem like only an alien trophy hunter can, she gets her dream.

It took a while for viewers to realise that Prey was a Predator movie at all since director Dan Trachtenberg likes to keep his productions shrouded in mystery. However, even after that revelation, the movie doesn’t feel like any other episode, which is to its advantage. The action is purposefully kept simple, with a sharp focus on the cat-and-mouse game between Naru and the Predator. Prey is a definite improvement over 2018’s enjoyable but forgettable The Predator due to this as well as a genuine respect for Indigenous culture and acting.

Resurrection

Every year, Rebecca Hall stars in a new horror movie and gives one of the year’s most unfiltered, gutsy performances. The custom has only been observed for The Night House and Resurrection thus far, but I really hope we can continue it. Tim Roth’s vicious character David is tormenting Margaret, a single mother, and Hall is amazing as her. Hall gets to deliver a long (in this case, a seven-minute) and eerie monologue, similar to Mia Goth in Pearl. Like Goth, Hall is deserving of praise but is unlikely to receive it because the majority of award voters find both films to be too extreme.

And there really is a Resurrection. While Margaret’s suffering seems rooted in truth, it’s more difficult to accept the tale she spins, notably the revelation of the horrible secret she’s been hiding. The tale is advanced by director Andrew Semans to an expected yet stunning finish. You reason that the movie wouldn’t go there while also acknowledging that it’s the only actual choice.

 

Saloum

Saloum initially has more of an action movie or vengeance thriller feel to it before things take a turn for the supernatural. It is all of those things, and by spending time creating distinct people with complex backstories before venturing into genre territory, the film is able to carry out a lot of the heavy lifting that its admittedly low-budget effects alone may find more difficult to achieve.
That’s not really a knock against it because Saloum is a stunning film that is awash in vivid colour, even with some shoddy CGI. The Senegal-set thriller is infused with Afro-Caribbean folk horror as a result of Congolese director Jean Luc Herbulot’s references to everything from Westerns to crime dramas to monster pictures. It ultimately doesn’t matter what genre you want to put the narrative in since the plot—about a group of mercenaries who are fleeing a coup d’état when they discover that one of their own is on a personal mission of vengeance—moves you so powerfully.

Scream

It felt only right for Scream to get its due with a decade-later sequel that’s actually a reboot and confusingly shares a title with the original after 2018’s Halloween (and countless other attempts at revitalising horror franchises). There isn’t a single Scream movie, as diehard fans of the slasher franchise will attest: We probably would have accepted any justification to bring back Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. However, the Scream from 2022 isn’t simply mediocre—the it’s best Scream film in 25 years.

The filmmaking team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, James Vanderbilt, and Guy Busick succeeds in crafting a requel—a reboot-sequel—that pays homage to the first films while expertly establishing a new trilogy. We can tell we’re in good hands from the opening sequence, which is again the greatest since Scream 2. The satirical targets have been updated for an older audience and a new generation of admirers, yet the style and scares remain familiar. Additionally, Scream discovers a deserving successor to Sidney Prescott, Campbell’s best-ever Final Girl, in star Jenna Ortega, who solidified her place as the genre’s scream queen with this and X.

Smile

It seems as though Caitlin Stasey’s disturbing smile was the foundation of Smile. And what about that? If so, that’s good news for writer-director Parker Finn. At least on paper, this film doesn’t appear to be recreating the wheel: In the role of psychiatrist Rose Cotter, Sosie Bacon portrays a creature with a spooky smile on its face that torments her. However, one of those shapes is actually Stasey’s Laura Weaver, a patient who passed away in front of Rose, and her grin is actually quite frightful.

I’m not sure why I’m taking a stand. Who cares if the plot of Smile resembles It Follows just a little bit? Does it matter if it occasionally suffers from some of the most unavoidable cliches in modern mainstream horror? With numerous jump scares and a surprisingly subversive satire of the all-too-common topic of pain, Smile knows what it is and enjoys itself. I would have a lot fewer complaints if studio horror was consistently this good.

Speak No Evil

Speak No Evil by Christian Tafdrup is described as “bleak,” “shocking,” and “unbelievably gloomy,” and while it is all of those things, it’s also humorous. The majority of the movie is a dark comedy about manners that makes fun of how being courteous may occasionally put us in extremely awkward circumstances. Before things really take a turn, Danish hosts Bjrn (Morten Burian) and Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch) are prepared to overlook a lot from Patrick (Fedja van Huêt) and Karin (Karina Smulders), their Dutch hosts.

However, what a turn they make! Speak No Evil is a journey into hell that builds the suspense to a point where it’s almost impossible to watch before pummeling you with an absolutely brutal conclusion. Although it’s the kind of movie I’ll never want to watch again and only suggest to those I know can handle it, it’s unquestionably a triumph insofar as some of the best horror movies are an experience.

The Harbinger

Every year, I come upon a film that I feel driven to view before deciding how to rate it just as I’m compiling my list. The Harbinger by Andy Mitton is ultimately a gem that I’m delighted came across, but I’m now a little anxious about what else I might be missing.

Even though Gabby Beans and Emily Davis, two actors who have gained some notoriety among New York theatregoers, are starring in the film, I didn’t fully anticipate how terrifying The Harbinger would be. Even more astonishingly, the movie manages to draw out fresh terror from COVID. With both existential dread and more immediate frights that are particularly resonant for those of us who spent March 2020 in New York, The Harbinger manages to justify its placement during the peak of the pandemic.

The Innocents

There have been several horror movies depicting scary children, including The Innocents, a well-known 1961 adaption of The Turn of the Screw. There is a reason why this intensely unsettling Norwegian picture stands out among its predecessors in the subgenre of scary children with supernatural abilities.

The Innocent by Eskil Vogt does not shy away from the cliché that “kids can be so vicious,” and the effects might be difficult to watch at times. It is disturbing when children act violently without provocation. A terrifying thriller results from adding power that they don’t understand and aren’t yet able to control. One of the most stressful yet understated climaxes I can recall brings everything to a head.

The Sadness

The Sadness is the goriest, darkest, and most depraved zombie film ever filmed, so I put off viewing it for as long as I could because it felt like a dare I wasn’t quite ready to take. When I did view it at last, I was happily surprised. Yes, it’s a revolting movie with moments of savagery I could never even begin to describe, but it’s also gorgeous, demonstrating the range of Rob Jabbaz’s ability as a first-time feature director.

Simple setup is required: Jim (Berant Zhu) and Kat (Regina Lei) are trying to survive and locate each other while under the influence of a mutant virus that makes humans into ruthless killer machines. It may be simple for some to write it off as a nihilistic gore fest, but in reality it’s a tale of survival. Oh, and it’s also a COVID movie. The majority of its messages, such as the peril of politicising science, are overtly stated although being less overt than in The Harbinger.

Watcher

In a nutshell, Watcher is as follows: A woman thinks that her next-door neighbour is a serial killer who is stalking her. The high-tension thriller by Chloe Okuno doesn’t require many surprises, therefore it doesn’t have many of them. It adapts its Rear Window-inspired tale to centre on a lady who disintegrates as she battles for acceptance. Its paranoia is genetically related to Roman Polanski’s Repulsion and Rosemary’s Baby, but with a more overtly feminist undertone that emphasises the strength of female intuition in a society where males act very badly.

As the writer and director of her debut full-length film, Okuno is someone to keep an eye on. After remarkable performances in It Follows and The Guest, Maika Monroe, who plays Julia, is establishing herself as one of the best scream queens of her generation. Significant Other, which didn’t quite make my list but is deserving of an honourable mention, also stars her as the lead. (She is fantastic in it, of course.)

 

x

Too many contemporary slashers attempt to reinvent the genre but fail miserably. With X, which freely displays its influences on its sleeve, Ti West chose to go the opposite path and ended up creating one of the best new slashers in recent memory. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre imitation feels much more authentic to the 1974 original than the Texas Chainsaw Massacre from this year, which featured Leatherface.

There isn’t much of a plot in this movie, just like the movies it references. When pornographic filmmakers visit a Texas farmhouse in 1979 to shoot their upcoming film, they end up being slashed to pieces (among other unsavoury ends). You’ll feel like you need a shower when it’s finished, but the cast is top-notch (more on scream queens Mia Goth and Jenna Ortega below), the kills are unforgettable, and the smut and dirt are so real to the time period West is conjuring.

You Won’t Be Alone

You Won’t Be Alone is less of a scary movie than it is a meditation on humanity. It is another interesting portrayal of witchcraft with a unique mythology. Thankfully, it has enough experience with the genre to be considered for this list. Yes, Terrence Malick’s work appears to have been a major influence on Goran Stolevski’s first feature, but the movie also has shape-shifting witches who change their appearance by shoving entrails into a gash in their chest.

You Won’t Be Alone really spoke to me, which is unusual for me because I rarely connect with Malick’s work as strongly as I’d want. As Nevena (played by Sara Klimoska, Noomi Rapace, Carloto Cotta, and Alice Englert in her various forms) travels through her lives learning about gender, sex, death, grief, and maternal love, perhaps the entrails are what make the difference. Alternatively, perhaps it’s because Stolevski’s film provides a compelling entry point into its exploration of what makes a person a person.