20 Incredible Modern Horror Movies That Came Out Of NOWHERE

8. They Will Kill You

They Will Kill You Zazie Beetz
Warner Bros.

Upon release, 2026’s They Will Kill You justifiably drew constant comparisons to films such as Evil Dead II, Ready or Not, John Wick, Oldboy, and Quentin Tarantino’s deliciously stylish and savage Kill Bill duology. Whatever it lacks in originality, though, it more than makes up for with blood-soaked carnage and delightfully ridiculous confrontations and lore.

The always great Zazie Beetz plays Asia, an ex-con who becomes the new housekeeper at a shadowy and elite New York City high-rise as a means of rescuing and reconnecting with her estranged younger sister, Maria. Almost immediately after Asia arrives, the building’s manager – Lily, played by the equally reliable Patricia Arquette – and a slew of other scoundrels attempt to murder her.

From there, They Will Kill You lives up to its title by having Asia and Maria’s assailants pursue them throughout the building for their own sacrificial and cultist purposes, prompting both women to fend them off and survive the night in perpetually awesome, silly, and imaginative ways.

By the end, the sisters have dealt with plenty of fantastical dismemberments and resurrections, as well as a sentient eyeball and the godlike figure whom Lily and company were trying to appease the whole time: a severed pig’s head possessed by Satan.

They Will Kill You is the perfect example of creating something fresh out of familiar ingredients, and it deservingly took budding director/co-writer Kirill Sokolov to the next level of creativity and recognition.

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Hey there! Outside of 'WhatCulture,' I'm a former editor at 'PopMatters' and a past or present contributor to 'Kerrang!,' 'Consequence,' 'PROG,' 'Metal Injection,' 'Loudwire,' and more. I've written books about Jethro Tull, Opeth, and Dream Theater, too, and I run a creative arts journal called 'The Bookends Review.' You can also find me talking about horror on YouTube (as Hairless Horror / @hairlesshorror)! Oh, and I live in Philadelphia and teach academic/creative writing courses at a few colleges/universities.