What makes a good horror movie? Well for starters, it needs to surprise you. Horror movie plots are almost comically predictable most of the time. That doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy them, but predictability doesn’t make a stand-out movie. To be memorable, a movie needs to surprise us in some way. Horror movies are no exception.
Genuinely good horror movies also need a story. One that isn’t just a regurgitation of every other horror movie you’ve ever seen. There needs to be plot, and usually, that also means a “plot twist.”
The horror movies in this list exemplify these qualities. They’re not only good horror movies, hitting all those notes that horror fans love – creepiness, monsters, jump-scares, ridiculous gore – they’re great movies.
The Descent
This horror movie follows a group of women down a very dark path. Well, a hole, actually. A very dark hole.
The group decides it would be fun to go cave diving together, which, sure, if that’s your thing. What they don’t know is that they’ve been misled about the particular cave system they’re set to explore, and unfortunately for all of them, they’re not alone.
What makes it such a good movie?
It’s a horror movie through-and-through, but it doesn’t rely on cheap jump-scares and tired cliches to entertain. The relationships between the women are often the focus of the movie, and as with all relationships, they’re complicated.
Aside from being a “creature-feature” it also plays on some very tangible human fears of claustrophobia and darkness. You might find yourself holding your breath while watching this one, but not just because of the normal horror scares.
Hush
There are few movies that can be carried well by a small cast of characters and Hush is one of them.
The story really only follows 2 characters 99% of the time – the killer and the victim. The movie would be tense enough in general, but there’s an extra element that adds something fresh and unique to the way this horror movie plays out: The victim is deaf.
We go along for the terrifying experience of what it might be like to be attacked, alone, and unable to hear a sound.
What makes it such a good movie?
Hush plays on the main character’s deafness to create a unique horror experience out of something that could’ve been a standard entertaining horror movie. It would’ve been good, but the extra twist makes it great.
Saw
This also belongs on a list of the most memorable horror movies ever. Saw rewrote the expectations for slasher films. It’s horrifyingly gory but doesn’t rely on that alone to hold your attention.
Jigsaw was a villain seared into peoples’ minds after the first Saw movie, which introduced us to a host of bloody tortures designed to make or break the victims. That would’ve been enough, no doubt, to keep people talking about the movie, similar to how it propelled Hostel to infamy, but Saw delivered on a different level.
What makes it such a good movie?
Although the gore is memorable and the plot was fresh and interesting, the thing that made Saw the horror movie to measure other horror movies by, was the twist. Never has been more accurate to say that no one saw it coming.
Get Out
Get Out was a box office success, and not just because it was scary.
This is a slow (but never boring) build of a movie that keeps you wondering what’s going on the whole time. Nothing is what you expect.
When a young black man goes to meet his white girlfriend’s parents, race becomes a central theme of the movie. Sometimes it’s cringy, sometimes it’s thoughtful, sometimes is eery. Her parents seem to be trying a little too hard to prove they aren’t’ racist. It’s uncomfortable and makes it pretty clear that they are racist, even if not openly.
It feels like there is something else going on beyond the weird racism of the white elite parents, but you can’t quite put your finger on.
What makes it such a good movie?
You think you know what’s going on with this movie, but you really, really don’t.
Hereditary
This movie moves slow until it doesn’t.
Want uncomfortable + witchy nightmares, Hereditary is the movie for you. The story down this dark road really starts with a bang and continues straight to Creepy Town. You never know where it’s going and the images will stay with you for a while.
What makes it such a good movie?
The creepy-crawly vibes in this movie are real. It is not predictable, mostly because it’s like nothing you’ve seen before. Everything that happens to the characters feels visceral and real, sometimes in an intensely uncomfortable emotional way, sometimes in a bodies aren’t supposed to do that way.
Trick r’ Treat
A new Halloween classic, this movie celebrates the spirit of Halloween (sometimes literally) in a collection of intertwined creepy, scary, and bloody stories.
What makes it such a good movie?
Trick r’ Treat makes the list because it exudes Halloween-ness, and also because of the way all the characters’ stories intertwine and come back around to the true Spirit of Halloween.
It’s kinda like Goosebumps for grown-ups.
Doctor Sleep
Stephen King’s name goes hand-in-hand with horror, but not every movie made from a Stephen King book lives up to the hype. Doctor Sleep, fortunately, does.
The story takes place years after the famous story of The Shining and introduces us to a host of new characters as well as re-introducing us to some from the original Shining story.
What makes it such a good movie?
Stephen King books are often gruesome and uncomfortable, meshing a world that feels very real with the world of the supernatural. This movie adaptation leans into those elements and the result is a satisfying (sometimes brutal and horrifying) film.
Split
M. Night Shyamalan movies can either be incredible or famously disappointing. Either way, they tend to be something you haven’t seen before. This is the case with Split, the story of a man suffering from multiple personalities who kidnaps a group of friends for an unknown purpose.
Spoiler alert: This movie DOES NOT disappoint.
What makes it such a good movie?
James McAvoy is tasked with playing all of the villain’s personalities and does an incredibly impressive job with the wide range of characters. Aside from his performance the plot also plays with our understanding of psychology and how the mental and physical are connected.
The Cabin in the Woods
Speaking of horror movies being predictable…
Cabin in the Woods starts off with all the usual signs of a typical “cabin in the woods” massacre movie. As we get into it though, it quickly becomes clear that it’s anything but a typical horror movie.
What makes it such a good movie?
It hits all those beloved horror notes of a bunch of teenagers partying in the woods, only to get picked off one by one. What makes this horror movie exceptional is WHY our unsuspecting victims are getting picked off.
It takes what you love about a classic horror movie plot (and what we all end up screaming at the characters) and purposefully plays into that, but it turns out to be the opposite of predictable.
A Quiet Place
This movie was the talk of the town when it was first released and for good reason.
It follows a family through a dangerous new world where humans are hunted by alien creatures and any sound could give you away.
What makes it such a good movie?
A Quiet Place plays on your senses. You’ll likely find yourself holding your breath and listening for every little sound. Even though a big chunk of the movie is spent just following a family in their day-to-day life as they move through this strange new reality you never get board and the tension is near-constant.
The most interesting part of this movie is how it manages to still be a horror film while making the family and their relationships the true star of the show.
Train to Busan
Even the most cliche and b-rated zombie movie can be a hilariously fun ride. Train to Busan is a zombie movie, and will satisfy any zombie-movie enthusiast, but it goes beyond the typical.
Like A Quiet Place, the focus is often on the relationship between a father and daughter, rather than purely being about the blood and gore. It follows them as they try to escape an ever-growing horde of zombies, jumping from train-to-train to find refuge.
What makes it such a good movie?
For one, the zombies are super scary, which is great for any zombie movie. On top of that, this is one of the few zombie movies that may actually tug at your heart, or even make you shed a tear. It’s a weird, amazing mix.
