Horror has been having an incredible decade, but 2026 has proven to be yet another particularly exciting year for a genre that continues to thrive on creative risks and filmmakers willing to push boundaries. From breakout debuts that transform internet-born nightmares into genuinely unsettling cinematic experiences to established masters reminding everyone why they became legends in the first place, this year’s offerings have been remarkably diverse.
Narrowing the year’s best down to just ten films is no easy task, especially with so many worthwhile releases competing for attention. But the following selections represent what I love most about horror: bold ideas, unforgettable imagery, palpable atmosphere, and filmmakers who understand that a good scare can be so much more than a sudden noise in the dark.
These are movies that have stuck with me well beyond the theatre, whether through their emotional resonance, their willingness to venture into deeply uncomfortable territory, or their ability to deliver some of the most exciting genre filmmaking of the year. From major franchise installments to unexpected indie gems, these ten films showcase horror at its most inventive, disturbing, and entertaining.
Obsession (Currently streaming on Peacock)
Curry Barker’s Obsession takes a simple wish-fulfillment premise and transforms it into one of the year’s most deeply uncomfortable cinematic experiences. A young man’s (Michael Johnston) desire becomes a waking nightmare that spirals into increasingly disturbing territory, with Barker displaying a wicked understanding of how physical and psychological horror can both burrow beneath the skin.
Anchored by a haunting performance from breakout star Inde Navarrette, this is a cruel, wickedly funny, and dark examination of fixation and entitlement that becomes more terrifying the further it goes. You’ve probably already seen it - it’s the horror phenomenon of the year for good reason.
Backrooms (Currently streaming on HBO Max)
Kane Parsons’ expansion of his viral online sensation into a feature-length film is a remarkable demonstration of how effectively atmosphere and uncertainty can overwhelm an audience. The endless yellow corridors and warped architecture are inherently unnerving, but Backrooms finds something even more frightening in the sheer impossibility of understanding the space surrounding its central characters of Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve).
Parsons makes terrific use of the film’s found-footage elements and disorienting setting, delivering an immersive nightmare that feels genuinely alien. This is far more than a successful internet-to-cinema adaptation, and its ideas go deeper than most may give it credit for.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Currently streaming on Netflix)
Nia DaCosta takes the already electrifying world of 28 Years Later somewhere considerably darker and stranger, delivering a sequel that’s as intellectually provocative as it is brutally entertaining. The conflict between Ralph Fiennes’ compassionate Dr. Ian Kelson and Jack O’Connell’s horrifyingly charismatic Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal provides a chilling examination of faith, violence, and the monstrous things people convince themselves are righteous.
DaCosta embraces the franchise’s willingness to experiment, steering the ship in an ambitious, unsettling, and explosive continuation that proves there’s still plenty of life left in this infected world. I’m dying for the next sequel.
Exit 8 (Currently streaming on AMC+)
Adapting a video game built around walking through an endlessly repeating subway corridor sounds like an easy recipe for a very long, very tedious movie. Instead, director Genki Kawamura transforms Exit 8 into an engrossing exercise in paranoia, repetition, and psychological unease. Every subtle alteration in the sterile environment becomes another reason to question what you’re seeing, pulling the audience directly into its protagonist’s (Kazunari Ninomiya) increasingly disorienting predicament.
It’s an ingenious demonstration of how even the most mundane spaces can become terrifying when reality itself can no longer be trusted. As you can tell by a couple of other entries on this list, "liminal space” type horror has been the name of the game lately, and Exit 8 deserves a spotlight amongst the greats in that space.
Leviticus (Currently available to rent digitally)
Adrian Chiarella’s stunning feature debut Leviticus finds a devastatingly effective way to turn the real-life horrors of religious persecution and conversion therapy into a disturbingly effective supernatural nightmare. At the center of its story are two teenage boys (Joe Bird & Stacy Clausen) whose forbidden feelings for one another become entangled with a terrifying entity that takes the form of the person they desire most.
The resulting horror is both viscerally frightening and emotionally devastating, with the film’s creative monster concept giving physical form to the shame, fear, and violence imposed upon queer love. It’s a potent, deeply affecting genre achievement. Don’t let this one pass you by.
Undertone (Currently streaming on HBO Max)
Few horror movies this year have genuinely frightened me and felt truly evil quite like Ian Tuason’s Undertone, a film that understands how much scarier the things we can't see can be. Following a paranormal podcast host (Nina Kiri) who begins receiving deeply disturbing audio recordings while caring for her dying mother (Michèle Duquet), the film weaponizes sound, silence, and the audience’s own imagination to extraordinary effect.
Kiri delivers a riveting central performance, but Tuason - who has fittingly been picked to reboot the Paranormal Activity franchise - and his direction and command of atmosphere is the real revelation. The film’s final moments is one of the most terrifyingly effective conclusions the genre has delivered in years.
Send Help (Currently streaming on Hulu / Disney+)
Sam Raimi, a true king of the old horror guard, returning to the kind of gleefully vicious filmmaking that made him a legend was always going to be a good time, but Send Help is an especially delightful showcase for his talents. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien make for an excellent dysfunctional pairing as two colleagues stranded on a deserted island, where workplace resentment and power dynamics escalate into a gloriously deranged fight for survival.
Raimi brings his trademark visual inventiveness, gross-out gags, and gleefully sadistic humor to the proceedings. It’s a nasty, hilarious, thoroughly entertaining reminder of what happens when a master filmmaker cuts loose. He hasn't lost his touch one bit.
It Ends (Currently available to rent digitally)
Alexander Ullom’s oustanding debut It Ends takes the deceptively simple premise of a group of friends trapped on an endless road and turns it into a haunting meditation on existential uncertainty. The film’s distinct approach allows its increasingly desperate characters and their wonderfully natural conversations to become just as compelling as the inexplicable nightmare surrounding them.
Rather than relying on conventional scares, Ullom finds terror in the possibility that there may be no destination, no explanation, and no escape. It’s a unnervingly strange, quietly devastating coming-of-age tale that lingers long after the journey ends - or doesn’t.
Resident Evil (Currently playing in theatres)
Zach Cregger’s take on the Resident Evil franchise understands that translating the appeal of a survival horror video game to the big screen requires much more than simply throwing familiar monsters and characters at the audience. Its snowy opening is a terrific showcase for tactile creature effects, escalating tension, and the desperate resourcefulness that makes the games so compelling.
Austin Abrams’ central performance is a wonderful showcase of what makes him such a unique talent, while Cregger’s willingness to embrace the franchise’s grotesque possibilities makes for an exhilarating ride. It’s an admirably nasty reinvention with plenty of memorable horror moments.
The Cycle (Currently streaming on AMC+)
Jordan Downey’s The Cycle is one of the year’s most delightful surprises, a slow-burning mystery that patiently draws you into its grim world before paying off in wildly terrifying fashion. What initially resembles a grounded crime procedural gradually reveals itself to be something considerably more sinister, with Deborah Ann Woll anchoring the investigation in a compelling mixture of professional determination and deeply personal stakes.
Downey demonstrates tremendous confidence in withholding information until the moment is right, and the eventual payoff is all the more effective for it. This is a fantastically realized genre story that rewards patience with some genuinely extraordinary horror imagery. Do not miss this one.
