Scary and quirky. The best modern horror films
Horror films used to be niche and low-budget, but recently we've seen a real boom in the genre. Almost every month, a film comes out that tries to overturn our ideas about fear - and often succeeds. From psychological dramas of "elevated" horror to brutal indie projects and surprisingly intelligent mainstream blockbusters – modern horror is incredibly diverse.
In this selection, we've gathered 15 outstanding representatives of the genre that prove that horror is not just scary, but also incredibly interesting. All of these films were released after 2020.
A Quiet Place Part II
Year: 2020
To follow up on a film as successful and conceptually accomplished as A Quiet Place was an incredibly risky undertaking. However, director John Krasinski avoided the "curse of the sequel" and created a worthy sequel that expands the universe without losing the intimacy and tension of the original. The story of the Abbott family, forced to survive in a world full of monsters that react to sound, turns from a chamber drama into a full-fledged journey.
The sequel skillfully exploits the main strength of the first part - the ingenious sound design, where every rustle, creak or random sound can cause a heart attack. Krasinski proves that he is one of the best directors working with suspense today. "A Quiet Place 2" is a tense story about growing up, responsibility and finding hope in a world where silence is the only chance for survival.
Also read our review of the prequel to the franchise – A Quiet Place: Day One. It's also good. Therefore, you can consider this selection item as a recommendation for the entire film series. The sound work in all parts is unsurpassed.
Barbarian
Year: 2022
This is one of those rare films that it's best to know absolutely nothing about before watching. "The Barbarian" begins with a fairly standard horror plot: a girl arrives at a rented house and finds out that another man has already occupied it. However, what happens next turns all expectations upside down. Director Zach Kreger has created a real roller coaster ride that radically changes the genre, tone, and even the main characters every 20-30 minutes.
The main strength of Barbarian is its unpredictability and audacity. It is a master class in suspense, dark humor and the destruction of audience expectations. The film is simultaneously frightening, funny and makes you think about the themes of toxic masculinity and hereditary trauma. It is one of the most original and most discussed horror films of recent years, proving that even in familiar plots you can find something completely new.
Kreger has built such a strong reputation with just one work that his next horror film Weapons immediately received huge attention from critics, producers and ordinary viewers. In my opinion, the result was problematic, as you can read about in the review, but many people liked it. And the good box office receipts speak for themselves.
Beau Is Afraid
Year: 2023
After two outstanding horror films, Hereditary and Midsommar, director Ari Aster has moved away from traditional horror and towards existential surrealism. Beau Is Afraid is a three-hour odyssey into the depths of the neurotic mind of its protagonist, an anxious man named Beau, who is trying to get home for his mother's funeral.
This is not a film that will scare you with monsters or screamers. Its horror lies in its utter absurdity, its endless anxiety, and its sense of utter helplessness in the face of the world. It will make you wonder what it is you're afraid of: crazy strangers, loneliness, locked doors, or the possibility that your entire life was actually planned by your mother and you don't even know it. Aster creates a unique experience that is at once a black comedy, a profound drama about family trauma, and simply the most disturbing film you've probably ever seen. It's a complex, exhausting, but undeniably outstanding film that's not for everyone.
Bodies Bodies Bodies
Year: 2022
A24 Studio once again proves its ability to create unique and relevant stories. Bodies Bodies Bodies is a witty and tense slasher that is simultaneously a satire on the buzzer generation, social media, and the culture of toxic friendship. A group of wealthy, not-so-twenty-something friends gather for a party at a country estate during a hurricane, but their game of "killer" suddenly turns into reality.
The film skillfully combines classic slasher elements with a satire on a generation that is addicted to social media and incapable of making decisions without the advice of a psychotherapist. The real horror here comes not so much from the killer, but from how quickly the characters, armed with buzzwords from psychology and TikTok trends, are ready to betray and destroy each other. It is a fast-paced, funny and, what you would not expect, intelligent film that is a perfect slice of the anxiety of buzzers and a good window into their minds.
I Saw the TV Glow
Year: 2024
It's a strange, hypnotic, and deeply melancholic film that's hard to compare to anything else. Director Jane Schönbrunn has crafted a unique story about two teenage outsiders who find solace in their favorite TV show. But over time, the line between reality and the fictional world of the series begins to blur, turning their lives into a surreal nightmare.
"I Saw the TV Glow" uses the aesthetics of VHS and 1990s television to create a unique atmosphere. It's not even a horror film so much as an allegory on themes of identity, loneliness, escapism, and the transgender experience. The film doesn't offer easy answers, but instead immerses the viewer in its strange, melancholic world, leaving a lasting aftertaste and plenty to ponder.
Infinity Pool
Year: 2023
Can the genes of a passion for horror and the ability to make quality films be passed down through generations? Brandon Cronenberg, son of the legendary David Cronenberg, confidently proves that the talent for creating provocative body horror is hereditary. "Infinity Pool" is a satirical thriller about a wealthy couple vacationing at an elite resort in a fictional country. After a tragic incident, they learn about the local law: for any crime, you can avoid punishment by paying to create a clone of yourself, who will be executed in your place.
This idea becomes the starting point for a hedonistic immersion into a world of boundless cruelty and moral decay. The film explores themes of identity, guilt and how wealth and impunity corrupt the soul. It is a bold, visually inventive and often shocking film that will definitely not leave you indifferent. Truly good horror can make you feel uneasy at the bottom, and Infinity Pool will allow you to experience it to the fullest.
Longlegs
Year: 2024
Director Oz Perkins has created one of the most tense and atmospheric horror thrillers of recent years, which in its style and mood resembles classics like The Silence of the Lambs. An FBI agent investigates the case of a mysterious serial killer who leaves occult symbols at crime scenes. The deeper she delves into the investigation, the more she realizes that there is a personal, almost mystical connection between her and the killer.
"Longlegs" is a slow but relentless horror that relies not on screamers, but on a thick atmosphere of occult evil and paranoia. The visual sequence, full of disturbing images, and the eerie sound design create a sense of constant danger. And Nicolas Cage, as the killer, whom we hardly see in the frame, got one of the scariest looks of his career. His character's voice is definitely capable of being heard in your nightmares.
Mad God
Year: 2021
Mad God is a unique work of art that took legendary special effects master Phil Tippett 30 years to create. It is a dark, surreal and completely uncompromising stop-motion animated film. Its plot is almost impossible to retell: a nameless character descends into the depths of a hellish world inhabited by grotesque monsters and mutated creatures.
It is not so much a story as a visual experience, a journey into the subconscious of the creator. Every frame here is a bloody extravaganza, full of incredible details and images reminiscent of the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch and Francis Bacon. It is a grueling, disgusting, but at the same time beautiful spectacle, the analogues of which simply do not exist in modern cinema.
Nope
Year: 2022
After the success of Get Out and Us, Jordan Peele has cemented his status as one of the leading directors of modern horror. Nope is his most ambitious project, a sci-fi horror, a Western, and a satire on Hollywood's obsession with spectacle. A brother and sister who own a horse ranch witness a mysterious object appear in the sky. And this event will change their lives forever.
Peele skillfully plays with genre clichés to create a unique and tense story. The film explores themes of exploitation, trauma, and our need to turn everything into a spectacle. It's a smart, visually inventive, and genuinely scary film that finds fresh concepts even in the now-trivial subject of UFOs.
Skinamarink
Year: 2022
Skinamarink is perhaps the most controversial and experimental horror film on this list. Made on a shoestring budget, the film became an internet sensation, dividing audiences into two camps: some considered it boring and pretentious, while others considered it one of the scariest films they had ever seen. Two children wake up in the middle of the night to find their parents missing, and the windows and doors in their house starting to disappear. Things get weirder and weirder from there.
The film completely abandons traditional storytelling. Instead, it uses analog, grainy imagery, strange angles, and subtitles to recreate the feeling of a childhood nightmare. Skinamarink does not scare you in the traditional way. It immerses you in a state of primal, irrational fear of the dark and loneliness. This is not a movie in the usual sense, but a unique audiovisual experience that tests your nerves. Were you afraid of the dark as a child? There is a high probability that after watching this film, this fear will return.
Speak No Evil
Year: 2022
A Danish psychological thriller that proves that the most terrifying monster can be ordinary human politeness. A Danish family meets a Dutch family while on vacation and accepts an invitation to visit their country house. What starts as a pleasant weekend gradually turns into a nightmare of passive aggression, violation of personal boundaries and psychological violence.
Speak No Evil is an incredibly tense and uncomfortable film, because it is based on situations that everyone has encountered in one way or another. Its horror lies not in sudden screams or loud noises, but in the slow growth of anxiety and the realization that the characters have fallen into the trap of their own politeness and unwillingness to create conflict. And its uncompromising and brutal ending remains in the memory for a long time, forcing us to think about the nature of evil and the price of conformity.
Hollywood producers managed to launch their own version of the story as quickly as possible. However, the American film Speak No Evil noticeably loses to the original source. You can learn more about it from our review.
Talk to Me
Year: 2023
The debut film from Australian YouTubers, the Philipp brothers, which became one of the biggest horror hits of its year. "Talk to Me" is a fresh and modern take on the genre of stories about possession. A group of teenagers find an embalmed hand with which they can summon spirits and let them into their bodies. This becomes a popular party entertainment for them, until one day everything gets out of hand.
The film skillfully uses this concept as a metaphor for teenage loneliness, grief, and the dangers of seeking thrills for the sake of popularity on social media. Even a social statement about drugs can be seen. This is a dynamic, violent, and emotionally charged film, the "youthful" mood of which is harmoniously combined with the primal fear of death, hell, and inevitable punishment.
Terrifier 2
Year: 2022
Against the backdrop of intellectual and "elevated" horror, Terrifier 2 looks like a guest from the past - an uncompromising, ultra-cruel and absolutely shameless slasher. Clown Art returns from the dead to stage a bloody massacre on Halloween night. A coherent plot is almost absent here, instead the film is a set of incredibly inventive and disgusting murder scenes.
Terrifier 2 is not a movie for the faint of heart. It prides itself on its practical effects, liters of blood and an unprecedented level of sadism. However, behind all this brutality lies the strange charm of old-school slashers and the truly iconic image of the silent clown Art. The film became an unexpected box office hit, proving that the demand for honest and brutal horror has not disappeared. And you don't always have to be "smart" to interest the audience.
The Substance
Year: 2024
A body horror that became a sensation at the Cannes Film Festival. "The Substance" is a biting and grotesque satire on society's obsession with youth and Hollywood's standards of beauty. A fading movie star (Demi Moore) agrees to an experimental procedure that creates a younger, perfect version of herself (Margaret Qualley). The condition is that both versions must share their time equally.
Director Coralie Farge has crafted a bold, visually stunning, and sickening film in the best tradition of David Cronenberg. It’s simultaneously funny, tragic, and shocking about self-loathing, misogyny, and the devastating price of perfection. The performances of Moore and Qualley deserve a standing ovation. It’s a powerful feminist statement wrapped in one of the most inventive body horrors of the decade.
More about the film in our review.
The Invisible Man
Year: 2020
Director Leigh Whannell takes H.G. Wells' classic story and turns it into a tense and timely thriller about domestic abuse and gaslighting. A woman runs away from her brilliant but cruel inventor husband. After his suicide, she begins to feel an invisible presence that terrorizes her, but no one believes her.
"The Invisible Man" is a masterclass in suspense. Whannell uses empty space, silence, and camera movement to create a sense of constant menace. The film's main strength is the brilliant acting of Elisabeth Moss, who brilliantly conveys the full range of emotions of her heroine: from fear and despair to determination and rage. This is a smart, scary, and socially relevant horror that is one of the best examples of modernizing a classic.
But Wonnell's "Wolf Man", which also combines classic horror with reflections on family conflicts, turned out to be not so successful. More - in our review.
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And what modern horror films can you recommend? Maybe you also know something completely niche, because there are enough such horrors in the world? Share your options in the comments!