The best modern horror movies, ranked

Fancy a scare? Then these are for you...

The best modern horror movies, ranked
Marc Chacksfield's avatar
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Horror movies rarely get much attention during awards season. But it's where we seen some of the most inventive and dynamic film-making over the last few years.

After all, it's where we've got a break from all the superhero flicks that have clogged up multiplexes for more than a decade.

We're here to celebrate the best of the recent crop of horror films. These are films that made us think, offered something quite unlike what we've seen before. And they are also damn scary.

From 2016-2023, these slices of high-quality terror prove the genre still has teeth ... or should that be fangs?

Best modern horrors

Hereditary (2018)
at AmazonImage credit: A24
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Get Out (2017)
at AmazonImage credit: Universal Pictures
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Midsommar (2019)
at AmazonImage credit: A24
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A Quiet Place (2018)
at AmazonImage credit: Paramount Pictures
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X (2022)
at AmazonImage credit: A24
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The Ritual (2017)
at AmazonImage credit: Netflix
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Train to Busan (2016)
at Disney+This Korean horror made us realise there was still life left in the zombie movie. It starts at the outbreak of a zombie plague, as a businessman travels across the country in a train. As cities fall to the virus, one infected stumbled on-board, priming us for two hours of thrilling chaos. A excellent example of how pacing, tension and clear cinematography can level-up horror beyond the standards of the genre. It's also a tale about class strata in society.
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Doctor Sleep (Director’s Cut) (2019)
at AmazonImage credit: Warner Bros Pictures
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Saint Maud (2019)
at AmazonIt’s impossible to get to the root of the power of Saint Maud by just describing what happens in it. A nurse becomes obsessed with her patient, but is haunted by her own past. It’s understated but tense, and testament to the power of the suggested over the seen. Unusual in look and feel, exemplified by its unusual setting of a seaside town in Northern Ireland.
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Barbarian (2022)
at Disney+The best way to experience Barbarian is to know as little about it as possible before you go in. So we have a problem here. Suffice to say Barbarian delights in confounding your expectations, and manages to be both terrifying and occasionally funny in the process. This is horror-comedy, though, it’s a pitch-black chiller with some actual thought-provoking themes under the surface.
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Suspiria (2018)
at AmazonImage credit: Amazon Studios
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Annihilation (2018)
at NetflixImage credit: Netflix
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Host (2020)
at AMC NetworksImage credit: Shudder
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Marc Chacksfield
Marc Chacksfield
Content Director

As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.

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