I’m hard pressed to name even five movies that have this outcome - am I just missing it, or is this a serious “flaw” in our horror movie repertoire?
I’d love to see everyone’s list any that might not be super well known!
I (25F) am getting back into the horror genre after being really into it in my teens, but a lot of plots have been feeling really tired and overused. I just watched Ouija: Origin of Evil last night and it was good, I liked the 1960's setting and the acting, but the whole premise just felt a little tired especially towards the end. The little girl is possessed! There is a creepy basement! She makes that scary long-open-mouthed silent scream face!
Some stuff I've really liked have been Hush, Hill House (love Kate Siegel and Flanagan), Jennifer's Body, Pearl, Happy Death Day, Smile, Silence of the Lambs, and Alien. I'm into a wide range of subgenres (slasher, haunted house, sci-fi, older movies, etc), it's just that a lot of times when I watch a new horror movie I feel like I've already seen it before.
Recommend me your favorite movies with elements that make them unique, whether that's the premise, the villain, or just the overall quality like in Haunting of Hill House!
EDIT: maybe I should list some films I’ve already seen: all Conjurings, Annabelles, It Follows, Wickerman, Suspiria, The Appointment, Cabin in the Woods, Flanagan’s work, Insidious, Babadook, the Ritual, almost all A24 stuff, Hereditary, the Menu, the Shining, Sinners, Jordan Peele’s work, the Halloween’s, Friday the 13ths, Nighmare on Elm Street, Stephen King stuff, Annihilation, Autopsy of Jane Doe
EDIT AGAIN: Guys I’ve seen Hereditary!!!!!
Curry Barker is now the third in a line of sketch comedians who pivoted to horror and directed some of the most acclaimed horror movies of the past decade (alongside Jordan Peele and Zach Cregger). I definitely notice some tonal similarities in their work, like a deft way of balancing genuinely scary or disturbing elements with humor, but I wonder what else from comedy sets them up for success in horror. A skill in subverting expectations? Any thoughts?
I was watching the newest Evil Dead remake and was thinking to myself--man, I really miss the campy style of the old films, especially when it came to things like the zany one-limers, the over-the-top acting or props, etc.
I guess my real question to everyone is--Why do most modern remakes take on a more serious approach? Do you feel like it works? Would you like to see a more campy style? Similar to a Bride of Chucky or Seed of Chucky.
I will happily die on this hill.
Jane Levy gets put through the absolute ringer and still gives a horror hall of fame performance. The way she manages to play like four versions of Mia so believably is nuts, and the whole thing would have fallen apart of she couldn't sell it.The supporting cast are however slightly forgettable, which is the one criticism I will give the film.
The premise is great, and the reason why nobody just books it out of there immediately when it starts getting creepy being due to their distrust of Mia's drug use is ingenious. It also solves the "why did nobody just call for help" question - by straight up just never showing a phone in the movie!
It's totally okay to watch if you've never seen an Evil Dead movie before. If you are a fan of the originals (which I am), it does a perfect job of toeing the line of not being just gratuitous fan service but providing enough nods for the fans to keep them guessing.
It carves out its own identity from the originals by reimagining the source material as a straight up horror with no comedic elements. Nothing is going to top the zany humour of the original trilogy (AVED aside), so they were wise to not even bother and focus on making it as straight up twisted as possible.
The scares are there, the gore is definitely there, with some truly gnarly body horror.
I genuinely believe that by the end of it, Mia deserves to at least top 5 final girl conversation. She's a drug addict, goes through withdrawal, gets possessed, gets buried alive, dies, gets brought back to life, rips her own arm off and then chainsaws a deadline straight through the face. That is objectively rad.
I just don't possibly know what more people would want out of a reboot/remake. Watching Evil Dead Rise really puts into perspective how great this movie is. EDR has an incredible premise and squanders it and is tonally all over the place.
ED2013 has a vision and executes it well.
I know Evil Dead Burn is coming out which I will obviously be watching and I hope it's half as good as 2013 is.
This is my perfect "let's get some buddies round, drink a few beers and have a great time" movie. Easily one of the most entertaining horror movies of the past 2 decades.
I feel like this movie doesn't get talked about enough in general. I don't really know which modern horror reboot comes close?
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. Because of this movie I will watch pretty much whatever Fede Alvarez wants to make, he's earned my loyalty 🫡
Came across the movie called Possum and am wondering if it's worth a shot? Just looking for an overall strong movie with some good tension, creep, and maybe some jump scares.
It has an insanely strong atmosphere, everything feels dusty, sweaty, filthy, and hopeless and they never steer from this.
It has insanely strong atmosphere, everything feels dusty, sweaty, filthy, and hopeless in a way that makes the setting memorable instead of generic horror.
The movie is completely committed to its tone, it never turns into comedy, or irony, it stays bleak the entire time.
The violence feels brutal and scary instead of stylized, which raises the tension because it feels unpredictable.
Leatherface feels intimidating and tragic rather than just a slasher mascot.
If you disagree (and I’m sure many people do) I’d love to hear why, but I will always love this movie and the entire TCM franchise.
I don't watch a lot of horror movies but I wanna overcome my fears.
Here is a complete list of every horror movie I've watched so far as a 18 yo.
I've watched :
. Shining
. Get Out
. Midsommar
. Weapons
. Nightmare on Elm Street
. Alien (the OG although I don't think its really horror)
. Halloween (OG)
. Blairwitch Project (did not understand the scary part about this)
. Cloverfield Trilogy (not that scary)
. Sinners
. FNAF 1&2 (lol)
. It Chapters 1&2 (the new ones not OG)
==> also watched Welcome to Derry (so peak)
. The Thing
. Cube (idk if that counts)
. A Quiet Place 1, 2 and Day One
. Last Train for Busan
. M3GAN (yeah idk)
. Split, Glass (idk if it counts), Old and Trap
. Knock at the Cabin (wasn't necessarily scary)
. Cabin in the Woods
. And finally Jaws I think
Oh yeah, and Scary Movie LOL
I'm not gonna give some thoughts over these movies cuz I'll probably get flamed for my terrible taste. But I'd say the ones I enjoyed the most are Shining, Midsommar, It Chapter 1, A Quiet Place, Split, Nightmare on Elm Street and Alien.
So I'm still missing a lot of classics. What are for you the main things I missed ?
First of all, this movie was a solid 8/10 for me. It felt fresh and really intriguing. The imagery was memorable and some of the jumpscares were really effective, such as the tent one. I also really loved the ending shot. I do, however, have some questions, and I was hoping someone could answer them in case I missed their explanation in the movie.
- how did Darcy find Olin to be able to break in and kill him? Why did Ted give her the eye, when she could have taken it herself? I assume she used the wooden golem to kill Olin, but it's still weird that no one noticed anything and Ted also said to her that Olin died of a heart attack.
- was Dani trying to connect with a ghost? What was up with that? In the beginning, she set up the camera for that.
- if Dani left her phone in the car, why didn't she ask Olin to bring it to her through the window so she could call the police?
- how did Olin find Dani's home? Had he overheard the address and exact date of the planned murder?
These things don't really make sense to me.
With two amazing movies already out and getting great fan reactions critically and within the horror community as a whole (“Hoakum” and “Obsession”) May 2026 has already been a delightful month for fans of the genre… especially for one outside the traditional window for horror films (late September and October). Both films have really had massive amounts of great fan reactions, critical success, word of mouth, and even commercial success.
But this month isn’t over… there are still a couple wide releases this month that still are to be released.. the first of which, coming out this week is “Passenger” from Andre Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe/Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark/Last Voyage the Demeter), and “Backrooms” the directorial debut of Kane Parsons. If these two films can maintain the stride set by “Hoakum” and “Obsession” are we looking at one of the best individual months for the genre in a good while?
“Backrooms” is already receiving a good amount of hype and attention, has had mostly positive reactions from early press screenings..and is already setting high expectations for itself and does seem like it will be up to the task of holdup its end of the bargain in keeping the May momentum rolling.
The biggest question mark is “Passenger” out this week. As of today there have been no early screenings or press initial reactions that I’m aware of. The review embargo has yet to be lifted only a couple of days before preview night… generally not a good sign. But, IMO I think director Andre Øvredal has earned a bit of the benefit of the doubt. While nothing he’s done recently has lived up to “Autopsy of Jane Doe” both Scary Stories and Demeter were pretty solid. And if “Passenger” can at least live up to his recent output it wouldn’t be a blight on this month for horror. I’m kinda looking forward to it.
Now I’m mostly looking at critical and fan reactions to these upcoming films…. But if you want to look at box office success that’s worth noting. I think, especially going into the deep end of the summer movie season both these films are going against a strong current… but if there good enough there’s no reason to think they can’t turn a profit either.
This doesn’t necessarily have to be your favorite movie of all time, but just one that is a unique experience to those who haven’t seen it before.
My pick would be: 1408 (theatrical cut)
horror movie filmmakers need to get into other franchises. Like I need Wishmaster back, instead of them going to franchises that have been repeated before.
I need the original djinn actor back give me 2 movies or 3 and forget about 3 and 4.
Curry barker has potential to do it!
What’s the most disturbing horror book you’ve ever read?
I’m building a massive horror reading list right now and I realized psychological horror affects me way more than gore-heavy stories.
Books like:
- Penpal
- Tender Is the Flesh
- The Troop
- Pet Sematary
stayed in my head for DAYS after finishing them 😭
I’m looking for more genuinely disturbing horror recommendations especially books with psychological terror, creepy atmosphere, or shocking twists.
What horror book completely messed with your mind?
I genuinely miss straight forward slasher movies I miss the 1980's campy movies and the movies where it's not that deep and it is just fun horror.
It seems like nowadays for a movie to be popular or liked it needs to be a complicated psychological horror.
I’m looking for movies with spooky but summer aesthetics? Any subgenre of horror is acceptable, but I tend to enjoy slashers or psychological horror movies. Please let me know your recommendations.
I'm unsure if this will turn out to be just a mediocre indie horror heightened by great teaser trailer editing, but so far, I am really impressed, and intrigued.
Synopsis:
"In Our Image is a surreal, coming-of-age religious horror film about a group of teens in the Ozarks. After their friend Anna mysteriously returns from a car accident claiming she was healed by God, they follow her to a secluded religious camp where they must uncover whether she found salvation or something deeply evil."
Extreme versions being Mulholland Drive on the mystery side and US on the explanation side?
If you prefer the wide spectrum of the in between, where do you find yourself generally happiest?
I feel like when I go into a movie, I tend to let it wash over me. The why of things is less important and it’s more about how that movie makes me feel. And as long as what I’m feeling serves a purpose to some sort of narrative moving me forward, I’m good.
I can honestly say that the logistics of how or why something happened or why or how it could NOT happen ONLY crosses my mind when the movie hasn’t won me over. It can be a chicken and egg situation, but I just prefer mystery, even unanswered, to explanation.
Not just jump scares or gore, but that constant disturbing atmosphere where something feels deeply wrong from beginning to end. The kind of movie that sticks in your head after watching and makes you feel weird for hours or even days.
Looking for films that feel psychologically unsettling, disturbing, surreal, hopeless, or just deeply uncomfortable to sit through.