28 Of The Most Chilling Horror Films To Watch This Halloween
Horror movies are up there with holding spiders, riding Nemesis at Alton Towers and camping alone in the woods for some people.
Unlike thrillers, which more often than not involve twisted psychologically testing plots and suspense, horrors set out to terrify viewers with gore, unpredictable narratives and instill a sense of doom from start to finish. Some of our worst nightmares derive from a night watching that film we knew we should’ve hit pause on but were too enticed to see through until the end (ahem, The Conjuring, we’re looking at you).
Whether you love Halloween and want to embrace the spooky mood, or are just after a classic fright night which includes sitting with a giant tub of popcorn and arming yourself with a pillow for the gory scenes, there are thousands of horror films awaiting your screams. However, sifting through the never-ending list of films to find the right horror that is as much terrifying as it is thrilling isn’t always easy.
While some horror lovers always turn to the classics like The Silence Of The Lambs and The Exorcist, there’s a new wave of horror films that have come out in recent years – like Get Out, Smile and The Deliverance – which are spooky simply because of their believability and depiction of life through a modern lens.
So, we've rounded up the best horror movies to watch, from modern releases such as Alien Romulus and Sydney Sweeney's Immaculate to some of the classics, Psycho and The Shining. Believe us when we say that’ll provide enough fodder for your nightmares.
Read on… if you’re brave enough.
The 28 best new horror movies:
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The First Omen (2024)
While working at a Catholic orphanage in Rome, a young American nun named Margaret discovers a disturbing conspiracy among her peers to bring about the birth of the Antichrist in order to bring about fear and eradicate secularism.
As she delves deeper into the case, she is confronting with evil forces that threaten her, and everyone around her.
Cast: Nell Tifer Free, Ralph Ineson, Sonia Braga, Tawfeek Barhom, Maria Caballero, Charles Dance, Bill Nighy, Nicole Sorace
Director: Arkasha Stevenson
The Deliverance (2024)
Inspired by real events, The Deliverance follows the true story of Ebony Jackson, a single mother who moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. When strange occurrences start happening, her children and mother are quick to blame it on her personal demons, however, not before long, it’s clear that something far more ominous is at play.
Cast: Mo'Nique, Andra Day, Glenn Close, Anthonu B. Jenkins, Caleb McLaughlin, Demi Singleton, Aunjane Ellis-Taylor, Omar Epps.
Director: Lee Daniels
Alien Romulus (2024)
Pegged as the best alien film since Aliens, this horror film sees a group of young space colonists on a mission to scavenge materials from a deserted space station.
During their expedition, the group are met by savage aliens who were responsible for the deaths of space colonists two decades prior.
Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn
Director: Fede Alvarez
The Platform 2 (2024)
The Platform 2 sees prisoners return to the dystopian prison set in Spain. This time around, a mysterious leader forces their rule onto the many levels of the tower, meanwhile a new resident finds themselves involved in the madness of it all. But when dining from the wrong plate turns into a matter of life and death, the prisoner’s will to live is put to the test.
Cast: Milena Smit, Hovik Keuchkerian, Natalia Tena, Óscar Jaenada, Ivan Massagué
Director: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
It's What's Inside (2024)
Prior to a wedding, a group of friends meet up to celebrate ahead of the big day. When a mysterious suitcase arrives along with an estranged friend, the group are thrust into a nightmarish game that exposes long-hidden secrets, grudges and desires.
Cast: Brittany O'Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Reina Hardesty, Devon Terrell, David Thompson, Madison Davenport
Director: Greg Jardin
Immaculate (2024)
Sydney Sweeney stars as an American nun who decided to embrace a new chapter in a remote Italian convent. Quickly, her new-found joy is stripped away as she discovers dark secrets and sinister forces. Can she face the horrors to reconcile her faith?
Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Simona Tabasco, Benedetta Porcaroli
Director: Michael Mohan
Stopmotion (2023)
This psychological horror film sees a stop motion animator grapple with her inner demons following the loss of her overbearing mother. Yet, still haunted by her past, she fights to find peace and control over dark desires, which threaten to take over.
Cast: Aisling Franciosci, Tom York, Stella Gonet
Director: Robert Morgan
Scream (2022)
A quarter of a century after the first iteration of Scream was unleashed on the general public, the film has been re-imagined for a younger audience, which features Friends actress Courtney Cox and Wednesday's Jenna Ortega. In Scream, the protagonist Sam Carpenter, played by Melissa Barrera, returns to Woodsboro after her sister gets attacked by the Ghostface. She approaches Dewey Riley, played by David Arquette, to help catch the killer and what ensues is one hell of a horror film. You’ve been warned.
Cast: Jenna Ortega, Mikey Madison, Jack Quaid
Director: Tyler Gillett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin
Smile (2022)
Smile begins with Dr. Rose Cotter, who experiences a traumatic incident, and shortly after starts experiencing frightening incidents she can’t explain. As the omnipresence of fear begins dominating her life, Dr. Cotter must learn to confront her past in order to make sense of her future.
Cast: Sosie Bacon, Caitlin Stasey, Kyle Gallner
Director: Parker Finn
Fear Street Part One: 1994 (2021)
An array of brutal murders lead a teenager and her friends down a risky road in part one of this cult trilogy, based on R.L. Stine’s best selling horror series. Set in 1994, it starts with them discovering the sinister events that have haunted their town (Shadyside) for far too long may all be linked and they may be the next victims. Thereafter they bravely challenge a malevolent force, but at what cost?
Cast: Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, Julia Rehwald
Director: Leigh Janiak
Eli (2019)
Charlie Shotwell is a very sick 11-year-old boy with an auto-immune disorder, who spends most of his time in an astronaut's suit because 'ordinary air' could kill him. Yet his weak immune system is not the only thing endangering him - while receiving treatment he discovers the sterile manor he's living in isn't as safe as it seems. He's tormented by horrific visions, thought to be hallucinations, but something deadly may be lurking around after all.
Cast: Sadie Sink, Charlie Shotwell, Lili Taylor
Director: Ciaran Foy
It (2017)
In the summer of 1989 - a time that would normally spark joy - a group of kids face their worst fears as they are up against a gruesome monster disguised as a clown (Pennywise) who haunts children in the area. Based on Stephen King's 1986 novel, it (pun not intended) grips you from the get-go, right until the end.
Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Martell, Jack Dylan Grazer
Director: Andrés Muschietti
Nope (2022)
Two siblings, Hollywood animal wrangler OJ and his sister Emerald, start seeing mysterious phenomena on their extensive Southern California ranch. Their discovery takes a sinister turn and they are at wits end as they try to capture what they witness on camera.
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Steven Yeun, Keke Palmer
Director: Jordan Peele
Case 39 (2009)
A disturbed, demonic and disruptive 10-year-old girl is a danger to those around her, yet these characteristics weren't known by the social worker who took her in as a way of saving her from abusive parents. As the title suggests, this film is a psychological mind melt with enough to keep your mind spinning again and again.
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Renée Zellweger, Adrian Lester
Director: Christian Alvart
Orphan (2009)
A couple who suffered the loss of their baby adopts a nine-year-old girl who isn't as she appears when they first met her. Inherently evil, her actions lead to horrifying consequences. Let's just say it's a daring watch.
Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Vera Farmiga, Isabelle Fuhrman
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
House at the End of the Street (2012)
Jennifer Lawrence stars as a divorced mother looking for a fresh start. She moves with her daughter to a new town, only to find themselves living next door to a house where a young girl murdered her parents. Lawrence's on-screen daughter befriends the family's surviving son and discovers the shocking story is not over.
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue, Max Thieriot
Director: Mark Tonderai
Raw (2016)
Vegetarians, beware – this might not be the film or you (or meat eaters, come to have it). The film sees strict vegetarian Justine (Garance Marillier) head off to veterinary school and undergo a strange initiation process with her fellow students which involves her eating raw meat for the first time. However, surprisingly, Justine soon develops a craving for flesh (including that of humans) and, well, let’s just say things aren’t PG.
Cast: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella
Director: Julia Ducournau
Escape Room (2019)
Take six strangers and six mysterious black boxes with tickets to an immersive escape room with the chance of winning money and what do you get? Well, of course you get a horror plot where the friends get stuck inside traps and have to figure out how to survive. What ever happened to a good old game of Tag?
Cast: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Nik Dodani
Director: Adam Robitel
Saint Maud (2019)
From writer-director Rose Glass comes Saint Maud - a terrifying horror film about a devout hospice nurse who becomes transfixed with saving her dying patient’s soul. At one point, she becomes obsessed with a former dancer who she's looking after (Jennifer Ehle) and thinks she must bring her to salvation.
Cast: Morfydd Clark, Lily Frazer, Jennifer Ehle
Director: Rose Glass
1922 (2017)
The film follows the journey of a farmer who convinces his teenage son to help kill his mother before she sends the family money away money which would have ultimately left their farm to ruin. But the guilty of what they’ve done proves that there’s a heavy price to pay when you take another’s life.
Cast: Thomas Jane, Molly Parker, Dylan Schmid
Director: Zak Hilditch
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Get yourself a nice glass of Chianti and some fava beans and get ready to watch arguably the most iconic horror movie in film history. Whether you've seen it before or simply heard the famous lines or seen the legendary clips of Anthony Hopkins in that mask, you won't regret watching The Silence Of The Lambs one more time.
Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Ted Levine
Director: Jonathan Demme
Paranormal Activity (2007)
If you'd told us a horror film comprised mainly of grainy CCTV footage of an empty suburban house could be seriously scary we would have doubted you, but settle in because the sheer suspense will have you on the edge of your sofa.
Cast: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Ashley Palmer
Director: Oren Peli
The Exorcist (1973)
This film tops the list alone for its reputation as one of the scariest films of all time. Based on the last known Catholic-sanctioned exorcism in the US, the film sees 12-year-old Linda Blair undergo an exorcism by the hands of a young priest, Father Karras, as her parents are convinced she’s possessed by the Devil. At the time of its release, the film courted controversy for provoking fainting and vomiting in cinemas. Good luck!
Cast: Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller
Director: William Friedkin
The Shining (1980)
Here’s…a really scary film. Stanley Kubrick’s movie is based on Stephen King's 1977 novel of the same name and sees Jack (Jack Nicholson) move his wife and psychic son into a hotel in the middle of nowhere. Cue Jack’s downward psychological spiral, axes in doors, creepy twins and before you know it, you’ll be saying ‘Red Rum’ in your sleep.
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
Director: Stanley Kubrick
The Conjuring (2013)
If you love a true story, then hold tight because this film tells the tale of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga). The pair were world renowned paranormal investigators who go to the aid of a family plagued by a dark presence in a farmhouse that, you guess it, is in the sticks. Unfortunately for Ed and Lorraine, they too find themselves terrorised by evil.
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Joey King
Director: James Wan
Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele’s directorial debut will go down in history as one of the most chilling horror films of all time. Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery and Bradley Whitford, the film follows an African American man called Chris who visits his girlfriend’s parents for a weekend. It doesn’t take long before Chris realises he’s trapped in a world far more sinister than it appears at first glance.
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery
Director: Jordan Peele
Psycho (1960)
You can always bet on Alfred Hitchcock to deliver when it comes to horrors and thrillers. In this film, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, a character named Marion goes missing after stealing from her employer. She checks into a motel which is run by a young man named Norman Bates. Be warned: you might never want to shower with the curtain closed after watching this film.
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, John Gavin
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Heriditary (2018)
This supernatural horror film stars Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro and Gabriel Byrne who play a family haunted by a dark presence after the death of their grandmother. As they begin to unpick the secrets about their family, it turns out they might not be able to turn away from the sinister threat they’ve bizarrely inherited.
Cast: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro
Director: Ari Aster
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