15 Best Horror Movies Of 2017

13. Split

Split James McAvoy The Beast
Universal Pictures

Going into Split, audiences didn't have any idea what to expect. M. Night Shyamalan doesn't have the greatest track record - especially when it comes to horror - and thus intrigue spread like wildfire when his latest film enjoyed an uncharacteristically warm response from critics.

Headlined by the always-great James McAvoy as a man suffering from a split personality - 23 split personalities, to be exact - the psychological thriller slowly transformed into a strange supernatural slasher the more it progressed.

Blending surreal comedic beats with the otherwise straight horror, these moments of levity helped cement a purposefully unpredictable tone, and the sharp changes in personality as McAvoy bounced from innocent child one minute to a pervy sociopath the next made the flashes of true horror even more pronounced.

It's not perfect, and an uneasy sub-plot focused on surviving abuse doesn't communicate the best message, but thanks to a great central performance, some brilliantly tense moments and a mind-blowing final twist, Split ended up being one of the biggest surprises of the year.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.