The 15 BEST HORROR FILMS OF 2023
2023 was packed with real-life horrors as mankind slipped further down the sinkhole of self-destruction and horror cinema was hot on its heels. In a year that saw many attempts to resurrect classic franchises, with mixed results, it was primarily on the fringes of the mainstream where the deepest disturbances lurked.
Chew toy children, internally filmed pupil puncture, filthy bath water slurping and savage head pulping in the bowels of Hades showcased that the genre still has a voracious appetite for shock, awe, and severed penises. That being said, there was as much to enjoy in of intelligent storytelling, extravagant plotting, and commanding use of surrealism as a tool of terror.
And so here are the horror gems I found to be the most accomplished, hideously creative, enlightening, and just bat-shit crazy and wrong over the last year.
15.
VINCENT MUST DIE
Vincent is just an ordinary guy doing an ordinary job who finds himself in an extraordinary situation. Without warning, of the general populous have become hellbent on snuffing him out.
The central premise of Vincent Must Die is intriguing in its simplicity. Everyday life becomes a survival test, even with a newfound canine companion.
The virus-based apocalypse film is becoming more than a little tedious. Vincent Must Die, however, retains the power to surprise and engage with a fresh perspective and smartly written and acted characters. Despite a rich vein of absurdist humour and tons of pithy social observation, it retains a grip on tone and narrative texture, enabling its nihilistic trajectory to remain consistently entertaining and thought-provoking.
Bizzare, tragically funny, and starkly indicative of our times, Vincent Must Die is a genre movie must-see.
14.
GOD IS A BULLET
A wholesome detective teams up with a troubled young woman to rescue his daughter from a nefarious cult and avenge his butchered wife.
Nasty to the core with a heavy leaning toward misogynistic mega-violence this epic tale of moral degradation and unlikely alliances is schlocky nonsense as an art form. It’s dripping with nihilism yet still finds moments of warmth, charm, and humour.
However, it is the gruesome gaslighting and dog crawling back to its vomit mentality that cements this brutal movie firmly in horror territory.
Maika Monroe gives one of the performances of the year as the ultimate fuck around and find-out anti-heroine.
13.
RAGING GRACE
Undocumented and under pressure Filipina immigrant Joy is scraping a living under the radar. With her mischievous young daughter Grace in mind, she accepts a live-in off-the-books position caring for a wealthy terminally ill man at the bequest of his spiky niece Katherine.
Classism, greed, and desperation permeate this poignant feature debut from emerging talent Paris Zarcilla. A heartfelt glimpse into the immigrant experience in the UK through a horror movie filter that chooses nuance over sensationalism.
Put together with charismatic care it is no surprise this polished off-kilter fairytale scooped the prestigious Grand Jury Award at SXSW earlier this year. Never once during this gothic-tinged game of psychological cat and mouse does it jettison its core values of a single mother standing up to stereotyping and asinine preconceptions with quiet humility.
A richly observed character study of a small family on a quest for a better life who get infected by one on a merciless hunt for an even more comfortable one, Raging Grace is an underdog tale for our times. Affecting and deceptively angry it transcends genre pigeonholing to become one of the most surprising films of the year.
12.
GOOD BOY
Sigrid is a charming young woman with low standards when it comes to men. She its “If you have two legs and a pulse” you are in with a shot. When the gorgeous Christian gives her a super like on her dating app the two hook up for a socially awkward but sweet meet cute.
After an unadventurous first night fuck things turn sour in the morning when Christian introduces Sigrid to his pet pooch Frank. Seemingly oblivious to the utter weirdness unfolding Christian is quite at ease with the fact he has not forwarned his new conquest that Frank is a grown man in a canine onesie and mask.
Director Viljar Bøe’s mischievous horror thriller is determined to weird you out. On the one hand, it displays a nonjudgemental attitude toward the fetish it eludes to, and on the other, it is happy to surround it with depraved absurdity. He plays down any sexual implications, on the surface at least, of Frank’s compulsion and Christian’s enabling compliance.
The slow-burn approach is tempered by the inherent oddness as the viewer remains eager to see exactly where this eccentric threesome will end up. When the head-fuck bomb is finally dropped it is launched with such casual left-field elegance it makes all the nonchalant build-up worthwhile. It’s a genuinely chilling scene that Miki Takahashi himself would be proud of and one that could go a long way to securing cult status for this looney love story.
The final third of Good Boy is satisfyingly surreal and erratic with graphic spanking, death metal noise torture, and bloody beatings. However, it’s the final frames that will knock the wind out of you. It’s one of those endings that gets more upsetting the more you contemplate it. There is also room in the conclusion for interpretation of the kind that could reveal more about our capacity for degradation than the filmmakers.
11.
AUXILIO
It’s 1931 and Argentina is about to enter a lengthy period of political corruption at the hands of the Concordancia regime. Emilia is a rebellious anti-theist with a bohemian attitude that angers her military father. As a consequence, he adopts the Hamletarian stance of ‘Get thee to a nunnery’ and ships her off to a convent run by her steely-faced aunt.
Deprived of her subversive literature, cigarettes, and even her tros, Emilia is forced to live in a community of mentally ill, neurodevelopmentally challenged, and murderous women deemed too shameful to exist in normal society. Auxilio means help in Spanish and Emilia is soon in need of just that as the convent becomes engulfed by a paranormal onslaught of unmuzzled sexuality and infernal carnage.
Maverick director Tamae Garateguy’s scintillating shocker has the production values of a studio period piece but the visceral heart of classic Nunsploitation. Its feminist proclivity is intelligent and incisive as it slashes at the jugular of patriarchal persecution but it’s also not afraid to hoover up every salacious crumb this garish subgenre has to offer. Yet, in highlighting a sad situation painfully common in Argentinian convents at the time the film constructs a tangible rebuttal against the religious persecution and degradation women all around the world still experience today.
Aficionados of incarcerated women in peril type flicks, and indeed old-school Euro-horror, in general, will find much to enjoy as Auxilio loads the bases with feverish Tom-nunnery, before swinging for the fences with an outrageously violent climax.
10.
PANDEMONIUM
Nathan’s car has smashed into Daniel’s motorcycle on a mountain road. As the two men discuss the incident it transpires they are both dead and are in an ethereal limbo ahead of spiritual judgment. Initially, two doors, one emitting the soothing sounds of trumpets and harps, the other a cacophony of anguished screams, appear with clear destination connotations.
Nathan ends up entering the door to hell, after no small encouragement from a huge spider demon, where he encounters beshrouded and motionless bodies and becomes privy to the guilt, neglect, and insanity that secured their eternal damnation.
Eccentric filmmaker Quarxx shows little regard for cinematic conventions in this mean-spirited follow-up to his superb All the Gods in the Sky. A viciously nihilistic indictment of the absurdity of sin as a relatable concept it tramples the notion of adhering to a standardised structure under its cloven hooves.
One minute we are immersed in a dialogue-heavy character piece with heavy overtones of a stageplay, the next we become hypnotised by lush surrealism and gothic fairytale before being dumped in the demonic claustrophobia of what Hellboy would have looked like if Gaspar Noé had been at the helm.
Packed with fine performances that have the power to engage and resonate, with a confident script and superb cinematography and set design, Pandemonium should thrill fans of existential arthouse head-fuckery and emotionally gruelling horror alike.
9.
NEW LIFE
Two troubled women on different sides of the tracks are about to collide at the same apocalyptic junction. Jesse is on the run from an as-yet-unrevealed trauma, and Elsa is the calculating ‘fixer’ tasked with preventing her from crossing the Canadian border for reasons also unclear.
As their destinies become ever more entwined the severity of the situation they face escalates and they realise they are both no more than collateral pawns in a high-stakes game of damage limitation.
John Rosman’s debut feature is a rare treat. He intends to intellectualise and humanise the horror movie experience and has succeeded majestically on both fronts. By placing characterisation before chaos he has crafted catharsis.
Far too many filmmakers crowbar interesting and sensitive subjects into the horror template out of narrative laziness and artistic convenience, and genre fans are tired of it and wise to it. With New Life, it seems very much the other way around. It feels like Rosman wanted to gift the horror community a film that respected their intelligence and realised the raw potential of the fright flick to move and molest simultaneously. As such, New Life thrums with the same wit and wisdom nurtured by old-school exponents such as Romero and Cronenberg.
8.
TALK TO ME
A gang of youngsters become addicted to a party craze involving a cursed hand.
As their fervour grows more immersive they pay less attention to the rules and so a shocking evil is given free reign to rip their world to shreds.
Danny and Michael Philippou’s exhilarating fright flick is arguably the purest horror movie of the year and fans liked it as much as the critics. A remarkable blend of hokum and hysteria that for all its devilish high jinks remained surprisingly plausible
Although not entirely original, Talk to Me hit a collective nerve with the horror community not seen since It Follows.
If you dare you can now purchase an authentic replica of the demonic limb in the form of a bong.
7.
MAMI WATA
Headstrong traditionalist Mama Efe is the conduit and intermediary for the sea goddess Mami Wata in the fictional coastal village of Iyi. Her two daughters Zinwe and Prisca are cynical in varying degrees toward her stoical enforcement of folklore worship in the face of modernity and the benefits it would bring to their community.
As part of her role, Mama Efe must accept a hefty portion of the villager’s produce and money to appease and reward Mami Wata for her protection. However, it is not just her own family that questions Mama Efe’s archaic dogma and indeed her usefulness.
Maverick director CJ “Fiery” Obasi got the idea for Mami Wata from a transcendental black-and-white vision he felt compelled to recreate on film. As such, it is an immensely personal story that taps into the love and respect he holds for his own two late sisters. Originally set to be a relatively standard revenge thriller it is filled with so much earnest pride and ethereal wonder it eclipses classification or for that matter, time frame.
Lílis Soares‘ astonishingly crisp black-and-white cinematography enhances the aesthetic elegance of black skin while seashell braided hair and glittering body art shimmer in the moon and campfire light. This gives the film’s vibrant subjects an otherworldly quality that works in tandem with clever camera placement to depict them in a manner more consistent with superheroes.
An immersive story that could have unfolded before our eyes in the past or hereafter, just as easily as the present, Mami Wata is a hypnotic love letter to African mythos that doubles as a warning sign to unchecked futurism. A poignant fever daydream that strives to eviscerate pity through power and replace remote commiserations with tangible empathy
6.
DEVILS
Tenacious detective Jae-hwan is hell-bent on bringing day-glow online murder monster Jin-hyeok to justice after he butchers his brother-in-law. The two clash on a mountainside and tumble into a ravine only to go AWOL for a whole month.
When they resurface in a handcuffed car crash they have swapped bodies and Jin-hyeok blackmails the now-arrested Jae-hwan into coughing up all his s and intimate memories under the threat he will “rape and rip apart” his wife and daughter. In response, Jae-hwan absconds and initiates a desperate mission to protect his family and regain his true identity.
Kim Jae-hoon‘s 90’s tinged Cat III throwback may not be entirely original in premise but it is in execution. The timeline can’t be linear to spring its delirious traps, yet it is masterfully edited to keep it easily digestible and engaging. The revelations are both ingenious and utterly illogical and the parameters are as random as blood splatters but it pivots in such demented directions that you won’t care. It certainly doesn’t. Just go in as blind as possible, strap in, and enjoy the dark plunge into abject ugliness.
Anti-humanist and devoid of any remorse for its tasteless excesses, Devils is a reckless hunting dog of a film that refuses to run with the pack. Seedy, swarthy, and slippery as a sweating eel fans of murky South Korean cinema will lap it up.
A truly spiteful snuff movie horror thriller featuring superb dual lead performances and an utterly insane twist you will never see coming.
5.
THE COFFEE TABLE
Jesus and Maria are feeling the strain of a new baby combined with a move to a new apartment. They have been reduced to a bickering mess of thinly veiled resentment and scathing character assassinations. Jesus is sick of Maria controlling all the decisions and resolves to purchase a truly garish coffee table as an act of spiteful rebellion.
The emotional carnage that follows will drag Jesus into the epicentre of a living nightmare of denial. When his brother and his younger girlfriend arrive for a catch-up lunch it is just a matter of time before everyone, including the audience, is left psychologically mauled.
Director Caya Casas’ gruelling tragicomedy is a paralysing panic attack that feels like a masterclass in cinematic bullying. To maximise discomfort it obliterates taboos and revels in deeply poisonous irony before weaponizing the traditional skylarking of farce. You will laugh, often out of incredulity and sheer nervousness, and will soundly despise yourself for doing so. This is cinema for people who think Black Mirror plays it too safe and the ending of The Mist was overly upbeat.
Easily the best feel-bad movie since Katrin Gebbe‘s nihilist classic Nothing Bad Can Happen, The Coffee Table is an unethical ambush that is guaranteed to shock and surprise. The premise may well be simplistic, however, its brutal execution is creatively nuanced and emotionally petrifying. Depressing and distressing it could well be the most unapologetically bleak and blatantly triggering comedy film of all time.
4.
WHEN EVIL LURKS
Two brothers, Pedro and Jimmy, uncover a bloated human tumour known as a “Rotten” being harboured by a frightened family in their remote Argentinian village. The experienced “cleaner” dispatched to kill it using the appropriate rites of exorcism has been hacked to bits in the woods.
Left to their own devices the brothers decide to ignore the crucial protocol and drive the putrefying body miles away to put distance between them and the despicable. However, the plan goes wrong and they unleash a wave of evil that spreads like wildfire perverting and maiming everything they hold dear.
Demián Rugna‘s follow-up to the popular Aterrados dives headfirst into the possession genre with gleeful menace. Confident and classy it combines over-the-top eruptions of ultra-violence with intricate world-building and character development to create a rule-based scenario of rampaging wickedness.
Like all great horror films When Evil Lurks taps into real-life issues and caustic themes to burrow under the skin. It draws bitter inspiration from the poisoning of Argentinians through exposure to systemic herbicides, illuminating it through the prism of Greek tragedy and injecting demonology into hidden suffering.
Ridiculously entertaining despite its dogged allegiance to sickening violence it’s a rabid horror flick with a bite radius to match its ambitious bark.
3.
THE OUTWATERS
Relentlessly disorientating found footage horror that sees four cool travellers camping in the baking Mojave Desert to shoot a music video but end up documenting a terrifying phenomenon that pulverises their minds.
Presented chronologically over 3 recovered memory cards The Outwaters is so purist in its found footage nature that it escapes its genre parameters and permeates the surreal realms of experimental film.
As such, it has already proved supremely polarising. For every gushing critical appraisal, there is a counterbalancing viewer opinion of incandescent hatred. While some adore its Lovecraftian fuckery and nauseous sound design, many others scoff at its shaky-cam chaos and Blair Witch wankery. Some have even questioned if it deserves to be called a “film” at all and refuse to believe anyone beyond the Emeror’s new clothes brigade likes this gloriously incoherent mess. Others have declared The Outwaters to be so dreadful they ed judgment without finishing the film and in doing so deprived themselves of the most fundamentally insane final reel outside of Aronofsky’s mother!
However, two things are irrefutably universal. At no juncture during the bloated runtime will you fully understand what is assaulting your eyeballs and at no juncture during the final third will you have the remotest scooby doo what the living fuck is going on. What is more, that is the absolute bravery and beauty of Robbie Banfitch’s daring gauntlet slap that bloodies the nose of conventional cinema.
Just as Shin’ichirô Ueda’s amazing One Cut of the Dead tested the patience before confounding expectations The Outwaters builds with a languid slow burn before delivering a memorable payload that makes it worth the effort.
It’s no surprise this edgy psycho-horror found its natural habitat at festival screenings. However, it stands a strong chance of becoming a cult favourite outside of that thanks to its interpretational riddles and capacity to linger in the mind long after the hellish screams have faded
2.
SALTBURN
An Oxford Uni student guilts his way into the summer shenanigans of an aristocratic family for whom dysfunctionality is as normalised as the Old Masters that hang in their vast hallways.
On the surface, Saltburn looks like the perfect film to settle down to watch with the parents…until it fucking isn’t. Already legendary on social media for eliciting untold levels of family awkwardness, hilariously mirroring those depicted on screen, its blatant horror credentials make for a total blast.
Accused by many of being a Brideshead regurgitated and a snoozefest by others I am minded to question if they saw the same film.
Relentlessly degenerate and endlessly entertaining with a soundtrack to die for, it’s a gorgeous fuck storm of creativity and malice. Everyone in it is brilliant, not least the incredible Sadie Soverall who should already be clearing her shelf space.
The best film about the potential horrors of the class divide since Eden Lake and the best nude dance scene since The Wicker Man are just some of the delights to savour as well as the already infamous “Bathtub”, “Vampire”, and Graveside” scenes.
The reference to PULP’s Common People was the single best line I heard all year.
1.
BEATEN TO DEATH
Sumptuously shot outback horror that slabbers over suffering and frolics in a bottomless trough of hopelessness.
The consequences of risky life choices are beyond brutal for Jack and his wife Rachel as they face the completely disproportionate wrath of a sadistic family of Tasmanian bush dwellers. Mutilated to a shambling blood crust baked by blistering sunshine Jack launches a desperate bid for survival against the elements and the evil that stalks him.
The provocative title of Sam Curtain‘s thoroughly nasty Hicksplotation thriller leaves little room for ambiguity. It leaves even less space for viewers badgered by its relentless violence to complain. However, if it is to satiate its obvious target market of extreme horror fans it must also deliver the disturbing goods.
No surprise then that an exorbitant amount of screen time is dedicated to top-tier torture porn and lovingly curated scenes of abject agony. Indeed, Beaten to Death is a balls-deep, eye-gouging orgy of anguish that might well sur the salacious expectations of even the most degenerate horror hounds.
Sweeping vistas contrast with the scrutiny of every droplet of blood and sputum. The dingy greyness of the abuse scenes is juxtaposed with stunning sun-glare silhouettes. The latter provides one of the most arresting images in recent horror memory whilst creating an iconic moment that cements the film’s own identity.
When a picture contains this much extended distress it is easy for monotony to set in. Yet, the meticulous framing and genuinely inventive perspectives and angles keep this rotting of a human soul paradoxically fresh. A jaw-dropping example of this comes during the film’s most triggering gore scene. It is filmed in such a wince-inducingly original way that it could have sprung directly from the unhinged mind of vintage Dario Argento. The aftermath, labelled ‘The Black’ by the filmmakers, is arguably even more unsettling.
After being assaulted by this malicious movie many viewers may take the position that the filmmakers have wasted their obvious talents on such a basic exercise in exploitative debasement. The counter-argument is to suggest they simply channelled their creative verve, scant resources, and independent spirit into deconstructing the horror film into its purest elemental form.
Thanks as ever to Paul Devine, festival organisers, filmmakers and PR legends for their time, help and tolerance.
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