20 Scariest Horror Movies Of The 2020s (So Far)
The best horror films of the decade that'll scare the pants off you.
Plenty of great horror movies aren't really scary at all, though it's fair to say that the genre is typically associated with unsettling, unnerving, disturbing, and yes, scaring viewers where possible.
Horror films can scare in many ways - it can be purely visceral, terrifying imagery as simple as a monstrous face, or they can dig deep into something about the human condition which we as audiences simply find innately horrifying.
And the 2020s sure have been a banner decade for nerve-shredding horror so far.
Even though we're only barely half-way through it, we've seen so many genuinely scary-with-a-capital-S horror films which tested the nerve and resolve of even the most hardened genre fans.
Everyone's got their opinions and of course different things are scary to different people, but on the balance of everything these are the 2020s horror films which served up the most consistent shocks to the greatest number.
From their sheer unrelentingly bleak atmosphere to their upsetting storytelling and everything else in-between, these are the horrors to watch if you're in the mood for being terrified out of your wits...
20. Oddity
Director Damian McCarthy's follow-up to his memorable debut Caveat is another stellar example of what a talented filmmaker can do with a limited budget but a great handle on tone and atmosphere.
Oddity revolves around Darcy (Carolyn Bracken), a woman attempting to uncover the truth of her twin sister's mysterious murder, as leads both her and the audience down quite the twisted rabbit-hole.
Even at just 98 minutes in length, this is a patient slow-burn of a movie that's less interested in exposition dumps and tired jump scares, keen instead to mine anxiety and unease from that which might be lurking in the shadows.
It doesn't hurt that the wooden golem prop central to the story is innately terrifying, nor that McCarthy gathered one hell of a talented cast to execute his vision, all while keeping us at arm's length from the precise particulars of the supernatural shenanigans.
Even if you figure out the truth of the sister's death before the shoe drops on-screen, the ride is so elegantly, precisely crafted that you likely won't care.