It was another great year for horror. With so many films, it was impossible to see all of them (and if I did, this list would be gigantic) but here are my rankings for the ones I did manage to see. These represent how much or how little I enjoyed them, although I always try to give these things a fair go and I appreciate that my taste is subjective.
As always, allowances have been made for films which premiered at film festivals before getting wide release in 2023.
34. Run Rabbit Run
2023 Carver Films
Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, Run Rabbit Run is one of those psychological horror films where you’re never sure if it’s supernatural or not and that ends in such a way that it’s not clear what has actually happened. A woman’s daughter starts claiming she’s her mother’s deceased sister. The mother starts hallucinating said sister, particularly in relation to the events around her disappearance. It’s not the only film this year with this kind of premise where a loved one begins channelling the personality of a deceased family member and it feels kind of messy in its execution, with the lack of ending only serving to frustrate.
33. The Flood
2023 Hillin Entertainment
This film reminded me of Crawl meets Wrong Turn 3. A group of prisoners are being transferred when a hurricane diverts them to a local police station for the night. Unfortunately, the police station slowly floods and with the water comes hungry alligators. Throw in a botched attempt to extract one of the prisoners and those alligators have a banquet at their disposal.
I like creature features, however they vary wildly in terms of quality. There are those that pit humans against a force of nature in a battle for survival, ones where the only option is to flee from an animal more determined than a slasher villain, and the ones that have such a ridiculous premise that they’re just fun. The Flood isn’t any of those. It’s an okay film, the only glaring issues are the syfy channel CGI Alligators and the main villain’s accent which bounces around a few different areas.
32. The Nun II
2023 New Line Cinema
The newest addition to the Conjuring Universe, the Nun II returns the focus to the demonic nun Valak and the latest attempt of vanquishing it. It’s got a fairly straightforward plot but it takes a while for the main character (Sister Irene, played by Taissa Farmiga) to get involved. It also suffers from the same issue as the previous film, the knowledge possessed by anyone who has seen the other Conjuring films that any attempt against Valak will be unsuccessful.
The final act was somewhat clever and definitely a different way to get rid of a demon, which is always fun to see.
31. Elevator Game
2023 Fearworks
This is a Bloody Mary-esque film, a summoning game involving a ride in an elevator and a vengeful spirit known as the Fifth Floor Woman. The film follows a group of youtubers who specialise in spooky games and most of the group members are not great. They’re a mixture of bland and annoying and most of the film is fairly generic. The backstory to the Fifth Floor Woman was interesting and fairly dark, but otherwise it was pretty by the numbers, following a similar path as The Ring in the ‘family member dies - curse investigated - curse activated - attempts/failure to cure curse - curse spreads’ formula. It was an okay watch.
30. Knock at the Cabin
2023 Universal Pictures
This was the latest film by M. Night Shyamalan, based on the book The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul G. Tremblay. It has an interesting premise, placing the fate of the world in the hands of a family who must kill one of their own in order to avert the apocalypse. The four harbingers of said apocalypse who try to convince the family provide an array of personalities and emotions that are enjoyable to watch, Dave Bautista as Leonard is a particular highlight. I enjoy moral dilemma films and this was a fairly solid one, switching between the attempts by the harbingers and the reactions of the family along with flashbacks of their relationship. The addition of the backstory around Rupert Grint’s character Redmond/Rory was a nice detail that worked to add to the tension and disbelief between the two groups.
29. The Pope’s Exorcist
2023 Screen Gems
Based on the books by Father Gabriele Amorth, this film stars Russell Crowe in the titular role as he deals with a possessed child. Crowe’s performance is light hearted and entertaining, a definite highlight. The plot gets a bit messy near the end but otherwise it’s okay. The one stand out that sort of shatters any scares that might be had (and this might only apply to British viewers) is that the voice of the demon is done by Ralph Ineson, who is known for his very prominent Yorkshire accent. Personally, I struggled to be scared of a Yorkshire demon.
28. Clock
2023 Hulu Originals
An interesting film, looking at fertility and the pressure to have children in relation to generational trauma. It has a discomforting tone that’s very grounded in reality with the discussions of health complications that can come with pregnancy, close ups of pelvic exams and intense medical images. Combined with the more blatant scares and hallucinations, it’s an unsettling film. There’s a tension that runs through it in the way they depict the hallucinations where the return to reality is more worrying than the actual hallucination, which was an interesting way to do things and very effective.
While it has some issues with subtlety around the topic of biological clocks and ‘broken’ women without the desire to be mothers, it is solid throughout and emotionally heavy. It might not be enough for the gore orientated horror watchers but I would recommend checking it out.
27. Night of the Hunted
2023 Getaway Films
This was another film with a really good idea behind it and one that is quite terrifying to think of. A young woman stops at a gas station and finds herself the target of a sniper. It reminded me superficially of the movie Phone Booth (isolated location, trapped by a gunman, communication between the protagonist and antagonist via phone). The main difference is the unknown sniper in this one lacks the charisma of the antagonist in Phone Booth and since most of the film is made up of long conversations between the two characters, interspersed with shootings, it drags things down a bit. It also put a lot of emphasis on who the unknown sniper was and why he selected this particular target, implying some kind of personal connection (even the description on shudder referenced the need to learn who it was in order to win the deadly game) but it ultimately comes down to nothing as you never find out the answer. Strong premise, good protagonist but let down by the antagonist and his many rants about conspiracy/big pharma/women/etc (I know it's probably meant as a point of how these kind of people will find any justification but it sucks the energy out of the movie).
26. M3gan
2022 Blumhouse Productions
Megan (or M3gan) was released at the end of 2022/start of 2023 and is part of the ever expanding killer toy/doll/robot category. Following the death of her family, a young girl ends up with her toy designer aunt who decides that instead of bonding with the girl or raising her herself, to create an artificial best friend. Naturally, it doesn’t go well. It’s a fun horror film, if a bit predictable
25. Insidious: The Red Door
2023 Blumhouse Productions
After two films away, Insidious 5 returns the focus to the Lambert family, picking up nine years after the second film. It covers very familiar ground as Josh and Dalton begin seeing ghosts and eventually venture into the Further once more. It’s a decent popcorn flick and if you enjoyed the previous instalments into this franchise, you’re likely to enjoy this one too as it falls back on reliable plot points and scares.
24. The Meg 2: The Trench
2023 Alibaba Pictures Group
From the reliable and familiar to The Meg 2. This feels like if the first Meg film took a bunch of sugar. In addition to the Megalodon, the viewer also gets to see giant squids and some other amphibious dinosaur creatures causing havoc. Its grip on reality is a bit tenuous, particularly bits that are set at the bottom of the titular trench where rules of physics apparently do not apply but if you can switch off that part of your brain, it’s a fairly fun if ridiculous film. It’s got almost all of the same cast as the previous one and, while it doesn’t have the cute relationship between Jonas and Suyin from the first film, they’re enjoyable to watch (especially characters who have taken a level in badass between entries).
23. The Boogeyman
2023 20th Century Studios
Another addition to the growing list of Stephen King adaptations, The Boogeyman focuses on a grieving father and daughters following the loss of their wife/mother. It was interesting going in. Not many films start off with the death of a baby and the way it employed sound to create the scene without showing was done well. It was a little formulaic the further it got with a reliance on dark halls and jump scares. The absence of light is one of the most basic human fears and having a creature who fears daylight did allow for variety in the uses of different light sources (revolving night light, flashing fairy lights, candles etc) which made things a bit more visually interesting.
22. The Exorcist: Believer
2023 Universal Pictures
Another demon film, this is a reboot-sequel to the original Exorcist. It felt sanitised in comparison to the original, lacking some of the bite that made it last the test of time. The inclusion of Chris and Reagan from the original film felt less like an honest attempt to connect the two and more like they just wanted to benefit from having the actresses names on the posters and have them in the trailers. Reagan was only in the last 30 seconds of the film but Chris was in a good chunk and just didn’t get given anything to do, getting benched fairly quickly. The addition of other types of rituals instead of just the catholic exorcism was good, it made things more interesting than just having a repeat of the rites from Reagan’s exorcism. Overall, i don’t think this one will endure.
21. Children of the Corn
2020 ANVL Entertainment
This film exists in a bit of a grey zone for this list as it technically premiered in 2020 but the wide release was pushed back until 2023. While it is an adaptation of the Stephen King short story, it has very little to do with the plot of that story (or the previous 1984 adaptation), instead it adopts a few of the basic ideas and uses them to create something new. The performance of the main antagonist, twelve year old Eden, by Kate Moyer is pretty unsettling throughout. The plot is reasonably solid up until the last 20 minutes, as we’re shown a town steadily dying and the ignored children, whose lives are continually impacted by the decisions of their parents, violently take over (although, they were pretty feral before they took over). The gore is strong and not over the top. The depiction of He Who Walks Behind The Rows is… not great. His presence is when things get weaker, Eden definitely makes a better antagonist, carefully bringing the other children around to her way of thinking. Fans of the short story might not appreciate this incarnation, but it’s still a decent film. And from what I hear it doesn’t seem like it’s the worst addition in the franchise.
20. Totally Killer
2023 Blumhouse Productions
A Back to the Future style film, where a teenager gets sent back in time to the 80s and tries to prevent the murders of three of her mum’s high school friends. It was a fun watch, it balanced the horror and comedy elements well along with the sci-fi aspects. It had a few of the standard past vs present jokes which is to be expected and occupies a slasher middle ground of being entertaining but not necessarily ground-breaking. I don’t regret the time I spent watching it and would probably watch it again if I wanted a light-hearted Halloween film.
19. Infinity Pool
2023 Film Forge
This is a weird film. Directed by Brandon Cronenberg, starring Alexander Skarsgard and horror regular Mia Goth, it’s one of those films that delights in trippy and disturbing visuals. The idea behind it is really intriguing, setting it in a fictional country where tourists who commit crimes can pay to have a clone of themselves punished (violently) in their place. It depicts a traumatising descent into depravity for the protagonist as he is drawn into a group who take pleasure in crime, destruction and watching their alternate selves be killed. I’m not sure if enjoyed is the right word for the experience of watching this film but it is just that, an experience. With a somewhat bleak, slightly ambiguous ending, it lingers on the mind for a while after watching. This one definitely isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea so… proceed with caution.
18. Five Nights at Freddy’s
2023 Universal Pictures
As a fan of the FNAF franchise, this was an exciting watch. After years of the film being stuck in development hell, it was finally released. And it was alright. It followed the premise of the games, the animatronics looked really good and it had some very solid kills. Matthew Lillard was a delight, although not in it enough. The addition of Mike’s dreams and his attempt to remember what happened to his brother was an interesting choice although it did mean that the protagonist spent the majority of the film asleep. The ghosts being able to communicate with him through his dreams and the drawing that controlled them was slightly odd, but not entirely out of place given that this is a franchise that features a time travelling ball pit.
17. The Blackening
2022 Lions Gate Films
This horror comedy premiered at the Toronto film festival in 2022 before getting wide release in 2023. It played with horror tropes and stereotypes in a familiar setting (a cabin in the woods), placing a group of friends against a masked killer. It definitely focused more on the comedy side than the horror side of horror comedy, which isn’t my personal preference, but it’s not lacking anything because of it. The centrepiece was the friendship and familiarity between the characters and their chemistry makes it work. It’s in your face with what it’s about, stripping away any chance for subtlety not only with the name but with the tagline (we can’t all die first) and the mask worn by the killer (a leather blackface mask), and it’s unapologetic about that.
16. Cocaine Bear
2023 Universal Pictures
A creature feature that draws in the audience by just the title alone. The idea of this film sounds ridiculous in theory and the fact that it’s based (loosely) on real events is kind of hilarious. Naturally it takes it to extreme levels, since in real life the bear died from the cocaine, it didn’t go on a drug fuelled rampage. It was a fun film, surprisingly gory at times. While some storylines felt stronger than others, the ensemble cast as a whole was enjoyable to watch. It’s one that requires some minor suspension of disbelief but it’s a solid film and an enjoyable watch.
15. The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
2023 Crypt TV
A take on the classic Frankenstein story the film follows Vicaria, a teenager obsessed with curing death after both her mother and brother were killed in separate shootings. It follows the standard Frankenstein playbook (mad scientist creates monster from dead bodies, monster goes ‘wrong’ in the eye of its creator) but places it against a background of gun crime and drugs. The themes of racial prejudice, the society it creates and the impact it can have on both the individual and the family are woven throughout the story, making full use of the Frankenstein framework to do so.
14. The Wrath of Becky
2023 Post Film
Becky was a 2020 film starring Lulu Wilson and Kevin James. It was about a teenage girl violently taking out a group of Neo-Nazis who had invaded her home. The 2023 sequel brings more of what made the first film enjoyable. Traps, gory kills and a surprisingly intimidating villain played by a largely comedic actor (Seann William Scott in this instance). It balances dark humour with horror well but it lacks a little of the charm from the first film, as Becky trades in her improvised weapons of pencils and lawnmowers for guns and grenades. It’s still an enjoyable film however.
13. The Tank
2023 Ajax Pictures
Another creature feature, this film had some great characters. It’s surprisingly rare to find horror movie characters (especially married couples who are often shown arguing and fracturing apart) who are likeable, like one another and are competent in surviving. It was easy to become invested in their survival, especially when the second there was a clear sign of danger they immediately looked for a way out. The monsters were pretty good, they were never shown fully or clearly which worked in their favour but they looked a bit like a combination of a xenomorph and the aliens from A Quiet Place in their design. The plot was straight forward and didn’t try to over complicate itself. It was an enjoyable watch overall.
12. It Lives Inside
2023 Brightlight Pictures
Airing at South by Southwest, It Lives Inside is a demon possession film of a sort but this one stands out as it doesn’t include the typical reliance on the catholic church as a solution. It focuses on an Indian family in the US as their daughter Samihda struggles with her cultural identity and inadvertently becomes the target of a Pischacha, a flesh-eating demonic spirit. It doesn’t rely heavily on jump scares and much of the damage of the Pischacha is done not to Samihda, but to those around her as it works to isolate her further. The familial relationships and the exploration of Hindu culture are the heart of this film and they’re a great feature of it. The performances were strong and the ending had a bittersweet quality that felt unique compared to others of its kind.
11. Scream VI
2023 Paramount Pictures
This was a good follow up to Scream 5, paying homage to Scream 2 while continuing to build on the lore of the new characters. It tried something a bit different to other entries, moving the action out of Woodsboro and into the city as well as switching up the formula for the first kill by presenting and then disposing of a faux Ghostface. There were a few plot points that had some holes in them but it didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the movie. I think Scream is one of the few franchises that has been able to successfully reboot with new characters and retain the quality of the originals and after this instalment, i’m disappointed that there doesn’t look like there’s going to be any more featuring Sam and Tara Carpenter as characters.
10. No One Will Save You
2023 20th Century Studios
A Sci-Fi Horror featuring an alien invasion and pretty much no dialogue (only five words total), No One Will Save You focuses on tension and atmosphere. It’s the epitome of show don’t tell, allowing the viewer to get to know the protagonist, her life and struggles through action rather than crammed clumsily into exposition. The way her isolation and her status as the town pariah is laid out makes the viewer empathise with her to the point when you find out why she is treated that way, you’re too invested to not to remain sympathetic.
The aliens aren’t particularly intimidating physically, there’s a few varieties shown throughout, but the lengths the protagonist, Brynn, goes to fight them makes it hard not to root for her. The ending was one that leaves the audience thinking and making their own mind up whether or not it's a happy one. With the beginning and the comparisons between the two, it makes for a nice bookend and a somewhat bittersweet final note.
9. Thanksgiving
2023 TriStar Pictures
This film had one of the best opening sequences, one that was grounded in reality and horrifying to watch because of it. It was brutal and immediately sucked the viewer in.A few of the main group of teens did fall into the slasher habit of making them annoying and vapid, but there were some side characters that were fun to watch, my personal favourite was McCarty who managed to be endearing while doing things that would normally make him a terrible person. The deaths throughout were strong, which isn’t surprising given that it’s an Eli Roth film, and creative in such a way that even with the worst characters, you kind of felt bad for what happened to them rather than cheering when they got axed off. It’s definitely worth a watch and could probably become regular seasonal viewing for horror fans.
8. Saw X
2023 Lions Gate Films
Saw X signals a return to the franchise proper after a six year break. While we did get Spiral in that time, this film firmly brings us back to the story of John Kramer. Taking place between Saw and Saw II, Kramer has a new batch of victims and a new game to play. The film is very strong, the traps are well done and interesting, and Tobin Bell once again playing Kramer (this time for more than just the length of a flashback) is a fantastic experience. While it does seem to want to humanise Jigsaw more than other entries to the franchise, and in doing so has a truly irredeemably evil counterpart for him to lock horns with, this means audiences get to see some truly intriguing aspects of the relationship between John and Amanda which gives a great deal of context to her later appearances.
7. Cobweb
2023 Lions Gate Films
This film is unsettling. Lizzie Kaplan and Anthony Starr make for a deeply unnerving duo in completely different ways, with Kaplan as the erratic falling apart mother and Starr as the calm intimidating father. Throughout, it’s unclear exactly what is going on, what is true and what’s a lie, as their son Peter hears voices coming from inside his wall. Certain parts don’t feel particularly necessary (there’s an arc involving Peter’s bully which doesn’t really go anywhere beyond adding some extra bodies to the kill count) but the dynamic of the family, the web of lies and half truths, and the steady pervading sense of fear is strong throughout… until the thing in the wall is released. Things sort of go off the rails for a while, destroying the carefully built tension. There’s momentary returns to the terror but it's intermittent and feels weaker compared to the rest of the film.
6. It's a Wonderful Knife
2023 Divide/Conquer
Another entry into the steadily growing genre of horror versions of other films, following the likes of Freaky, Happy Death Day and Totally Killer. This one, as the name suggests, takes the premise of It’s a Wonderful Life and adds a serial killer. The main characters are fun to watch, the alternate timeline is interesting with its slightly dystopian vibe and the spiralling impact of one person being gone, either from death or from a magical aurora borealis, was interesting. It made for fun viewing.
5. Talk to Me
2022 Causeway Films
Premiering at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2022 before getting a wider release in 2023, Talk to Me is a supernatural horror that takes the idea of the ouija board and summoning unpleasant spirits and puts a new spin on it. The scenes with the hand and the brief possessions it induces are deeply creepy even when the characters are joking around at the same time, capturing both the feeling of invulnerability found in the teenage years accompanied by a sensation of wrongness as the hand is used. The film could be seen as an allegory for drug use or mental health, with the steady breakdown of main character Mia being particularly painful to watch. It’s a very strong film and I look forward to seeing more from the Philippou brothers after this great first feature.
4. When Evil Lurks
2023 Machaco Films
This Argentinian film took demonic possession to a new level. Not only did it feature one of the grossest possessed individuals (or Rotten, as they are dubbed in the film), it also had some incredibly brutal scenes. They were done well, not every moment was in your face instead some of them slowly unravelled or sauntered past. The mythos it built up was intriguing, creating a reality where possessions were a known event and, while not commonplace, had their own procedures around them. The infectious nature of the possessions made it a disturbing but captivating watch.
3. Renfield
2023 Universal Pictures
This was a really fun film. It starred Nicholas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as Renfield. Cage was clearly having a blast and Hoult brought an endearing quality to Renfield even when he was tearing people apart. The crime storyline was interesting but it was the relationship between Dracula and Renfield which was done in a unique way, through the framing of a narcissism support group, that was the highlight. The film balanced a mix of gore, violence and comedy with a fairly solid plot and overall is definitely worth a watch.
2. Mother May I
2023 Burn Later Productions
Like Run Rabbit Run, this film plays with the ambiguity of supernatural vs psychological and the channelling of a dead relative. With its stark stripped back depiction and a minimalist cast, focused on Holland Roden’s Anya and Kyle Gallner’s Emmett, it explores themes of repression and trauma in an almost voyeuristic manner, each moment carefully crafted. It’s a slow burn which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it is beautifully done and fascinating to watch. I did a full review of this previously and I do recommend checking this film out. I’d quite like to see Gallner and Roden work together in the future as well!
1. Evil Dead Rise
2023 New Line Cinema
A new addition to the Evil Dead franchise and a follow up from the 2013 reboot, Evil Dead Rise is a gloriously blood soaked entry. Moving away from the cabin setting, the audience instead follows a family in a crumbling apartment building. The expanded space, instead of the more claustrophobic cabin set, is a great feature as it’s never clear what might be lurking. The characters are dynamic and interesting, the deaths are varied and gory, and the possessions are done with a unique physicality. The only feature that felt a little weaker compared to the rest of the film, was the appearance of the multi-limbed marauder. The sequence where it was formed was great and it was suitably menacing when only parts of it were visible, but when it was shown in full detail it lost a little of its impact.
And thus we conclude the list! Until next year horror fans :)