A review of best horror movies in 2022

Horror as a film genre has been in a super interesting place for the last half decade. Coming into the 2010s; it was the Paranormal Activity franchise that had the genre in a chokehold. The keys were then passed down and series like The Conjuring, The Purge, and Insidious became premier franchises. And while a few gems like The Witch and The Babadook were also released. 

It wasn’t until 2017 and the release of Jordan’s Peele’s Get Out that the genre changed forever. Since then we’ve seen a sizable amount of top shelf horror outings. From the dread inducing nightmares of Ari Aster to the high quality blockbusters that are It Chapters I and II. 2022 is making its case to be the best year the genre has seen in a long time. So, in the spirit of the spooky season, I wanted to go over a couple horror films that I found to be quite enjoyable this year. 

There’s a decently long list of films to choose from though. Ti West’s X and its prequel Pearl. Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone. New films from both Alex Garland and David Cronenberg with Men and Crimes of the Future respectively. Additional entries to legacy franchises with reboots to Hellraiser, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the last act of the new trilogy of Halloween movies. Hell, there was even a sequel to Hocus Pocus that streamed this year. But for my money; I found the two movies I’m about to discuss to be some of the best the genre had to offer in 2022.

Barbarian is a film that wasn’t on my radar until only a couple days before I went to check it out. Despite that, I found it to be a pleasant surprise during a time where not much else was playing in theaters. To go into detail on this film’s plot would be doing it a disservice; so I’ll leave it at this. Director Zach Cregger is able to deliver a fundamental sense of fear that stems primarily from that of which we do not know. There’s nothing worse than being trapped in the dark not completely sure if you’re alone or if there’s a terror awaiting you that you just can’t see. This film captures that feeling beautifully and it uses it to great effect. As opposed to beating you over the head with jump scares like other horrors do (I’m looking at you Smile). The film keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for them to show up. And it’s that constant feeling of angst that makes this movie what it is. It’s a good time. I’d recommend it.

I’d also recommend Scream 2022. Now, as much as I hate when films stop numbering their sequels to hide the fact they made so damn many. Scream 5, or I guess just Scream in this case, is one of my favorites of the series. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett nail the essence of these films perfectly and this entry has everything necessary to be deemed part of the franchise

. Complete with over-the-top kills, characters that are way too eccentric, and, of course, the series’ patented self-referential humor. Instead of rejecting the horror clichés so many have come to despise. The Scream films have always embraced them and used them to their advantage. The result is a product that feels like a celebration of the genre and all the reasons why we love it. At the very end of the film before the credits roll there’s a black screen with text that reads, “For Wes.” A tribute to Wes Craven; the director of the first four Scream films and one of the masters of horror who passed away in 2015. To me that tribute sums up the entire movie. The film acts not only as a tribute to Craven and his child that is the Scream franchise, but to the genre as a whole and the chills and thrills that come from it. It’s quite poetic and it lowkey makes the film a moving watch. It’s too bad Paramount is about to retroactively ruin it by releasing an unnecessary sequel in a year’s time. Damn. Regardless, it is a very exciting time to be a fan of horror. Here’s to 2023 and all the spine-tingling films that’ll come with it.