This year has brought a wave of diverse and groundbreaking horror to the genre. With movies ranging from physiological horror and creature-based scares—there has been no shortage of truly terrifying moments in 2024. The increase in acclaim has not only been amongst the horror community, as some are making their way into this year’s Golden Globes nominations. Even those that weren’t as globally recognized still deserve their praise for their influential work in the history of horror. When discussing some of the most successful horror movies from this year in terms of visuals and story, five titles must be brought to mind.
- “The Substance”
“The Substance” has become one of the most popular and praised horror movies of this year for a multitude of reasons. Demi Moore portrays the main character, Elizabeth Sparkle, who is a successful actress starting to realize the unjust treatment she is now receiving as she “ages out of the industry.” In an attempt to maintain her beloved Hollywood lifestyle, she decides to take a black-market drug with the promise that it will create a younger and prettier version of herself.
With transformation scenes of gruesome body horror and the character’s disturbing physical and genetic split, the evolution of “Sue” emerges from Elizabeth’s flesh. Margaret Qualley plays Elizabeth’s flesh double Sue, as she is born from her with the same genetics with the only main difference being she’s half her age. Sue is now free to take on Hollywood with much more success than Elizabeth, with the only setback being they cannot exist at once and are forced to switch out their bodies every seven days to “respect the balance.” As these lines of identity, desire and separation blur the audience is taken on a disturbing and intense journey until Elizabeth and Sue arrive in their final form. With this spectacle of grotesque body horror, the final message of women’s unjust treatment in the industry is laid to rest.
This movie’s intense visuals and unpredictably gory journey left many horror fans more than satisfied. However, it was the message that exposed the unrealistic physical standards forced upon women and the ageism in industries that people truly resonated with. This theme and influential message pushed the movie to another level.
The use of vivid colors and truly uncomfortable scenes keeps the audience consistently disturbed, which provides an intense and shocking theater experience. The movie’s success has become even more evident as it has now been nominated for five Golden Globes this year, with one including Best Motion Picture.
- “Longlegs”
“Longlegs” was one of the year’s most popular and disturbing horror movies. With imagery of a demonic dollmaker, twisted killing sprees and the devil himself working through doll form, this movie has no shortage of nightmare fuel.
Nick Cage plays a distorted dollmaker as he embarks on a mission to serve his ungodly purpose, all while being hunted down by our main character. FBI agent Lee Harker is played by Maika Monroe, who guides the audience through her hunt for the dollmaker and her journey of self-realization. This journey becomes even more complicated as the audience is confronted with shifting points of view from both Lee and the dollmaker, until their confrontation reveals the enormity of this demonic vocation. The most interesting aspect of these characters’ dynamic is their psychic connection and Lee’s clairvoyant nature. Lee’s journey leaves viewers consistently thrilled by the portrayal of the mental toll these events took on her as everything she knew about herself, and her past became slowly tainted.
This uncomfortable tension slowly created from the start becomes so unbearable for the main character that the audience has no choice but to feel it too. It isn’t until Lee finally comes to realize this demonic mission’s work and how it’s infected those close to her, that the tension snaps. Personally, I shed a tear when I experienced the scene of Lee’s final realization and the full extent of her disturbing connection with the dollmaker. Mixed with the overstimulation of demonic visuals and the disturbing idea of their unknown history, I couldn’t think of anything more personally impactful and unsettling.
This movie has been continuously raved about in the horror community but didn’t gain as much praise in mainstream media as it deserved. The intense terror I felt watching this movie has effectively scared me away from rewatching it anytime soon. However, I have no choice but to recommend it due to its brilliant plot and insanely thrilling visuals.
- “I Saw The TV Glow” When it comes to, “I Saw the TV Glow,” there is not enough praise given to the importance of this movie. The major underlying themes presented take the audience through the experiences of queer identity, specifically the trans experience. Owen is the main character who is taken through a journey of self-identity through the form of a supernatural TV show called, “The Pink Opaque.” At age 12, Owen starts becoming drawn to this show and its duo of creature-killing teenage girls. Owen’s interest in this show sparks a bond with an older girl named Maddy who is also drawn to the content.
The audience is then taken on Owen’s conflicting journey of being continuously drawn into the show and its world, while also giving in to the fears in life that force them to turn away from it. During the times that Owen and Maddy turn towards their obsession with the show, the lines between reality and the world of “The Pink Opaque” start to drastically blur. Throughout this journey, the audience is provided with suffocating scenarios and visuals to make them resonate with Owen’s fears and conflicts of identity. One visual of being buried alive resonated with many fans as they connected with its metaphoric imagery expressing the suffocating repression of trans and queer identity. One of the most stunning factors is the use of flickering blue and pink lighting reflecting from the tv and onto their faces to represent this gender-oriented conflict.
Some may complain about the lack of gore or outright scares in this movie, but the intensity of the character’s constant confusion and conflicted state that the audience is forced to share creates a level of fear. It allows the audience to focus on the physiological terror and become immersed in the emotions surrounding the character’s inner turmoil. Not only is this movie an excellent example of the different types of ways to induce fear in horror movies, but it is a groundbreaking step for trans and queer representation in the media. In creating a unique way of portraying the process of struggle that trans and queer people experience, this movie has become an effective step in proper representation and the normalization of these stories in mainstream media.
- “Alien: Romulus”
People have become naturally critical when it comes to new additions to classic franchises, however “Alien: Romulus” is one addition that has exceeded expectations. Its recognition has even gone mainstream as it received a Golden Globe nomination for this year, which is the “Alien” franchise’s first nomination in 40 years.
This movie has paved the way for future franchise additions with its ability to seamlessly create an equally interesting character plot line, while directly referencing the original movies and expanding its universe. The plot follows a group of young adults struggling to live in their space colony, who then take the risk to steal a spaceship in the hope of a better life. However, it is on this ship that they each face disturbing and gory experiences with aliens both old and new. In addition to the constant terrors they face, the group themselves start to become uneasy as consistent drama and secrets are uncovered amongst each other.
The aliens used in this movie are one of the most unique aspects, particularly the collaboration of old-school puppetry, animatronics and actor-in-a-suit performances creating thrilling alien visuals. The success of the visuals effectively kills off this idea that CGI is more effective in horror creations, and instead ushers in a new era of going back to the basics. Not only did this movie push boundaries with its grotesque deaths, but it pushed moral boundaries as well considering the disturbing fate of one pregnant character.
Every cast member gave equally terrifying and intense performances, but Cailee Spaeny’s performance as the main character Rain gave life to everybody’s new favorite final girl. Overall, this movie presented fans of the franchise with a gruesome, emotional, action story that effectively paid homage to all the aspects people loves about the original while still providing a fresh perspective.
- “In a Violent Nature”
Everything that people love about original slashers was reborn this year with “In a Violent Nature.” As a group of teenagers make the decision to steal a haunted locket from the middle of the woods, they awaken a masked creature who’s on the hunt for what’s his. Although these horror tropes are not unfamiliar, it’s the viewpoint that brings new life to this classic story.
The entire movie is shown through the viewpoint of the masked creature himself as he hunts and slaughters these teenagers without a word. Even though this eliminates the tension of knowing the creature’s whereabouts, with the gory and creative kills there is no shortage of intensity. The creativity of these kills creates brutal imagery with deaths so unforgiving, viewers will have no choice but to look away. One of the most uncomfortable scenes incorporates a paralyzed victim being slowly dragged to a log splitter, with all sound muted besides the clicking of the impending blades.
The intense uncomfortableness of scenes like this is what elevated the movie, giving it a new life never before seen in other traditional slashers. Just as the audience starts to figure out this creature and his killing habits, the viewpoint is drastically changed leaving the audience scared and in the dark. The director’s use of colors and vivid imagery along with the rebirth of a classic trope created an equally stunning and terrifying theater experience.
These five movies have become staples in this year of horror and deserve all the praise they receive. Although vastly different they all have created unique plotlines and visuals that project different levels of fear on their audience. However, other horror movies of this year such as “The Quiet Place: Day One,” “Cuckoo” and “Strange Darling” deserve mentions for their work this year as well. Each of these movies successfully produce unpredictable plot lines with vastly different aspects used to create fear. Although this year hasn’t come to a complete close yet for horror fans as they anxiously await the last horror movie of the year.
As people anticipate Christmas day, horror fans are given another reason to be excited this year. “Nosferatu” will be released this year on Christmas day, but the more insider information fans receive the sooner the anticipation begins. This movie is a retelling of a classic story and original film from 1922. This gothic tale follows a group of individuals in 1838, navigating an obsession between a haunted young woman and the malevolent vampire stalking her. With the release of the trailer, many horror and gothic literature fans marvel at the gothic visuals and intense imagery expected from the movie. Not to mention the interesting production facts that excite fans, such as the use of about 5,000 live rats including a scene where actor Nicholas Hoult mentions having to wade through them all.
With this star-studded cast including names such as Willem Dafoe, Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgård and Aaron Taylor-Johnson fans should have no doubt that they will provide exceptional performances. If this movie proves to be as much of a success as expected, it will be a truly stunning end to a great year for horror.
