20 Best Horror Movies Of 2021
7. The Empty Man
Though The Empty Man technically hit U.S. cinemas in October 2020, it didn't pick up any traction at all until it released on home video in the final days of that year, and only in 2021 did it actually break out as a warmly embraced cult classic.
Directed by David Prior, who spent years working as a production documentarian on David Fincher's films, it's clear Prior has learned a thing or two from the master.
As its chilling opening 20-minute prologue makes abundantly clear, this is an extremely well-made and atmospheric horror film about a former detective (James Badge Dale) investing a girl's disappearance, which sets him on a collision course with the titular supernatural entity.
Saying much more would be criminal, but with its ambitious scope and accompanying 137-minute runtime, this is one of the boldest horror debuts of the last few years, and one that bleeds mood from every damn pore.
It might be a touch too long, but it's easily forgiven considering how expertly Prior toys with genre conventions and delivers something so satisfyingly left-field - enough that Fox spent three years trying to figure out what to do with it.