Top 10 new original scary movies of 2023
Plenty of blockbuster sequels are at your disposal this year: “The Exorcist: Believer,” “Evil Dead: Rise,” “Scream VI” and “Saw X,” but what if you’re looking for something original that doesn’t require binging prior installments?
WTOP is here to help with fresh ideas of non-franchise scary flicks released this year.
Let the countdown begin!
Top 10 New Original Scary Movies of 2023:
10. “Cocaine Bear”
Director: Elizabeth Banks
If you liked Idris Elba surviving killer lions in “Beast” (2022), you might try the sillier, campier horror-comedy flick “Cocaine Bear,” a wild addition to the animal-attack subgenre loosely inspired by the true story of an American black bear that ingested several kilograms of a bag of cocaine in Chattahoochee National Forest in 1985.
9. “No One Will Save You”
Director: Brian Duffield
Science fiction becomes “science friction” in the Hulu original flick “No One Will Save You.” Kaitlyn Dever stars as a young woman who lives alone in her childhood home during an alien invasion. Director Brian Duffield directs compelling visual sequences with TV static crackling, but I personally think we see the alien too early and often.
8. “Infinity Pool”
Director: Brandon Cronenberg
His father David Cronenberg directed classics like “The Fly” and “Dead Ringers.” Now, Brandon Cronenberg charts his own path with “Infinity Pool,” starring Alexander Skarsgård as a struggling author on vacation with his wife before a fellow tourist (Mia Goth) plunges them into evil madness like “Ex Machina” meets “Midsommar.”
7. “The Boston Strangler”
Director: Matt Ruskin
While technically not a horror flick, some of the most intense movie moments this year came in Hulu’s serial-killer mystery film starring Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon as a pair of real-life crime reporters trying to catch the infamous Boston Strangler, who killed 13 women in 1960s Boston, though it’s hard to top David Fincher’s “Zodiac.”
6. “Renfield”
Director: Chris McKay
A century after Max Schreck in “Nosferatu” (1922) and 92 years after Bela Lugosi in “Dracula” (1931), Bram Stoker’s classic tale is introduced to a new generation, this time focusing on Nicholas Hoult (“Warm Bodies”) as Renfield, the “familiar” sidekick of Dracula, played by Nicolas Cage, who appears to be having the time of his life.
5. “Totally Killer”
Director: Nahnatchka Khan
After directing the romantic comedy “Always Be My Maybe,” filmmaker Nahnatchka Khan shifts into the horror-comedy arena with “Totally Killer,” which plays like “Back to the Future” meets “Halloween” as a teenager (Kiernan Shipka, “Mad Men”) travels back in time to stop the “Sweet 16” serial killer who murdered her mother.
4. “M3GAN”
Director: Gerard Johnstone
If you’re a fan of “Child’s Play” (1988), you’re in for a real treat with “M3GAN,” produced by Jason Blum (“Paranormal Activity”) and James Wan (“The Conjuring”). The film stars Allison Williams (“Get Out”) in modern-day version of Chucky, only instead of a battery-powered doll, this one is a high-tech killer android.
3. “The Boogeyman”
Director: Rob Savage
Rob Savage broke through during the pandemic with the Zoom horror flick “Host” and his found-footage follow-up “Dashcam” before directing the hell out of this Stephen King short story about a widower and his two daughters haunted by a sadistic presence in their closet. Shoutout to David Dastmalchian for a creepy supporting role.
2. “Knock at the Cabin”
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Snobby critics dismiss M. Night Shyamalan at their own risk. After early hits like “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs,” the horror auteur bounced back with “The Visit,” “Split” and “Old.” “Knock at the Cabin” is his best since “The Village” as four strangers (including Dave Batista) hold a family hostage at a remote cabin with doomsday demands.
1. “Talk to Me”
Director: Danny & Michael Philippou
My favorite original horror flick of the year is this instant classic by Australian twin brothers Danny & Michael Philippou. Sophie Wilde (“Everything Now”) joins a group of teenagers who contact spirits using a mysterious embalmed hand like some sort of sneaky game of spin the bottle. The result is equally creative and terrifying.