The best and most anticipated horror movies of 2024

We're five months into 2024, and we've already had some excellent horror movies to savour.

From the bloody vampire antics of Abigail via the found-footage chills of Late Night with the Devil to the stunning ending of Immaculate, there's been something for every horror fan.

Here are the best horror movies of 2024 so far.

(Note: there's no order other than the earliest to the latest release date in the UK.)

Director: Andrew Cumming
Cast: Kit Young, Safia Oakley-Green, Chuku Modu, Iola Evans, Arno Luening

45,000 years in the past, a group of people arrive on the shores of a desolate landscape aiming to find a new home. But as night falls, it becomes clear that they aren't alone.

Out of Darkness is a stripped-back and lean survival horror, told in a fictional stone-age language. It's a movie that requires you to buy in through a first act that establishes the interpersonal dynamics of the group and their situation.

But come through that, and you're rewarded with an oppressive atmosphere, effective gory beats and a final reveal that'll give you something to chew over in a post-movie debrief.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store | Sky Cinema

Director: Michael Mohan
Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Dora Romano, Giorgio Colangeli

Sydney Sweeney being the lead in any movie should excite you and Immaculate absolutely delivered on that.

She plays a nun who is trying to start a new life for herself in a remote Italian convent, only to discover that her new home is hiding a dark secret and unspeakable horrors.

Sweeney is captivating in this bold religious horror that goes to places that you'd never expect, leaving you stunned with an unforgettable finale.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store

Directors: Cameron and Colin Cairnes
Cast: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli

Late Night with the Devil is the new movie from Cameron and Colin Cairnes, the twisted geniuses behind 100 Bloody Acres.

It sees David Dastmalchian play late-night talk show host Jack Delroy, who decides that Halloween is the perfect time to interview a young teenager who is the sole survivor of a Satanic church's mass suicide. What could go wrong? Spoiler alert: a lot.

The movie brings a fresh spin to the found footage genre and delivers a compelling and terrifying experience as Jack Delroy experiences the show from hell.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store

Director: Arkasha Stevenson
Cast: Nell Tiger Free, Bill Nighy, Ralph Ineson, Sonia Braga, Charles Dance

Yes, we know there's not really been an Omen movie to come even close to the iconic 1976 original, but The First Omen showed that it is entirely possible.

Rather than being a remake, it's a prequel to the original movie that centres on a young American woman sent to Rome who discovers a dark and terrifying conspiracy.

We know where the story is going, but propelled by a terrific performance from Nell Tiger Free, The First Omen shocks in other ways to be that rare thing: a worthy horror prequel.

Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
Cast: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Angus Cloud, Alisha Weir

Until the excellent first trailer was unleashed in early January 2024, we knew nothing about Abigail – and we kind of wish it had stayed that way.

The new movie from Radio Silence has a brilliant concept that would have absolutely killed if we didn't know it was coming. It sees a group of criminals discover that they've kidnapped a 12-year-old ballerina who just happens to be a vampire.

But even though the big reveal was spoiled, Abigail is still a gory must-see for horror fans. It's both a hilarious self-aware vampire movie and a blood-soaked horror crowd-pleaser.

Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store

Directors: Sébastien Vaniček
Cast: Théo Christine, Sofia Lesaffre, Jérôme Niel, Finnegan Oldfield, Lisa Nyarko

In one of those classic Deep Impact/Armageddon situations, 2024 has given us two spider horrors in quick succession.

Sting comes to UK cinemas on May 31, but it'll be hard to top French horror Infested which sees a group of people fight to survive when a venomous spider turns an apartment building into its own web trap. (This is basically what happens in Sting too.)

Arachnophobes need not apply as Infested might even make spider lovers squirm with its intense creepy-crawly scares.

Watch now: Shudder

While Saw XI might have been delayed to 2025, there's still plenty of horror treats to come in 2024.

Here's all the new 2024 horror movie releases, with their official release dates to come this year.

Director: Michael Sarnoski
Cast: Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou

Not too much is known about A Quiet Place: Day One other than the fact that it's a prequel to the first two movies and is set at the start of the initial alien invasion.

But we know enough about the movie to eagerly await its release as Michael Sarnoski's previous movie was the excellent Pig, while Lupita Nyong'o returns to the horror genre for the first time since Us.

Director: Fede Álvarez
Cast: Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced, David Jonsson

We're going back in time in the Alien franchise with new movie Alien: Romulus.

Set between Alien and Aliens, the new movie is directed by Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead, Don't Breathe) and centres on a group of young space colonisers who face off with the Xenomorphs. Ridley Scott said it was "f**king great", so that's good enough for us.

Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe

It's been many years coming, but Beetlejuice 2 (should) finally arrive this year after its strike-affected shoot was completed in late November 2023.

After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home. When Lydia's daughter Astrid discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic, the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened.

Director: James Watkins
Cast: James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Alix West Lefler

The 2022 Danish horror Speak No Evil is the kind of movie that is once seen, never forgotten. And if the English-language remake sticks to the script, we're in for more traumatic memories.

As in the original movie, a family takes a holiday to a country house, only for that dream vacation to turn into a terrifying nightmare.

Director: Parker Finn
Cast: Naomi Scott, Lukas Gage, Kyle Gallner, Rosemarie DeWitt

Smile was an unexpected horror hit in 2022, so it won't be a surprise to know that a sequel is heading our way this Halloween.

We don't know much other than it sees Naomi Scott play a popstar who becomes the latest target for the terrifying curse. Kyle Gallner is reprises his role as Joel, who had the curse passed onto him at the end of Smile.

Director: Damien Leone
Cast: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Chris Jericho, Samantha Scaffidi

What's more festive than a mute evil clown on another bloody killing spree? Probably a lot of things, but we can't wait to reunite with Art the Clown in Terrifier 3.

Writer/director Damien Leone has been promising even more gore and boundary-pushing kills, while the threequel will bring back Samantha Scaffidi in an expanded role for Victoria Heyes who, err, gave birth to Art's head in Terrifier 2's ending.

Director: Robert Eggers
Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe

UK audiences might have to wait until next year to see it (although we're hoping for an earlier release date shift), but we couldn't not include Nosferatu in this list.

Having switched to historical action for The Northman, Robert Eggers is back in the horror genre for this latest remake of the seminal 1922 horror with Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok and Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter.