Editorials
The Screaming Bear Attack Scene from ‘Annihilation’ Was One of This Year’s Scariest Horror Moments
*Keep up with our ongoing end of the year coverage here*
When the opportunity to write about the best horror of the year came up, my thoughts immediately turned to Annihilation, which has occupied the top spot on my list of the year’s best films since its release back in February. Check out Bloody Disgusting’s original review here.
It doesn’t matter whether or not the film reads as a “traditional” horror film (for my money, there’s been far too much digital ink spilled this year on semantic discussions about “elevated” and “prestige” horror). Even if you consider Annihilation a work of science fiction, the film features what is undoubtedly one of the most terrifying horror set pieces of the year. I’m talking, of course, about the screaming bear sequence.
Annihilation is based (primarily) on the first book in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy. The book follows a quartet of unnamed female scientists as they explore the Shimmer, a strange environmental phenomenon that has physically altered a large geographical area and its residents in strange, alien ways. The women are the latest in a long line of expeditions; the others have either never returned or returned irrevocably different (and inevitably die).
The film adaptation by Alex Garland (Ex Machina) uses the book’s premise as a foundation, but aside from carrying over the characters, Garland radically alters the plot; this results in an adaptation that makes visually explicit some of open-to-interpretation horrific elements without compromising on the source material’s atmosphere of ominous and oppressive dread.
The best example of this occurs at roughly the 75-minute mark of the film. In the book, the women encounter an abstract, ill-defined monster called the Creeper in a submerged well that circles deep underground. Garland’s screenplay eliminates the well and literally visualizes the Creeper; in the film its stand-in is a massive bear whose snout is half skeleton and whose vocal mannerisms mimic the screams and voice of its victims. Nicknamed Homerton (after East London’s “rough-around-the-edges” train station) by visual effects supervisor Andrew Whitehurst, the sequence when the creature is finally revealed is a masterclass of tension, effects and horror.
Immediately before Homerton appears, Anya (Gina Rodriguez) ties up her colleagues and holds them at gunpoint. She’s distraught by the suggestion that since entering Area X, their DNA has been changing, as well as the revelation that Lena (Natalie Portman) lied that her husband was a member of a previous expedition. These realizations, as well as her mounting paranoia, prompt Anya to lash out. The threat of human violence is a bait and switch, however; before Anya can harm her colleagues, she is lured outside by the cries of Cass (Tuva Novotny) who was abducted and mauled to death the night before.
Like VanderMeer’s book, what (initially) occurs to Anya is left to the imagination offscreen. Garland wisely keeps the camera trained on Lena, Josie (Tessa Thompson) and Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh)’ faces as the soundtrack is the silence after Anya runs out before it is filled with the roars of something. As they struggle to free themselves from their bonds, the wheezing, screaming creeps closer, until a cut to a medium shot reveals the slow lumber of a massive, mutated bear towards them. Garland cuts back to the same shot as the deformed snout slowly pushes between Lena and Josie, in a shot that evokes countless Xenomorph encounters in the Alien franchise. Meanwhile, the soundtrack is filled with the anguished screams of a woman we know is dead coming from the mouth of a monstrous beast, which creates an uncanny disconnect between sight and sound.
[Related] Horror’s 10 Most Disturbing Moments of 2018!
The slow, deliberate pace of the creature as it first pulls back, then circles around in front of the confined women is unbearable (pun intended). Garland masterfully delays, then delays further the impending attack, drawing out the tension for maximum effect. The fact that the entire scene is lit by a solitary flashlight in the far right corner of the frame, Garland’s judicious lack of editing and the decision to continually focus on close-ups of the women’s shaking, crying faces only serves to ratchet up the fear quotient. Then, following a close up (from Josie’s point of view) of Homerton’s gaping open mouth and a shot-reverse-shot of the bear clamping down on her left shoulder, Anya unexpectedly returns to open fire on the beast (narrowly avoiding her friends in the process).
At this point, the sequence becomes a full-blown action set piece. Homerton is repeatedly struck by gunfire before charging, knocking over Josie and crushing Anya against the wall as she attempts to retreat. At this point, the editing kicks in: there are a number of quick cuts as Lena and Josie try to free themselves, as well as long shots (framed half in shadow) of Anya being mauled. The camera cuts to a vantage point halfway up the stairs while Anya is grabbed by the legs, snapping one of the banisters clean off (a clear, efficient visual shorthand to demonstrate how forcefully Homerton pulls her). Then, in quick succession, she is pounced on and her throat is brutally ripped out.
The soundtrack is filled solely with Anya’s anguished screams (there is no extradiegetic music), which makes her death scene feel both louder and longer than it is (from Homerton’s charge to the quick overhead shot of her corpse, only 20 seconds has passed). In fact, it is only when lead protagonist Lena is attacked and nearly mauled that the more traditional action movie score kicks in. Shortly thereafter Josie manages to put the bear down with a barrage of gunfire at close range, closing out the roughly two-minute sequence.
As a film, Annihilation is thematically interested in how people evolve and change; the film has been alternately celebrated and criticized for its open-ended narrative and philosophical elements. Since its release, Annihilation has been discussed as a metaphor for the human condition, the uncanny, trauma, depression and cancer. The range and multitude of readings confirms how magnificently nuanced and rich Garland’s second directorial effort is.
The scene with Homerton is emblematic of the film’s many layers and complications. Anya’s initial actions are driven by the revelation that their bodies are literally turning against them, an unsettling notion that also exposes the lack of control she – a soldier struggling with depression – has over her surroundings. Her paranoia is externally manifested when she discovers that she has been lied to by Lena (representing a threat from within the community) before realizing that there is always the threat of outsiders – represented by Homerton. In this way, not only is the scene a stunningly effective piece of mood, tension and horror, it is a microcosm of the film’s many thematic concerns…all wrapped up in one beautifully rendered scare.
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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