Here are Cinephile Corner’s picks for the 10 best horror movies of 2021, ranked:
10. In the Earth
9. Lamb
8. Hellbender
7. Last Night in Soho
Few directors are as defined by their style as Edgar Wright, and Last Night in Soho is a movie that thrives when it fully embraces that signature flair. From its bold lighting choices and meticulously curated soundtrack to the seamless fusion of past and present, this film is an exercise in aesthetic precision. Starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy, it’s a visually dazzling, nostalgia-drenched psychological thriller that starts strong but ultimately falters in its final act.
Read our review of Last Night in Soho
6. V/H/S/94
5. Malignant
4. Mad God
3. Old
Old is one of M. Night Shyamalan’s more rewatchable endeavors in recent memory. Although The Visit is significantly funnier than this one, the documentarian camerawork slightly diminishes your ability to engage with it beyond its genre iconography. Split feels hollow past the James McAvoy performance. Old is his best balance between being audience pleasing, slightly cheesy, and brutally gory. A real directorial performance by one of the business’ best if he has his A-game. And I would argue he’s giving that A-game with Old.
2. Titane
1. Saint Maud
Saint Maud certainly has a few of the motifs and themes you’d expect from an A24 horror movie – a real sense of dread and Christian guilt lingers throughout much of its brisk runtime – but it feels like an expansive, reinvigorating mold of those ideals. I’ve occasionally bumped up against a few of the quote-unquote “elevated horror” movies that that studio has produced and distributed due to the fact that I don’t think many of the scares are earned in a handful of those films, but Saint Maud is not one of those.
More ‘Best of 2021’ Lists from Cinephile Corner
Cinephile Corner has recapped the 2021 movie year with their ‘Best of 2021‘ list week, which includes:
- The Best Movies of 2021
- The Best Horror Movies of 2021