The 10 Best Horror Movies of 2024 According to Rotten Tomatoes

Every year, horror fans are spoiled by the latest and greatest in the genre, and 2024 was full of standout movies and performances for viewers to chew on. We could spend hours discussing hundreds of titles from the year, but pulling from Rotten Tomatoes‘ Best New Horror Movies of 2024 list is an easier way to highlight the site’s Top 10 of the year, according to each movie’s score and critical response. While there will surely be many fan favorites and popular entries in the genre that didn’t make the top of the list, these titles all have something important to bring to the horror table.

Continue below to read more about Rotten Tomatoes’ Top 10 best new horror movies of 2024, their current scores, and where you can watch them.

10) Stopmotion – 91%

Before The Substance made waves at the box office, Stopmotion was the body horror talk of the town. The British live-action/adult animated movie centers on stop-motion animator Ella Blake (Aisling Franciosi), who becomes obsessed with her latest project and consumed by her horrifying creations. Reality begins to blur before Ella’s story makes a deadly turn.

Directed by Robert Morgan, who co-wrote the film with Robin King, Stopmotion uses grotesque creatures in visually stunning stop-motion animation and effects to touch on psychological horror and generational trauma. The movie is creepy and gets under your skin, which is appropriate considering how Ella begins viewing her body compared to her creations. Franciosi, who also starred in 2024’s remake of Speak No Evil, is utterly engaging as a tormented creator who spirals into madness and a disturbing end.

Stopmotion is streaming on Shudder.

9) Heretic – 91%

Hugh Grant delivered one of the best performances of his career and made a name for himself as a horror villain as theologist Mr. Reed in Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ Heretic. Mr. Reed engages in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with two Mormon missionaries, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East). The girls find themselves trapped in Reed’s home, forced to prove their faith and bear witness to Mr. Reed’s ideas about the “one true religion.”

Heretic is another horror movie that rewards viewers on a rewatch; little details and bits of dialogue become more sinister or darkly humorous once you know the entire plot. Grant, Thatcher, and East give captivating performances while Beck and Woods hold religion under a microscope. The movie feels tense and claustrophobic as Barnes and Paxton desperately try to escape Reed’s home when it becomes increasingly clear how truly diabolical and disturbed Mr. Reed is — though some of the points he brings up could engage audiences in interesting post-watch dialogue.

During an interview with ComicBook, Beck and Woods shared that Mr. Reed was “an amalgamation of 30 different real-life people,” which included “great atheist thinkers.” He was also inspired by cult leaders like Jim Jones or Keith Raniere, who “are fairly charismatic and you enter into this organization at first thinking it’s going to better your life, and then it perverts itself over the course of time.”

Heretic is available to rent or buy on PVOD.

8) MadS – 93%

The second French horror entry on the list, MadS, is a one-shot descent into an increasingly violent and chaotic nightmare brought to you by filmmaker David Moreau (Them, The Eye). The movie begins with a teen named Romain (Milton Riche) who has just graduated and visits his dealer to try a new pill before heading off to a party. When he pulls his car over, a strange woman jumps inside and starts behaving violently. This kicks off a night that quickly evolves into madness and a fight for survival as more people supposedly begin suffering side effects from this new product.

MadS is a bleak and fascinating psychedelic acid trip that uses forced perspective and paranoia in a new take on the apocalyptic horror genre. We start off following Romain and eventually shift POV to friends Anais (Laurie Pavy) and Julia (Lucille Guillaume). Viewers are only able to witness specific frames of what these characters are encountering, and what is hinted at just off-screen is as nail-biting as what we do see. The framing, cinematography, performances, and music create a compelling, bizarre, and extremely dark must-see experience.

MadS is streaming on Shudder.

7) New Life – 94%

New Life is an interesting title on this list. It plays on our fear of illness and disease, especially those without cures or happy endings. While there are moments of true terror and dread, especially in how viewers would put themselves in the shoes of any number of characters and the impossible choices they are facing, New Life also blends the drama of humanity and desperation into the story.

Written and directed by John Rosman in his directorial debut, the horror-thriller follows Elsa Gray (Sonya Walger), tasked with finding Jessica Murdock (Hayley Erin), a girl on the run under mysterious circumstances. New Life opens with blood on Jessica’s face as she seeks safety, but from what or who is not made clear until later in the film. As Elsa and Jessica’s lives become more intertwined and a mutated virus is unleashed, we learn the former has been diagnosed with ALS and is undecided on her path moving forward.

New Life is a harsh and bittersweet movie that feels all the more devastating by the end of the story. Rosman told ComicBook during an interview that he began writing the film during the pandemic and explained how it tied into the spreading of disease, specifically through simple human behavior.

“Before the pandemic, I wouldn’t haveeven thought twice about (someone coughing nearby), which is my ignorance, but we all have learned through the pandemic. And so I think that real simple idea really fused throughout,” Rosman shared. “And then I wanted the passage of the disease or the virus to be things that are related to helping people out or sharing a meal, sharing a drink.”

New Life is available to rent or buy on PVOD.

6) Strange Darling – 95%

Kyle Gallner (who recently reprised his character Joel in Smile 2) is a king of the horror genre, and his performance as The Demon in Strange Darling epitomizes his strengths as an actor. Playing opposite the equally brilliant Willa Fitzgerald as The Lady, these two characters wind up in a cat-and-mouse game set up in a twisty, nonlinear story, leaving audiences guessing as each chapter plays out.

Written and directed by JT Mollner, the big question the movie is asking is: Who is the serial killer, who is the victim being pulled into a trap, and who will survive? Strange Darling is a thrilling, bloody, and visual treat, thanks in part to actor Giovanni Ribisi, who both produced the film and stepped behind the camera to serve as the director of photography.

When Ribisi spoke with ComicBook, he impressed upon the importance of shooting the film on 35mm, saying, “When you have celluloid, it has that latitude and that breadth to allow that saturation. This was very important for us in making this. We have so much content shot digitally now, and it is just not the same, but that’s part of it. You can’t push the colors, and so it was really a creative choice that always goes back to character and the journey that they go on.”

Strange Darling is available to rent or buy on PVOD. You can also purchase a physical copy on 4K UHD and Blu-ray.

5) In Flames – 95%

In Flames is a Pakistani-Canadian horror drama written and directed by Zarrar Kahn, who focuses on the oppression of women through the genre lens. Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) and her mother’s lives are slowly torn apart following the death of the family patriarch, Mariam’s grandfather, and they learn they only have each other to rely on as events spiral.

Mariam is confronted by misogyny regularly, including being violently attacked in her car. The women must fend off one of their last remaining family members, Uncle Nasir, who is attempting to take their apartment in a place where the law is often not on women’s side. Add to that the circumstances behind the grandfather’s death, a seemingly tragic accident involving Mariam’s friend, and increasingly unsettling auditory and visual hallucinations, In Flames is a slow-burn horror with heartwrenching implications — and a satisfying conclusion. Nawal’s performance lifts the material to another level, and the casual, suspenseful pacing builds up to some surprising twists.

In Flames is available to rent or buy on PVOD.

4) Infested – 95%

Infested might be 2024’s top creature feature, just ahead of honorable mention Sting, which deserved more love from critics. Co-written and directed by Sébastien Vaniček, Infested is a French horror movie that is equal parts unnerving, emotional, and thrilling as it is scary. There’s nothing silly about these incredibly realistic-looking creepy crawlies, and when something awful happens to any of the movie’s main characters, it’s devastating. As Kaleb (Théo Christine), his sister, and their friends face off against deadly and rapidly reproducing spiders in a French apartment building — and are abandoned as they try to survive — the stakes are painfully high.

When Vaniček spoke with ComicBook, he made it clear he did not want this spider movie to become another B-horror movie that leaned more into humor.

“I wanted to do something realistic with spiders and to be really, really frightening but using spiders that everybody knows; they are not so exotic. You know their shape here. Everybody has seen these kinds of spiders in their living room someday.” During the same interview, the director also confirmed the effects were “50% real spiders and 50% CGI.”

Infested is streaming on Shudder.

3) Nosferatu – 87%

Considering Nosferatu’s current score of 87%, it might be surprising that it has taken the third spot on Rotten Tomatoes’ best of horror list. The movie’s page on the site boasts 249 critic reviews, with over 5,000 verified ratings making up its audience score, and has only been in theaters since Christmas Day — details that could explain its placement. With all of that being said, Robert Eggers’ box office record-breaking Gothic horror deserves a top spot as one of 2024’s best new horror.

Already boasting a strong showing as a filmmaker with his previous projects The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman, and considering the sheer number of classic adaptations of the Dracula story that already exist, Eggers set a high bar for himself. Is it possible to still tell interesting and fresh vampire stories? Luckily for him and movie fans, Eggers exceeded expectations by staying true to his style and tone with an assist from unforgettable performances. Bill Skarsgård’s transformative role as Count Orlok is truly something to behold.

[RELATED: Nosferatu Extended Cut Confirmed by Robert Eggers (Including Footage Only Seen in Trailer)]

Cavanaugh’s Nosferatu review referred to Eggers’ film as his “masterpiece,” giving credit to Lily-Rose Depp’s “enthralling performance and Skarsgård’s nightmarish metamorphosis into Orlok.” Cavanaugh added that Nosferatu “serves as a seminal interpretation of a century-old text that will be the defining gothic horror for a generation of filmgoers.”

Nosferatu is out now in theaters.

2) Oddity – 96%

Oddity is arguably one of 2024’s most genuinely scary movies. When the film was first released in theaters before landing at Shudder, it was common to hear audiences convey how terrifying the experience was. From Caveat filmmaker Damian Mc Carthy, the movie stars Carolyn Bracken as twin sisters Dani and Darcy. About a year after Dani is brutally murdered inside her isolated country home she was renovating with her husband Ted, Darcy relies on her paranormal abilities to discover the truth and enact revenge when she begins to doubt that a mentally ill patient is responsible.

Bracken’s performance as both Dani and Darcy is impressive; each sister stands out with their own personality, strengths, and fears without incidental overlap. Even though Bracken plays both parts, she is able to convey the profound connection the sisters have while maintaining their individuality. Beyond the scary moments carefully crafted in Oddity, the movie is also a great murder mystery complete with twists and troubling characters. Darcy feels like a fresh, vengeful character, quick to punish and later admit she deserves to pay for her wrongdoing — but justice for Dani never shifts from being Darcy’s top priority.

The Wooden Man became an infamous “creature” of 2024. Controlled by Darcy who uses a ritual to connect with the statue, the prop is cleverly used to build suspense and simply look terrifying on-screen. Mc Carthy told Mashable that The Wooden Man was “inspired by Jewish folklore of the golem” and how elements of Oddity were “cherry-picked from horror tropes.”

Patrick Cavanaugh remarked in his Oddity review about the effectiveness of the movie’s setting, writing, “Given that the home in Oddity is meant to be full of family memories, it’s not as immediately ominous as what is seen in Caveat, but it’s not without its ever-present and intimidating fear.” Cavanaugh added how compelling the horror side of the story is, noting, “Whether it’s real-world threats or ghastly phantoms, Mc Carthy’s staging, pacing, and timing all manage to create some truly jarring scares.”

Oddity is streaming on Shudder.

1) Late Night with the Devil – 97%

There are two obvious reasons why Late Night with the Devil is at the top of the list: The film’s ingenuity and David Dastmalchian‘s stellar performance as late-night host Jack Delroy. The movie also rewards repeat viewing as it’s easy to find satisfaction in the entertaining, darkly humorous, and terrifying consequences of Delroy’s actions.

Written and directed by siblings Cameron and Colin Cairnes, Late Night with the Devil follows the Night Owls host on his desperate journey to reclaim success and fame. He turns to supernatural means and exploits a girl supposedly possessed to do it, unleashing evil on all those watching. Late Night with the Devil set a massive record on Shudder when it began streaming following its theatrical run, marking the streamer’s biggest opening weekend in April 2024.

In Spencer Perry’s Late Night with the Devil review, he noted how the movie’s setting, mainly during a Halloween special broadcast of the syndicated late night show in 1977, established a “balancing act between lampooning the supernatural and depicting it as believable.” It is left up to the audience to “decide what’s going on, until it unsurprisingly goes all gas, no brakes.”

Dastmalchian is what ultimately makes the movie work, as “the role proves that Dastmalchian can continue to practice his character-actor appeal even while anchoring the entirety of the narrative as its lead,” Perry also said. “He’s funny and has charisma, but also knows exactly when to turn toward his dramatic chops. It’s a great performance from someone we’re used to seeing in small bites, and this time he’s giving us a meal as a man who feels alive and layered.”

Late Night with the Devil is streaming on Shudder and Hulu.