Our favorite horror movies of 2024 🏆, 'Perfectly Good Moment' delivers Good for Her ending 💪, & more!

Can you believe that 2024 is almost over?

It’s safe to say that horror dominated the box office this year, with strong box office performances from The Substance, Trap, Heretic and Smile 2. However, we can’t forget about the others that did well on the small screen, such as Late Night With the Devil, V/H/S/Beyond and Strange Darling. You’ll see these films as well as many others in both of our Year In Review sections below!

As 2025 approaches, we’re excited for a number of new films to embrace our eyeballs and hearts, such as Final Destination: Bloodlines, SAW XI, and, if the stars align, The Collected! You can check out our Letterboxd list for the latest releases on Letterboxd here.

Moving forward, we have one or two newsletters remaining in 2024, especially since Bee and I have a fun Christmas/New Year’s-themed newsletter concept, but we have so many great things in store for 2025. We hope you continue to take the passenger seat with us.

Issue 026’s Letterboxd list can be found here

“Time wasn't right. It was moving too fast. And then I was 19. And then I was 20. I felt like one of those dolls asleep in the supermarket. Stuffed. And then I was 21. Like chapters skipped over on a DVD. I told myself, ‘This isn't normal. This isn't normal. This isn't how life is supposed to feel.’” ~Maddy (I Saw the TV Glow)

Time shifted on its axis this year. There wasn’t a moment I wasn’t drowning, suffocating, and damn sure I was going to die. I could see my life bleeding out, an out-of-body experience that could very well have been the end of things. Rare glimmers of hope – from starting the newsletter to becoming Rotten Tomatoes-approved – tore through my brain matter and left veiny, pulsating scar tissue. But I’m not sure I would trade any of the pain I’ve felt as it’s somehow brought me to this very moment. I’m right where I’m supposed to be, and I’m thankful I survived.

Horror, always the healing experience, proved invaluable over the last 12 months. Strange Darling, I Saw the TV Glow, Ganymede, Lisa Frankenstein, Slay – all these films provided immense comfort while also supplying vital conversations around identity, religion, inner rage, perceptions of reality, and learning to live again. It’s not hyperbolic to say I was saved by horror movies this year; as my life collapsed, I turned to my favorite genre to get a glimpse of myself and who I could be.

While many horror writers and critics have narrowed their favorites of the year to a Top 10, I determined that just wasn’t possible for me and actually does a disservice to the countless fantastic films, especially on the indie circuit, that would be left out. So, I decided to curate my Top 50 Horror Films of 2024 into a handy-dandy Letterboxd list. A sample of my picks includes: It’s What’s Inside, Departing Seniors, Caddo Lake, Red Rooms, The Devil’s Bath, and Milk & Serial.

You can find my complete rundown on Letterboxd.

Years from now, we’ll still be talking about how this year changed the genre forever. From Longlegs to Terrifier 3 and In a Violent Nature, it became a banner year for horror on par with 1960, 1974, 1982, 2009, and 2022. As we prepare to put 2024 in our rearview mirror, now’s the time of great reflection on what the year brought us, both good and bad, and how horror changed us, provoked us, and forced us to accept the present moment. With Trump’s impending regime, I’m further reminded about horror’s healing power, the strength to endure, and the rebellious nature of the genre that also brought us the rage-filled Azrael, Immaculate, and Your Monster this year.

There’s always a time and place to be angry (and express that in our art) – and that time is now.

Every year, I try to create a list of my favorite horror films that don’t appear on many other lists. This year is no different. While you’re going to see a number of familiar titles, I hope some of the lesser-known films on the list convince you to add them to your watchlist (and feel free to tag/mention me when you do so that I can see your reviews). Check out My 20 Favorite Horror Films: 2024 Edition list on Letterboxd.

You can't have a slasher without a proper Final Girl. When you think "classic character archetypes" of the '80s, Laurie Strode (Halloween), Nancy Thompson (A Nightmare on Elm Street), and Ginny (Friday the 13th Part II) probably come to mind. There are a slew of other staples - from Alice (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 & 5) to Rachel Carruthers (Halloween 4 & 5) - that carry vital components that make a great Final Girl. While modern horror shattered the glass ceiling to give us far more strong, fierce women than ever before, the films of yesteryear have certainly supplied the genre with plenty of women that defied the odds and broke out in big ways. While most '80s and '90s Final Girls have faded in time, many have endured for generations.

Many of the major horror franchises have their fair share of Final Girls, but it's Friday the 13 that has the most. Often, the series utilized their women characters only once before either killing them off at the beginning of the next film or discarding them altogether. From the 1980 original through the polarizing 2009 remake, the Jason Voorhees-starring franchise features 11 final girls with varying strengths and weaknesses. Some are downright laughable, and others rose to the top. It's no surprise that Ginny leads the pack, but where do the others fall?

Last year, I ranked the franchise's Final Girls for SlashFilm. In my list, Jason X and Freddy vs Jason were excluded, as the former doesn't have a Final Girl and the latter is far more focused on Freddy and his victims. Pop some popcorn, sit back and relax, and walk with me through the franchise's Hall of Final Girls.

Check out my definitive run-down.

Everyone has their own ranking, and that's what makes the horror experience so great! We all have different opinions about the franchise's 12 installments in how we connect to and rally behind the characters - or perhaps root for Jason to slaughter them all. In 44 years, many entries have been stuck in the back of our minds, while others are so silly they're meant for nothing more than a midnight viewing.

To celebrate Friday the 13th today, we've shared our individual film rankings below. Do you agree or just think our lists are trash? Let us know!

Check out Bee's ranking | Check out Brett's ranking

Often identified as Prince of Demons, Beelzebub is a figure of great prominence in the Hebrew Bible. Later, in the Christian version, Jesus Christ is accused of driving out demonic forces through Beelzebub’s power. A 16th Century text from occultist and demonologist Johann Weyer suggests the Devil ranked much lower than Beelzebub, then cited as being the chieftain of Hell who led a successful revolution against his adversary. Director Emilio Portes appears to excavate a similar thematic arc with his return to feature filmmaking. Belzebuth, which clocks it at nearly two hours, is a dark and wildly disturbing picture that rarely gives its viewers a moment to breathe. [Read Bee's review]

Vampires and their primal, nearly religious bloodlust carves into humanity’s “deeply inner (and especially sexual) temptations and doubts,” as Leonard Wolf describes in an introduction to 1997’s Blood Thirst: 100 Years of Vampire Fiction. He further notes “that the blood exchange represents every variety of sexual union,” before listing off various lustful links. From Bram Stoker’s Dracula to Anne Rice’s The Master of Rampling Gate to this year’s Netflix mini-series Dracula, eroticism has always been a vital cornerstone in vampire folklore. It’s no wonder Mickey Reece’s Climate of the Hunter emerges as a psycho-sexual blood-feast, calling back to the melodrama of Dark Shadows and other ’70s erotic fantasies. [Read Bee's review]

Every now and then, I remind (and kick) myself that I wasted $17 to see Jeepers Creepers: Reborn in the theaters. While there is controversy surrounding the original trilogy’s director, I was hoping that the new director would bring life into what is a fantastic creature and story…. but what we received was anything other than that. You can read my full review and let me know what you think, because words cannot describe my frustration. [Read Brett’s review]

Final Destination: Bloodlines hits theaters on May 16, 2025.

Season 2 of Horror’s Greatest premieres on Shudder on December 31, 2024.

Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare will be premiering exclusively in theaters on January 13-15, 2025.