The horror year 2024 provided interesting entries in sub-genres for almost every taste. From introspective contained horror to the bloodiest splatter efforts and tales channeling classic horror forbearers, filmmakers managed variations that made viewing exciting.
Almost every horror film is built on a template, but with so many films now literarily at my fingertips, I find what I’m hoping for is something that’s not the most inevitable rehash. How many times can you watch teenagers travel to an isolated location for mayhem by masked killer or a gradually maddening virus?
The films that stood out for me in 2024 offered innovative takes and twists that remedied the return of the familiar, avoiding boredom with verve and sometimes audacity.
Lisa Frankenstein
It’s classified horror-comedy in some listings, but Diablo Cody is pretty much a genre unto herself. This twisted-teen-romance spin on Frankenstein territory is dark and subversive. It’s enhanced by the versatile Kathryn Newton (Freaky) with a quirky Cole Sprouse (Riverdale) turn as the creature. While it was not a blockbuster, it’s an entry that shouldn’t be overlooked for its demented joy and the audacity of its perspective.
Abigale
Criminal caper meets the young vampire tale in this entry that also qualifies as a Universal monster film. With directors (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet) behind the camera, Abigale offers a stellar cast trapped in an old dark house with a mobster’s child who also happens to be a vampiric ballerina. Carnage unfolds in tense, kinetic fashion in a wonderfully developed night of horror. Led by Dan Stevens, Melissa Barrera and Kevin Durand, criminals slowly come to realize what they’re dealing with and battle to survive against each other and the monstrous Abigale.
Baghead
Be-careful-what-you-wish for gets a new spin when a young woman inherits a downward-spiraling Berlin pub. A burlap-shrouded figure in the basement can allow patrons to briefly see and talk with deceased loved one. A kitchen timer helps keep interactions within the two-minute time frame that’s advisable. Any longer and “Baghead” gets out of hand. Of course things go awry, and the dark secrets of how the figure came into being must be uncovered. It’s a dark, dank journey with various twists of motive and bad decisions.
Terrifier 3
In A Violent Nature served up a little different and notable variation on slasher fare with extended POV from the killer and a couple of novel kills, but top honors in the slasher and splatter subgenre go to this Christmas-set Terrifier franchise entry. It’s not quite the tour-de-force of extremes Terrifier 2 offered. A trim-for-time is obvious, in fact, but 3 continues the saga of Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) and his traumatized opponent Sienna (Lauren LaVera) with such outrageous extremes and energy that it still stuns. If you can buckle in for a rough ride, it’s an amazing gore extravaganza with supernatural elements and the good vs. evil struggle as a bonus. One issue, slightly spoilery: Clint Howard deserved a way-better screen death!
Alien Romulus
It’s another old dark ship with dangerous Xenomorphs, but Romulus still delivers tense situations that make it worthwhile. Civil War’s Cailee Spaeny is an appealing lead, and her efforts to escape a harsh colony lead to a suspenseful battle on a ship with various worthy and heart-pounding set pieces and a cool final battle.
Longlegs
Performances and tone really add to the overall success of Longlegs from Osgood Perkins. It’s a variation on Silence of the Lambs with amazing weirdness from Nicholas Cage, who somehow always keeps the weirdness fresh. Maika Monroe (It Follows) also delivers an eccentric turn as a troubled FBI agent. It’s chilling, chilly and unsettling.
Oddity
Writer-director Damian McCarthy expands his film universe with this tale of Darcy (Carolyn Bracken), a blind medium out to unlock secrets of her twin sister’s death in a spooky country house. There is one amazing jump scare, and an atmospheric dark mystery unfolds around cursed objects including a wooden mannequin as Darcy seeks answers and justice. Surprises drive the tale to the very end.
Strange Darling
Non-linear mind games and judicious revelation of details abound in this crime-noir-horror outing. The film opens with a fiery-haired Willa Fitzgerald as The Lady on the run with the always-great Kyle Gallner, dubbed The Devil, in pursuit. Rough Tinder games gone awry? Or is there more? The clever, witty and brutal reality slowly comes into focus and look for a surprise slasher-history cameo plus an amazing country breakfast prep set piece highlighted by spacey Ed Begley and Barbara Hersey. It’s the best traditional breakfast prep porn since Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man!
Heretic
Almost my top pick because it surprises in so many ways. This is another contained thriller and old-dark-house tale with more stellar performances and cerebral subtext enhancing its cat-and-mouse game. Co-directors-writers Bryan Woods and Scott Beck of A Quiet Place fame find their footing in a new locale here. Hugh Grant’s center stage as Mr. Reed a contemplative intellectual manipulator with strong questions about the metaphysical. He traps unsuspecting Mormon “sister missionaries” for a theological debate. Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets) as the street-savvy Sister Barnes and Chloe East (The Fabelmans), as the younger, more naïve Sister Paxton, really match Grant’s turn. They go from polite proselytizers to more combative opponents intellectually and ultimately physically when debate turns to brutality. The miniature of Reed’s booby-trapped suburban home keeps the viewer clear on the journey, and the ongoing games keep things tense in unexpected fashion. This is not just another Saw. Extra props for for East’s delivery of the “Mr. Reed…Mr. Reeeead” line.
Nosferatu
Nosferatu is built on a Dracula template. The 1922 silent original Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror was crafted as an ultimately lawsuit-inducing imitation of Bram Stoker’s. Director Robert Eggers here uses the original script and Stoker novel as a springboard for an astounding visual canvas, with color choices and composition complementing the overall visual experience. It’s easily a rival for the visual world he created in The Lighthouse. Set in 1838 Transylvania and Germany, the story builds on the heart of the 1922 film, reshuffling Stoker’s cards for a unique tale. Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp provide wrenching, emotional takes on the vampiric Count Orloff and his victims, Thomas and Ellen Hutter. A long-standing psychic link between Ellen and the Count leads to his invasion of the German town of her home. The film plays out the count’s plague-like impact on the community with some flourishes reminiscent of Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyr (1979). It makes for an engaging cinematic experience with Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson rounding out the vampire-fighting roster. It truly ended 2024 on a strong note.
