HOW IS IT THE END OF THE YEAR ALREADY? Time, y’all. Life’s proverbial hourglass turns over again, and with it comes another fresh batch of horror titles ready to rock our worlds. But! Before we start digging into 2025’s crop, Daily Dead has once again generously given me a space to highlight my favorite horror “things” of the year.
I’m going to stick with movies because while every year is a good year for horror movies (which I had to remind doubters yet again), 2024 was a REALLY good year for horror movies. In trying to whittle down a Top 10, I stared at double the amount of titles I thought deserved recognition. Therefore, I’m sticking to the screen — I need every single slot.
10. A Quiet Place Day One
In a year of surprising prequels, A Quiet Place: Day One is my favorite.
Michael Sarnoski’s New York City take on John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place universe is everything you’d expect: a heartfelt film about Lupita Nyong’o trying to find a slice of pizza. Nyong’o centers A Quiet Place: Day One on her terminally ill character’s different perspective during an extraterrestrial apocalypse, which changes the usual conversation. Her journey with Joseph Quinn’s fearful law student ventures in the opposite direction of escape boats, and what unfolds is an emotional, lovely, and watery-eyed character examination not reliant on Death Angels to keep us interested. It’s not the prequel I expected, nor is that an issue.
There’s no need for me to keep rambling here; you can read my official review on DD.
9. Nosferatu
I won’t lie: Nosferatu was lurking outside my Top 10 until a few days ago. That’s the beauty of digesting films over time and absorbing every last morsel.
Robert Eggers’ technical marvel is his most accessible release but still so unapologetically “Eggers.” What does that mean? Peep my full review of Nosferatu for DD to understand better, but for this smaller blurb’s purposes, let’s say it’s a dazzling filmmaking accomplishment that broods and looms as unhurriedly as Eggers’ past catalog. Noteworthy performances from Lily-Rose Depp’s writhing possessed lover to Bill Skarsgård’s Count Orlok are giving Hammer Horror vibes, while cinematographer Jarin Blaschke should earn himself an Academy Award (if there’s any justice left in the world).
Eggers can’t help but linger a little too long throughout the film’s two-hour-plus running time, but the proficiency and craft on display demand your applause.
8. V/H/S/Beyond
What’s the best later-stage sequel of any franchise? Jason Lives? Bride of Chucky? Freddy’s Dead for the sickos? V/H/S/Beyond is not only the best sequel of the V/H/S franchise, but I’ll reach further — it’s the best V/H/S entry period.
Filmmakers are saddled with a “science fiction” theme in this anthology collection, which helps establish a comfortable coherency. Jordan Downey’s “Stork” is my favorite of the bunch as a massive Resident Evil and [REC] fan, but overall consistency remains impressive. The worst segment of the bunch is still middle-of-the-road V/H/S quality, while highs are more frequent. Kate Siegel, Christian and Justin Long, Justin Martinez, and Virat Pal add their unique interpretations of sci-fi instructions, whether filmed as skydiving footage or through paparazzi camcorders.
V/H/S/Beyond advances at a brisk clip and executes fun-filled horror bites, which isn’t always guaranteed in anthology films. I’ll take twenty more sequels as long as the franchise keeps aging like a fine wine.
7. It’s What’s Inside
Congratulations to the It’s What’s Inside team for inking that $17m Sundance sale to Netflix! But also? I wish any other studio would have nabbed this hilarious science fiction body-swapper.
You’re not alone if you haven’t heard about It’s What’s Inside. With nary an advertisement, Netflix added Greg Jardin’s festival darling to its platform around Halloween. Many of my non-industry friends looked at me with confused faces when I praised It’s What’s Inside because they had no clue of its existence, let alone availability. A Neon or A24 would have made this party-horror comedy about bratty body swapping a conversational spark for movie fans, but nope. Not Netflix! It’s just more content for their subscribers that gets lost in a sea of thumbnails.
Anyway, rant over. It’s What’s Inside deserved the biggest rollout imaginable — you can read why in my DD review out of SXSW.
6. MadS
Welcome back to the horror genre, David Moreau (Them, aka Ils)!
We’ve seen plenty of outbreak beginnings as horror fans — MadS is not unique in that regard. What works for me is how Moreau ignores his story’s global scale and treats the beginning of the end with efficient intimacy. The one-shot appearance keeps a propulsive momentum as three focal characters face a 28 Days Later scenario — if it was 28 days prior. It’s got some surprises I don’t want to spoil here, but yeah, one particular actress does a phenomenal job in the spotlight.
Like I’ve said, “MadS twists rage-fueled conspiracy horrors into a screeching apocalyptic missile powered by Moreau’s vicious creativity.”
5. Smile 2
Parker Finn didn’t have to go as hard as he did in Smile 2, but I’m sure glad he did.
I didn’t love Smile — I merely found myself whelmed — but Smile 2 is an upgrade in every facet. It’s scarier, more technically composed, and feels like the maximum effort interpretation of themes handled in Smile. Then there’s Naomi Scott, giving this Possession-level performance that’s thrust into the depths of mental prisons. Finn’s able to accentuate Skye Riley’s popstar universe on a grand scale without diminishing horror situations, turning background dancers and stalker fans into nightmare fuel. There’s no sequelitus here; Finn’s sharper, nastier, and way more ambitious in this outstanding continuation.
Peep my full review here at DD for expanded thoughts and what makes Smile 2 stand above its predecessor.
4. Stopmotion
Oh, look, another Shudder title — the first of three more in a row (spoilers, but whatever).
Robert Morgan’s interpretation of the creative artist’s forever curse in Stopmotion is so artfully disturbing. Aisling Franciosi plays a stop-motion artist whose latest project comes alive (whether in reality or her head), and she does a phenomenal job keying into her character’s obsessive undoing. It’s comparable to something like Censor or Berberian Sound Studio, except with unsettling claymation. Morgan’s blending of stop-motion and live-action stokes this eerie surreality that grabs hold of its viewers, as Franciosi’s performance keeps us in a suspended state of unrest.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll repeat it: I can’t wait to see what Robert Morgan does next.
3. Infested
Let me pay Infested the highest compliment: I HATE spiders, but I LOVE Infested.
Sébastien Vaniček’s eight-legged freakout is the lovechild of Attack the Block, [REC] and Arachnophobia. The French spider-horror flick is white-knuckle tension from start to finish, whether you’re phobic or not. As an apartment complex is overrun by a vicious exotic spider species that multiply and grow at an alarming rate, Vaniček layers gentrification commentary by comparing the arachnid scourge to the building’s lower-class inhabitants. Perhaps those societal notes aren’t revolutionary, but you’re here for the creepy-crawly terrors, and hot damn does this movie tip the aggression scale.
Oh, and the visuals look fantastic — much to my immediate discomfort. That said, if I can handle the mix of 200 giant huntsman spiders used and additional digital, not-so-itsy-bitsy ranks? You can, too.
2. Exhuma
Any movie that draws comparisons to Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing is destined for end-of-year recognition.
Jang Jae-hyun’s Exhuma is a total-package South Korean horror film that gives “old spirits new life” (as I wrote in my review). Comparisons to The Wailing are in flow and structure; Exhuma effortlessly evolves from a creepy ghost story into a full-on creature attack. Four afterlife specialists are tasked with erasing a “Grave’s Call” curse that keeps South Korean traditions as a rich cultural touchpoint. The evils on screen are universal despite their foreign representations, which becomes the film’s most attractive element. Jae-hyun’s execution is like a warm knife through butter, one slick, fluid motion that represents the ease with which Exhuma glides through its escalating horrors.
My favorite of the year until, well, what’s coming.
1. The Substance
In any other year, Exhuma would be an easy top-of-the-list. Enter Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance.
I still cannot believe I watched a gleefully gory third act à la Brian Yuzna and Frank Henenlotter on a theater screen in 2024. Fargeat’s scintillating and sickening commentary on Hollywood objectification is the wildest movie of the year. Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are fighting for screen time as per their character’s connected roles, but the duo’s performances couldn’t be in better harmony. The Substance is stylish, bitingly aggressive, refreshingly fearless, and the type of horror movie you don’t see given theatrical attention these days — a “Magnificent Body-Horror Achievement,” as I called it in my review here at DD.
To live and die in Los Angeles; Fargeat’s creature feature so appropriately makes a monster out of Hollywood’s still destructively toxic industry.