Do you like scary movies? I hope so, because 2018 has delivered some truly unique and horrifying gems that we just didn’t see coming. From long-anticipated sequels to foreign, indie revenge fantasies, 2018 has been chock-full of terrifying thrillers that are sure to keep you up at night.
This list doesn’t include any run-of-the-mill slasher flicks involving teenage girls who run up the stairs instead of out the back door- every single one of these movies is chilling, ambitious, complex, and unexpectedly fascinating. Here are the 10 best horror movies that came out in 2018.
10. Upgrade
Anyone who’s a fan of Black Mirror is sure to enjoy Upgrade, a movie set in the near future about a guy who’s been implanted with a “stem” chip, a bio-computer that quickly attains a mind of its own. Fans of this genre will pick up on plenty of nods to other films (like Robocop) scattered throughout the movie. Curl up and hide behind a pillow while you enjoy a perfect combination of action, horror, and science fiction.
9. The Endless
If you’re the type of person who enjoys a mind trip, then The Endless is definitely the movie for you. Despite its increasingly bizarre storyline, this cerebral horror film maintains a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is pretty damn good. The film follows two brothers who revisit the UFO death cult they escaped from as children, but while there, they begin to encounter unexplainable phenomena from which they attempt to escape. A tip: be sure to pause the movie during your bathroom breaks, you can’t afford to miss one second of this chilling mind bender.
8. Apostle
If you’re a fan of gory, historical horror flicks then you’ll probably really like Apostle, set in 1905. The movie is about a man’s ill-fated attempt to rescue his sister after she’s kidnapped by a religious and extremely violent cult, but his journey is creepier than you can ever imagine. It soon becomes clear that his sister has been taken by something much more sinister than a group of misguided zealots, but the truth is truly unbelievable. It’s fascinating, disturbing, and well worth streaming on Netflix.
7. Suspiria
Suspiria is Luca Guadagnino’s remake of the classic 1977 horror film by the same name, but he retells it beautifully and masterfully with an amazing cast (any movie with Tilda Swinton in it is sure to be 100% creepy). A young ballerina finds herself entangled in a world full of dark, murderous secrets in this epic 2.5 hour film. Does that seem too long? Trust me, it’s the amount of time you’ll need to get to the bottom of this bloody, unexpected nightmare. With a 74% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, this is definitely one worth watching in theaters.
6. Revenge
Revenge is about a former mistress who ruthlessly manhunts the wealthy, middle-aged CEOs who raped her and left her for dead in the middle of a desert canyon during their hunting trip. If it sounds like it’s been done before, it has, but never this well. Rape-revenge movies are notoriously hard to pull off, but writer-director Coralie Fargeat does it in a deeply unsettling, exhilarating way that feminists would approve of. As a French film both written and produced by a woman, Revenge managed to score a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is almost unheard of for a foreign film in this genre.
5. Halloween
In this newest sequel of Halloween, Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis, of course) confronts her long-time foe Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago. Viewers were told to ignore all the previous sequels beforehand, which is fine, because none of them could hold a candle to this one. Horror fans have been eagerly waiting for Jamie Lee Curtis to reappear since the original, and it’s just as magically terrifying as we’d hoped it would be.
4. A Quiet Place
In a post-apocalyptic world, a family is forced to live in silence while hiding from killer monsters with super-sonic hearing. Sounds like a nightmare, right? Despite being the quietest horror film of all time, A Quiet Place turns everyone who watches it into a bundle of nerves, and we love it. It’s also fun to watch John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, a real-life husband and wife duo, join forces on the big screen together. Their natural chemistry works its magic throughout this unbelievably believable film.
3. Mandy
Yes, this is Nicholas Cage, he still exists! Mandy definitely needed a naturally intense actor to pull off a man’s nightmare-fueled quest for revenge, which is exactly what this film is about. Well, not exactly. The story is much more than a gratuitous bloodbath, and includes a touching love story and an unexpected green mascot named Cheddar Goblin. Yeah, it’s weird, but this is Nicholas Cage we’re talking about. Seriously, the reviews are excellent.
2. Annihilation
Annihilation, starring Natalie Portman, follows a group of scientists as they investigate a mysterious field of “shimmer” that has appeared on Earth, the area surrounding a meteor landing where animals have evolved into unrecognizable creatures. Although the storyline arguably belongs in the sci/fi genre, it definitely serves up enough ominous, horror-filled moments to make it on the list. Interested? Watch it on Demand, or on Netflix outside of the United States.
1. Hereditary
People are losing their minds over this movie, saying that it’s scientifically proven to be the scariest movie of 2018, but can you believe all the hype? The answer is YES, you can, because this film is sure to scare the ever-loving-crap out of you. Without giving too much away, Hereditary is about a family that discovers some disturbing secrets after the family matriarch passes away, which is soon followed by some unexpected full-blown horrors that will have you screaming.
