The best horror movies of 2024 for Halloween

From the Terrifier 3 phenomenon to the disturbing MaXXXine and the impressive Speak No Evil: our selection!

Spectators like to be scared. More and more. The horror genre has never seemed so popular and studios no longer hesitate to rely on terror and anxiety to fill theaters. Also because these productions don't cost much and can bring in big profits! So in the era of all “IP”, where licenses are king, the horror film appears as one of the last islands of pure creativity, where we can imagine anything and especially the worst. . A look back at a year 2024 rich in traumatic experiences, with our selection (in alphabetical order) of the best anxiety films of the year.

Immaculateby Michael Mohan (released March 20)

A young American nun comes to settle in a convent in the depths of Italy where a strange atmosphere reigns which reaches its peak the day when, although a virgin, she discovers herself… pregnant. Far from a simple variation of the possession film, Immaculateee reveals itself to be a great cry of bloody rage against patriarchal structures and the confinement of women. And its major asset is the one who is both the main actress and the producer (a first for her!): Sydney Sweeneydefinitely at ease in all genres.

The Curse: The Originby Arkasha Stevenson (released April 10)

Nothing very new or very original in this prequel from the classic of Richard Donnerwe grant you: it talks about conspiracies in the Vatican flavored with Satanism, but there is something visually and thematically quite strong that the director is working on Arkasha Stevensonby packing images bordering on the trauma of the original black mass, enclosing the film – and its heroine, the excellent Nell Tiger Free revealed in Servant – in the vicious circle of rape culture. How do you say “trigger warning” in Latin?

MaXXXine, by Ti West (released July 31)

Third part, after X And Pearlfrom the director's trilogy Ti West and actress Mia Goth on the combined hells of US puritanism and celebrity culture. Not the most overtly horrifying of the three – even if it contains its share of craspec visions – MaXXXine plays above all on the fetishism of 80s thrillers exploring the most seedy and sordid aspects of Los Angeles – Vice Squad, Double Bodysuit, hardcore and company. The reconstruction of Hollywood Boulevard in the 1980s is astonishing.

Motherlandby Alexandre Aja (released September 25)

Deep in the bayou, after the end of time, Halle Berry survives with her two boys in a house surrounded by evil spirits… A stone's throw from the Village by Shyamalan, Alexandre Aja knits a captivating B series, which is ultimately worth less for its plot twists than for its quite sumptuous artistic direction – monsters and a magical forest which provide perfect fuel for fashionable nightmares southern gothic.

Sleepby Jason Yu (released February 21)

A former assistant to Bong Joon-ho succeeds in its transition to the real world with this little film, full as an egg, about a couple whose daily routine is derailed when the gentleman is affected by increasingly frightening attacks of sleepwalking… From a pitch to the Rosemary's Baby, Jason Yu watches his script bounce off the walls of the two-room kitchen where the action takes place, and go from socio comedy to horrific pandemonium over a delicious paranoid crescendo.

Speak no Evilby James Watkins (released September 18)

Good Americans in all respects will spend the weekend at James McAvoy and, as soon as they set down their suitcases, they say to themselves that perhaps they would have been better off staying at home… Remake of the Danish film Don't say anything, Speak no evil ideally mixes sarcastic societal commentary and a big surge of paranoia, comedy of social unease and psychological terror. From Blumhouse to fashion Ruben Ostlunddriven by a huge performance from McAvoy.

Terrify 3by Damien Leone (released October 9)

We're hitting you with it once again, but it must be said that it's deserved: the third Terrify (and second to be released in theaters in France), boosted by the publicity caused by its ban on under-18s, is a big public hit which is unlikely to stop thanks to Halloween. Go with a group, go alone, go with your parents, to contemplate the mind-boggling exploits of Art the Clown in all their ultra-gory glory. Terrify 3thus maintains a certain idea of ​​primitive horror cinema: a great spectacle like any other.

We are zombiesby François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell (released July 31)

Born in the mid-2000s, the RKSS collective (Roadkill Superstars) is back with this genre film, in a world where a virus has transformed part of the population into harmless “non-living”. Three clumsy geeks try to take advantage of the situation by trafficking corpses. Their adventure leads them to encounter a malicious secret organization. The film revisits the codes of the zombie with subtle irony, a retro aesthetic and well-balanced gory scenes. This effective and refreshing horror comedy plays skillfully with the clichés of the genre, avoiding the pitfall of stupid and nasty satire.

When Evil Lurksby Demián Rugna (released May 15)

In deep and superstitious Argentina, isolated in the middle of agricultural lands, two employees discover that strange events are caused by the presence of a body corrupted by a demonic spirit. To escape the curse, they embark on a road trip of unbridled violence… Demián Rugna contributes to the building of the possession genre in one of the nastiest films of the year.