10 Most Terrifying Horror Movies Released In 2021 So Far

So far, 2021 has been a great year to be a horror movie fan!

by Andrew Pollard
Saint Maud
StudioCanal

While 2021 has so far been a rough year for cinema - with movie theatres across the globe only now just starting to open up again - it's actually been a pretty great year for horror as we approach the mid-point of '21.

As of this writing, there are notable heavy horror hitters on the horizon in the shape of A Quiet Place Part II, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, The Forever Purge, The Night House, Don't Breathe 2, Nia DaCosta's hugely anticipated Candyman and plenty more - and there have already been some other brilliant horror offerings to have hit our (home!) screens this year.

Even right now, Spiral: The Book of Saw has just landed in cinemas, making it the first real big horror of 2021 to make it the silver screen. But Spiral isn't the only film that's upped the dread, the bloodshed and the body count in impressive fashion over these past few months.

Looking back at the first half of 2021, then, here are ten of the most utterly terrifying horror offerings that have been served up so far.

10. Willy's Wonderland

Saint Maud
Screen Media Films

Willy's Wonderland is an absolute blast of a movie. But while the carnage and chaos is glorious and plentiful, the terror of this bonkers Nic Cage vehicle isn't quite at the level of the rest of the films featured in this list - hence why the picture just sneaks in at the #10 spot.

For those familiar with the Five Nights at Freddy's video game franchise, Willy's Wonderland is basically *that* but with an added dollop of Cage thrown in for good measure.

Taking a job at a kids' play park, Cage's Janitor soon finds himself in the sights of a slew of monstrous, murderous animatronic beasts who are out for blood. While the film has Nic Cage very much at his most Nic Cage, that doesn't take away from some genuinely creepy, chilling scares - again, very much in the mould of the haunting, lurking, hidden in plain sight scares of the Five Nights at Freddy's games.

The one major shame with Willy's Wonderland is that, like so many others, it was robbed of its initially-planned cinema release due to the global pandemic. Thankfully, though, the film is now out in the wild and can be found on home release and VOD.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.