The 13 Best Horror Movies Of 2023, And Where To Watch Them

2022 may have been a year of horrors, but 2023 still has a lot to track.

From Gerard Johnston's viral dancing doll in M3GAN to the waking nightmare of Ari Aster's Pretty Boy , to the more traditional screams of Rob Savage and Danny's The Boogeyman and Michael Phillippe's bloody The Conversation, this year was truly there something scary for everyone. . for me Grab something comfortable to hide under and get ready for your new favorite horror movie of 2023!

13. Run, rabbit, run

Psychological horror needs a strong protagonist, and luckily it doesn't come much stronger than Hereditary star Sarah Snook. In Dinah Reed's disturbing nightmare, fertility doctor Sarah (Snook) struggles to come to terms with the increasingly strange behavior of her seven-year-old daughter Mia (Lily LaTorre). I know what you're thinking: Angry children are almost as scary as masked serial killers. But the good news is that Reed does a great job with this subgenre, taking Hannah Kent's well-written script and layering the spooky atmosphere with a deeper journey into repressed childhood trauma. We'll have to unravel all the clues, but the reveal at the end is still impressive, and the road leading to it is full of top-notch acting and editing tension.

How to watch: Run Rabbit Run is now streaming on Netflix.

12. Travel

One of the year's quieter hits, writer-director Nathaniel Martel-White's chilling social horror will stay with you forever. A slow-paced exploration of race, class, and generational trauma that draws comparisons to Jordan Peele's Gone and Michael Haneke 's Funny Games , Hobos introduces Neve (a brilliant performance by Ashley Madekwe), an above-average school vice principal. classy family, a predominantly white neighborhood with her husband Ian (Justin Salinger) and teenage children Sebastian and Mary (Samuel Small and Maria Almeida). In this affluent rural community, Neave hides racist microaggressions from his neighbors and coworkers and chooses to code-switch to blend in with the crowd. starts to collapse. Martell-White's sharp script and direction are highly engaging and the actors deliver a masterclass in visceral anger, fear and excitement. But first, the final act of the film will leave you completely shocked. - Shannon Connellan, UK editor

How to watch: Vagabonds is now streaming on Netflix.

11. Skinomarink

The experimental film "Childhood Nightmare" directed by Kyle Edward Ball tells the story of two young brothers who suddenly find themselves alone in a dark house. Worse, they can't find their father , and worse , they're followed by threatening whispers. While this may not be for everyone, it gets points for originality and more points for the obvious creepy factor.

As Jason Adams explains: “ Skinamarink wants us to be children locked in our beds. He wants the very concept of darkness to be foreign, full of questions and strangeness and horror. we only knew what was right in front of us, while what was across our hallway, or, God forbid, beyond our front door, could easily have been the edge of a straight path to the oblivion.

How to watch: Skinamarink is now streaming on Shudder.

10. We are all strangers

Is We All Strangers a horror film? It's probably up for debate, but Andrew Hay's adaptation of Taichi Yamada's The Strangers is definitely a dream come true. Adam (Andrew Scott) and Harry (Paul Mescal) are London neighbors whose whirlwind romance parallels Adam's strange journey into the past. The story becomes increasingly fantastical after Adam meets an elderly couple (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy) who appear to be his dead parents.

Siddhant Adlakha writes in his review for Mashable: “ We are all strangers. “Ultimately, this is a realm of spirits destined for us from the past, an idea that Hai leans into without hesitation and without apology. With its compelling story, it brings to life fantasies of the simple, the ordinary and even the unpleasant. about a middle-aged man who wants to know his father more than anything - and for him, loving and being loved means letting go of that fantasy which is a difficult act.

How to watch: We Are All Strangers hits theaters on December 22 .

9. Totally killer

Okay, maybe it's more of a comedy than a horror, but Nanachka Khan's Absolute Killer is still (no pun intended) a fine ode to the slasher genre. The film follows 17-year-old Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) in his small town in 1987 as he tries to escape the Sweet 16 killer, a masked killer terrorizing his mother's generation of teenagers. As Mashable's Belen Edwards wrote in her review, it's "a great entry-level fighter."

“If you're new to the horror genre and want to try your hand at slasher films, Totally Killer is the perfect introduction for you. It's easy enough to scare you, but it still manages to instill enough fear. There are also many references to classic slasher films: the Sweet 16 Killer's mask is reminiscent of Michael Myers' famous Halloween look, and an early kill would have been appropriate for Scream . “Khan's opening also uses some tried-and-true techniques to take us into slasher territory, including first-person shots that follow the heroes when they think they're alone.”

How to watch: Totally Killer is now streaming on Prime Video.

8. Rise of the evil dead

The Deadly Dead first entered our hearts in 1981, and more than 40 years later, the franchise continues to bleed through each generation. In Dead Dead Rising, sisters Beth (Lily Sullivan) and Ellie (Alice Sutherland) are forced to face the wrath of a demon when Ellie's son Danny (Morgan Davis) touches the Book of the Dead and accidentally awakens the creature . Below are the franchise's usual outrageous grotesqueries, from scalping and eyelid biting to the unique use of a cheese grater. The unusual demon played by Sutherland is so charming that it is impossible not to root for this "mother beast".

Sutherland's Demon is a crazy, expository circus show designed to make jokes about tearing people apart. Sure, he's scary as hell, but he's also so funny that you can spend hours watching him do his thing. Writer/director Lee Cronin makes good use of the franchise's dark humor, never letting things get too silly and never overdoing it with too much gore. * - Yasmine Hamadeh, freelance writer.

How to watch: You can rent or purchase Deadly Uspiring on Prime Video.

7. Penalty

Jennifer Reeder's coming-of-age horror is hard to categorize, and it's all the better for it. The film begins with a kidnapping and then moves on to the misadventures of rebellious teenager Johnny (Kia McKiernan), who is sent to live with his aunt Hildy (Alicia Silverstone). Meanwhile, the girls from Johnny's school disappear, and the story combines the familiar image of the masked serial killer with something completely different.

Belen Edwards of Mashable wrote in her review that "Catharsis' catharsis comes not only from its plot and topical themes, but also from its use of cinematic form." "Thanks to Ryder's direction, Justin Crone's editing, Custody's photography and Nick Zinner's score, 'Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes,' the film's mix of tones, genres and influences is disconcerting and refreshing at the same time." when he is shown, he is as wild as his young heroes.' an opportunity to simply be yourself. It's also great to see Silverstone in such an unusual role; Not only is his performance very entertaining, but the casting seems to be passing the torch of teen films from classics like Verbless to something more modern. he is crazy.

How to watch: Criminal is currently streaming on Shudder.

6. Birth/Rebirth

Laurie Moss's first feature film, a modern take on the Frankenstein story, follows a grieving mother, Celie (Judi Reyes), who discovers that her dead daughter isn't dead after all. Supernatural's Marin Ireland plays Rose Casper, the morgue technician responsible for her daughter's return; together they embark on a dark and terrifying journey into the realm of body horror and maternal fear.

Mashable's Christy Puchko writes, "It makes me nervous that this is Moss' directorial debut, because he's so good." “The producer-director has created an incredibly intimate, meticulously detailed and haunting film. They took a piece of Mary Shelley and brought it back to life with the sparks of the war for bodily autonomy. But with a clever concept, with added appeal thanks to a shocking revelation, Moss has also created a compelling story of female friendship.

How to watch: Birth/Rebirth is now streaming on Shudder.

5. I saw X

It's an unwritten rule that sequels are rarely as good as the original, and it's even harder to imagine that the tenth – yes, tenth – franchise will be on par with the best. But here we are. Saw X , admittedly, is not like most series. The film is set somewhere between Saw and Saw III , with John Kramer (Tobin Bell) exacting Saw-style revenge on a group of medical professionals who made a mistake by trying to betray him. The film stays true to the canon but at the same time brings something completely new.

“We did it for the fans!” “This is an often-used defense against criticism of franchise films,” writes Siddhant Adlakha in his Mashable review. “However, there is no better way to describe Saw That's not to say it's inaccessible to outsiders—though after 10 discs you'll probably know if Saw is for you—rather, it's built on a love of metatext that only longtime fans of the rebel serial killer once put down." You can feel the philosophy of a freshman. 101."

How to watch: X-Saw is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video.

4. Talk to me

Teens performing rituals to contact the dead may have been done before, but YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou (aka RackaRacka) have put their own haunting spin on the Talk to Me genre . This Australian shocker is a nightmare in which a group of teenagers use a frighteningly realistic hand sculpture to open a door from "the other side" - with disastrous consequences if they don't break the hold before 90 seconds.

“All in all , Talk to Me is a brutally scary horror film with strong performances, gruesome creature designs, gory and gory effects, and practical effects that will shock you and send shivers down your spine. Like its sister at Sundance. “The Midnight List ,” “Birth/Rebirth ,” and “Talk To Me,” released in 2023, are a rare horror ride that knows when to end, writes Kristi Puchko in a Mashable review. “Be sure to contact us and check it out if you're looking for something weird and creepy fun.”

How to watch: Talk to Me is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video.

3. Because he is afraid

Proving that you don't need pop-up monsters to be scary, Ari Aster's Pretty Boy Scares drags viewers into a three-hour waking nightmare as the protagonist (Joaquin Phoenix) takes an incredibly disturbing journey to his mother's house.

“ A Handsome Man Is Scared is challenging because the exploration of terror doesn't give you the respite that horror usually does,” writes Mashable's Christy Puchko in her review. “There are no jump scares that will make you scream. Instead, the film relies on a sense of fantasy, pushing its protagonist forward without much respite despite flights of fancy. Likewise, we are sidelined in uncertainty and anxiety, on the brink of what might come next.

How to watch: Why Fear is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video.

2. The Boogeyman

In 2020, following the viral success of The Host, director Rob Savage adapted Stephen King's story into a nightmarish film that taps into all our classic childhood fears. Sadie (Sophie Thatcher from Yellow Jackets ) is a brooding teenager dealing with the death of her mother and the terrifying presence lurking in the shadows of her home.

“The special sauce that makes this one of the funniest and most exciting films of the year is the combination of the design of a truly terrifying creature with Savage's absolutely brutal use of it,” writes Mashable's Christy Puchko. “A predator whose territory is dark, this boogeyman is the epitome of nightmare fuel. The shrill sound design makes his scream particularly disturbing as it reverberates throughout the theater and assaults our ears. The twisted pleasure horror fans crave. Come and see for yourself if you dare.

How to watch: The Boogeyman is available to stream on Hulu.

1.M3GAN

Killer dolls have long been a thing of horror, but M3GAN takes things to a whole new level. Directed by Gerard Johnston, written by evil writer Akel Cooper, and made viral thanks to TikTok and an effective marketing campaign, this delightfully sinister thriller explores what happens when artificial intelligence takes over. Gemma (Allison Williams) is a toy designer hard at work on a child-sized doll called M3GAN, who would make the perfect friend and nanny. When suddenly assigned to care for his recently orphaned niece Cady (Violet McGraw), the overworked roboticist turns to M3GAN for help, and if this beta test had been successful, it wouldn't have been our best horror movie in a while. year .

“Look, let's be honest: This movie might be incredibly stupid, but it'll probably still be a lot of fun,” writes Mashable's Christy Puchko. “But there's more to this children's horror film than meets the eye. With clever character designs and two standout performances, Johnston has created a new horror icon with M3GAN. Like the slasher films that came before it, it has its own dance sequence: it's not just a memorable episode of mayhem, it's an element that sets M3GAN apart; It's every little girl's dream toy and a parent's worst nightmare. challenging, fun and scary as hell! "

How to watch: M3GAN is available to stream on Prime Video.

*This abstract appeared in a previous Mashable list.

Best NEW Horror Movies of 2023 (Trailer)