Editorials
Intro to Spanish Horror: 5 Must See Horror Films!
With Paco Plaza’s Veronica taking Netflix by storm, and many touting it to be one of the most terrifying film in years, it’s time to highlight that Spain has been responsible for some of the scariest horror films for a while now.
When it comes to foreign horror the explosive wave of brutal films that emerged from France in the early 2000s, often referred to as New French Extremity, made the rest of the world take notice with films like Inside, High Tension, Martyrs, and so much more. The wave emerged as the boom of J-horror began to wane. Between the extreme visceral horror of the French, and the instantly iconic long-haired female ghosts of Asian horror, a very vital voice in worldwide horror had slipped by mostly unnoticed.
Spain has long been a master of horror, proving again and again that they can match the creeping supernatural frights and the vicious brutality of their brethren. But where Spanish horror truly excels is in the psychological. The permeating dread and unease combined with unexpected twists and turns makes Spanish horror some of the absolute best.
Though Spain had a horror boom that mirrored the U.S. in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and continued throughout the decades, it wasn’t until about 10 years ago that we started to really take heed. Spain has since emerged as a leader of horror, delivering some of the most terrifying films in recent memory and a new wave of talented filmmakers with an uncanny ability to craft scares. For the uninitiated in Spanish horror, here are 5 must-see films that serve as a great gateway:
Who Can Kill a Child? – Narciso Ibáñez Serrador
Or, ¿Quién puede matar a un niño?, Serrador’s 1976 killer kid movie manages to make his island of homicidal children genuinely creepy. British tourists Evelyn and Tom decide to take an island getaway vacation before Evelyn gives birth to their third child, but they quickly discover that their island of choice doesn’t seem to have any adults. The sense that something is truly off-kilter about the children gives way to a severe sense of unease, before the children become menacing in a way that few killer kid movies manage to achieve. Serrador favors psychological torment over gore, which makes the few moments of gore pack a punch. Before Children of the Corn, there was Serrador’s seminal shocker.
The Day of the Beast – Alex de la Iglesia
El Día de la Bestia is the perfect introduction to the dark, twisted humor of Alex de la Iglesia. A highly underappreciated Christmas horror film that follows a Catholic priest that teams up with a black metal enthusiast to try to stop the birth of the Antichrist, therefore the end of the world. How does the priest try to avert the birth? By committing as many sins as possible. Released in 1995, this horror comedy is a fast-paced thrill ride that’s as funny as it is horrific and offensive. If you enjoy this film, and you should, don’t stop there- de la Iglesia’s The Last Circus, Witching and Bitching, and The Bar all deliver on the director’s trademark horror and mean sense of humor.
Thesis – Alejandro Amenabar
Before scaring audiences stateside with ghostly shocker, The Others in 2004, Amenabar emerged as one the best Spanish directors of the ‘90s with psychological thriller Thesis. The plot revolves around Angela, a film student doing a thesis about violence, who discovers a snuff film of a girl being tortured to her death. The girl happened to be a former student at her school. It’s a masterful example of the psychological mysteries that reveal twist after twist that Spain does so well. A clever thriller that introspects on snuff and violence in media, while giving us characters you’re invested in and a killer that’s tough to predict. Taut with tension, it’s a fun thrill ride made even more impressive by it being Amenabar’s debut feature.
[REC] – Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza
Leave it to Spain and, more importantly, directors Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero to remind the world that found footage not only still had life left, but could deliver the most chilling narratives in horror history if handled with respect and innovation. [Rec] is the film that made the rest of the world sit up and pay attention to what Spain was doing in horror in 2007. After we slept with the lights on for weeks, that is. This found-footage nightmare, following television reporter Angela Vidal as she gets locked into an apartment building with something sinister, spawned 3 sequels and an American near shot-for-shot remake. A game changer in multiple ways, [Rec] was the film responsible for bringing Spain to the table. If you’re already quite familiar (and I have a hunch you are), then be sure to check out Balaguero’s chilling supernatural film Fragile and skin-crawling home invasion film Sleep Tight. And if you still haven’t seen Plaza’s Veronica, it’s on Netflix so there are no excuses. These two modern horror masters are clearly not slowing down.
The Orphanage – J.A. Bayona
Reminiscent of 1980’s cult classic haunter The Changeling, Bayona’s feature debut is as heartbreaking as it is frightening. The film’s profile may have been boosted by having Guillermo del Toro attached as executive producer, but Bayona helmed a master class of spine-tingling scares made more profound with a story of love among endearing characters. It, of course, helped that the story’s ghosts were children, particularly one with an affinity for creepy masks. Laura brings her family back to her childhood home, a former orphanage for handicapped children, and her son’s new invisible friend brings an ominous presence within the home. It’s no surprise that Hollywood snatched Bayona up after this film’s release; after breaking hearts in A Monster Calls, Bayona has promised to bring back the horror in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
We’re now officially in the back half of 2026 now that July is here, but what a year it’s been for horror so far. The sequels and reboots are still holding strong at the box office with films like Scream 7 and Scary Movie, but it’s also been a year where new voices are shattering records in unexpected ways.
Markiplier eschewed conventional production and distribution channels with his feature adaptation of Iron Lung, for example. We’re also still in the midst of Backrooms and Obsession-mania, with the former back in theaters with bonus footage and the latter extending its box office reign. Liminal horror has exploded, and low-budget indie horror is seeing just as much, and sometimes even more, success as big studio-backed fare.
All of which to say that 2026 has been a hell of a year so far for the genre, and it’s only getting warmed up. Still on the way are Evil Dead Burn, Insidious: Out of the Further, Resident Evil, Clayface, Whalefall, and Werwulf, just to name a few.
Also catch up with the Best Horror Books and Best Horror Games of the year so far.
Here are the ten best horror movies of the year (so far).
10) Chime
Horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa is back with one of his most haunting yet, though one that’d likely be higher on this list if it were more accessible. The 45-minute feature was initially produced and distributed as an NFT before receiving a theatrical run earlier this year, with no plans to distribute digitally or on home media. It spins a somewhat cryptic tale, introducing a culinary teacher, Takuji Matsuoka (Mutsuo Yoshioka, Never After Dark), whose classroom becomes disrupted by a strange sound that leads to violence. It’s a quiet but haunting unraveling, one that leaves no aspect of Matsuoka’s life untouched, in true Kiyoshi Kurosawa style. That it defies any easy explanation also ensures Chime embeds itself under your skin.
9) Send Help
Sam Raimi’s splatstick return to form is a delightfully deranged two-hander that doubles as infectious catharsis for anyone who’s ever had a bad boss. Rachel McAdams (Doctor Strange) and Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) face off when their characters are shipwrecked on an island, prompting a bid for survival in more ways than one. While O’Brien often matches her, It’s McAdams who shines as she deftly handles everything that Raimi, working from a script by Damian Shannon & Mark Swift (Freddy vs. Jason), throws at her. Send Help is full of vibrant personality, packed with all of Raimi’s signatures, making for one of the most entertaining films of the year.
8) Mārama
New Zealand filmmaker Taratoa Stappard’s gothic tale begins in familiar fashion, with Mary Stevens (Ariāna Osborne) arriving in Yorkshire upon invitation to learn more about her parents, only to find the remote manor haunted. Just when Stappard’s period horror story feels doomed to succumb to familiar gothic trappings and jump scares, though, its true horror emerges. The more Mary uncovers about her heritage and her Māori culture, the clearer it becomes that this grim home is built on violence and exploitation. Stappard’s vision comes into its own when it leaves behind its gothic influences and embraces its Māori identity; few scenes are as powerful as when Osborne’s Mary performs a haka in response to her vile oppressors, heralding in a righteous bloodbath.
7) Touch Me
Writer/Director Addison Heimann draws from retro Japanese horror, exploitation cinema, and perhaps even hentai for his campy, psychosexual sophomore feature. A toxic friendship plagued by trauma, codependency, and addiction gets tested to the extreme when Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci), a hip-hop-loving, tracksuit-sporting alien, gets between them. Olivia Taylor Dudley and Jordan Gavaris have an easy rapport and play off each other well as directionless, depressed Millennial besties prone to ignoring their problems until they become insurmountable. But it’s Pucci’s inspired, childlike take on the chicken nugget-loving extraterrestrial with tentacled secrets of his own that steals the show. Heimann has a lot on his mind with his sophomore feature and neatly condenses it all into a quirky, eccentric psychosexual camp odyssey that leans heavily into humor.
6) Backrooms
Director Kane Parsons translates the vast liminal labyrinth of his web series to the big screen in his feature debut, one that instills existential dread with its atmospheric horror and narrative. The ‘ 90s-set horror movie introduces a protagonist with a serious chip on his shoulder over life’s many disappointments, who then discovers his furniture store harbors a hidden door that leads to an endless labyrinth. It’s not just the incredible production design that instills a disorienting sense of doom and terror, but the lead characters’ palpable and profound sense of loneliness and isolation. Parsons exudes impressive confidence and control as he methodically entrusts his quiet worldbuilding and talented leads to carry the dramatic weight. While Backrooms does deflate by the film’s cryptic, cliffhanger-y end, it’s arguably the most effective and scariest yet at capturing the uncanny valley of generative AI.
5) Leviticus
Writer/Director Adrian Chiarella uses an It Follows-like supernatural entity that relentlessly stalks its prey as a launchpad to immerse audiences in the horror of constantly living in fear for simply existing. A conversion therapy ritual among a deeply conservative community plunges a pair of erstwhile lovers into a nightmarish bid for survival when it summons a force that takes the shape of those whom the afflicted desires most. Chiarella refines the horror mechanics and metaphor with much sharper precision, ensuring that the scares and emotional gravity of the young couple’s terrifying predicament reach their intended impact. It’s the central layered performances by Joe Bird (Talk to Me) and Stacy Clausen (Thrash) that clinch emotional investment in their heartbreaking plight, ensuring that the social horror cuts deep.
4) Redux Redux
The McManus Brothers, writer/director duo Matthew and Kevin McManus (The Block Island Sound), dials up the intensity of a classic revenge story by setting it within a multiverse, where Irene Kelly (Michaela McManus) seeks to snuff out every single iteration of her daughter’s murderer, Neville (Jeremy Holm). The more she stalks and slays every world’s Neville, the more she risks losing her humanity entirely. Through a narrative foil in Mia (Stella Marcus), Redux Redux smartly bypasses repetition as it explores the moral complexities and vulnerabilities of Irene’s extremely violent quest. Holm becomes utterly terrifying in the climax, ensuring that no matter whether Irene loses herself to vengeance for good or not, it’s justified if it means ridding the world of this sick maniac.
3) 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Director Nia DaCosta takes the reins in the second entry in writer Alex Garland and original director Danny Boyle’s trilogy, picking up from the previous conclusion that saw Spike (Alfie Williams) fleeing from the infected straight into the welcoming arms of Sir Jimmy Crystal (Sinners’ Jack O’Connell). From here, DaCosta presents a stark contrast between humanity’s best and worst. The former sees the tender studies of Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) make poignant strides toward humankind’s future, while the latter unleashes more pain and bloodshed courtesy of the Jimmies. The dual paths of light and dark collide in one epic conclusion, an inspired confrontation between good and evil on a stunning set piece of heavy metal insanity. Yet it’s DaCosta’s handling of both extremes that impresses most, teeing up one epic conclusion to this trilogy.
2) Obsession
Sketch comedian turned horror filmmaker Curry Barker (Milk & Serial) wrings blood-curdling terror from a classic Monkey’s Paw wish fulfillment scenario in a way that no one could have ever anticipated. To say that it’s taken the box office by storm would be a massive understatement; Obsession is the top horror movie of the year in terms of gross. It’s not hard to see why, either. While Monkey’s Paw scenarios often yield predictable outcomes, and this outcome is practically telegraphed from the start, Barker manages to surprise with the journey itself. And it’s one insane journey paved with blood-soaked violence and no shortage of nightmare fuel. What truly sets it apart, though, is leads Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette as the central pair undone by one vicious wish. Expect to see a lot more from breakout Navarette.
1) Hokum
A surly, traumatized writer must break free from his self-imposed shackles of guilt when confronted by a wicked witch haunting a quaint Irish inn in the latest by writer/director Damian McCarthy (Oddity). Adam Scott’s Ohm makes for an atypical but rewarding protagonist, and his complicated emotional journey gives way to a deeply moving story of a man so thoroughly broken by personal trauma that he constantly dwells in darkness. In true McCarthy style, expect the creepy as hell witch to dole out some supernatural retribution for crimes committed, but never in the way you’d expect. The filmmaker has a way of making whimsy pure nightmare fuel; Hokum distorts a kids’ show into eerie, uncanny valley-induced terror in its torment of Ohm. Channeling Stephen King, this creeper plays like a traditional campfire tale in mood and style, infusing genuine scares with a sense of magic and heart.
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