100+ of the Best Horror Movies of 2023, Ranked

2023 was another great year for horror. This list ranks over 100 of the best horror movies released in 2023.

A sequel to Talk to Me was announced just over a week after the film was released in theaters.

Table of Contents

2023 was another great year for horror. There were hits from expected places like franchise sequels Saw X and Evil Dead Rise. There were surprise smashes like When Evil Lurks and Thanksgiving. There were divisive films like Skinamarink and The Outwaters. Horror fans of all tastes had a lot to choose from.

As with any year, 2023 was packed with more new horror than a single person could conceivably watch. Even so, this year’s list is more than twice the size of our Best of 2022 ranking. That way we can cover the very best horror movies, but we are also able to include as many other films that we can accurately discuss even if our enjoyment of them wasn’t nearly as high. After all, every movie has the potential to be someone’s favorite.

The only requirement for inclusion in this list as a “2023” movie is that it must have had its first wide release in North America during 2023. So, some international movies and movies with limited releases prior to 2023 are on this list, but that’s because they weren’t released widely (theatrical, digital, or physical) in North America until sometime in 2023.

The Top 10 Horror Movies of 2023

1. Talk to Me

The hand from Talk to Me.
Talk to Me was directed by brothers Michael and Danny Philippou, creators of the popular YouTube channel RackaRacka.

Talk to Me builds upon a familiar possession-movie foundation and shapes it into something completely fresh and effective. At the center of the story is an embalmed hand used by a group of friends as a party game that supposedly opens a door to the spirit world. Mia (Sophie Wilde), a young woman dealing with overwhelming feelings of grief and alienation, finds out that the game is real when a spirit attaches itself to her. Talk to Me is dark and unnerving, and it contains some of the most chilling moments of the year.

2. Godzilla Minus One

Godzilla roars in Godzilla Minus One (2023).
Godzilla Minus One is set in mid-to-late 1940s Japan, and it is set apart from all other Godzilla movies in its continuity.

Godzilla Minus One is a fantastic movie. It’s emotionally moving, it has layers of meaning, and the new Godzilla presented in the film is both exhilarating and frightening to watch. Set in Japan just after World War II, a kamikaze fighter pilot chooses to defy orders and live, but the fallout from that decision is something that follows him as he tries to reintegrate into a devastated Japanese society. Meanwhile, a giant, irradiated monster, Godzilla, further terrorizes the people of Japan after the war. For the former pilot, his war rages on.

3. When Evil Lurks

When Evil Lurks (2023)
When Evil Lurks is from filmmaker Demián Rugna.

When Evil Lurks is one of the most disturbing horror movies of the year. It is a supernatural horror film about two brothers and their attempts to stop a demonic entity that they inadvertently help unleash. Every step of the way the brothers make things worse, leading to some truly horrific moments of violence. When Evil Lurks is recommended for viewers in the mood for something unsettling.

4. Project Wolf Hunting

The alpha in Project Wolf Hunting (2022).
Project Wolf Hunting was originally released in theaters in South Korea on September 21, 2022, then given a wide release in North America on February 14, 2023.

Project Wolf Hunting is likely the goriest movie of the year. It is a sci-fi action horror splatter movie from South Korea, and it is fantastic. A group of dangerous criminals are transported by ship from the Philippines to South Korea, but a plot to break them out of police custody leads to mass murder. To make matters worse, a genetically altered monster of a man is also on board, and his only goal is to kill anything that moves. The plot of Project Wolf Hunting is surprisingly twisty, but the main appeal here is the action. The battles are extremely over-the-top, with broken bodies flying and blood flowing in torrents. No one is safe aboard this ship of death.

5. Evil Dead Rise

Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie in Evil Dead Rise.
Evil Dead Rise is a standalone movie, but it could be considered to exist within the larger Evil Dead universe.

Evil Dead Rise, from writer/director Lee Cronin, is another incredible entry in what is possibly the most consistently awesome horror franchise in existence. For starters, transposing the “cabin in the woods” feel of most of the earlier Evil Dead movies into a rundown apartment building works perfectly. Also, the new story about a woman protecting her sister’s children from their Deadite mother works on multiple levels. Perhaps most importantly though, Evil Dead Rise builds its violence and gore to ridiculously fun heights.

6. The Outwaters

Robbie tries to hold on to his sense of self in The Outwaters (2022).
Robbie Banfitch is writer and director of The Outwaters. He also stars in the movie as Robbie Zagorac.

The Outwaters is a mesmerizing found-footage movie that emphasizes visceral terror over plot. Four friends venture into the Mojave Desert to shoot a music video. While camping in the desolate area, they begin to encounter strange, inexplicable phenomena. Their trip then turns into a nightmare as they become separated and pursued by… something in the desert. The Outwaters won’t be for everyone, but for those interested in a grueling experience of first-person horror that is intentionally disorienting, it’s one of the best of the year.

7. Infinity Pool

Mia Goth laughs as she points a gun in Infinity Pool (2023).
Mia Goth (pictured) and Alexander Skarsgård (not pictured) star in Infinity Pool, written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg.

What would you do if you could get away with murder (and any other crimes you can think of)? To oversimplify, that’s the basic question posed by Infinity Pool. The film is about a couple, James (Alexander SkarsgÃ¥rd) and Em (Cleopatra Coleman), who run into trouble with the law while vacationing in a foreign country. James is sentenced to death, but the local government offers a special incentive for wealthy tourists that allows them to walk away after certain payments and actions are completed. James then falls in with a group of fellow tourists, led by Gabi (Mia Goth), who take full advantage of their privileged status by going on binges of sex, drugs, and murder. Infinity Pool is uncomfortable and grotesque, and it’s the kind of movie that will stick with you days after watching.

8. Birth/Rebirth

Judy Reyes and Marin Ireland in Birth/Rebirth.
Judy Reyes and Marin Ireland star in Birth/Rebirth, which was directed by Laura Moss.

Birth/Rebirth is an incredibly tense and uncomfortable movie about motherhood as inspired by Frankenstein. A warm and caring mother, Celie, suddenly loses her daughter Lila to bacterial meningitis. A cold and solitary morgue technician, Rose, uses Celie’s daughter in a secret experiment to revive the dead. The two women are brought together by Lila, and Birth/Rebirth examines the lengths they will each go to in order to keep the girl “alive,” while also exploring what life really is.

9. Scream VI

Ghostface in Scream VI.
Scream VI delivers more of what the franchise is known for.

Much like with Scream (2022), Scream VI gives the long-running franchise a fresh feel while delivering a familiar, but hopefully not too familiar, experience. Sisters Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega) are living in New York City with fellow survivors Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding) when the Ghostface killings begin again. The movie has enough twists to keep viewers guessing until the end, and there is plenty of gore for fans expecting an increase in violence in this sequel. Tense and bloody, Scream VI is a great time.

10. A Haunting in Venice

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in A Haunting in Venice (2023).
A Haunting in Venice is inspired by Agatha Christie’s 1969 novel Hallowe’en Party. (pictured: Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot)

More non-horror film franchises should take a chance on the genre. A Haunting in Venice is the third murder mystery in the series featuring Kenneth Branagh as the literary detective Hercule Poirot, and it is the first of the series to attempt a spooky atmosphere. In the film, Poirot is retired from detecting, but he is convinced to attend a Halloween party with the enticement that he can help expose a popular spiritual medium as a fraud. A murder occurs, and Poirot can’t help but attempt to solve the case. To complicate matters, Poirot’s logical mind is tested by ghostly happenings throughout the night. A Haunting in Venice is a classical whodunit that looks gorgeous and fits in perfectly with the Halloween season.

2023 Horror Movies Ranked 11-50

11. The Blackening

The Blackening (2023)
The main cast of The Blackening includes Antoinette Robertson, Grace Byers, Melvin Gregg, Sinqua Walls, Jermaine Fowler, Dewayne Perkins, and X Mayo.

With its pop-culture references and characters who are fully aware of horror movie tropes, The Blackening is a slasher comedy that is a bit like Scream in some ways, but with a much stronger emphasis on comedy over horror. And, most importantly, The Blackening skewers horror cliches from the perspective of an all-Black main cast. The best moments in The Blackening nearly all come from the banter between its lead actors who genuinely feel like longtime friends riffing on each other throughout the deadly ordeal they find themselves in.

12. Saw X

Tobin Bell as John Kramer in Saw X (2023).
Tobin Bell (pictured) returns in Saw X as John Kramer, as does Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young. One other surprise returner is in Saw X, but we won’t spoil that here.

Saw X distills the sprawling Saw franchise down to its most interesting parts: John Kramer, Amanda Young, and bloody traps. Set between Saw (2004) and Saw II (2005), Saw X eschews the convoluted drama that grew out of control in the continuing sequels, and it instead focuses on showing us a different side of the Jigsaw Killer. Kramer has never been this sympathetic, and that serves to heighten the intrigue for a character, a villain, filled with contradictions that feel so agonizingly human. Also, at times the gore borders on ridiculous which is also fun.

13. Do Not Disturb

Do Not Disturb (2023)
Kimberly Laferriere stars in Do Not Disturb.

Do Not Disturb was one of the best surprises of the year. It is a relationship drama by way of a psychedelic drug movie and a bloody horror film. The story is about a man and a woman who are making one last effort to set their rocky relationship in the right direction. While vacationing in Miami, they come into possession of drugs that, when taken, awaken something dark within them. Peppered with dark humor and covered in blood and severed body parts, Do Not Disturb is something that should be watched without knowing any of the twists it takes.

14. 15 Cameras

Angela Wong Carbone and Will Madden star in 15 Cameras.
Angela Wong Carbone and Will Madden star in 15 Cameras.

Sky and Cam buy a duplex to live in, knowing it used to be owned by a notorious voyeur and serial killer. The previous owner, known in true-crime media as The Slumlord, is presumed dead, but Sky’s growing obsession with The Slumlord’s story brings up fears the he might still be alive and watching. Meanwhile, Cam discovers that their new home still has cameras hidden throughout, and he finds a secret bunker that allows him to spy on his new neighbors. 15 Cameras is built upon the tension created by the obsession of watching others while fearing you’re being watched yourself, and it executes its tension extremely well.

15. Sick

A knife stabs up through a raft in Sick (2023).
Sick was co-written by Kevin Williamson (along with Katelyn Crabb) who is best known for writing Scream (1996) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997).

Timely horror can be a tricky thing to pull off. Released on Peacock in January of 2023, a movie about masks and self-quarantine could very easily turn people away if this highly-charged topic isn’t handled well. Thankfully, Sick gets just about everything right. Sick stars Gideon Adlon and Beth Million as Parker and Miri, two friends who are spending quarantine in Parker’s family lake house. Their first night in isolation turns deadly when a masked man with a knife arrives. Sick is a straightforward slasher movie with great chases, good kills, and just enough dark comedy to make it fun.

16. The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster

Layla DeLeon Hayes as Vicaria in The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster.
The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster is a modern retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Vicaria (Layla DeLeon Hayes) is a brilliant young woman living in a community that is constantly under the shadows of drugs and violence. Her mother died when Vicaria was a child, and her older brother Chris (Edem Atsu-Swanzy) was recently killed after falling into a life controlled by a local gang. Determined to cure the disease of death, Vicaria uses her scientific mind to bring Chris back to life, but how will he react to a world that already saw him as a monster before he was killed and resurrected? From writer/director Bomani J. Story, The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster is a visually interesting movie that presents compelling storytelling through a monster-movie aesthetic.

17. Meg 2: The Trench

Meg 2: The Trench (2023)
Meg 2: The Trench is very loosely based on the novel The Trench by Steve Alten.

Meg 2: The Trench is like two movies in one. For about the first half of its runtime, it is a survival horror film about a group of people led by Jonas (Jason Statham) who accidentally uncover an illegal mining operation deep underwater. Then, when the survivors make it to the surface, the movie turns into an over-the-top action movie with aquatic monsters, ridiculous sequences, and many people getting eaten. All together, it’s great fun for people who enjoy cheesy shark/monster movies.

18. Unicorn Wars

A terrified teddy bear defends itself against a raging unicorn in Unicorn Wars (2022).
Unicorn Wars was released in its home country of Spain in October of 2022, and it won Best Animated Film at Spain’s Goya Awards in 2023.

Unicorn Wars is a beautiful and horrific movie. It is funny and disturbing. Cute and cruel. The usage of candy-colored animation to tell a story about fascism, religious fanaticism, deep-seated family trauma, and other related themes is a bold decision, and it works fantastically. There is a lot going on in Unicorn Wars, but the main thrust of the narrative follows two teddy bear brothers: Bluey (or Azulín) and Tubby (or Gordi). The brothers are recruits in a teddy bear army that is fighting a generations-long war against its hated enemy, the unicorns. The war, based on lies and religious doctrine, brings out the worst in Bluey who is driven to perform increasingly sadistic actions while the good-natured Tubby watches in horror. With extreme violence and mature themes, Unicorn Wars will stand the test of time as one of the most unique and intriguing war/horror movies ever.

19. The Conference

The Conference
The killer in The Conference wears a mask meant to be used as a mascot for the shopping center being built on land unethically taken from the local population.

The Conference is a good Swedish slasher movie with a nice balance of comedy and horror. The kills can be brutal, and the funny parts aren’t so campy that they make the movie an all-out comedy. It is about a group of co-workers who travel to a remote resort for a team-building retreat, but a mysterious killer in a mask shows up to take them out one by one. It has a classic feel that will satisfy longtime slasher fans, but it also has a few clever twists that keep it from being a stale retread of so many slashers that have come before.

20. Cobweb

Cobweb (2023)
Cobweb stars (pictured, from left) Lizzy Caplan, Woody Norman, and Antony Starr. Cleopatra Coleman (not pictured) also stars.

From director Samuel Bodin, the co-writer and director of the chilling Netflix series Marianne, Cobweb feels like a twisted and extremely dark fairy tale. A young boy, Peter, hears noises in his bedroom walls at night, but his parents dismiss his fears. As the taps turn into something else, Peter becomes increasingly aware that his parents may have a dark secret. The strongest features of Cobweb are its creepy visuals, but its story is also quite engaging.

21. Dark Harvest

Dark Harvest
Dark Harvest was finally released in 2023 after lengthy delays.

Dark Harvest is kind of like The Purge mixed with It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. In a small, isolated town in 1963, the teenage boys of the population take part in an annual tradition near Halloween. They are locked in their rooms for a few days to make them hungry and angry, then they are let loose to hunt and kill a pumpkin-headed monster that rises from the town’s fields once a year. It’s an odd premise, but it makes enough sense when you let the movie carry you along with it. Dark Harvest also looks really nice, and the monster-filled violence is highly entertaining.

22. Huesera: The Bone Woman

Natalia Solián as Valeria in Huesera: The Bone Woman.
Natalia Solián stars in Huesera: The Bone Woman as Valeria.

Huesera: The Bone Woman is a pregnancy/motherhood horror movie that uses folk horror to express some of its themes. Valeria becomes pregnant, and at first it seems like everything she ever wanted. But as her husband and family begin treating her differently, and as the changes a new baby will bring begin to dawn on her, Valeria begins to feel a growing sense of anxiety. She is also haunted by a presence that brings her whole life into question. Quietly chilling, Huesera: The Bone Woman builds to an impressive conclusion that is completely driven by the movie’s strong focus on character.

23. Knock at the Cabin

Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rupert Grint (face covered), Dave Bautista, and Abby Quinn in Knock at the Cabin.
Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rupert Grint (face covered), Dave Bautista, and Abby Quinn play four strangers who impose an impossible choice on a family of three.

M. Night Shyamalan‘s Knock at the Cabin poses an impossible question: would you willingly choose to sacrifice a member of your family in order to save the world? Relying heavily on themes of religion and the supernatural clashing with skepticism, Knock at the Cabin is more of a philosophical mystery than it is a horror movie. However, there are some horrific things that happen in the film. The movie is filled with great performances, with Dave Bautista in particular standing out as a man who is endearing, frightening, chilling, and sad all at the same time. Knock at the Cabin is inspired by the novel The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul G. Tremblay.

24. It Lives Inside

It Lives Inside (2023).
Megan Suri stars in It Lives Inside as Sam, a teenager who shuns her Indian heritage while trying to fit in at school.

It’s always great when an underutilized mythological creature is highlighted in a horror movie. In It Lives Inside, that creature is a Pishacha of Hindu mythology, a shapeshifting entity that feeds on negative emotions. The creature attaches itself to Samidha (who prefers to go by Sam) after she distances herself from her heritage and denies help to her former best friend. Heavy on metaphors but also managing to deliver nice scares, It Lives Inside works extremely well.

25. The Last Voyage of the Demeter

Dracula in The Last Voyage of the Demeter.
Co-writer of the screenplay, Bragi F. Schut, conceived of the idea for The Last Voyage of the Demeter more than two decades before the movie was finally completed and released.

Based on the chapter in the novel Dracula in which the eponymous vampire travels by ship to England, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a movie in the vein of Alien (1979) in which a small group of people are trapped in close quarters with a deadly monster. The story focuses on Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a man trained as a doctor but not allowed to practice because of the color of his skin. Clemens joins the crew of the Demeter, the ill-fated ship carrying a monstrous version Count Dracula. Dark and gory, The Last Voyage of the Demeter does an admirable job of crafting a new spin on an under-explored part of Dracula’s legacy.

26. Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving (2023)
Thanksgiving was inspired by the fake trailer of the same name that director Eli Roth made for Grindhouse (2007).

Thanksgiving is a fun slasher movie that feels like a throwback to past eras of the subgenre. Though it doesn’t feel at all like the fake trailer that inspired it, it feels more like an early 2000s remake of the movie that the fake trailer was advertising. Thanksgiving has some fun kills and lots of dark comedy. It is also a whodunit style of slasher, and even though the mystery isn’t too mysterious, it is quite fun.

27. Cocaine Bear

The cocaine bear sitting in a doorway.
Cocaine Bear is very loosely inspired by true events.

Directed by Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear is a silly animal-attack movie about a bear high on copious amounts of cocaine. The movie’s goal is to feel like a bigger-budget B-movie, and it certainly achieves that goal. With brutal bear attacks filled with gore and a cast full of cartoonish characters, Cocaine Bear is a great movie when you want to turn your brain off and watch something dumb and violent.

28. No One Will Save You

No One Will Save You
Kaitlyn Dever stars in No One Will Save You.

No One Will Save You is a nearly wordless exercise in home-invasion, psychological, and sci-fi horror. Brynn lives alone in a large house on the outskirts of a small town. She maintains a solitary existence, with something in her past keeping her from interacting with other people, and keeping them from interacting with her. One night something enters her home. Something alien. The ending of No One Will Save You might be divisive for some, but the tense action leading up to the finale is excellent.

29. Re/Member

The red person in Re/Member (2022).
Re/Member is based on the story Karadasagashi (“body search”) which began as a web novel and was adapted into a manga of the same name.

Released on Netflix, Re/Member is a Japanese horror movie that uses a time-loop structure like Happy Death Day (2017) and Groundhog Day (1993). Six high-school students are chosen, and they are forced to relive the same day over and over. The only way to break the time loop is by finding and reassembling all of the dismembered body parts of a young girl killed years ago. A “red person,” the spirit of the young girl, stalks them during their scavenger hunt, murdering the students in horrible ways, only for them to wake up and repeat the process until they complete their goal. With high-school drama, lots of blood, and a creepy monster, Re/Member is an entertaining teen horror movie.

30. Renfield

Nicholas Hoult is Renfield in Renfield.
Nicholas Hoult stars as Dracula’s familiar, Renfield.

Prior to this year, if fans of Universal’s classic Dracula (1931) were to think what a movie about Dracula’s servant Renfield might look like, Renfield probably isn’t what they would conjure in their mind. That’s not a bad thing though. Renfield is a fun movie that works well as a silly comedy. It is a cross between a horror comedy and a crime thriller, and it is held together by a strong cast. Nicholas Hoult and Awkwafina are a great leading pair, Ben Schwartz is entertainingly goofy as a crime boss’s son, and Nicolas Cage is the best as a maniacal version of Count Dracula. Renfield is mostly all about laughs and bloody action sequences, and it has a lot of fun delivering both.

31. Totally Killer

Totally Killer
Totally Killer is a light slasher comedy.

Kiernan Shipka stars in Totally Killer as a teenager, Jamie Hughes, who travels back in time while attempting to escape from the masked “Sweet Sixteen Killer.” Jamie lands in 1987, just days before the Sweet Sixteen Killer is going to have his first murder spree in which he will kill the friends of Jamie’s mother. Now Jamie is in a race against time to stop the killer while finding a way back home before she is trapped in the past. Totally Killer is fueled by nostalgia and jokes, both of which work well more often than not.

32. Unwelcome

Hannah John-Kamen as Maya in Unwelcome.
Director Jon Wright likens his movie Unwelcome to “Gremlins meets Straw Dogs.” (pictured: Hannah John-Kamen as Maya)

Unwelcome feels like a glorious throwback to the time in the 1980s when horror movies with tiny creatures were all the rage. Hannah John-Kaman stars as Maya, a pregnant woman who, with her husband Jamie (Douglas Booth), move from a small London apartment to a large house in a small village in Ireland. The move comes after a violent home invasion, so Maya and Jamie are hoping to start a new life free of fear. Unfortunately for them, they are now living next to a forest where murderous goblins known as Redcaps are said to live. With good performances and a great mixture of practical and digital effects, Unwelcome is campy, bloody, and super fun.

33. Shaky Shivers

VyVy Nguyen and Brooke Markham star as best friends Karen and Lucy in Shaky Shivers.
VyVy Nguyen and Brooke Markham star as best friends Karen and Lucy in Shaky Shivers.

Shaky Shivers is easily one of the best comedies of 2023. The movie opens with friends Lucy and Karen preparing to deal with a major problem. Lucy was cursed by woman with leaves and twigs in her hair, and now Lucy believes she will turn into a werewolf. She does turn into a werewolf, but that is only the beginning of a series of misadventures Lucy and Karen have as their shared supernatural problems get worse and worse. Shaky Shivers is often hilarious, and its monster effects (there are more monsters than just a werewolf) are quite good.

34. Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor
Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor is from the mastermind behind all of the Hell House LLC movies, Stephen Cagnetti (not pictured).

Despite being the fourth movie in the franchise, you don’t need to see any of the previous movies to enjoy Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor. Of course, people who follow the series will get more out of it since it does have direct connections to the other films, but even going in blind, Carmichael Manor is a supremely creepy found-footage horror movie. Or, it’s more accurate to describe it as a pseudo-documentary. The movie is presented as a documentary featuring the last known footage of three people investigating a supposedly haunted house. It uses the format well, making the unnerving clown mannequins found inside the house utterly chilling.

35. M3GAN: Unrated

M3GAN
M3GAN was a sure-fire hit even before it was released, going viral thanks to the instantly engaging antics of M3GAN in the various trailers and teasers.

M3GAN needs no introduction to horror fans. From her viral dancing to her cheerfully blunt attitude, the killer doll landed in theaters in January to high praise. M3GAN became the first horror hit of 2023, and the film’s success reaffirmed the value of PG-13 horror while also guaranteeing a sequel (coming in 2025). That said, the unrated version is even better. Is M3GAN the beginning of a franchise that will one day rival Chucky’s decades of killer-doll dominance? Time will tell, but for now, people can’t seem to get enough of M3GAN.

36. Haunted Mansion

LaKeith Stanfield in Haunted Mansion.
LaKeith Stanfield (pictured in the foreground) stars in Haunted Mansion along with Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, and Danny DeVito.

Haunted Mansion is a light and funny haunted-house movie that is entertaining for people of any age. In other words, it delivers exactly what you would expect and everything you could hope for from a movie based on a ride at Disney theme parks. The cast is great, the script is heartwarming, and the ghosts are fun.

37. Influencer

Emily Tennant and Cassandra Naud in Influencer.
Influencer won Best Thriller Feature at the 2022 Nightmares Film Festival in Columbus, Ohio.

Influencer is a twisty thriller that begins by following an influencer, Madison (Emily Tennant), on a trip to Thailand. Her cheerful social media posts are in stark contrast to her lonely and solitary experience. Madison’s working vacation starts to turn around when she meets a mysterious young woman named CW (Cassandra Naud), but CW’s words and actions hint that her true intentions for Madison might not be completely on the level. Influencer is tense and engaging, and its twists will likely surprise most viewers.

38. Suitable Flesh

Heather Graham in Suitable Flesh.
Suitable Flesh is based on the story “The Thing on the Doorstep” by H.P. Lovecraft. (pictured: Heather Graham)

Suitable Flesh is a Lovecraftian horror movie from director Joe Lynch (Mayhem, Wrong Turn 2) that echoes the classic Lovecraft adaptations by director Stuart Gordon. A psychiatrist, Elizabeth Derby (Heather Graham), becomes unusually attracted to a patient of hers, Asa Waite (Judah Lewis). Asa has a problem he needs help with involving his father and the entity he believes is attempting to jump from his father’s body into his own. What follows is a steamy and bloody horror film about body swapping that contains a superb final act.

39. You’re Killing Me

McKaley Miller in You're Killing Me (2023).
McKaley Miller stars as Eden, a young woman who discovers a dark secret.

When Eden attends a party thrown at the house of her school’s resident rich-kid, she doesn’t know her night will turn into a fight for survival. In something akin to a reverse home invasion movie, Eden becomes trapped inside the house as three of her classmates try to retrieve a phone from her that contains a video incriminating them in a horrific crime. With tense action and surprising twists, You’re Killing Me is a great choice for fans of thrillers.

40. Cube

A man has his torso cubed in Cube (2021).
This version of Cube is a Japanese remake of the 1997 Cube.

Originally released in Japan in 2021 and finally brought to North America in 2023 via Screambox, Cube (2021) starts off with a similar setup to the original. Six people wake up inside a cubic room with six doors, only to discover that each door leads to another room that is nearly identical. As they try to find a way out, they must contend with deadly traps while trying to work together despite clashing personalities. When compared to the original, this Japanese version heightens the emotional drama of its story while playing little more loose with the rules of the traps.

41. Deliver Us

Maria Vera Ratti in Deliver Us (2023).
Maria Vera Ratti stars as a nun whose surprise pregnancy sets off a religious crisis.

Twins born to a nun through immaculate conception. A prophecy of the birth of the Messiah and the Antichrist. A ruthless sect of believers determined to eliminate the children by any means necessary. And a skeptical priest taking one last assignment before leaving the Church and becoming “a good Christian rather than a bad priest.” These are the elements that make up Deliver Us, a dark and glooomy religious horror/thriller movie. Though Deliver Us takes some potentially unnecessary detours on its way to its inevitable conclusion, there are a few nice surprises and lots of beautiful imagery to keep you engaged in the story.

42. The Puppetman

The Puppetman
Alyson Gorske stars in The Puppetman.

The Puppetman is a nicely eerie supernatural horror film that plays out like a movie about a curse. Michal (Alyson Gorske) witnessed her father kill her mother when she was a child, and what she saw still haunts her to this day. Her father is on death row, and as his execution nears, Michal begins to experience inexplicable phenomena that are uncomfortably close to what her father described after his awful deed so many years ago.

43. There’s Something Wrong with the Children

There's Something Wrong with the Children (2023)
Briella Guiza (pictured) and David Mattle play disturbing young siblings Lucy and Spencer.

There’s Something Wrong with the Children is like The Bad Seed (1956) crossed with a sci-fi monster movie. The story follows two married couples vacationing in neighboring cabins in the woods. One couple has kids, a young girl and boy, and the other couple is childless. The kids begin acting oddly after they visit a strange pit in the woods, and the four adults are in for a day and night of terror as the children become increasingly dangerous. The movie throws in a bit of psychological horror as the plot unfolds, but in the end There’s Something Wrong with the Children turns out to be a good monster movie with a few really nice twists.

44. Signal 100

Signal 100
Signal 100 was originally released in Japan in 2020, but it finally came to the United States in January of 2023 thanks to Screambox.

Seemingly inspired by the “battle royale” subgenre, Signal 100 is a Japanese thriller that contains lots of blood, violence, and high-school drama. Students are hypnotized by their teacher so that whenever they or their classmates perform certain actions, they are compelled to immediately commit suicide. There are 100 “signals” which trigger the suicide conditioning, and the students have to figure out what the triggers are if they want to survive through the night. Signal 100 is a bit campy and doesn’t always make absolute sense, but it’s still a whole lot of fun.

45. The Exorcist: Believer

The Exorcist: Believer
The Exorcist: Believer was directed by David Gordon Green. (pictured: Lidya Jewett and Olivia O’Neill)

As a legacy sequel to the original The Exorcist from 1973, The Exorcist: Believer stumbles. But when viewing it as an unrelated movie about demonic possession, it definitely has its moments. The story focuses on a father, Victor (Leslie Odom Jr.), and his daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett). Angela and her friend disappear for three days after taking an ill-advised trip through the woods, and when they come back home, they bring something with them. With the girls possessed, Victor struggles to reconcile his beliefs (and disbeliefs) with what he is witnessing as he tries to save his daughter.

46. Bad CGI Gator

Bad CGI Gator
Bad CGI Gator comes from Full Moon Features.

Bad CGI Gator is an animal-attack movie with an alligator as its monster, but it is best categorized as a satire film. The CGI gator is poorly rendered on purpose, lightly mocking the countless modern movies that overuse underdeveloped computer generated effects. The movie itself is a goofy comedy, and, at just under an hour in length, it delivers lots of laughs and eye-rolls at a rapid pace.

47. Enys Men

Mary Woodvine in Enys Men (2023).
Enys Men was shot on 16 mm film. (pictured: Mary Woodvine)

Enys Men is a beautiful movie. It is shot on film, and it genuinely looks like it came out of the past. The story is about a woman living alone on a small and isolated island. The woman has a routine she follows every day in which she documents the growth and changes (if any) of a group of flowers. As the movie moves along, a mystery about a horrific event is touched on that may or may not be solved by the movie’s end. Hypnotic and meditative, metaphysical and mysterious, Enys Men is great if you can connect with its esoteric method of storytelling.

48. Appendage

Appendage (2023)
Hadley Robinson stars in Appendage as Hannah.

Appendage is a body horror movie that would pair well with something like Basket Case (1982). In Appendage, Hannah is a fashion designer who struggles mightily with her self-confidence. One day she finds that she has a growth forming on her side, and the growth quickly turns into something that exacerbates her downward spiral of self-doubt. Appendage is a dark comedy with some crystal-clear metaphors.

49. Family Dinner

Family Dinner (2022)
Family Dinner is an Austrian film from writer/director Peter Hengl.

Family Dinner has a creeping, measured pace that won’t work for some viewers, but if you like slow-burn psychological horror, then Family Dinner provides a feast. Simi (Nina Katlein) is a young woman who wants to lose weight, so she decides to stay with her nutritionist aunt in her country home for a few days. Simi slowly discovers that there is something unusual about her aunt and her aunt’s family, but that realization may come too late. Though sometimes referred to as a mystery, one of the best things Family Dinner does is to tell the audience almost exactly what’s going to happen, and it then forces you to watch as the characters make agonizing decisions.

50. The Pope’s Exorcist

Russell Crowe in The Pope's Exorcist.
Russell Crowe stars in The Pope’s Exorcist as Father Gabriel Amorth, a real Catholic priest who supposedly performed over 50,000 exorcisms in his lifetime.

The trailer for The Pope’s Exorcist looked like the movie might be incredibly campy, and though the movie does get fairly silly in its depiction of an exorcism performed on a possessed boy in Spain, it might’ve been even better if it had leaned into into the campiness a bit more. As it is, The Pope’s Exorcist is a good time thanks in large part to the always-charismatic presence of Russell Crowe.

2023 Horror Movies Ranked 51-85

51. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

Eiji Akaso as Akira Tendo in Zom 100.
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is adapted from the manga of the same name written by Haro Aso and illustrated by Kotaro Takata. There is also an anime series based on the manga which began airing in July of 2023.

A zombie apocalypse isn’t always a bad thing. For Akira Tendo (Eiji Akaso), waking up to a world overrun with the living dead means he is free from the living hell of his job. Now, he sets out to do everything he ever wanted to do in life before he joins the ranks of the undead. Zom 100 is a cute zombie comedy that can get a bit melodramatic and very silly at times, but it’s great for viewers looking for a light and cheerful zombie film.

52. Murdercise

Kansas Bowling as Phoebe in Murdercise (2023).
Kansas Bowling stars as Phoebe, a disturbed fitness advocate who has trouble controlling her murderous tendencies.

Murdercise is a low-budget slasher comedy made for fans of campy slasher cheese. It can be seen as an homage to low-budget 1980s slashers like Killer Workout (1987) and Death Spa (1989), and admirers of those films will likely get the most out of Murdercise. In the movie, Phoebe is cast in a workout video put together by a mafia boss’s wife and a sleazy director. Phoebe just wants to make the best aerobics video she can, but when her fellow cast members don’t share her vision, she takes matters into her own blood-soaked hands.

53. There’s Something in the Barn

An elf in There's Something in the Barn.
There’s Something in the Barn is good seasonal horror, but it probably won’t become a yearly tradition for most.

An American family of four moves to a remote house in Norway. The father, Bill (Martin Starr), plans to open a bed and breakfast in the barn of his deceased uncle’s Norwegian home, but his wife (Amrita Acharia), daughter (Zow Winther-Hansen), and son (Townes Bunner) aren’t so keen on the idea. As the family drifts apart internally, the son discovers an elf living in the barn. But there are strict rules for a barn elf, and breaking the rules can be deadly. There’s Something in the Barn is a horror comedy that takes its time getting to the horror, but its fun once the elves attack.

54. Beaten to Death

Thomas Roach as Jack in Beaten to Death (2022).
Beaten to Death is an Australian horror movie from director Sam Curtain. (pictured: Thomas Roach as Jack)

Beaten to Death begins with, unsurprisingly, with a man being beaten. That man is Jack, and his struggle to survive is the focal point of the film. Through subsequent beatings, various attempts to escape, and flashbacks, viewers gain insight into the decisions that led Jack to the situation he is currently in. Beaten to Death is bloody and gruesome, and it is for horror and thriller fans in the mood for something dark and grueling.

55. Sister Death

Sister Death (2023)
Sister Death is a prequel to Verónica (2017). (pictured in the center: Aria Bedmar as Sister Narcisa)

Sister Death is a beautifully-shot film that is strongest when it comes to its visual storytelling. The pace of the movie is rather methodical, meaning fans of slower movies will get the most out of it. The story is about a novice nun, Narcisa, who carries with her the reputation of having a religious experience as a child that affected many people. Now, Narcisa struggles with her place in the Church as she is called to teach at a school for girls. While there, Narcisa encounters a dark presence that will forever change her.

56. The Nun II

Bonnie Aarons as The Nun, and Taissa Farmiga as Sister Irene in The Nun II.
The Nun II is the eighth official entry in the Conjuring universe. (pictured: Bonnie Aarons as The Nun, and Taissa Farmiga as Sister Irene)

The Nun II improves on its predecessor, 2018’s The Nun, providing a better story, better characters, and a more interesting overall appeal. This followup picks up the story of The Nun a few years after the finale of the first movie, and it involves Sister Irene tracking the demon Valak’s activities after it escaped from the monastery she though she’d sealed it in. The story does take a backseat to the scares a lot of the time, but the spectacle of it all is enjoyable. The connections to the wider Conjuring franchise are also nice treats for enthusiastic followers of the entire series.

57. The Boogeyman

The Boogeyman (2023)
The Boogeyman was directed by Rob Savage, director of Host (2020) and Dashcam (2021). (pictured: Vivien Lyra Blair as Sawyer in The Boogeyman)

The Boogeyman is a supernatural creature feature in the vein of films like Darkness Falls (2003) and Lights Out (2016). Inspired by the 1973 short story of the same title by Stephen King, The Boogeyman is about two girls, Sadie and Sawyer (Sophie Thatcher and Vivien Lyra Blair), grieving the death of their mother. Their father, Will (Chris Messina), has become emotionally distant after the tragedy, and when the girls begin encountering a monster that lives in the dark, they believe they have to face it on their own. The Boogeyman tries for some heavy emotional metaphors from time to time, but in the end it becomes a monster movie that doesn’t always live up to its potential.

58. Visitors: Complete Edition

Visitors: Complete Edition
Visitors: Complete Edition is an extended version of the short film Visitors from 2021. Both the original short (which serves as the first part of the complete edition) and the expanded story are by filmmaker Kenichi Ugana.

Visitors: Complete Edition is a strange horror comedy from Japan. Influences from the early Evil Dead movies are unmistakable. There are giggling demonic possessions, buckets blood and other fluids, and even chainsaws. The story is somewhat light, focusing primarily on a trio of possessed people and a man who isn’t possessed. The man is drawn into an odd friendship with the overly-happy demons to whom he warms up to over time. Visitors: Complete Edition is goofy and good.

59. The Sacrifice Game

The Sacrifice Game
The Sacrifice Game is set in 1971, and it does a good job of making most of its retro aesthetic.

In The Sacrifice Game, a pair of girls are left behind at their private school for girls during the Christmas holiday break. Staying with them is one of the teachers and a male member of the staff who also happens to be their teacher’s boyfriend. Meanwhile, a quartet of killers planning to perform a cult ritual on Christmas is heading towards the school. When the two groups meet, The Sacrifice Game really picks up. Part 1970s exploitation throwback, part twisty supernatural horror, this is a good Christmas horror movie that takes some interesting and odd turns.

60. Jethica

Jethica (2023)
Co-star Calle Hernandez (seen here on the left, with Ashley Denise Robinson on the right) also co-wrote the script for Jethica.

Jethica is a dark, deadpan comedy about a woman whose stalker finds her even after he’s dead. Jessica (Ashley Denise Robinson) randomly runs into her old friend from high school, Elena (Calle Hernandez), while in New Mexico. The two of them reconnect, and Elena learns that Jessica is running away from a stalker she had back in Los Angeles. Jessica’s stalker arrives… but he’s a ghost. The rest of the movie is about how Elena tries to help Jessica with her ghostly problem. The humor in Jethica is about as dry as the New Mexican desert Elena lives in (which isn’t a complaint).

61. Insidious: The Red Door

Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
Patrick Wilson costars in Insidious: The Red Door. He also directed it.

Insidious: The Red Door is a followup to Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013). It focuses on Dalton (Ty Simpkins), who as a child was nearly lost in The Further. Dalton is now headed off to college, but his memories of his supernatural experiences have been repressed. Also repressed are the memories of Dalton’s father, Josh (Patrick Wilson). Both father and son can sense that something is wrong, and a particularly influential class unexpectedly begins to open a door that Dalton would be better off sealing shut. Insidious: The Red Door never reaches the creepy heights of the first two films in the franchise, but it has its moments.

62. Herd

Herd (2023)
Mitzi Akaha and Ellen Adair star as Alex and Jamie in Herd.

Herd is advertised as a zombie movie, but it really succeeds more as a relationship drama set in an apocalyptic scenario (which just happens to have zombies in it). The tension built around the relationship of Alex and Jamie is very well done. Alex and Jamie go on a trip together with Alex hoping to fix their issues, but with Jamie resisting attempts at reconciliation. Even though they are separating, they are forced together when zombies start appearing. They are then thrust into a situation where they have to deal with a fight that isn’t their own, among people who wouldn’t approve of their relationship.

63. Slotherhouse

Slotherhouse (2023)
Slotherhouse is a silly horror-comedy from director Matthew Goodhue.

With a title like Slotherhouse, you know exactly what you’re going to get: goofiness. It’s a sorority-set slasher movie with an unusually intelligent sloth as the killer. It’s a movie that is dumb on purpose, and it performs well with that in mind. Emily (Lisa Ambalavanar) is in her senior year of college and wants to finally stand out from the crowd, so she buys a sloth from a shady exotic-animal dealer and announces her intent to run for sorority president. The sorority’s resident mean-girl and incumbent president, Brianna (Sydney Craven), will do anything to shut down Emily’s campaign. One thing leads to another, and the sloth murders a bunch of people.

64. Organ Trail

Zoé De Grand Maison in Organ Trail (2023).
Zoé De Grand Maison stars in Organ Trail as a young woman whose entire family is murdered by outlaws.

The horror western is an underutilized subgenre in the modern era, so Organ Trail stands out in a good way. The story is about Abigail, a young woman who is abducted by bandits after they kill her parents and brother. Abigail finds potential allies in Cassidy, a woman previously taken by the bandits, and Erik, a rancher caught up in the trouble after performing a good deed. But in the wilds of 1870’s Montana, allies might not last very long. Organ Trail sets up a great story and a dark, realistic tone early in the film, but a few unbelievable scenarios later in the movie turn a great western into a pretty-good horror film.

65. Skinamarink

Skinamarink (2022)
Skinamarink was easily the most divisive movie among horror fans in 2023.

Anywhere Skinamarink places on this list is going to be controversial. This is the kind of movie that will work fabulously for certain audiences, will be completely impenetrable for another group, and will be utterly dull for others. But hey, eliciting such varied reactions is a good thing. Skinamarink is fascinating as an experimental work of art that can mean so many different things to so many people. For this reviewer though, it didn’t work as something particularly interesting to watch for 100 minutes.

66. Five Nights at Freddy’s

Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)
Fans of the Five Nights at Freddy’s video games and books will get more out of the movie than people unfamiliar with the franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s looks great, and it has an interesting premise. Mike (Josh Hutcherson) has a troubled past, but he’s doing his best to raise his young sister Abby (Piper Rubio) on his own. Mike gets a job as a night watchman at a long-closed family entertainment center, but he soon finds that he has a connection to the place and its animatronic entertainers. The story of Five Nights at Freddy’s feels like it touches on a deep lore that is too expansive to portray in one film, and it’s not particularly scary, but it’s highly entertaining for a specific audience (an audience that made it one of Blumhouse’s biggest successes ever).

67. Blood

Blood (2023)
Blood was directed by Brad Anders, a director known for movies such as Session 9 (2001) and The Machinist (2004). (pictured here: Finlay Wojtak-Hissong)

Jess (Michelle Monaghan), a mother, nurse, and recovering addict, tries to keep her family together after her son Owen (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) contracts an unusual illness from a dog bite. Owen and Jess discover that drinking blood is the only thing that keeps Owen’s health from completely deteriorating, so now Jess must make a choice: find a steady supply of blood for her son, or risk her son’s life by putting his health in the hands of doctors. Blood is an interesting take on vampire movies that gives vampirism something of a realistic spin while still suggesting that there may be supernatural elements involved.

68. Elevator Game

Elevator Game (2023).
Rebekah McKendry, the director of Elevator Game, also directed the standout cosmic horror movie Glorious (2022).

The premise of a movie about a game/ritual/internet challenge that opens a door to a spirit world in an elevator might sound a bit silly. That’s because it is silly. But it’s also kind of fun. Elevator Game follows Ryan (Gino Anania) as he joins a group of urban legend video makers and tries to convince them to investigate the elevator where his sister went missing. As they look into the Elevator Game, they try to uncover the secrets of the deadly elevator before it claims them all.

69. Dear David

Dear David
Dear David is based on writer and illustrator Adam Ellis (played in the movie by Augustus Prew) and his viral posts about a haunting in his apartment.

Dear David could have been a lot scarier than it is. The film, based on real Twitter posts, is about a writer and artist who is being haunted by the ghost of a young boy. Like many haunting movies, Dear David often presents its haunting as something that could be supernatural, but that could also just be psychological. But the way the story is executed makes it less frightening than the Twitter thread that inspired it, which is slightly disappointing.

70. Subspecies V: Bloodrise

Anders Hove as Radu in Subspecies V.
Anders Hove returns once again to play Radu the vampire, the character he first played in the original Subspecies back in 1991.

Subspecies V: Bloodrise is a prequel to the Subspecies franchise. It follows Radu Vladislas centuries ago, when he first learned of his vampiric heritage. This long-awaited new entry in the series (Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm was released in 1998) gives fans a welcome return to one of Full Moon Features’ most visually striking and memorable worlds. Though it does feel like the movie loses focus at times, it’s still a treat for fans of the franchise.

71. Phantom Fun-World

Phantom Fun-World (2023).
Phantom Fun-World, the sixth feature from indie producers Jonestown Film, was funded by a successful Indigogo campaign.

Phantom Fun-World is a fun slasher movie that gets a lot of things right. The story is set in an indoor amusement park where someone using a mask of the mascot of the park, The Phantom, starts killing people. Phantom Fun-World has a good design for its masked killer, the characters are interesting, and the lead actors are all engaging. The movie is very campy (mostly intentionally, though maybe sometimes not), and it’s a good recommendation for die-hard fans of low-budget slashers.

72. Outpost

Beth Dover as Kate in Outpost.
Beth Dover stars in Outpost as a domestic abuse survivor.

Joe Lo Truglio (The State, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Reno 911) directed Outpost, a movie about a woman who volunteers as a lookout in a remote outpost as a way of getting away from other people after a horrifically traumatic experience. What begins as a psychological thriller focusing on the woman, Kate (Beth Dover), and her struggles to deal with her recent past turns into something else entirely. To expound on what Outpost turns into would spoil the movie, but it definitely drifts into horror territory before it’s over. The potential tension and fear of Kate’s situation isn’t always portrayed in the most effective of ways, but Outpost is still an interesting spin on what viewers might expect if they watch the movie’s trailer.

73. LandLocked

Paul Owens holds a VHS camera in LandLocked (2021)
LandLocked is a quiet, meditative experience that touches on the nature of nostalgia.

LandLocked is one of the most unique horror movies of 2023. After the death of his father, Mason visits his old family home which is scheduled to be torn down. While there, Mason finds a VHS camera that can see into the past. As Mason records video in and around the house he grew up in, the images he puts on tape show himself, his brothers, and his parents at various times throughout their past. Unfortunately, with the joy of nostalgia comes the knowledge that those times are gone forever. Director Paul Owens used real home movies from his childhood as the video we see Mason (Paul Owens’ actual brother) recording, and that combined with the naturalistic tone give LandLocked a feeling of something that is close to real life, yet just beyond our grasp.

74. Zombie Town

Zombie Town (2023).
Dan Aykroyd (pictured on the far left) is one of a few big-name stars who appear in Zombie Town.

Zombie Town is based on the book of the same name by R.L. Stine. It is about two teenagers who try to undo a curse they unwittingly unleash when they watch a movie from a reclusive filmmaker. The curse threatens to turn everyone in town into zombies, and the man who made the film, Len Carver, may be the only person who can stop it. Zombie Town is geared towards a young audience, so this might be a good choice for family viewing.

75. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey

Pooh covered in blood in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.
Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield plans to give Peter Pan and Bambi the horror treatment next.

In the 100 Acre Woods, Winnie the Pooh and his friends have gone feral. After Christopher Robin grew up and left his animal friends to go to college, the animal/human “abominations” had to fend for themselves. Now Christopher is back for a visit, but he discovers Pooh and Piglet are holding an intense grudge against Christopher and the rest of humanity for the suffering they had to endure after being left alone. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is a micro-budget slasher with all the tropes that come with that type of movie. It looks and sounds great for its budget, and if all you really want out of the movie is to see a creepy version of Winnie the Pooh kill people, it absolutely delivers.

76. It’s a Wonderful Knife

It's a Wonderful Knife (2023)
It’s a Wonderful Knife is, obviously, inspired by the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).

It’s a Wonderful Knife is an admirable attempt at creating a Christmas-horror classic, but it doesn’t necessarily come together in the end. One year after stopping (and killing) a murderer dressed all in white, Winnie (Jane Widdop), still isn’t over the loss of her best friend at the hands of the killer. Winnie’s life is falling apart, leading her to wish that she’d never been born. Magic happens, and Winnie is now is a world where she never existed… meaning the killer, The Angel, was never killed. While the premise is good, it splits focus away from its slasher setup too much at times. Also, the ending feels a bit too perfect in ways that don’t make sense with the rest of the movie.

77. The Ghost Station

The Ghost Station (2022)
The Ghost Station was inspired by a webtoon titled Ok-su Station Ghost by writer and illustrator HORANG.

If you’ve seen The Ring (any version of it), then you’ll have a good idea of what happens in The Ghost Station. There is a ghostly curse affecting people who visit a particular South Korean train station, and a journalist is investigating the curse’s origins. The basic plot of The Ghost Station plays out very similarly to The Ring, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid The Ghost Station. It’s well made, and the finale is particularly satisfying.

78. Perpetrator

Perpetrator (2023)
Perpetrator was written and directed by Jennifer Reeder. (pictured center: Kiah McKirnan)

In Perpetrator, Jonny is a young woman who gains a mysterious power when she turns eighteen. At a new school where young women tend to go missing, Jonny uses her power to try to find the truth about what is happening in her new town. Perpetrator has some great ideas and good scenes, but it also feels unnecessarily jarring in how its plot unfolds.

79. Bird Box: Barcelona

Bird Box: Barcelona
Bird Box: Barcelona is set in the same world as Bird Box (2018), but it is not a direct sequel.

Writing too much about the setup and plot of Bird Box: Barcelona would ruin the best part about the movie. However, it is safe to say that the best reveal in the film happens very early on, and the later parts of the movie never fully capitalize on the potential of the premise.

80. Night of the Killer Bears

Night of the Killer Bears
Night of the Killer Bears was originally released in Thailand in 2022 as The World of Killing People. It received its first release in the United States in 2023.

Night of the Killer Bears is a bit misleading. The poster art shows a killer teddy bear, but in the movie the killers are actually normal people wearing oversized bear masks. Once you get past that incongruity between the advertising and the actual film, Night of the Killer Bears is pretty good. It is a slasher movie with a few nice kills and a decent twist, but it does go on some strange tangents that feel out of place.

81. Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

David Duchovny in Pet Sematary Bloodlines (2023).
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines needed more of David Duchovny’s character, a grieving father who brings his young-adult son back to life.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is a prequel to the 2019 version of Pet Sematary, and it is the story of how Jud Crandall (Jackson White) became irrevocably connected to the cursed burial ground in the town of Ludlow. The way the story plays out is far removed from what makes the original Pet Sematary (the 1983 novel and the 1989 movie adaptation) so chilling. Specifically, by focusing on Jud Crandall who is merely discovering and reacting to the dark things that other people have done, the story sidesteps the emotional and moral implications of having a main character make those impossible decisions about life and death.

82. The Third Saturday in October Part V

The Third Saturday in October Part V
The Third Saturday in October Part V (2022) and The Third Saturday in October (2022) recreates a double-feature that feels kind-of similar to something slasher fans might’ve experienced more than two decades ago.

The best part of The Third Saturday in October Part V is the idea of it. It is presented as a “lost” slasher movie from 1994, being only one of two movies in the entire franchise known to still exist. The movie itself is an okay low-budget slasher movie that is fun enough.

83. Gangnam Zombie

Gangnam Zombie (2023)
Given its location inside a shopping center, Gangnam Zombie was likely inspired by Dawn of the Dead (or at least by other movies that were also inspired by Dawn of the Dead).

Gangnam Zombie is a South Korean zombie movie about an outbreak of a zombie infection. Employees of a struggling social-media channel are caught inside a shopping center as the zombie outbreak worsens, and they do what they can to try to survive and escape. The action is okay, but the best part of the movie is the chemistry between its two lead actors, Ji Il-joo and Park Ji-yeon. At the very least, they are a charming couple to pin your hopes of survival on.

84. Run Rabbit Run

Sarah Snook in Run Rabbit Run.
Sarah Snook stars in Run Rabbit Run, a psychological thriller with a supernatural twist.

In Run Rabbit Run, Sarah, a divorcee and mother to a young girl named Mia, becomes concerned when her daughter begins acting strangely. Mia claims to be someone she isn’t, someone from Sarah’s past. As the film moves on, Sarah’s grip on reality begins to falter as she deals with events she thought she’d left far behind. While the story in Run Rabbit Run is good, the movie feels drawn out at times despite the great performances from its cast.

85. Bury the Bride

Bury the Bride (2023)
Bury the Bride stars Lyndsi LaRose, Krsy Fox, Scout Taylor-Compton, Rachel Brunner, and Katir Ryan.

A trip to a rundown house in the middle of nowhere for a bachelorette party turns into a night of survival for five women. The groom-to-be and his friends have a supernatural secret, and the women are intended to be their prey. The first half of Bury the Bride is really quite entertaining, but some odd decisions later in its run time make this a difficult film to recommend for most casual viewers.

86. All Fun and Games

All Fun and Games (2023).
Asa Butterfield (pictured) and Natalia Dyer star in All Fun and Games.

All Fun and Games is, as the title would suggest, a take on the survival-game subgenre. In an abandoned house in Salem, Massachusetts, a boy finds a knife that he takes home. The knife has a strange power over him, and it compels the boy to coerce his brother, sister, and their friends into playing a game. His older brother becomes possessed, and he becomes a supernatural gamesmaster for games where losing means a horrible death. All Fun and Games is fun to a point, though towards the end the movie just seems to stop without a satisfying conclusion.

87. HeBGB TV

HeBGB TV
Jake Mcclellan is featured prominently throughout HeBGB TV.

HeBGB TV (pronounced Heebie Jeebie TV) is an anthology horror comedy. With the exception of a few framing segments, it is presented as a television broadcast from a “mysterious cable box.” There are a variety of shorts, with longer stories dominating the later part of the movie. HeBGB TV is brightly colored and campy, and even though its comedy stylings won’t work for everyone, it can be great for the right audience.

88. The Unheard

Lachlan Watson stars in the supernatural thriller The Unheard.
Lachlan Watson stars in the supernatural thriller The Unheard.

The premise of The Unheard is intriguing. A hard-of-hearing young woman undergoes an experimental treatment to restore her hearing. She travels to her father’s remote home to spend time there for her recovery, but as her hearing begins to return she hears impossible things that begin to reveal dark secrets. Unfortunately, The Unheard takes a long time getting to the point, and the potential of its story is never fully realized.

89. The Price We Pay

The Price We Pay
The Price We Pay was directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (Godzilla: Final Wars, Versus). (pictured: Tanner Zagarino)

The Price We Pay is a mashup of a crime thriller and a splatter film. The movie begins with a robbery that goes poorly, sending the perpetrators and their hostage into hiding at a remote farmhouse. It turns out the farm is secretly the location of an underground torture chamber and operating room where horrific acts take place. This all sounds great, but the movie itself is just okay.

90. Bad Things

Gayle Rankin in Bad Things (2023)
Gayle Rankin stars as Ruthie, a woman who inherits a hotel that will completely change her life.

Bad Things is psychological horror movie about a group of friends who spend a few days in an empty hotel. The baggage they bring with them is mostly of the mental variety, and the longer they stay, the more conflict arises. Bad Things is a riff on aspects of The Shining, complete with obvious allusions to the horror classic. Unfortunately, Bad Things suffers by comparison since it comes across as more disjointed than was probably intended.

2023 Horror Movies Ranked 91 and Beyond

  • 91. In the Fire – This possession movie about a doctor (Amber Heard) traveling to a remote plantation in Spain to look after a possibly possessed boy is too heavy-handed with its “science vs. religion” themes.
  • 92. Don’t Look Away – The cursed mannequin in Don’t Look Away is creepy at first, but the rules of its curse (as in, how it follows and kills people when they aren’t looking at it) are too obscure and undercut the scariness of the situation.
  • 93. Kill Her Goats – This throwback slasher looks good on paper, but on your TV screen it is unfortunately rather dull.
  • 94. The Loch Ness Horror – For a micro-budget action thriller with a digital Loch Ness Monster, this is okay.
  • 95. Children of the Corn – An awkward and unnecessary retelling of the story originally written by Stephen King.
  • 96. Sound of Silence – An evil entity haunting a radio is a fine idea, but the special effects are strange and the movie plods along slowly.
  • 97. Megalodon: The Frenzy – If you want a good movie from 2023 with a shiver of megalodons, watch Meg 2: The Trench. If you want to see Eric Roberts starring in a movie from 2023 with a shiver of megalodons, watch Megalodon: The Frenzy.
  • 98. Forest of Death – A nice no-budget effort about a shapeshifting monster in the woods, but it’s too much buildup and not enough payoff.
  • 99. Santa Isn’t Real – A predictable plot and awkward editing makes this a good idea without great execution.
  • 100. Three Blind Mice – The mice-monsters are neat, but the movie just runs in circles.
  • 101. Monsternado – Dumb fun for the right audience, but a rip-off of a satire about bad movies was never going to be great.
  • 102. House of Dolls – Despite a legitimately awesome looking killer and the welcome presence of Dee Wallace, this just isn’t very fun to watch.

Find streaming links for newer movies released in 2023 and 2024 in our New and Upcoming Horror Movies Tracker.

MovieUSA Release DateStreaming On
The WelderFeb. 24, 2023Tubi
Cocaine BearFeb. 24, 2023Amazon
We Have a GhostFeb. 24, 2023Netflix
The WelderFeb. 24, 2023Amazon
The StraysFeb. 22, 2023Netflix
UnlockedFeb. 17, 2023Netflix
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and HoneyFeb. 15, 2023Amazon
Ox-Head VillageFeb. 14, 2023Screambox
Project Wolf HuntingFeb. 14, 2023Amazon
Re/MemberFeb. 14, 2023Netflix
SwallowedFeb. 14, 2023Amazon
ConsecrationFeb. 10, 2023Vudu
Huesara: The Bone WomanFeb. 10, 2023Amazon
She Came from the WoodsFeb. 10, 2023Tubi
The OutwatersFeb. 9, 2023Screambox
Yellow Dragon’s VillageFeb. 7, 2023Screambox
Baby RubyFeb. 3, 2023Amazon
Knock at the CabinFeb. 3, 2023Amazon
Viking WolfFeb. 3, 2023Netflix
Woman of the PhotographsFeb. 3, 2023Amazon
BloodJan. 27, 2023Amazon
FearJan. 27, 2023Amazon
Infinity PoolJan. 27, 2023Amazon
Teen Wolf: The MovieJan. 26, 2023Paramount+
Birdemic 3: Sea EagleJan. 24, 2023Amazon
Signal 100Jan. 24, 2023Screambox
Alice, DarlingJan. 20, 2023Amazon
Alone at NightJan. 20, 2023Amazon
MissingJan. 20, 2023Amazon
Sorry About the DemonJan. 19, 2023Shudder
In DreamsJan. 17, 2023Screambox
There’s Something Wrong With the ChildrenJan. 17, 2023Amazon
Snow FallsJan. 17, 2023Vudu
SickJan. 13, 2023Peacock
SkinamarinkJan. 13, 2023Shudder
The Devil ConspiracyJan. 13, 2023Amazon
JethicaJan. 13, 2023Amazon
Mask of the DevilJan. 13, 2023Amazon
The OfferingJan. 13, 2023Amazon
The Price We PayJan. 13, 2023Amazon
Human ResourcesJan. 10, 2023Amazon
M3GANJan. 6, 2023Amazon
LandLockedJan. 6, 2023Amazon

Further Reading

Meet The Author

Chris has a degree in film studies at Temple University’s campus in Tokyo, Japan. He is a renowned expert on horror cinema.