Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for horror movies like Nope:
Signs
M. Night Shyamalan made many great genre movies to launch his career in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but none are as quirky, silly, and downright wholesome as Signs, which brings a family together under extraordinary circumstances. Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix lead a small cast of great performers reckoning with alien lifeforms reaching Earth.
Barbarian
Zach Cregger‘s Barbarian is still refreshing and thrilling, and it’s easily one of my favorite theater experiences of 2022. Films try over and over again to use the schlocky marketing bit of audiences screaming in theaters only to be disappointing in actual terror when places in front of you – but Barbarian is genuinely jaw-dropping.
A Quiet Place: Day One
Michael Sarnoski sits in the director’s chair for A Quiet Place: Day One and delivers a movie that often feels like an A Quiet Place movie and a Michael Sarnoski film – just not at the same time. The softer moments between Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn are great, but often feel out of place in this larger world.
The Host
Bong Joon-ho’s The Host is a genre-bending monster movie that blends sci-fi horror, political satire, and family drama into one of the most distinctive creature features of the 21st century. Deeply influenced by the Godzilla franchise, Bong crafts a cautionary tale about environmental recklessness and government incompetence, opening with an American scientist dumping bottles of formaldehyde into Seoul’s Han River. Years later, this reckless act results in the emergence of a massive, mutated amphibian that terrorizes the city.
Nosferatu
Robert Eggers might already be one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. Sure, it’s silly and hyperbolic to say that so early in his career, but few directors today can craft arthouse movies on the scale of his latest work, Nosferatu, and make it look so effortless. The subject matter feels like a natural progression from his earlier explorations of isolation and dread in The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman. Here, Eggers reimagines the classic vampire tale with precise, stomach-churning detail, delivering a vision that both honors the original and reinvents it as a sadistic, psychosexual nightmare.
Get Out
Jordan Peele’s directorial debut was an instant cultural and cinematic phenomenon—one of those rare films that completely redefines its genre while achieving both critical and commercial success. It was a movie that not only announced Peele as one of the most exciting new filmmakers of the decade but also proved that horror could be both socially charged and immensely entertaining. While Us confirmed that Get Out was no fluke, and Nope showcased Peele’s ability to handle blockbuster-scale storytelling, it all started with this razor-sharp psychological thriller that remains just as effective years later.
Us
Jordan Peele’s Us was somewhat divisive when it hit theaters in 2019, but it has only grown in my estimation since. Not only did it prove that Get Out was no fluke, but it cemented Peele as a filmmaker with a knack for taking familiar horror tropes and twisting them into something fresh and conceptually bold. It’s a film that balances genre thrills with introspection, making for an experience that is as thought-provoking as it is unsettling.
Y2K
The best way to approach Y2K is to go in completely blind. Seriously, avoid trailers and marketing if you can. The film’s absurd twists and genuinely hilarious moments are what make it so enjoyable, and knowing too much beforehand could spoil the fun. Kyle Mooney makes his directorial debut here, and he nails it. Throughout the brisk 91-minute runtime, he keeps the pace sharp and entertaining. The movie is often exhilarating, always self-deprecating, and has just enough 1999 nostalgia to hit the right notes without feeling overdone or cheesy.
Sinners
Ryan Coogler has made something rare with Sinners: a horror film with bite, brains, and soul. It’s a film that’s as entertaining as it is thoughtful, never content to just scare its audience without giving them something to chew on. Michael B. Jordan gives a career-high performance as twin gangsters returning to their former lives in the South.
Midsommar
Midsommar is one of the more daring movies of the last 20 years. Ari Aster’s sophomore film is a follow up to his audacious breakout horror hit Hereditary, which features similar, gory visual motifs to Midsommar. Florence Pugh stars in a movie that’s equal parts sadistic and hectic, upsetting and unnerving. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it grows in my estimation upon each rewatch (for which there have been many).
