The 14 best horror movies of 2023
Fancy a new horror movie? Here's your scariest options.
We might be heading into Christmas, but that doesn't mean you have to stop watching horror movies. You could go for one of the best horror movies of all time, or one of the scariest horror movies of all time, but equally you might want something new.
This year has seen the new outings for classic horror franchises like Scream, Saw and The Evil Dead, as well as exciting and terrifying new offerings such as Talk to Me, Skinamarink and No One Will Save You. However, they're far from the only new horror movies that are worth your time.
If you fancy catching up on the frights that this year has had to offer, we've taken a look back at the year to date to pick out the best horror movies of 2023 – and where you can watch them right now.
(Sorry Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, there's no room for you here.)
Scream VI
Scream VI is essentially The Muppets Take Manhattan, except the muppets are Ghostface and what he's taking are people's lives.
But with this New York setting also comes some unforgettable new kills — that ladder one is a doozy — along with a host of fresh faces including Josh Segarra and Samara Weaving who seamlessly fit alongside legacy characters new and old to make one of the strongest Scream casts yet.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store | Sky Cinema | NOW
Sick
Co-written by Scream's Kevin Williamson, Sick continues his penchant for tightly written, monosyllabic slashers that start with the letter "S", except this one revolves around a home invasion that takes place in the early days of the pandemic.
As if flashbacks to lockdown weren't unnerving enough, director John Hyam wrings unbearable amounts of tension out of just one location in ways that will make you wish for another quarantine just to keep yourself safe.
Watch now: Sky Cinema | NOW
Saw X
After spending years trying to make us vomit at the sight of John Kramer's grisly traps, Saw X gagged us in a very different way by making Jigsaw the protagonist for a change.
Not only does this give Tobin Bell the acting showcase he's long deserved, but it also means you'll actually be rooting for all his traps to work, which is sick and brilliant and exactly what Saw needed to stay relevant still, ten movies in.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store
M3GAN
No horror movie has got us dancing in the aisles quite like M3GAN this year, a perfect combination of camp and creepy doll action that you'd swear was written by a genius algorithm.
Except no AI could ever come up with all those sassy one-liners except M3GAN herself, and she's too busy flipping around and watching Cady to concern herself with such trivial human affairs. And now there's a confirmed sequel on the way, everyone's favourite killer-robot-doll franchise is officially bulletproof moving forward.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store | Sky Cinema | NOW
Thanksgiving
Eli Roth might have taken 16 years to turn his fake Grindhouse trailer into a feature-length movie, but Thanksgiving proved worth the wait thanks to its gory kills and dark humour.
In classic slasher fashion, sees a mysterious killer terrorising the birthplace of Thanksgiving and picking the residents off one by one. But who is behind the killings and who will end up surviving the deadly holiday season?
Watch now: In cinemas
Brooklyn 45
Ted Geoghegan's intimate, low-budget feature is the perfect example of the gold that can be spun when horror filmmakers are forced to creatively make the most of a small, meagre budget.
In this case, Brooklyn 45 plays out in real time as a group of veterans, still haunted by the recent tragedies of World War II, call upon spirits in a séance to make sense of their grief. The shocking twists that ensue are grounded by incredible performances from Anne Ramsay, Kristina Klebe, Jeremy Holm and New York horror legend Larry Fessenden.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes
When Evil Lurks
In a year when a legit Exorcist legacy sequel bombed, Demián Rugna's take on possession for When Evil Lurks is the breath of fresh stagnant air this genre needed.
As two brothers fight to stop a demonic force from destroying their village in Argentina, grisly practical effects combine with genuinely unnerving scares to rewrite the entire rulebook William Friedkin's Exorcist first established all those decades ago.
Watch now: Prime Video
Infinity Pool
With his trippy, deranged third feature, director Brandon Cronenberg rivals even some of his father's best work with psychedelic montages and a premise that must be seen to be believed.
Because of this, Infinity Pool is one of those films that you're better off not reading too much about before going in. Just know that you'll drown in the dual performances of Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth who push the very notion of humanity itself to frightening extremes that you won't see coming.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store | Sky Cinema | NOW
Skinamarink
Kyle Edward Ball's divisive debut feature — shot at his childhood home for just $15,000 — was one of this year's most talked-about horrors, and rightly so.
With a pace that deliberately borders on tedious, Skinamarink toys with time and perception to recreate that feeling you had as a child when you just knew something wasn't quite right, that perhaps the monsters your parents said weren't real might be lurking close, after all.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes
Attachment
What starts out as a beautiful queer romance between two women gradually becomes something far darker in Gabriel Bier Gislason's whip-smart movie Attachment, which explores the dangers of codependency through a Jewish folklore lens.
Horror is full of overbearing mothers, but you won't forget Sofie Gråbøl's take on this relatable yet dangerous archetype anytime soon.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes
Huesera: The Bone Woman
Michelle Garza Cervera's Huesera: The Bone Woman magnifies the anxieties of motherhood to an excruciatingly painful degree, using the supernatural to explore very natural yet scary feelings of post-partum depression.
Jump scares are mostly avoided in favour of creepy imagery that evokes the anxiety of Rosemary's Baby, but in a modern, Mexican setting.
Watch now: Prime Video
No One Will Save You
Like last year's Prey, Brian Duffield's No One Will Save You mostly eschews dialogue in favour of an extraterrestrial face-off that is just as engrossing as it is tense.
With its creative scripting and tight direction, this would already be one of the year's best horrors, but when you also factor in Kaitlyn Dever's almost wordless role, you'll be left asking once again why awards season would dare stay silent when it comes to genre performances as strong as this one.
Watch now: Disney+
Evil Dead Rise
A new take on the Evil Dead franchise should not be this good, yet here we are in 2023 with Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise, a masterful dive into all the horrors that the Necronomicon contains locked not-so tightly within.
Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland give it their all in a — dare we say it — 'grate' pair of performances that number among this year's best in horror and beyond. Let's hope future chapters continue to mix things up with new locations and even more importantly, new Deadites who can help keep this undead franchise alive indefinitely.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Microsoft Store | Netflix
Talk to Me
Talk to Me, Danny and Michael Philippou's directorial debut, is the horror that's got everyone talking this year, and it's all thanks to the central premise — a hand that communicates with the dead — along with Sophie Wilde's bold breakout performance.
A sequel is already on the cards, and judging by its title, Talk 2 Me, it's safe to assume we already have another iconic hit on our non-severed hands.
Watch now: Prime Video | iTunes | Netflix
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
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