10 New Horror Movies You MUST Watch This Halloween 2024
6. Oddity
When a movie is referred to as "the next Longlegs", it's bound to get the attention of horror advocates. Oddity may not have Nicolas Cage 'Caging' like his life depended on it, but Damian McCarthy's engrossing ghost story is sure to leave an impression.
In Oddity, blind psychic Darcy Odello is left overwhelmed with grief after the death of her twin. After receiving a haunting wooden mannequin, Darcy realises it's the first clue to learning what happened to her sister.
Although the horror genre has a deluge of cliches, Oddity dodges them all. It takes its time expanding on the story without feeling slow, the glut of jump-scares don't come across as gimmicky or cheap since they are legitimately frightening, and the violence is intense without being gratuitous. Also, the final frame re-contextualises the whole plot, which encourages a rewatch.
The actors are phenomenal and the writing is top-notch, but it's McCarthy's innovative direction that makes Oddity endlessly teeth-chattering. McCarthy has such a keen ability to get under the audience's skin, and the future is looking bright for the up-and-coming filmmaker.