Summary
Horror movies have been a mixed bag in terms of critical reception over the years, with everything from trashy slasher flicks to truly ingenious, critically beloved films being part of the huge genre that has often been thought of by some moviegoers as being only good for a quick scare.
However,elevated horror is a relatively new shift away from the genre standard.Instead of being expressly created to inspire fear in audiences, elevated horror movies aim to challenge the viewers and make them think, often presenting social commentary in among the scares. Elevated horror films are often praised by critics and several of them have been named among the greatest horror movies of the 21st century.
10Suspiria
IMDB Score: 6.7
This movie follows a young woman, played by Dakota Johnson, who enters a prestigious ballet school but soon finds out that mysterious forces are attempting to control the lives of the dancers. Inspired by the 1977 Dario Argento film of the same name,Suspiriafeels like a high-class and legitimately trippy film.
The coven of witches behind the dark deedsat the school is fascinating and makesSuspiriaall the more engaging. The terror that manages to permeate every inch of the runtime happens with a surprising lack of jump scares, and the trio of roles all played by Tilda Swinton make for a fascinating watch.
9It Follows
IMDB Score: 6.8
An elevated horror that takes a commonly found concept and adds a twist,It Followsfeatures a young woman who has sex with her boyfriend, only to discover that he has been cursed by a demonic entity that follows those who have the curse laid upon them. It turns out that she now has it, as the curse is passed on through sex.
The chilling way thatIt Followsmanaged to turn a standard paranormal entity into a fascinating allegory for STDs is impressive. In doing so, it created a truly chilling experience that managed to have some traditional jump scares in addition to some real, chilling, and lasting terror that had viewers looking over their shoulders when they left the cinema.
8Us
Jordan Peele kicked off his career as a director in high gear, and it wasn’t long before he had audiences hugely excited aboutUs, a film about a family that encounters doppelgängers of themselves attempting to attack them and steal their lives.
Uswas a truly mind-bending experience that created an entire world of lore behind an idea that hasn’t been followed up on, but which could easily have gone further. Filled with never-ending tension and inspiring a true kind of chilling fear in audiences,Uswill be remembered for a long time as a craft, and intelligent horror film.
7The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
IMDB Score: 7.0
One of the more bizarre entries in the elevated horror genre,The Killing Of A Sacred Deeris based on a family man & surgeon whose life is upended when a mysterious young man, blaming the surgeon for his father’s death, starts to somehow cause havoc among his family.
The surgeon, played by Colin Farrell, and the young man, played by Barry Keoghan in a star-making performance, play a strange sort of game that includes many shocking twists and turns. This is a great example of a modern horror film with almost no actual scares to it. Instead, it’s just uncomfortable and built to make the audience squirm.
6Barbarian
One of the wilder releases in the horror genre last year,Barbarianis a film about a young woman who goes to her rental house and discovers a man already there. After they hesitantly decide to share the house for the night, the woman is surprised to find that something more sinister may be hiding in the basement.
Barbarianis a film that manages to contain outright terror, themes of sexual abuse, motherhood, and generational violence, all in a whirlwind film that doesn’t feel like it all makes a lot of sense until the very end. Once it clicks, it’s a gut punch of a reveal.
5The Witch
The first film by another recently acclaimed director, Robert Eggers,The Witchstarred Anya Taylor-Joy in her first film role as a young woman whose family is banished from their Puritan settlement. Once alone in a secluded forest, strange things start happening to them, which they blame on witchcraft.
As the family is picked offand comes under the influence of the witch’s powers, they start to turn on one another. True horror and subtle terrors and tension are blended to create an unnerving atmosphere which, like the family themselves, never truly feels safe over the course of the film.
4Midsommar
IMDB Score: 7.1
One of the few films that could almost be considered a horror epic,Midsommar, at 148 minutes, is one of the longest horror movies ever. It stars Florence Pugh as a young woman whose sister kills herself and her parents, leaving her alone except for her boyfriend.
Together with his friends, they take a trip to a commune in rural Sweden, where they find many things unusual about the lives that the community members lead.Midsommaris a look into what can drive a person insane, and mixing true moments of outright terror with a horrific, stomach-churning feeling of uneasiness throughout, this epic will keep audiences glued to the screen.
3Hereditary
IMDB Score: 7.3
The debut film of Ari Aster before he createdMidsommarwas an absolute nightmare.Hereditarytells the story of a family whose strange grandmother dies, leading to her familybeing tormented by a demonic entity. Filled with true horror as well as an eerie, elevated style,Hereditaryis an absolutely shocking experience.
With some incredible performances from the likes of Toni Collette and Alex Wolff,Hereditaryput Ari Aster on the map, and he has proven it wasn’t a fluke, cementing himself as one of the biggest names in both modern horror and elevated horror.Hereditaryhas some of themost terrifying one-off scenes in recent history, in addition to a chilling style that lasts the length of the film, and remains with audiences long after it is finished.
2The Lighthouse
IMDB Score: 7.4
Another film by Robert Eggers, this follow-up toThe Witchwas a very distinctive and unusual movie, which was both bold enough and thrilling enough to become a success.The Lighthousestars Robert Pattinson as the new lighthouse keeper who is worked to the bone by the elder keeper, played by Willem Dafoe, on an isolated island.
Alone out there, Pattinson’s character slowly begins to lose his mind. The twisting and turning plot is terrifying and fascinating to watch. The black-and-white style and the difficulty viewers have had in defining this film help it feel all the more elevated. One thing that is inarguable aboutThe Lighthouseis that it’s an absolutely terrifying, thrilling, andtruly great psychological horror.
1Get Out
IMDB Score: 7.8
The pinnacle of modern horror films,Get Outproved that elevated horror doesn’t need to be a smaller indie movie.Get Outwas hugely successful with audiences, critics, and everyone in between. Boasting a blackly comedic style in addition to some hugely important messages, and plenty of terrifying moments,Get Outmanaged to have the whole horror package,and some really fun quotesto boot.
Focused around a black man who visits his white girlfriend’s family for the first time, and finds some things intensely wrong with them,Get Outre-introduced comedian Jordan Peele as a horror director, and he has gone on to be one of the most acclaimed modern directors in the genre due to the incredible success of this directorial debut, which became one of the verybest horror movies of the 21st Century.
