Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for horror movies like Smile:
Talk to Me
Talk to Me is the latest elevated horror movie from A24, a studio that’s completely redefined and reimagined the state of the genre, introducing new ideas and themes into it over the past decade. Talk to Me attempts to do the same, pitting trauma and coping mechanisms with demonic forces to a scary degree.
Oddity
Oddity is a rather succinct and well-paced Shudder movie, making it a surprisingly refreshing picture given the current state of independent horror and Shudder‘s most recent original movies to debut on the platform. Perhaps they saved the best for a loaded October because Oddity kicks it off in strong fashion, using jarring framing and bloodstained gore to effective results.
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.
Bring Her Back
Bring Her Back may satisfy diehard fans of A24-style horror or those looking for a few jarring images, but for most viewers, it will likely feel like an echo of better films. This is the kind of horror that thinks it’s elevated but forgets to be compelling. For the Philippous, it’s a clear step back—stylistic confidence without a story worth telling.
Evil Dead Rise
There aren’t many horror franchises able to reinvent themselves as often as Evil Dead does while still maintaining relevancy and quality. Maybe it’s because Sam Raimi holds his creation so close to his heart that only a select few are able to take on the premise, or maybe it’s because the premise seems simple and malleable enough to make nearly anything work. It can shoot for the downright zany and ludicrous with Evil Dead II or Army of Darkness, or it can strive to be like Lee Cronin’s newest spin Evil Dead Rise – a movie so sick and twisted that you can’t help but give it its dues by the time the credits roll.
The Woman in the Yard
In a time when many horror films try to be either thinkpieces or thrill rides and fail to be either, The Woman in the Yard hits a rare sweet spot. It’s a horror film that’s genuinely tense, emotionally grounded, and smartly contained. It may not be a game-changer, but it’s a solid, satisfying entry in the modern horror canon—and a reminder that even filmmakers with inconsistent track records like Jaume Collet-Serra can deliver when the right material lands in the right hands.
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.
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).
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.
Doctor Sleep
There is supposedly a better director’s cut of Doctor Sleep out there that fills in the gaps of a few character traits, motivations, and decisions. Honestly, I’m not sure I care. This is about as rigorous and uninteresting as any horror franchise rebooted in recent memory. It’s a glossy, airless, and ultimately unnecessary return to a world that was perfect as is.
