The 7 Best Blumhouse Horror Movies, Ranked

With the possible exception of its contemporary A24, no other film studio has earned as favorable a place in modern horror as Blumhouse Productions.

Since its foundation in the early 2000s, Blumhouse has become a treasure trove of first-rate horror content, capturing viewers’ interests time and time again with their ongoing list of releases, as seen with such recent hits Paranormal Activity, M3GAN, Freaky, and Get Out.

From darkly comic slasher films to topsy-turvy psychological thrillers, here are some of the greatest films we’ve seen from Blumhouse yet, ranked in order from worst to best.

7. Freaky (2020)

Like its fellow Blumhouse release Happy Death Day, Freaky provides a high-concept overhaul of the traditional slasher genre. Tacking together elements of Halloween and Friday the 13th with the body-swapping premise of Freaky Friday, Freaky sees a high school student and a notorious serial killer switching appearances with one another as a result of an inexplicable ancient curse. With cutting-edge performances from Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton, Freaky is a fresh, hilarious, at times surprisingly dark slasher most viewers will avidly adore watching.

6. Hush (2016)

Deep down, all of us fear the idea of someone attempting to break into our house in the middle of the night – the only thing preventing them from causing us irreparable harm being a thin sheet of glass and the measly lock attached to our front door. Drawing on this relatable source of anxiety for its main narrative premise, Hush offers up a tantalizing thriller that will have viewers’ on the edge of their seat throughout. A simplistic horror film which sees a hearing impaired novelist fending off a serial killer trying to break into her isolated woodland home, it’s among the finest and most hauntingly minimalist films from director Mike Flanagan yet, more than measuring up to his later work on Doctor Sleep, Midnight Mass, or The Haunting of Hill House.

5. M3GAN (2022)

More often than not, Blumhouse strives to create horror films that utilize a far more serious and/or disturbing tone. With that in mind, 2022’s M3GAN appears as a wholly different kind of horror film, one that cleverly blends disquieting thrills with a campy, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Recognizing the high-concept nature of its central plot, M3GAN allows itself to freely alternate between horror and comedy throughout its hour and 40 minute runtime. The ensuing film somehow manages to make you laugh when you least expect it, all the while causing your heart to race at its more horrific moments.

4. Paranormal Activity (2007)

One of the earliest breakthrough films that single-handedly put Blumhouse on the map, Paranormal Activity’s impact on pop culture was second only to The Blair Witch Project (a massive compliment in and of itself). Cleverly reinventing the found footage aesthetic for a new generation, Paranormal Activity also adds a whole new level of realism to supernatural horror, presenting the traditional haunted house narrative with straightforward believability and slower-paced suspense. While the series quickly became watered-down in a wave of sequels, spin-offs, and prequels, the original entry in the franchise remains a certified classic in its own right.

3. Split (2016)

M. Night Shyamalan always hands in his best work when people least expect it. Case in point with his out-of-nowhere 2016 psychological thriller, Split. Relying on several exceptional performances in one from an increasingly erratic James McAvoy, Split finds Shyamalan returning to his humble roots as a first-rate horror filmmaker akin to Hitchcock or John Carpenter. Reviving his career by the close of the decade, Split also formed a fascinating continuation of Shyamalan’s fan-favorite superhero deconstruction, Unbreakable. (Sadly, the ensuing crossover between the two, Glass, fell well below viewers’ expectations.)

2. The Invisible Man (2020)

Looking back, it’s almost hard to believe a near-unwatchable film like The Mummy resulted in a modern horror masterpiece like The Invisible Man. After failing to build their own interconnected series with the so-called Dark Universe, Universal promptly repackaged The Invisible Man as a standalone horror film in lieu of a stylized action epic. Amazingly, this decision ushered in a remarkably effective psychological horror film the likes of which viewers had seldom seen before (pun intended). Weaving in a harrowing portrayal of domestic abuse and relationship gaslighting, The Invisible Man’s slow pace, psychological suspense, and disquieting thematic subjects make it a film that easily slips beneath viewers’ skin, haunting us each from the inside out.

1. Get Out (2017)

Without a doubt the most successful entry in Blumhouse’s extensive filmography, Get Out also serves as one of the single greatest cinematic achievements of the 21st century yet. Transitioning from a career as a prolific comedian into the modern master of suspense, director Jordan Peele relies on his meticulously crafted screenplay to elicit nonstop thrills throughout Get Out. Filled with easter eggs, references, and dark plot revelations with each subsequent rewatch, Get Out is a film that remains as enjoyable now as it did upon its release in 2017, elevating Peele (and Blumhouse) to whole new heights in the entertainment industry.