10 best horror movies of 2022, so far

We’re now officially halfway through 2022 and especially with Jordan Peele’s Nope, Halina Reijn’s Bodies Bodies Bodies, Parker Finn’s Smile and David Gordon Green’s Halloween Ends on the horizon, there’s no better time to rank the best horror movies of 2022 thus far. Since there aren’t too many to choose from, “best” doesn’t always mean “most popular” or “most profitable” in this case. These horror movies make the list because they’re inventive, refreshing or downright terrifying — or all of the above. Although some of them performed poorly at the box office or flopped during their film festival screenings, they all brought something new and exciting to the table and that automatically makes them worth watching, even if personal opinions may vary.

There’s no doubt that Halloween Ends would be making the list if it weren’t already set for a fitting October release date. Peele’s Nope is a shoo-in for success as well, but let’s focus on ranking the recent releases first — from worst to best. By the way, not all of these horror movies received a theatrical release — some of them only premiered at film festivals — although they absolutely deserve global recognition.

10. The Requin

Written and directed by Le-Van Kiet, horror/thriller The Requin (From Below in the UK) follows Jaelyn (Alicia Silverstone) and her husband Kyle (James Tupper), who are vacationing at Vietnam and find themselves stranded at sea after a tropical storm hits. When her husband sustains an injury, Jaelyn must fight for survival and make it safely to shore while hostile great white sharks circle in the depths below.

While it could be seen as a washed-up Open Water (2003) reboot and the umpteenth shark-related film to grace our screens, The Requin (French for “Shark”) does have its redeeming qualities. Is it a must-see film? Not at all, but ’90s kids will appreciate Alicia Silverstone’s final girl stand-off with great whites more than anyone else. Silverstone’s performance as Henrietta in Drew Mylrea’s Last Survivors is more solid than The Requin by a long shot, but even if it borrows from the thousands of other shark attack flicks, produces poor CGI, and doesn’t stand up to classics like Jaws, Kiet’s The Requin has its sure-fire marketing ploy in Alicia Silverstone, and watching the Clueless star open a can of whoop-ass on some sharks is oddly inspirational.

9. Umma

When Umma was first announced to star Grey’s Anatomy and Killing Eve star Sandra Oh, horror fans everywhere rejoiced for what promised to be an interesting and ambitious undertaking. Unfortunately it missed the mark on both counts. Needless to say, Sandra Oh is sensational — always has been and always will be — but when working with lazy writing and a scattered concept at best, star power alone isn’t enough to compensate. Iris K. Shim’s Umma focuses on generational trauma through immigrant families and the literal fear of becoming one’s own mother; Oh stars as Amanda, a Korean immigrant whose strained relationship with her homeschooled daughter Chrissy (Fivel Stewart) and the discovery of her deceased estranged mother’s ashes makes her vulnerable to a vicious spirit intent on claiming her body for itself.

Umma doesn’t claim to be a groundbreaking horror — and it isn’t — but although it isn’t necessarily scary, the themes behind it are infinitely terrifying. At times, Shim’s psychological horror is overstuffed with symbolism and imagery that is never fully fleshed out, and despite Oh and Stewart acing their lead roles with poise, Shim’s stodgy screenplay never gives them the chance to truly shine. There’s an honest attempt to explore domineering mother-daughter relationships here, but the creative vision ultimately never comes to fruition. Regardless, Umma is worth watching for the exceptional acting alone.

8. Men

There’s only three words needed to describe Alex Garland’s Men: What. The. F*ck. Irish actress Jessie Buckley snags the lead role here — and she delivers wonderfully — but just like Sandra Oh in Umma, her potential in the film is stunted by a lackluster screenplay, as is the downfall of many films. Already, knowing that Rory Kinnear (Skyfall) portrays almost every single character in the film, Garland promises unpredictability and preternatural imagery — practically illusion-level — and makes it known that, for better or worse, Men is unlike any feature that came before it. When it became public knowledge that A24 was working on another horror (specifically a folk horror), expectations were rose tenfold. Sadly, those standards were slashed after Men damaged A24’s stellar reputation.

Set in Coston, Leicestershire, Men follows Harper, a widowed woman who travels to a manor house in a secluded countryside for a vacation alone after her emotionally abusive husband had died by suicide months prior. There, she experiences strange and inexplicable happenings in and around the manor house and becomes tormented by the various men that live in the village. Men has some extreme body horror provocations, some approaches even more despicable than James Wan’s renowned stomach-churner Saw. Although playfully twisted and resonant in its sexist undertones, Men can be obvious and overly schematic — definitely one of those films that tries to shove its many confusing messages in your face.

7. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Netflix’s much-anticipated sequel to Tobe Hooper’s 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and the ninth installment in the long-running franchise focuses on the serial killer Leatherface as he reemerges nearly 50 years later to terrorize a group of young adults and comes face-to-face with the vengeful lone survivor of his previous murders. Directed by David Blue Garcia, Texas Chainsaw Massacre borrows its screenwriting talent from Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues, the respective director and screenwriter for Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe (2016). Sarah Yarkin and Elsie Fisher bring flair to their lead roles as Melody and Lila, respectively, but Garcia’s attempt at modernizing the cult-classic horror franchise is as messy and chaotic as one of Leatherface’s own rampages.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre is blood-soaked, but uninspired as it leans on visual shocks and the thrill of the macabre much more than producing a meaningful sequel. However, despite its poor reception, Garcia had clearly studied the Texas Chain Saw Massacre franchise and understood its legacy as an ultraviolent slasher, amping up the gore, but leaving anything else substantial in the dust. When someone asks “Do we need another?” the resounding answer is oftentimes “no, we don’t,” but David Gordon Green’s one-shot wonder in the successful Halloween continuation made Netflix think that Texas Chainsaw Massacre would be just as profitable and it wasn’t — not by a long shot. Garcia’s formulaic horror doesn’t do the original any justice, but if you want to stay up-to-date on the Leatherface saga, it’s worth the small references and throwbacks.

6. Watcher

Chloe Okuno’s psychological thriller Watcher was distributed by IFC Midnight and Shudder after its Sundance Film Festival premiere on January 22, 2022. Starring breakthrough It Follows (2014) star Maika Monroe in the lead role, Watcher centers on Julia, a woman who moves to Bucharest with her husband Francis and becomes the latest target of a serial killer living across the street. Karl Glusman (The Neon Demon) stars opposite Monroe as Francis, while Burn Gorman (The Dark Knight Rises) endangers Julia as “the Spider,” a serial killer whose modus operandi is stalking and decapitating young women.

Although its story lacks anything extraordinary that departs from a rudimentary stalker-slasher, Watcher benefits from a collaboration with Chloe Okuno and Maika Monroe that blends a chilling grip on the foreboding concept and a top-notch performance evoking sheer terror and disturbance. Watcher could be described as a slow-burning feminist film, but it never pretends to be anything more than that; it’s a story that we’ve all seen remade countless times, but the direction, cinematography and acting elevate it to a whole new level. Watcher isn’t an action-packed horror, but knowing what’s happening the whole time blurs the barrier between realism and surrealism. Anyone could be a victim — and therein lies the true fear.

5. You Are Not My Mother

You Are Not My Mother premiered in the Midnight Madness stream at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. Kate Dolan’s psychological thriller stars Hazel Doupe (Float Like a Butterfly) as Char, a young adult whose relationship with her grandmother Rita (Ingrid Craigie) deteriorates after her mother Angela (Carolyn Bracken) briefly goes missing. When Angela returns after several days, her personality has radically changed and bizarre behaviour points towards more sinister forces at work. On the surface, You Are Not My Mother is just an Irish iteration of Umma, but where Shim’s mother-daughter disaster stumbles, Dolan’s soars to new heights.

You Are Not My Mother finds the middle ground for thought-provoking themes and eerie chills. Despite some negative reviews calling the film “slow” and “boring,” anyone looking for a fright night flick should approach Dolan’s family-oriented thriller with an open mind. You Are Not My Mother is deep, emotionally resonant, and extremely atmospheric — which are sometimes the key components that other modern-day horrors are missing. Based on Celtic/Irish folklore, the foreshadowing, crescendoing, and spirituality behind You Are Not My Mother is what makes it stand apart from other folk horrors like Men. Think The Witch and if that Robert Eggers title piques some excitement, You Are Not My Mother is a like-minded contender.

4. You Won’t Be Alone

Written and directed by Goran Stolevski in his directorial debut, You Won’t Be Alone stars Sara Klimoska as Nevena, a mute Macedonian girl who is transformed into a shapeshifter by a witch, Maria (Anamaria Marinca), then abandoned. Years later, Nevena is learning about humanity, love and loss, all while slowly integrating herself into society, but Maria watches from the shadows and attempts to divert Nevena’s path as her self-proclaimed mother figure. For the stereotypical witch to be given such an transformational and versatile function is both exceedingly effective and enthralling. You Won’t Be Alone surprises many by breaking free of the horror trope constraints while being both poetic and humanistic in its style without forgetting that, at its core, it must still adhere to the fundamentals of horror as a genre.

For something unconventional and artsy, You Won’t Be Alone makes use of its concise dialogue and salient score for an experience that pleases all the senses. It can be disturbing at times, intense at others, but it paints a poignant portrait of life, death and everything in between to exceed the expectations of “just another” folk horror. It paves the way for many indie horror productions to follow in its footsteps, unashamedly going against the grain of recurrent horror themes and dancing to the beat of its own drum — regardless of who’s watching.

3. Scream

Although it needs no introduction, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Radio Silence), the directors behind horror-comedy hit Ready or Not (2019), present the fifth installment in the widely successful slasher saga of the same name: Scream (2022). Although it self-describes as a “requel,” Scream is both a relaunch of the franchise and a direct sequel to Craven’s final directorial outing, Scream 4. Following Craven’s death in 2015, Radio Silence signed on to direct, welcoming an ensemble cast in Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Sonia Ammar. In Scream, Ghostface reappears and begins targeting a group of teenagers who are each individually linked to the events of the original Woodsboro murders, which occurred 25 years prior. In addition, Roger L. Jackson, Marley Shelton, Skeet Ulrich, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell all reprise their roles from the previous installments.

The Scream quintology has always been self-aware and meta, but Scream (2022) raises the bar for future slashers and redefines the horror genre — just as it did in 1996. Just like Ready or Not, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett’s Scream (2022) fires on all cylinders with nifty little Easter eggs planted at every turn for the long-time fans who can’t get enough. As always, Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott signs, seals and delivers and remains the undisputed Scream Queen. Scream 6 has already been greenlit and is currently in production, proving that Scream (2022) performed exceedingly well.

2. The Black Phone

Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone, which is still showing in theaters, was adapted from the 2004 short story of the same name by Joe Hill and stars Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames. Written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, The Black Phone was conceived after Derrickson was replaced by Sam Raimi to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In his feature-film debut, Thames portrays Finney, a teenager who is abducted by a notorious child kidnapper known as The Grabber (Hawke) and held hostage in a soundproof basement. When a disconnected rotary phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can communicate with The Grabber’s previous victims — and they refuse to let Finney suffer the same fate.

Also starring Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies and James Ransone, The Black Phone is easily one of the best thrillers of 2022 so far. Although not necessarily horror-esque in style, the film does have its fair share of supernatural body gore, even if it isn’t as visibly frightening as it could have been. Aided by Hill’s source material, Derrickson keeps a firm grasp of the supernatural undertones without straying too far away from a realistic and believable concept that could happen to anyone — or anyone’s children. Hawke’s performance shines most of all; The Grabber manages to be utterly terrifying and unpredictable as a seemingly average guy on the surface with a sinister secret out of the public eye.

1. X

And here we have it, the greatest horror movie of 2022 thus far — Ti West’s X. Spearheaded by Mia Goth in her dual role as both Maxine Minx and Pearl, the X cast includes Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi (Kid Cudi). Additionally, X was written, directed, produced, and edited by Ti West himself and distributed by A24 — one of the foremost horror media companies — so there’s no surprise that it ranks so highly. From We Got This Covered’s review, X has been called unsettling, thought-provoking and stimulating. The plot follows a group of aspiring filmmakers who set their sights on a rural property in Texas owned by an elderly couple to make a tasteful pornographic film. Shortly after their arrival, the group notices that Pearl and her husband Howard are not at all as inviting as they hoped.

X provides a fresh spin on a classic slasher formula and takes Ti West back to his horror roots following The House of the Devil (2009) and The Innkeepers (2011). West welcomes the new generation of slashers, paying homage to classics yet refashioning the old tropes with the flair and finesse of a technologically advanced and remarkably cultivated air; X defies all odds and sets itself apart from the crowd as a phenomenal piece of filmmaking that reinvents the overplayed clichés and marks a refreshing turning point for modern horror.