These are the 10 best horror movies of 2023, from slasher hits like Scream VI to alien invasion films like No One Will Save You, and more.
2023 may have been a difficult year for many movies, but it was a damn good year for horror. While films like Wish, The Flash, and Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning struggled to make waves or earn a profit, horror movies became blockbuster hits almost every month. Horror even had a great year on streaming platforms as well, with original films being released on Hulu, Peacock, Prime Video, and, of course, Shudder.
But which horror movies were the absolute best of the year? From box office successes to critical darlings (and, in many cases, both), these 10 horror movies defined 2023 and proved that new life is being breathed into the genre.10. Sick
Ever since the pandemic, Hollywood has tried to create COVID stories … but nobody wants them. From Katie Holmes’ box office bust, Alone Together, to NBC’s Connecting, which was canceled before it even completed its first season, COVID is a topic still too miserable and raw for most viewers.
But Sick was different. In the movie, a group social distancing at a secluded lake house is stalked by a masked killer. The COVID setting added a good sense of groundedness to the movie and was a great plot device to explain why the group was so far from others and why nobody came to help. Granted, the movie certainly has similarities to The Strangers, but if you love that style of endlessly suspenseful horror, Sick is a movie you need to watch.9. M3GAN
Released in January, M3GAN had very little competition in theaters. Avatar: The Way of Water was still dominating the box office week after week, and hardly any other new films besides forgettable titles like Plane and House Party were being released. Luckily, a cheesy, campy romp of a horror movie swooped in to become a cultural phenomenon.
M3GAN centered around an AI-powered, life-sized companion doll who becomes murderous and chops up anyone who gets in her way. Also, she dances. Before long, social media was buzzing with M3GAN. Drag queens dressed up as her, people performed her now-iconic dance moves, and she even showed up at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. The demented doll was everywhere, and for good reason. The movie was cheesy but self-aware of its absurdity, which made it tons of fun.8. Five Nights at Freddy’s
Five Nights at Freddy’s earns a place on this list because, even though it isn’t that great of a movie, there are a lot of great aspects to it. No, it wasn’t very scary, and sadly, the movie is completely void of the jump scares the game is famous for. And yet, it became a roaring hit. Everyone out there remembers that deep-seated fear we all secretly had of Chuck-E-Cheese, knowing that something about those large, emotionless animatronics was just … not right.
FNAF knows how to prey upon our secret childhood fears, so audiences flocked to theaters and Peacock to watch the movie despite lackluster reviews. Not only did the film gross over $287 million at the box office, but it also became Peacock’s most-watched movie ever.
