Most horror movie fans are looking for the oldies when Halloween comes around. That’s because they know the films and the storylines. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as those old movies still get the adrenaline going and everyone goes to bed with the heebee jeebees. Otherwise, what’s the use? What’s a good horror movie for if it can’t send 10-year-olds to bed wondering if there’s a monster in the closet?
The good thing is, yesteryear isn’t the only place to find good horror. There were movies made for 2022 that have all that and more. They are scary. They are freaky. They play mind tricks on the psyche. If that’s not what a horror fan is looking for, why are they watching in the first place?
9. Deadstream
With Joseph Winter and Vanessa Winter both credited for writing and directing this film, it comes across as a family movie. Assuming that would be wrong. When Joseph shows up as the main character, Shawn Ruddy, he’s a big-time internet influencer who gets disgraced. As anyone knows, once an influencer loses that status, they have to come back with something special. His idea is to enter a haunted house, a situation that becomes real. He ends up in the fight for his life when he finds out there is a vengeful, evil spirit at work.
8. Hatching
When a little girl named Tinja, played by Siiri Solalinna, befriends an egg, no one knows what the bird inside has the ability to become. Tinja is a gymnast who is pushed by her mother, played by Sophia Heikkilä, to be the best. Her mother has her own strange quirks that reveal a dark side to her, but the little egg becomes a hatchling in the family, and it has a deadly surprise for them all. When a movie credits the mother as simply “Mother,” there is going to be some wicked things that come out of that woman.
7. Barbarian
Justin Long is in this one! Fans might remember him from such movies as Live Free or Die Hard with Bruce Willis and as Paul Genzlinger in New Girl. When an Airbnb has a little bit more than the occupants were bargaining for, it becomes big problems for Georgina Campbell who plays Tess, Bill Skarsgård who plays Keith, and Justin who plays A.J. Airbnb might take a hit on their industry with this one. Check the closets; there might be something else living in there.
6. You Won’t Be Alone
Noomi Rapace and Alice Englert star in this gem about witches. In an interesting twist to the story, one witch accidentally takes an innocent life. She decides that it’s her chance to be human once again. Find out what happens in 19th-century Macedonia when a powerful witch is subjecting herself to the harsh realities of life.
5. Mad God
Writer and director Phil Tippett turns a nightmare into a movie as he explores his own mind in this one. The Assassin is invited into Hell, where he gets to experience torture and cruelty at its best. It’s actually not the biblical Hell; it’s just the one in Tippett’s head as he creates deeper and darker places for The Assassin to explore. How bad can it get? It has five stars written all over it.
4. Prey
Was she ready? Naru, played by Amber Midthunder, wants to be a hunter. Her entire tribe warns her against it. The thing is something changes in Naru, and she becomes the protector of the tribe. From what? That’s a good question. There’s a new predator that she might not be able to handle, but she’s the only one who has the ability if anyone can.
3. X
Brittany Snow, Jenna Ortega, and Mia Goth star in this R-rated movie about making an X-rated movie. They choose a place out of nowhere, but that doesn’t go right for them. While they are busy trying to film their sex scenes, they get unwanted visitors that begin with the landlord, the oldest and ugliest man in the world. Just imagine the worst from there.
2. The Innocents
When kids get bad, they have a habit of being really bad. Scribbling on walls and breaking things is enough for parents to lose their minds. The kids in The Innocents are a different breed. They have abilities that are in the supernatural realm, putting them at a whole new level of awful. The problem is they don’t want to just scribble on walls and break things—they want to murder people and break things.
1. Hellbender
Starring Zelda Adams, Lulu Adams, John Adams, and Toby Poser, this one comes in at number one for a reason. It’s another story with a Mother, and you know what happens when a character is simply named “Mother.” This is a wild story about witchcraft and what happens when a child realizes she’s a part of the family.