5 horror movies to watch in 2024 (and 2 to skip)

The year 2023 treated horror fans very nicely, gifting us a generous amount of horror movies. Our favorites? Oh, so many! But sitting at the top of the list, are Talk To Me, Infinity Pool, and No One Will Save You. These are movies we will be rewatching whenever the horror mood strikes! But we are also excited to add new movies to our growing list of thrills!

Will the upcoming year be as kind? Or, should we say, as terrifying and thrilling? We hope so! However, no year is ever perfect, 2023 saw its fair share of horror fails. The Nun 2 and The Exorcist Believer, to name a few, failed to impress. And as much as I love the Saw movie franchise, I can't say I cared too much about Saw X. That said, we know the year 2024 will come with a few movies that are simply not worth the time (or money).

5 horror movies to watch in 2024

A Quiet Place: Day One

• Release date: March 8, 2024
• Directed by: Michael Sarnoski (story by John Krasinski, who also produces)
• Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Denis O’Hare
• Rating: A Quiet Place: Day One has not yet released its rating, but PG-13 is likely.

Not only have the two first movies in the franchise exceeded our expectations, but A Quiet Place: Day One stars Lupita Nyong’o. Enough said! Nyong'o is a very talented actress who has already proven to be fantastic in the horror genre. I mean, did you see her performance in Jordan Peele's Us? The actress is the best part of the entire movie.

The first two movies in the franchise follow a family fighting to survive in a small town. A Quiet Place: Day One stands out by taking audiences to the Big Apple. That's right, Day One takes place in New York City. Be sure to watch the first two movies, streaming on Paramount+, if you haven't already.

The Watchers

• Release date: June 7, 2024
• Directed by: Ishana Shyamalan
• Cast: Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouere
• Rating: TBA

It's no secret that M. Night Shyamalan's movies are hit-and-miss. But you can't deny that when the movie is a hit, it's a huge hit. Does this make the gamble of watching Shyamalan's movies worth it? It depends on who you ask. However, The Watchers is not directed by the famous horror storyteller. The upcoming feature is directed by his daughter, Ishana Shyamalan. I can't wait to see what Ishana brings to the horror table. The movie is based on A. M. Shine's novel of the same name and follows the story of Mina after she becomes stranded in a forest.

Baghead

• Release date: TBD/Early 2024
• Directed by: Alberto Corredor
• Cast: Freya Allan, Jeremy Irvine, Julika Jenkins, and others
• Rating: A rating for Baghead has not yet been released.

Baghead is Alberto Corredor's directorial debut. The movie stars Freya Allan as Iris, a young woman who has inherited an estate from her estranged father. Iris doesn't know a lot about the place, but she soon learns that, upon signing the deed, she is now in charge of, not only the building, but an evil witch who resides in the basement.

The witch is known simply as Baghead and she is able to communicate with the dead. For a $2,000 fee, Iris' father allowed customers to visit the witch and talk to a loved one who has passed away. The only rule is that they can't go over two minutes. Iris must now take on this job, but everything goes wrong after her first customer, Neil (Jeremy Irvin), pays the fee to talk to his wife.

MaXXXine

• Release date: TBD
• Directed by: Ti West
• Cast: Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, and others.
• Rating: MaXXXine has not yet been released, but it will likely be rated R.

If you love Ti West's X and Pearl, there's more where that came from! The official release date has not been announced (we'll update this post as soon as that happens), but expect MaXXXine to premiere in theaters early to mid-2024. Mia Goth is back as Maxine, who moves to Los Angeles now more determined than ever to become a star. The movie picks up after the events seen in X.

Weapons

Release date: TBD
Directed by: Zach Cregger
Cast: Pedro Pascal
Rating: The movie Weapons has not revealed its rating.

We'll be honest, we don't know much at all about Zach Cregger's Weapons. The director and Warner Bros. have done an excellent job keeping things under wraps. Of course, as soon as we learn more details, we'll update this post so you don't miss out! So, why are we looking forward to this movie? Because it stars America's sweetheart, Pedro Pascal.

Need another reason to add Weapons to your watch list in 2024? Fine! The movie is from the filmmakers that brought us Barbarian, a movie we didn't have high expectations for, but pleasantly surprised us! Barbarian kept us on the edge of our seats from the opening scene all the way to the final moments -- so we are hoping for the same in Weapons.

2 horror movies to skip in 2024

Night Swim

• Release date: Jan. 5, 2024
• Directed by: Bryce McGuire
• Cast: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon and others
• Rating: Night Swim is rated PG-13

Not everyone may agree here, but I'll be the first to say I'm not looking forward to Night Swim. Will I watch the movie? Yes, but not until it becomes available on streaming. The month of January is known to release box office fails. Still, I checked out the trailer. A haunted pool? Eh. This needs to be one heck of an evil entity to capture the attention of horror fans. But with a rating of PG-13, that doesn't seem very likely. On the bright side, it may trigger our childhood fears of going for a swim at night. Fingers crossed this movie is more than cheap jump scares, but I'm not taking any chances! I'm skipping this release and wait for it to stream.

Founder's Day

• Release date: Jan. 19, 2024
• Directed by: Erik Bloomquist
• Cast: Naomi Grace, Devin Druid, William Russ, Emilia McCarthy, and others
• Rating: Founders Day is rated R

The synopsis for Founders Day shares that the movie is a "bold political slasher" -- and let me stop it right there. We don't need another political anything. We have enough of it outside of the entertainment world. What we need are movies to escape the real world drama. But, okay, let's continue the synopsis...

Founders Day follows a series of killings taking place ahead of a heated mayoral election. Now, I will say that the R rating is very promising. A good slasher needs to be rated R, but I'm still skeptical! After all, this is another January release. I don't know about you, but I'll wait for the streaming release.

Which of these movies are you excited to see? Is there one we missed that you believe should join the must-watch list (or the skip section)? Share with us!