As the film industry still navigates COVID-19, some genres have found a way to succeed even when theater attendance is not what it was pre-2020. Horror movies have dominated 2022, and it is a good time to look back at the best that scared us, thrilled us, drenched us in blood and guts, and filled us with dread.
Horror is a wonderful genre, as it can be anything. This year exemplified this by showing off technicolor slashers, satirical cooking stories, and comedic whodunits. This list goes off what I have seen, so expect not to see some notable films (sorry, Terrifier 2 fans). Regardless of differing opinions, let’s celebrate what we received.
Smile
Smile may have relied too much on jump scares when it was suited for subtlety, but it dominated the box office for good reasons. In the fashion of It Follows, a curse follows you with a relentless entity that tries to kill you. In this case, you must kill someone to get rid of it, or it will kill you in front of someone to pass to its next victim. The story is riveting, particularly from a performance by Sosie Bacon that stands as tall as anything the Academy Awards decides to nominate.
Nope
Jordan Peele became one of the greats in horror from Get Out and continued that with Us and Nope. The master delivers the perfect balance of new, creative stories; refreshing ways to keep audiences on the edge of their seats and bite their fingernails; and manage to balance thrills, thoughtful commentary, and levity to relieve the tension. Nope was aimed to be a spectacle, and it is as eye-opening and jaw-dropping as the most spectacular blockbusters you get from James Cameron or Marvel.
Prey
The biggest sin of Prey is more on 20th Century Studios for not giving it a theatrical release. Dan Trachtenberg shrugged off the streaming restriction to not give his historical take on the Predator as a Comanche tribe must face off against the alien hunter. Its brutality and leading star, Amber Midthunder, revive this dying franchise that has not seen a good movie in decades.
Barbarian
The most surprising horror movie in 2022 is also one of the best. If there was something to go in knowing nothing, then Barbarian is that movie. A woman (Georgina Campbell) books an Airbnb while she is in Detroit, but another man (Bill Skarsgård) has booked the same home. From there, you get a roller coaster of scares and so much more beyond your imagination. It is a prime example of how studios should let filmmakers go wild because it can end in profitable results.
Hatching
A seemingly perfect Finnish family unravels after the daughter (Siiri Solalinna) brings in an egg that soon hatches into a bird-girl-creature. Hatching effectively uses various means to make you squirm with its body horror, violence, and a slow build of the chaos that ensues. If the Oscars considered horror, let alone indie horror darlings, then it should be up for an award for its incredibly disgusting bird creature design with lovely practical effects.
Scream
Scream brought back the meta-horror franchise to its full bloody glory as one of the best horror movies in 2022. New and old characters gather together as a new Ghostface starts hunting people connected to the previous killings, with a side of commentary about toxic fans and the craze for elevated horror. Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell, and David Arquette continued to be wonderful, but the focus turned to the new cast. With Jack Quaid, Jenna Ortega, Mikey Madison, Melissa Barrera, and more showed that the franchise continues to uplift new talent who have either recently found success or are starting on a journey to stardom.
X
Yes, more of Ortega as she becomes a true scream queen. In X, she and the ensemble of Kid Cudi, Mia Goth, Brittany Snow, Martin Henderson, and Owen Campbell embark on a mission to make the greatest porn film ever that tells a real story (with plenty of hardcore sex). Their set on a farm owned by an elderly couple soon turns deadly. Ti West delivered a brilliant, thoughtful technicolor slasher that goes beyond its horny Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibes.
Pearl
The one-two punch from West with Pearl and X is awe-inspiring. Pearl delivers the backstory of the character of the same name, who Goth simultaneously played while being Maxine in X. While X was a technicolor slasher, the prequel is best described as Psycho meets The Wizard of Oz. It is stylistically different but matches its predecessor by being one of the best horror movies in 2022. You may not think you needed a backstory on the killer, but the added context elevates X and delivers a great setup for a trilogy as West and Goth gear up to create MaXXXine, the finale to this story.
Bodies Bodies Bodies
Bodies Bodies Bodies aims and sticks the landing on a comedic horror whodunit as a group of people who think of themselves as friends turn on one another after a game turns deadly. It has smart, satirical comedy that pokes fun at Gen Z, satisfyingly bloody kills, and a group of characters who, despite being excruciatingly annoying, are simultaneously irresistible. While we have had plenty of gore and scares, director Halina Reijn crafted a fun ride with a despicable cast as you watch how much worse these people can get and the consequences of their hysteria.
Bones and All
Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell star in the adaption of Camille DeAngelis’ brilliant novel Bones and All; while different than the source material, it tells a coming-of-age love story between two cannibals (Chalamet and Russell). It is a thoughtful story about identity, loneliness, and the nature of eating meat. While it remains thought-provoking and beautiful, it does not take away from its haunting nature and sheer brutality as they devour their victims. Out of the best horror movies in 2022, this one stands as the most beautiful to tug on those heartstrings and maybe a nibble at that heart.
The Black Phone
The Black Phone was written as a short story by Joe Hill. After Sinister and Doctor Strange, Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill continue to be an unstoppable team. Their latest expands upon the source material with Ethan Hawke as The Grabber, a serial killer taking children into his lair. It has the hallmarks of a young adult horror story with its young cast, but the strong writing from Cargill makes it more gruesome and dark to fit a mature audience.
The Menu
Gather an all-star cast to a remote restaurant with an auteur chef (Ralph Fiennes), and you are in for a good time with The Menu. Director Mark Mylod and writers Seth Reiss and Will Tracy served up a dish of snobby rich people in this horror-comedy that tastes of insightful commentary about foodies, the world of high art, and the elite with a side of deadly stakes. Anya Taylor-Joy seasoned her mysterious character perfectly; Fiennes brings the heat as the head chef; and the rest, from Nicholas Hoult to John Leguizamo, bring a creamy dessert, the comedy. Its tension and humor make it one of the best horror movies in 2022 if you want to sit back and laugh while getting that adrenaline fix.
