Editorials
The Best Horror Movies Released in the First Half of 2019!
The last few years, at least as far as the box office is concerned, have felt like a bit of a horror renaissance due to the wave of strong studio films. Both in quality and quantity. Now that we’re halfway through the year, how does 2019 compare? Let’s dig in.
Nearly all studio released films have proven extremely divisive so far, though the returns have been healthy regardless. But there’s far more to horror than theatrical releases, and there’s no shortage of limited and indie releases that are delivering the goods. While the decade is looking to close out strong with Crawl, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, It Chapter Two, Doctor Sleep, and more, beginning with Midsommar, we look back at the best horror 2019 has unleashed so far.
Happy Death Day 2U
Christopher Landon’s follow up to Happy Death Day took a step back from the inventive slasher setup to expand the mythology behind the time loops in an epic love letter to the ‘80s. Of course, that departure from more traditional horror meant this sequel wasn’t quite as universally embraced as its predecessor, but it delivered on what was most important: more Tree Gelbman. Jessica Rothe once again stole the show and ran as Tree’s emotional journey brought the laughs and tears in equal measure.
The Hole in the Ground
Between The Prodigy, Pet Sematary, and Brightburn, the year might belong to the creepy kid. But so far, the best of the bunch is Irish creeper The Hole in the Ground. After moving to the countryside, a single mother begins to worry her son might not be her son anymore after he disappears into the forest with a mysterious sinkhole and returns hours later. More than just interesting folklore, The Hole in the Ground delivers on unnerving atmosphere.
Climax
Arguably Gaspar Noé’s most accessible film to date, Climax is both a visual feast and an extremely uncomfortable watch. A group of dancers gather in a remote, empty school building to dance the night away, but it all goes horrifically awry when someone spikes the punch with LSD. Under a neon haze, the dancers most hellish nightmares become reality as Noé breaks taboo after taboo with ease. It’s depraved.
Us
Jordan Peele’s highly anticipated follow up to Get Out brought doppelganger horror back into the spotlight. A fun summer vacation for the Wilson family turns into a terrifying fight for survival when their doppelgangers show up to claim their lives as their own. Peele balances the humor with the scares, but above all Us boasts a captivating, immeasurably talented cast. Lupita Nyong’o’s dual performance as Adelaide Wilson/Red is both heartbreaking and chilling, ensuring our wrath at her inevitable Oscar exclusion, but Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph, and Evan Alex are all equally exceptional.
Knife + Heart
Set in the Paris summer of 1979, Vanessa Paradis starts as Anne, a producer of low budget gay porn. When her lover, who happens to also be her film editor, leaves her, she strikes out to make her most ambitious film yet in attempt to win her back. The only problem is that a masked killer is picking off her cast and crew one by one in the most brutal fashion. Yann Gonzalez’ film is a gorgeous giallo through and through, complete with all the familiar trademarks and tropes. The masked killer is unsettling, and those kills are downright vicious. If you love giallo movies, this one is not to be missed.
Piercing
Based on the novel of the same name by Ryu Murakami (author of Audition), Piercing presents another twisted love story of sorts. Facing the stresses of dealing with a newborn, family man Reed (Christopher Abbott) checks himself into a hotel on business. But he’s really plotting to murder an escort that he’s ordered to his room. Reed didn’t factor Jackie (Mia Wasikowska) into his plans, though, and a violent cat and mouse game ensues. Directed by Nicolas Pesce (The Eyes of My Mother, Grudge), this is a stylish chamber piece unafraid to get weird and bloody.
Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror
From D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation to the future of horror, this documentary catalogs the history of black horror adapted from Robin R. Means Coleman’s nonfiction novel. Assembling a slew of horror directors, actors, critics, and scholars, Horror Noire takes aim at black representation in horror through thoughtful analysis, passion, and humor. This engaging crash course will leave you wanting to learn more.
St. Agatha
Director Darren Lynn Bousman revives nunsploitation horror with 1950s set St. Agatha. A young pregnant woman (fittingly named Mary) is accepted into an isolated home for unwed mothers run by nuns. The clues that something is seriously amiss with the home begins in subtle fashion, but eventually crescendos into utter perverse madness. Bousman established himself with the Saw series, and his trademark use of suspense and violence carry over well here. It’s torture and terror aplenty in St. Agatha; these nuns mean business.
Hagazussa: A Heathen’s Curse
Hagazussa manages to make The Witch look like an action-packed thrill ride in terms of pacing. So, clearly it won’t be for everyone. But for those who don’t mind slow-burn horror, this 15th century European character study depicts a brutal life of isolation, paranoia, and superstition. And it’s easily one of the most gorgeous looking films of the year. Perhaps most impressive of all is that this is writer/director Lukas Feigelfeld’s student thesis film. What a debut.
Editor’s Note: Alongside Doppelgänger Releasing, Bloody Disgusting released Hagazussa earlier this year.
I Trapped the Devil
Writer/director Josh Lobo’s Christmas set film is a haunting portrayal of grief and familial guilt. When Steve’s brother and sister-in-law unexpectedly show up at his door to celebrate the holidays, they’re alarmed to discover he has a man locked in his basement. One that he insists is actually the devil. Paranoia and psychological terror carried deftly on the shoulders of its three leads, this is brooding yuletide horror at its best.
The Perfection
This Netflix gem feels more like a few different subgenres rolled into one twisty horror thriller, and that unpredictability makes for a wild ride. The setup is simple; former music prodigy Charlotte (Get Out’s Allison Williams) returns to her past school and befriends new star pupil Elizabeth (Logan Browning), and it sends both down a path of shocking destruction. A little bit Martyrs, Oldboy, and more, The Perfection is another one of 2019’s pleasant surprises.
Child’s Play
“This is for Tupac!” The biggest surprise of the year, so far, is just how much fun the reboot that no one wanted turned out to be. It’s Amblin Entertainment meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. While hardly perfect, the E.T.-like take on the killer doll and the ultra-elaborate death sequences made a strong case as to why we go to the movies for horror; it’s a crowd-pleasing good time. It’s also so very different from the original franchise that it seems as though there’s plenty of room for both. Now bring on Don Mancini’s Child’s Play TV series!
Annabelle Comes Home
Keeping with that same sense of fun that Child’s Play unboxed a week prior, this third entry in the Annabelle series feels like a spooky trip in a carnival haunted house in the best possible way. What began as a tedious spin-off movie has since transformed into a perfect companion series to the heart and scares of The Conjuring. Mckenna Grace carries the torch well as Judith Warren, and we don’t even mind that this sequel unleashes a hole cadre of potential spinoff entities. I’d sign up for a Ferryman movie.
Midsommar
Though technically released in the second half of the year, it’s so close we’re counting it anyway. Ari Aster’s highly anticipated follow up to Hereditary is no doubt another polarizing entry, but it’s one hell of a head trip no matter how you come out of this 2.5 hour journey. It’ll be difficult to imagine any one can top the riveting performance of Florence Pugh, either, as lead protagonist Dani. For the men that journey to that remote village in Sweden, this film plays like a familiar entry in folk horror. But for Dani, it’s every bit the twisted fairy tale Aster promised. From head trauma to insidious rituals, and a whole lot of humor too, Midsommar makes for a surprisingly cathartic time at the movies.
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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