The more I look back on 2024’s horror crop, the more I’m impressed. Whether it was sequels, prequels, or originals, genre fans were served treat after treat. Audiences stayed giddy all year, the box office was healthy, and we even saw multiple horror titles honored at the Oscars. It’s always good to be a horror fan, but 2024 was something special. Suddenly, an outcast genre had newfound mainstream appeal.
Don’t believe me? Why don’t you see for yourself. In today’s streaming age, it’s easier than ever to catch up with titles you might have missed or ones you want to watch a second, fourth, maybe 10th time. Below, you’ll find the best horror films of 2024 you can stream right now from your couch without selling your soul (for more than a subscription fee, at least).
The Substance
Is it egotistical to quote yourself? Allow me one from my review of Coralie Fargeat's The Substance. "Shades of Paul Verhoeven, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Frank Henenlotter blend into a monstrously chic showbusiness roast session." Fargeat's sophomore feature is a glamorous condemnation of Hollywood beauty standards, featuring a B-movie third act that brings body horror back to its glory days. Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley shine as they swap consciousnesses and flesh suits thanks to a strange green serum. Still, somehow it's Dennis Quaid as station bigwig Harvey (zing) who delivers the ultimate gross-out, messily sucking down juicy shrimp.
It’s not often that a movie with The Substance’s pedigree surprises horror audiences, yet here we are. Thank you, Elisabeth Sparkle. Your legacy won’t soon be forgotten.
Now streaming on: MUBI
Exhuma
Jang Jae-hyun’s Exhuma is yet another showcase for South Korean horror imports. Cultural spirituality meets supernatural unrest as a group of afterlife specialists confront a family’s “Grave’s Call” curse. What’s impressive is how Exhuma goes from bad to worse to utterly terrifying as the film’s three acts undergo a captivating metamorphosis. It’s a chilling ghost story, a reflection on national traumas (the Korean occupation era), and then a blood-soaked creature feature as the finale kicks into gear. There’s a fresh sense of never knowing what’ll come next, whether it’s another drum-banging ritual or the discovery of a severed head. Everything’s on the table in Exhuma.
Now streaming on: Shudder
Infested
For a long time, I couldn’t handle spiders in my movies. I still don’t love them. But every so often, there’s a horror movie about eight-legged freaks that’s too good to avoid. Last year that was Sébastien Vaniček’s wildly exhilarating and skin-crawlingly icky Infested. Imagine if Attack the Block and [REC] had a web-spinning baby? A growing infestation of exotic spiders that keep doubling in size attack apartment complex tenants under quarantine protocols. Vaniček’s stylistic intensity and eye for creepy-as-hell visuals throughout Infested earned him a job directing one of the two new Evil Dead entries, serving as an added vote of confidence. It’s an arachnophobe’s nightmare, but also worth the nightmares that’ll surely follow.
Now streaming on: Shudder
Stopmotion
If your movie is mentioned alongside creator-centric chillers like Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor or Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio, you’re doing something right. Robert Morgan’s Stopmotion fits right in with that tremendous company, about a stop-motion filmmaker who loses herself to the perils of being a tortured artist. Aisling Franciosi stars as Ella Blake and does an excellent job of losing her grip on reality as the molded clay she’s working with leaps off the design table. It’s a hallucinatory experience that challenges its lead character’s sanity, but don’t fret; you’ll get some nasty industry commentaries and maybe even creature special effects. We’re just putty in Morgan’s hands.
Now streaming on: Shudder
Smile 2
I liked Smile enough, but I REALLY liked Smile 2. Parker Finn levels his sequel up in every way. Cinematography turns New York City into a demon's playground, the musical elements sell pop stardom, and the scares not only hit harder, but are more intricate. Naomi Scott dazzles as mega-famous Skye Riley, who’s tormented by a malevolent entity that keeps trying to ruin her comeback tour. Where Smile delivers some decent jolts and a meh story, Smile 2 is a complete meal that surpasses sequel expectations. Finn's on another level — one good enough to earn him the Possession remake job.
Now streaming on: Prime Video
MadS
Outbreak thrillers are so often about mass chaos and nationwide anarchy. Filmmaker David Moreau takes a more unique approach, focusing on three intimate mini-stories as some kind of infection spreads. Even more interestingly, Moreau successfully pulls off a one-take gimmick that keeps the film in hasty and harrowing motion. The closest comparison point I can make is Eduardo Sánchez and Gregg Hale’s “A Ride in the Dark” segment in V/H/S/2? That’s what you get when you let a creator from the New French Extremity boom take a stab at apocalyptic storytelling.
Now streaming on: Shudder
It’s What’s Inside
Don’t you love it when Netflix buys a festival darling and … drops it on their platform with zero marketing or hype? It’s What’s Inside is the latest victim, and it’s a damn shame. Greg Jardin’s twisty science fiction horror-comedy takes a party game and gives it a body-swapping hook. If you think that’s a spoiler, all that’s revealed in the film’s opening scenes. The beauty of It’s What’s Inside is the ride, this witty and hilarious reinvention of parlor games with dangerous implications.
Now streaming on: Netflix
V/H/S/Beyond
How many times are sequels better than originals, let alone the sixth sequel, and seventh entry in a horror franchise? V/H/S/Beyond might achieve that status, depending on what day you ask me. The found footage horror anthology chooses “science fiction” as its theme, which means segments cover everything from androids to UFOs. The worst segment would be mid-tier in most other entries, and even that’s interestingly about pet-unfriendly body horrors. V/H/S/Beyond demonstrates how to do an anthology right, from pacing to wraparound to segment order.
Now streaming on: Shudder
A Quiet Place Day One
Horror franchises fared better than expected in 2024. Probably the most surprising is Michael Sarnoski's A Quiet Place Day One, a prequel to John Krasinski's first two extraterrestrial flicks where noise gets you killed. Lupita Nyong'o plays a terminally ill cancer patient who spends the beginning of an alien invasion searching for her favorite slice of New York City pizza. It's a beautiful story with a soulful and tear-jerking performance by Nyong'o, not to forget Joseph Quinn's timid and petrified British law student who follows close behind. It's a warm friendship drama, and a road-trip rambler with Death Angel obstacles, yet A Quiet Place Day One never loses either its horror edge or thematic weight thanks to Sarnoski's command over both elements.
Now streaming on: Prime Video
Mind Body Spirit
Fans of Screenlife horror projects should prioritize Mind Body Spirit. Filmmakers Alex Henes and Matthew Merenda use a yoga influencer’s livestream videos to tell a hereditary horror tale. Actress Sarah J. Bartholomew nails the wannabe internet celebrity persona as Anya, who’s just inherited her estranged grandmother Verasha’s home (Kristi Noory appears as the elderly relative). Gorgeous bay windows let sunlight spill into her shots as she preaches wellness, but her channel takes a strange turn when Anya discovers Verasha’s secret “pantry.” The film quickly becomes a blend of Slavic rituals and a looming sense of dread as Anya’s content shifts from affirmations to investigations. Then, it’s all aboard the creep-o-rama train until Anya’s final upload.
Now streaming on: Shudder
Y2K
SNL alum and filmmaker Kyle Mooney helps usher in a new wave of millennial horror with his sci-fi horror comedy Y2K. It is, as sold, an alternate reality where technology has revolted against us, and our digital paranoias have come true. A cast including Rachel Zegler, Mason Gooding, and Jaeden Martell face the horrors of 1999 since Mooney’s film is dripping with late 90s nostalgia. The experience is undeniably goofy, and laughs come first, but that doesn’t stop monsters made of household appliances now with their own minds seeking bloody vengeance against their human oppressors. As a Limp Bizkit fan of the Limewire generation, maybe Y2K was just made for me — but I know I’m not the only one dying to see my childhood start being shown more prominently on screen.
Now streaming on: HBO Max
Oddity
I wrote Inverse’s review of Oddity, so maybe you already know I’m a fan. “Oddity is a cryptic, chilling, and deathly atmospheric take on terrors surfaced by experienced trauma that helps establish [Damian] McCarthy’s directorial voice above generic indie horror releases that don’t have a second gear.” I typed that, and I still stand by my words. Carolyn Bracken earns praise for her double role as two sisters (Dani and Darcy), one deceased (Dani), the other an eccentric medium and owner of Odello’s Oddities (Darcy). As Darcy uses her powers to reveal the truth about Dani’s murder on the first anniversary — bringing with her a strange “Wooden Man” gift that has become the film’s unsettling mascot — McCarthy keys into a very Mike Flanagan-esque haunting with emotional depth. It’s spooky, but also packs a narrative punch.
Now streaming on: Shudder
Lisa Frankenstein
I won’t say the world was too harsh on Lisa Frankenstein, it wasn’t everyone’s jam and bombed at the box office, but I do think its audience is still out there. Director Zelda Williams and writer Diablo Cody produce a quirky teenage spin on Frankenstein’s lore, landing somewhere between Tim Burton and Riverdale. Kathryn Newton is a lightning bolt of gothy energy as she uses a tanning bed to bring her undead lover more and more to life (Cole Sprouse is the Victorian-era “Creature). It’s an 80s movie that’s cornbally about its period humor, but that’s ultimately the graveyard romance’s charm. For the hopeless lovers and date-night horror crowd, Lisa Frankenstein is worth your attention.
Now streaming on: Peacock
