From YouTuber breakouts like Obsession and Backrooms to nostalgic blockbuster hits like Scream 7, the genre is firing on all cylinders, especially among Gen Z. It has massively boosted the box office, contributing more than $1.82 billion in the US alone, just shy of last year’s record of $2.02 billion.
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It → fire → billion
And the year’s not over yet.
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year → ’ → ?
With Halloween just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to catch up on the buzziest horror offerings – many of which are now available to stream at home.
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many → ’ → home
Obsession (HBO Max)
This year delivered several stellar horror titles, but Obsession arguably led the pack.
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Obsession → deliver → pack
Directed by 27-year-old YouTuber Curry Barker, the film follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a typical “nice guy” who can’t get over a crush on his co-worker Nikki (Inde Navarrette).
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who → direct → -
So, naturally, he wishes on a cheap novelty toy, asking it to make her love him more than anything in the world.
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her → wish → world
This, of course, goes horribly wrong.
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This → go → course
The once self-assured Nikki turns into what can only be described as a psychotic love monster – one who will go to any lengths, even inflicting violence upon herself and others, to make Bear happy.
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Bear → turn → herself
After making waves at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, the movie quickly picked up steam at the box office, grossing more than $739 million globally off a tiny $1.06 million production budget.
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movie → make → budget
Critics gushed over the film’s timely take on gender relations, and suggested Barker (along with Backrooms′ Kane Parsons) heralded a YouTuber horror revolution.
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Barker → gush → revolution
It did so well, in fact, that Barker already has three upcoming features in line, including Anything But Ghosts starring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul and a Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake for A24.
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Barker → do → A24
It also made Navarrette an overnight star, one potentially worthy of Academy attention.
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Navarrette → make → attention
Backrooms (Stan*)
Just over a week after Obsession came Backrooms, another horror from a former YouTuber that left audiences both stunned and energised.
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that → come → audiences
Directed by 21-year-old Kane Parsons, the film adapts the director’s popular online series, which in itself was inspired by a viral creepypasta about an infinite, yellow liminal space.
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which → direct → space
A down-and-out furniture store owner (Chiwetel Ejiofor) stumbles into this mysterious realm, leading his therapist to follow in an attempt to save him.
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owner → stumble → him
Unnerving, claustrophobic and anxiety-inducing, the film developed solid word-of-mouth, especially among younger audiences, eventually becoming A24’s highest-grossing release of all time.
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film → induce → time
Finally, Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead) has returned to his unhinged comedy-horror roots.
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Raimi → return → roots
Send Help takes a genuinely terrifying premise – crash-landing on a remote jungle island with your pompous nepo baby boss – and turns it into a darkly hilarious tale that eventually has you begging the characters to just eat each other.
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you → send → other
Starring Rachel McAdams (The Notebook) and Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf), this film may not have blown the box office away, but it still delivered some of the best dark comedy performances of the year, especially from McAdams who proved herself a surprisingly solid scream queen.
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herself → star → McAdams
Exit 8 (Amazon Prime Video)
Horror films based on popular video games can be hit-and-miss, but Exit 8 was definitely a hit.
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Exit → base → games
Its simple premise follows a man who becomes trapped in an endless underground station and must use any anomalies in the environment to help guide him out.
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who → follow → him
Beyond its respect for the source material, audiences praised the film for its use of eerie liminal space and its deeper exploration of personal guilt.
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audiences → praise → guilt
Despite only receiving a limited release, the Japanese film’s average earnings per-theatre became the third-highest of any movie in the US top 10, even surpassing the buzzy Zendaya and Robert Pattinson film The Drama.
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earnings → receive → film
Once again, it was Gen Z who flocked to cinemas to see it.
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who → flock → it
After her 2024 film I Saw the TV Glow, anyone with an interest in surrealist horror had their eye on Jane Schoenbrun.
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anyone → see → Schoenbrun
The director’s latest release somehow got even weirder, placing Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) and Gillian Anderson (Sex Education) in an abandoned summer camp where their characters, both actors, attempt to reboot an indie slasher.
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characters → get → slasher
It’s bloody, dreamlike and slightly meta, paired with pertinent underlying messages around desire and queer identity.
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It → ’ → desire
In other words, it’s peak Schoenbrun.
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it → ’ → words
It’s a recipe for success.
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It → ’ → success
Damian McCarthy’s tale sends a jaded horror writer (Scott) on a journey to Ireland where he plans to scatter his parents’ ashes.
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he → send → ashes
However, his hotel is haunted by a 400-year-old witch who he eventually confronts while searching for a missing hotel employee.
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he → haunt → employee
Somehow both cosy and terrifying, this film creates slow burn dread like few others, building to some of the most frightening jump scares I’ve seen in a while.
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I → create → while
It also helps that Scott (Severance) is a master at playing a grumbling anti-hero.
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Scott → help → hero
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Amazon Prime Video)
No horror list would be complete without a zombie flick – and this one just happens to be utterly brilliant.
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one → happen → flick
Following last year’s 28 Years Later, Nia DaCosta’s instalment of the acclaimed franchise focuses on a cult led by the megalomaniacal psychopath Jimmy (Jack O’Connell), who’s intent on offering uninfected people as satanic sacrifices.
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who → follow → sacrifices
It’s incredibly grisly, crushes your faith in humanity (as all good zombie movies should) and offers one of the most twisted villains in contemporary horror history.
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movies → ’ → history
It also contains a scene in which Ralph Fiennes rocks out to an Iron Maiden song while pretending to be the devil.
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Fiennes → contain → song
Leviticus (HBO Max from October 30)
One of the best horrors of the year was made on our own doorstep.
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One → make → doorstep
Leviticus is Australian director Adrian Chiarella’s debut feature about a closeted country boy who outs his love interest in a jealous rage, resulting in a sick form of conversion therapy that inadvertently summons an evil entity that mimics those you desire most.
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you → out → those
The film quickly became a breakout hit, developing major word-of-mouth buzz for its handling of queer trauma and religious repression.
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film → become → trauma
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
