Horror Movies of 2024 : A Retrospective

An article recently published in Polygon, highlighting the recent horror successes at the box office, gives us a good idea of what horror movies were like in 2024, with some great successes in the list!

But where do they come from? What do they tell us? Do we have diverse universes, intriguing first films, or sequels and copy-paste monsters? Let’s find out.

Nine productions are standalone originals: Longlegs, Late Night with the Devil, Never Let Go, Immaculate, The Substance, Tarot, The Watchers, Heretic, Imaginary.

Six are sequels or prequels : MaXXXine, The First Omen, Terrifier 3, Smile 2, Alien: Romulus, and A Quiet Place: Day One.

Five are remakes : Abigail, Nosferatu, The Strangers: Chapter 1, Night Swim, and Speak No Evil.

In terms of main antagonists, demons and evil entities are dominating, and are the majority of the antagonists, appearing in nine films out of twenty: Never Let Go, Late Night with the Devil, Tarot, The First Omen, Imaginary, Night Swim, Terrifier 3, Smile 2, Longlegs

In second place, undoubtedly the most terrifying creatures: Humans, with six antagonists, and most of them don’t act alone, but in groups: MaXXXine, Immaculate, Heretic, Speak No Evil, The Strangers : Chapter 1, Longlegs (a film that appears twice, and those who saw it probably know why).

2024 also marks the return of vampires in horror productions, with two antagonists: Abigail and Nosferatu.

Tied with creatures from outer space, also two antagonists: Alien: Romulus and A Quiet Place: Day One.

Then, one mythical creature : The Watchers.

And one body horror: The Substance.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of the movies are big productions who benefited from the support of major distribution companies. Even if a few of independent distribution companies made their way through the list.

A24 (Maxxxine)

Iconic Events Releasing (Terrifier 3)

Neon (Immaculate, Heretic, Longlegs)

Universal (Nosferatu, Abigail, Night Swim)

Lionsgate (The Strangers: Chapter 1, Imaginary, Never Let Go)

Sony Pictures Releasing (Tarot)

New Line Cinema / Warner Bros Pictures (The Watchers)

Paramount Pictures (A Quiet Place: Day One, Smile 2)

20th Century Studios (Alien: Romulus, The First Omen)

IFC Films distributes independent films but is owned by AMC Networks (Late Night with the Devil)

Metropolitan Filmexport (The Substance) less famous in North America but a famous company in France. The company also have a distribution deal with A24.

ITV Studios Global Entertainment (Speak No Evil) is very famous in UK, but is not a major distribution company in North America.

Almost all the movies were brought to life through the collaboration of two or more production companies involved in their development, and the majority of them (14 movies) are either well known production companies or by companies who had already produced popular TV shows and films in the past.

Among the most popular productions companies are :

The companies famous by name and their numerous successful productions : Lionsgate (The Strangers: Chapter 1), Blumhouse (Imaginary, Night Swim), ITV Studios (Speak No Evil), Paramount Players (Smile 2)

21 Laps Entertainment known for Strangers Things (Never Let Go)

Working Title Film who were behind Last Night In Soho and Baby Drive among others (The Substance).

Screen Gems who produced Don’t Breathe 2 and soon the Until Dawn movie from the game of the same name (Tarot)

Blinding Edge Pictures created by Night Shyamalan (The Watchers)

Phantom Four Films who are behind the TV series Sandman and Foundation (The First Omen).

Platinum Dunes created by Michael Bay, known for their remakes and original horror movies (A Quiet Place:Day One)

Beck/Woods who helped to produce the first A Quiet Place (Heretic).

Saturn Films created by Nicolas Cage (Longlegs)

Radio Silence Productions, behind the horror movie Ready Or Not, and the Scream 2022 remake (Abigail).

Scott Free Productions, Ridley Scott’s company, and TSG Entertainment who produced Poor Things, Avatar 2 : The Way of Water, and Free Guy among others (Alien : Romulus).

The most expensive production is, unsurprisingly, Alien: Romulus with its 80 million budget, while the least expensive is Terrifier 3 with its 2 million dollars. Quite a difference!

While many sequels and remakes are programmed for this year as well, let’s hope to find good surprises with original movies. After all, Despite occasional challenges in reinventing itself, the world of horror consistently delivers numerous new stories.

With creators increasingly carving out their place in the audiovisual space, (Coralie Fargeat, Robert Eggers, and soon Alex Scharfman with Death of A Unicorn) let’s hope the best is yet to come.