15 Best Horror Movies Of 2017

5. The Killing Of A Sacred Deer

The very first scene of The Killing of a Sacred Deer alone is one of the most unsettling of 2017. A close up of Colin Farrell's Steve performing open heart surgery for what seems like a lifetime, this uncomfortable and uneasy sequence continues to haunt the movie as it reaches a fever pitch that even a good dose of sickly dark humour can't cut through.

A lot of directors take influence from Stanley Kubrick, but Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the few who fully understands how to use that filmmaker's most captivating techniques to achieve something hypnotically haunting. The Killing of a Sacred Deer's off-kilter tone and almost inhuman characters (played by the previously mentioned Farrell as well as Nicole Kidman and Barry Keoghan) compliment these cinematic flairs perfectly, resulting in a debilitating viewing experience.

There's a lot to unravel in Lanthimos' best film so far, but it's best to go into the horror knowing as little as possible, as part of the tension comes from having absolutely no idea what's going on, or what these utterly unhinged characters are up to.