Best Horror Movies of 2023 Ranked – New Scary Movies to Watch

(Photo by Neon. Thumbnail: Blumhouse/Everett Collection.)

It didnt take long for 2023 to find its new scream queen: M3GAN, the Certified Fresh horror hit released the first week of the year, representing another strike of success for Blumhouse. But expect actress Jenna Ortega (who we proclaimed a Golden Year winner in our Golden Tomato Awards for her contributions to the dark genre arts) back for the crown with Scream VI in March. In this guide to the newest scary movies, well rank best horror movies of 2023 every week, which so far notably includes Knock at the Cabin (from director M. Night Shyamalan), Brandon Cronenbergs Infinity Pool, and viral curiosity Skinamarink.

(See the best horror movies of previous years with our guides to 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018.)

On the horror calendar for 2023: Evil Dead Rise (April), Nicolas Cages gothic wishes coming true in Renfield (April), Chris Stuckmanns directorial debut Shelby Oaks (July), Disneys return to the Haunted Mansion (August), more from The Conjuring universe with The Nun 2 (September), and David Gordon Greens The Exorcist (October).

Check back weekly as we rank the best new horror movies of the 2023, with Certified Fresh films first, followed by Fresh and then the morbidly Rotten.

Recently added: Scream VI (see where it ranks in the Scream franchise), Cocaine Bear (hey, enough headlines were calling it a horror-comedy so were going with it), Children of the Corn (the latest in a long ignoble line of Stephen King adaptations), and Swallowed (with Jena Malone).

#1

Adjusted Score: 103425%

Critics Consensus: A bone-chilling body horror, Huesera offers genre fans a twisted take on What to Expect When You're Expecting.

#2

Adjusted Score: 97807%

Critics Consensus: A possession thriller that knows the devil's in the details, Attachment scares some fresh angles out of a well-worn horror subgenre.

#3

Adjusted Score: 112941%

Critics Consensus: Unapologetically silly and all the more entertaining for it, M3GAN is the rare horror-comedy that delivers chuckles as effortlessly as chills.

#4

Adjusted Score: 100518%

Critics Consensus: Turbulent waters even for strong swimmers, Infinity Pool provides a visceral all-inclusive retreat of Cronenbergian perversion for those wanting to escape commercial sundries.

#5

Adjusted Score: 89016%

Critics Consensus: Smart, self-aware, and all too timely, this slasher co-written by Kevin Williamson is Sick in all the best ways.

#6

Adjusted Score: 94863%

Critics Consensus: Certain aspects of horror's most murderously meta franchise may be going stale, but a change of setting and some inventive set pieces help keep Scream VI reasonably sharp.

#7

Adjusted Score: 79052%

Critics Consensus: Within the outline of its fairly standard story, The Offering puts a unique -- and often genuinely scary -- spin on demonic possession horror tropes.

#8

Adjusted Score: 76204%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#9

Adjusted Score: 89314%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#10

Adjusted Score: 85200%

Critics Consensus: Although its second half is difficult to digest, Swallowed is an admirably unusual -- and overall effective -- mixture of body horror and romance.

#11

Adjusted Score: 76092%

Critics Consensus: The Outwaters may strike some viewers as frustratingly withholding, but it remains an ambitious -- and overall effective -- slice of found-footage horror.

#12

Adjusted Score: 78050%

Critics Consensus: Skinamarink can be more confounding than frightening, but for viewers able or willing to dial into its unique wavelength, this unsettling film will be difficult to shake.

#13

Adjusted Score: 41638%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#14

Adjusted Score: 88138%

Critics Consensus: Although it's often less than scary and parts of the story don't bear scrutiny, Knock at the Cabin is a thought-provoking chiller and upper-tier Shyamalan.

#15

Adjusted Score: 70596%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#16

Adjusted Score: 64198%

Critics Consensus: Conceptually strong but uneven in execution, There's Something Wrong with the Children is a serviceable horror movie that could have been much more.

#17

Adjusted Score: 49292%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#18

Adjusted Score: 54942%

Critics Consensus: Blood has a handful of solid scares, but a narrative that fails to truly coagulate makes this half-empty vial of vampire horror difficult to recommend.

#19

Adjusted Score: 44849%

Critics Consensus: We Have a Ghost has a fun concept and a talented cast; unfortunately, this spookily uneven '80s pastiche also has very little idea of what to do with them.

#20

Adjusted Score: 44947%

Critics Consensus: Despite being blessed with Jena Malone in the lead, Consecration serves up Catholic-themed horror that's far more hoary than hallowed.

#21

Adjusted Score: 26590%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#22

Adjusted Score: 13912%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#23

Adjusted Score: 22264%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#24

Adjusted Score: 14609%

Critics Consensus: Bereft of a single kernel of fear or excitement, this Children of the Corn suggests the franchise is irrevocably lost in a maize of sub-mediocrity.

#25

Adjusted Score: 6897%

Critics Consensus: Oh, bother.

The rest is here:
Best Horror Movies of 2023 Ranked - New Scary Movies to Watch

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero