The 13 best horror movies of 2023, and where to watch them
A countdown of the best horror movies of 2023, from "M3GAN" to "Talk to Me."
2022 may have been a huge year for horror, but 2023 has done a pretty great job of following in its claw prints.
There really was something terrifying for everyone this year, from the viral dancing doll in Gerard Johnstone's M3GAN to the waking nightmare of Ari Aster's Beau Is Afraid, the more traditional jump scares of Rob Savage's The Boogeyman, and Danny and Michael Philippou's gore-fest Talk To Me. Grab something cozy to cower under, and get ready for our favorite new horror films from 2023!
13. Run Rabbit Run
Psychological horror requires a strong lead, and thankfully they don't get much stronger than Succession star Sarah Snook. In Daina Reid's tense nightmare, fertility doctor Sarah (Snook) struggles to cope with the increasingly odd behaviour of her seven-year-old daughter Mia (Lily LaTorre). I know what you're thinking: Unnerving kids are almost as well-worn a horror trope as mask-wearing serial killers. The good news, though, is Reid does an excellent job with the subgenre, taking a well-written script from Hannah Kent and layering in an uncanny atmosphere with a deeper journey into repressed childhood trauma. The clues are all there for us to unpack, but the reveal at the end still provides a solid gut-punch, and the journey to get there is filled with excellent acting and ratcheting tension.
How to watch: Run Rabbit Run is streaming now on Netflix.
12. The Strays
One of the quiet achievers of the year, writer/director Nathaniel Martello-White's chilling social horror will stay with you. A slow-burn examination of race, class, and generational trauma that's been compared to Jordan Peele's Get Out and Michael Haneke's Funny Games, The Strays introduces you to Neve (a brilliant performance from Ashley Madekwe), a deputy principal living in an upper middle class, predominantly white neighbourhood with her husband Ian (Justin Salinger) and her teen kids Sebastian and Mary (Samuel Small and Maria Almeida). Within this affluent country community, Neve buries racist microaggressions from her neighbours and colleagues and prioritises code-switching to blend in. But when two strangers, Abigail and Marvin (the incredibly talented Bukky Bakray and Jorden Myrie), show up, Neve's carefully crafted facade starts to splinter. Martello-White's sharp script and direction is deeply compelling, and the cast give a masterclass in internalised rage, fear, and anxiety. But above all, the film's final act will leave you totally rattled. — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor
How to watch: The Strays is streaming now on Netflix.
11. Skinamarink
A childhood nightmare embodied in a movie, Kyle Edward Ball's experimental feature follows two young siblings who suddenly find themselves trapped alone in their dark house. To make things worse, they can't find their dad, and to make things even worse, there's an ominous whispering voice keeping them company. Although this one may not be for everyone, it gets points for originality, and even more points for its sheer creep factor.
As Jason Adams writes in his explainer, "Skinamarink wants us to become children trapped in our beds again. It wants the very concept of the dark to be foreign, filled with questions and strangeness and terror. Forcing us back to when we were little and we didn't know more than what was right in front of us, when what lay beyond our hallway or, God forbid, our front door might as well be the edge of the flat earth, falling off into nothingness."
How to watch: Skinamarink is streaming now on Shudder.
10. All of Us Strangers
Is All of Us Strangers a horror movie? That one's probably up for debate, but Andrew Haigh's adaptation of Taichi Yamada's novel Strangers is certainly a ghost story. Adam (Andrew Scott) and Harry (Paul Mescal) are London neighbours whose burgeoning romance takes place alongside a strange journey into Adam's past. The story grows increasingly fantastical after Adam meets an older couple (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy) who appear to be his dead parents.
"All of Us Strangers remains a moving example of how cinema can fold tragedy and catharsis into one," writes Siddhant Adlakha in his review for Mashable. "It is, after all, a medium of ghosts reflected to us from the past, a notion which Haigh leans into without hesitation or apology. He breathes life into fantasies about the simple, the mundane, and even the unpleasant, through his phantasmic tale of a middle-aged man who wishes, more than anything, that he could have come out to his parents — and for whom loving, and being loved, involves the difficult act of letting go of that fantasy."
How to watch: All of Us Strangers opens in theatres Dec. 22.
9. Totally Killer
Okay, so it might be more comedy than horror, but Nahnatchka Khan's Totally Killer still makes the cut (no pun intended) as a glorious ode to the slasher genre. The movie follows 17-year-old Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) as she attempts to evade the Sweet 16 Killer, a masked murderer who terrified her mom's generation of teens in their small town in 1987. As Mashable's Belen Edwards writes in her review, it's a "great starter slasher."
"If you're a horror novice looking to get into slasher flicks, Totally Killer is a perfect introduction. It keeps things light enough to ease you into horror while still providing its fair share of scares. Homages to classic slashers abound, too: The Sweet 16 Killer's mask is reminiscent of Michael Myers's iconic look in Halloween, while a murder early on would be right at home as a Scream opening. Khan employs several tried and true techniques to situate us firmly in slasher territory as well, including POV shots that stalk characters when they think they're alone."
How to watch: Totally Killer is streaming now on Prime Video.
8. Evil Dead Rise
Evil Dead first splashed its way into our hearts in 1981, and over 40 years later, the franchise continues to generously provide a bloody spectacle for every generation. In Evil Dead Rise, Beth (Lily Sullivan) and Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) are two sisters forced to deal with a demon's wrath when Ellie's son, Danny (Morgan Davies), stumbles upon the Book of the Dead and mistakenly awakens the entity. What ensues is the franchise's usual over-the-top grotesqueries, from scalping and eyeball-munching to a unique use for a cheese grater. The erratically extra demon played by Sutherland is so mesmerizing you can't help but cheer for this "maggot mommy."
Sutherland's demon is an exhibitionistic, loud-mouthed circus act determined to make a jest out of ripping people to shreds. Sure, she's scary as hell, but she's also so surprisingly hilarious that you can watch her doing her thing for hours. Writer/director Lee Cronin deftly makes use of the franchise's pitch-black humor while never allowing things to get too goofy — and never skimping on great gouts of gore.* — Yasmeen Hamadeh, Freelance Contributor
How to watch: Evil Dead Rise is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
7. Perpetrator
Jennifer Reeder's bloody coming-of-age slasher refuses to be easily categorised, and it's all the better for it. The movie opens with a kidnapping, then jumps to the misadventures of rebellious teen Jonny (Kiah McKirnan), who is sent to live with her Aunt Hildie (Alicia Silverstone). Meanwhile, girls at Jonny's school are going missing, with the story melding the familiar trope of a masked serial killer with something different entirely.
"The catharsis of Perpetrator comes not just from its plot and timely themes, but from how it wields its cinematic form," writes Mashable's Belen Edwards in her review. "Thanks to Reeder's direction with editing by Justin Krohn, cinematography by Sevdije Kastrati, and a score by Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner, the film's mishmash of tone, genre, and influences is confounding yet refreshing, as wild as its young protagonists when given a chance to just be themselves. Also refreshing is seeing Silverstone in such an out-there role; not only is her performance a ton of fun, but the casting feels like a passing of the teen movie torch from classics like Clueless to something more contemporary and demented."
How to watch: Perpetrator is streaming now on Shudder.
6. Birth/Rebirth
A modern twist on the Frankenstein tale, Laura Moss's first feature follows bereaved mother Celie (Judy Reyes) as she discovers her dead daughter may not exactly be dead after all. An uncanny Marin Ireland plays morgue technician Rose Casper, the person responsible for bringing her daughter back; together, the two begin a dark and gut-wrenching journey into the realms of body horror and maternal fear.
"It's unnerving that this is Moss's directorial feature debut, because it's so damn good," writes Mashable's Kristy Puchko. "The production designer-turned-director has made a film that's ruthlessly intimate, meticulously detailed, and shiver-inducingly scary. They have taken a chunk of Mary Shelley and brought it to fresh life with a lightning jolt from the war for bodily autonomy. But within a clever concept — with added oomph by a shocking reveal — Moss has also built a story of a fascinating female friendship."
How to watch: Birth/Rebirth is streaming now on Shudder.
5. Saw X
It's an unwritten rule that sequels are rarely as good as the original, and it's even more of a stretch to imagine the tenth – yes, tenth – installment being up there with a franchise's best. But here we are. Saw X, it's probably fair to say, is not like most sequels. The movie jumps back in time to somewhere between Saw and Saw III as John Kramer (Tobin Bell) wreaks some Jigsaw-style revenge against a team of medical professionals who make the very bad mistake of trying to scam him. The film stays true to the canon while also bringing something entirely new to it.
"'We made this for the fans!' is a defense frequently trotted out in the face of critiques of franchise films," writes Siddhant Adlakha in his Mashable review. "However, there's perhaps no more apt a description of Saw X than something crafted specifically for longtime viewers. Which is not to say that it's impenetrable to outsiders — though 10 entries in, you probably know whether or not Saw is for you — but rather, that it's built on the kind of meta-textual adoration that only long-time devotees could have for a twisted serial killer who once audited freshman Philosophy 101."
How to watch: Saw X is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
4. Talk To Me
Teenagers carrying out rituals to contact the dead may have been done before, but YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou (aka RackaRacka) put their own horrifying spin on the genre in Talk To Me. This Aussie shocker is a waking nightmare wherein a group of teens using an eerily lifelike hand statue to open a door to "the other side" — with serious consequences if they don't break their hold before 90 seconds has passed.
"In the end, Talk to Me is a terrifically scary horror movie, thanks to powerful performances, creepy creature designs, a splash of blood and gore, and practical effects that'll blow your mind and chill your spine. Like its sister in Sundance 2023's Midnight slate, Birth/Rebirth, Talk to Me is the rare horror trip that knows just when to end — with a wallop," writes Kristy Puchko in her Mashable review. "If you're looking for some freaky frightening fun, be sure to reach out and touch this one."
How to watch: Talk to Me is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
3. Beau Is Afraid
Proving that you don't necessarily need pop-out monsters to be terrifying, Ari Aster's Beau Is Afraid throws viewers into a three-hour waking nightmare as the titular Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) navigates an incredibly anxiety-inducing journey to his mother's house.
"Beau Is Afraid is a challenge in that its exploration of terror doesn't allow you the reprieve typically provided in horror," writes Mashable's Kristy Puchko in her review. "There are no jump scares to give you the release of a scream. The film instead operates on a wicked sense of whimsy, propelling its protagonist forward without much respite, despite flights of fantasy. So too are we pushed to the brink, wallowing in uncertainty and anxiety, on the edge of our seats over what might come next."
How to watch: Beau Is Afraid is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
2. The Boogeyman
Following his viral success with Host in 2020, director Rob Savage adapted Stephen King's short story into a nightmarish film that plays on all our classic childhood fears. Sadie (Sophie Thatcher from Yellowjackets) is a bereaved teenager struggling with both the death of her mother and a monstrous presence hiding in the shadows of her house.
"The special sauce that makes this movie one of the most fun and thrilling of the year is the combination of a truly unnerving creature design paired with Savage's downright savage employment of it," writes Mashable's Kristy Puchko. "A predator whose territory is darkness, this boogeyman is the definition of nightmare fuel. A chittering sound design makes its call uniquely alarming as it echoes across a theater, assaulting our ears. Watching it scurry, lunge, and roar is exactly the kind of twisted treat horror fans yearn for. Go 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 horror staple, but M3GAN took things to a whole new level. Written by Malignant scribe Akela Cooper, directed by Gerard Johnstone, and made viral via TikTok and an impressive marketing campaign, this wonderfully tongue-in-cheek thriller shows what happens when AI bites back. Gemma (Allison Williams) is a toy engineer hard at work on a child-size doll dubbed M3GAN that's designed to be the perfect friend and babysitter. When she's suddenly entrusted with the care of her newly orphaned niece Cady (Violet McGraw), the overworked roboticist enlists M3GAN to help out — and, well, if this beta test went smoothly, it wouldn't be our top horror movie of the year.
"Look, let's be honest: This movie could have been incredibly stupid, and it probably would have still been fun as hell," writes Mashable's Kristy Puchko. "But this killer toy/creepy kid flick is more than meets the eye. With a thoughtful character design connected by two terrific performances, Johnstone has made a newly minted horror icon with M3GAN. Like the slashers who've stalked before her, she's got a perturbing panache that's enhanced by its subversive girliness. Her dance scene isn't just a throwaway moment of meme-able mayhem, it's an element of what makes M3GAN stand out; she is a little girl's dream toy and a parent's worst nightmare. She is complicated, compelling, and creepy as hell!"
How to watch: M3GAN is available to stream on Prime Video.
*This blurb appeared on a previous Mashable list.
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