Tag: The Substance

Best Horror Movies of 2024

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2024 was a heck of a year for horror, with films like The Substance, Longlegs, In a Violent Nature, and Strange Darling generating buzz and discussion. Beyond 2024, some of the films on this list seem likely to become cult favorites, garnering new viewers and fans well beyond this year and their initial theatrical runs.

Here are my favorite/top horror movies of the year.

*Please note that many of these films are western/American films. However, for 1428 Elm, I published a list of my favorite foreign horror films of the year. You can check that out here.*

Runner-up: Nosferatu

Robert Eggers’ take on F.W. Murnau’s German Expressionist classic looks fantastic on the big screen, and that’s really how it should be seen. The cast is great, too, especially Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter and Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter. The creature/monster design for Bill Skarsgard’s Count Orlok is bone-chilling. Eggers captured the Gothic mood and tone, but this was a strong year for original horror films that pushed the genre in exciting new directions. This is now the third take we’ve had on Nosferatu, hence why, for as good as this movie is, it’s a runner-up.

Tiger Stripes

This Malaysian film was censored in its home country prior to its festival run and VOD release in the U.S. The film follows 11-year-old Zaffan (Zafreen Zairizal), who’s bullied at school as she undergoes physical changes. Yes, this is a body horror movie about puberty. It’s also a drama and comedy, but to be clear, it does have some gross-out moments and one heck of an exorcism scene that lampoons the very concept.

When I first saw this film at the Jim Thorpe International Film Festival last spring, I couldn’t stop telling people about it. Hopefully, as more time passes, this one will find a bigger audience. Here’s my initial review of the film from Horror Buzz, and here’s an interview I did with writer/director Amanda Nell Eu for 1428 Elm.

Tiger Stripes is available on VOD.

Oddity
Director Damian Mc Carthy’s follow-up to his feature debut Caveat is a moody, Gothic film largely set in a creepy old house. There’s also a wooden mannequin in this Irish film that’s the stuff of nightmares. Meanwhile, Carolyn Bracken turns in a heck of a dual performance, playing both Dani, who’s killed mysteriously early in the film, and her blind sister Darcy, who runs an oddities shop and is determined to solve her sister’s murder.

Oddity is one of the most atmospheric films on this list. It’s also proof that Mc Carthy is one of the most interesting directors working in the genre today. You can check out my full review from earlier this fall over at Signal Horizon.

The film is currently streaming on Shudder.

Longlegs

Few films received as much hype this year as Longlegs. This is, in part, due to Neon’s stellar marketing campaign, giving very little away about the film’s plot, while sharing eerie posters and very vague trailers. In writer/director Osgood Perkins’ film, Maika Monroe (It Follows) stars as Agent Lee Harker, who becomes obsessed with a series of grisly occult murders. Nicolas Cages plays the hair-raising villain Longlegs and gives one heck of an unsettling performance.

Longlegs didn’t fully stick the landing for me, and a lot of this feels like Silence of the Lambs with an occult element, but both Monroe and Cage are great in this film. Like Perkins’ other work, this film evokes a grim mood and just feels cold. Unlike his other films, this one does a bit better balancing the substance and story with the atmosphere and imagery.

Longlegs is currently available on VOD.

In a Violent Nature

Writer/director Chris Nash’s In a Violent Nature is a bit polarizing. The entire film is shot from the POV of a slasher named Johnny (Ry Barrett). Because of this, much of the film takes place in the woods and features a lot of walking and nature shots. Still, this film includes some of the gnarliest kills out of any film on this list, especially the yoga scene near the halfway point.

Yes, the nature walks are tiresome at times, but give Nash credit for doing something different with the tired slasher genre. Also, Johnny looks really, really cool in his antique firefighter mask. You can read my full review of the film over at Signal Horizon.

In A Violent Nature is currently streaming on Shudder.

Immaculate

In the first half of the year, we had two theatrical releases that dealt with a woman’s bodily autonomy, fitting for a post-Dobbs world. The First Omen and Immaculate released about a month apart. Both films focus on nuns who birth the anti-Christ. The First Omen is a solid prequel, much better than it deserves to be, with a strong performance by Nell Tiger Free (The Servant) as Damian’s birth mother.

However, Immaculate made this list simply for its ending, which is so wild and raw that it really has to be seen. Sydney Sweeney also turned in one of the year’s best horror performances as Sister Cecilia. This is another banger from Neon. Read my full review over at 1428 Elm.

Immaculate can be streamed on Hulu, and it’s also available on VOD.

Late Night with the Devil

Like In a Violent Nature, Late Night with the Devil takes a tired subgenre, in this case possession movies, and injects it with much-needed creativity and freshness. David Dastmalchian stars as Jack Delroy, a TV host who lost his wife to cancer and whose show struggles in ratings. To save his program, he hosts a Halloween special and interviews Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and her patient Lily (Ingrid Torelli). Both claim that Lily is possessed by a demon after surviving a Satanic cult.

Late Night with the Devil is a freakin’ blast and good time, especially Dastmalchian’s performance. Most likely, this film will become a Halloween favorite in future years. The movie is currently streaming on Shudder.

Strange Darling

Writer/director JT Mollner’s film looks freakin’ gorgeous. If you ever get a chance to see this film on a big screen, please do so. This film also contains my two favorite performances of the year, Willa Fitzberald as The Lady and Kyle Gallner as The Demon. This film addresses serial killers and the culture’s fascination with them. It’s also told in non-linear fashion, beginning in the middle, before arriving at its startling conclusion.

I really can’t say enough positive things about this film. If you want to read my full review, check it out over at Horror Buzz. The film is available on VOD.

Red Rooms

Red Rooms is probably the most disturbing film on this list, and it’s certainly not as bloody and gory as a few of these other movies. Even more than Strange Darling, this French-Canadian thriller comments on serial killer obsession. Juliette Gariépy plays Kelly-Anne. She looks like one of Ludovic Chevalier’s (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) victims, all of which were young women. Kelly-Anne attends every trial date, as Ludovic sits behind glass, not uttering a single word.

Kelly-Anne then meets Clementine (Laurie Babin), who’s convinced Ludovic is innocent. Clementine leads Kelly-Anne down the dark web, where she watches countless snuff videos. Trust me, Red Rooms will creep under your skin. You can check out my full review of the film over at Horror Buzz.

Currently, Red Rooms is available on VOD.

I Saw the TV Glow

Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow is my favorite film on the list, other than the next one on the list. I couldn’t stop thinking about this one weeks after I first watched it. It’s also visually stunning. Both Justin Smith, as Owen, and Brigette Lundy Paine, as Maddy, give heart wrenching performances as two outcasts who bond over the Buffy the Vampire Slayer-like TV show called The Pink Opaque.

I Saw the TV Glow is very much about nostalgia and memory, but more than anything, it’s a trans allegory. Yet, the feature will resonate for anyone who’s ever felt different or questioned their identity. In short, Schoenbrun’s film is a gorgeous and poetic work whose central message “There’s still time,” feels like a potent rallying cry at the dawn of Trump 2.0 to be yourself and comfortable in with your identity. Oh, and this film has the best soundtrack out of any film on this list.

I Saw the TV Glow is currently streaming on Max and also available on VOD.

The Substance

In a perfect world, Demi Moore would earn a much-deserved Oscar nomination for her role as Elisabeth in The Substance, an aging celebrity who’s essentially iced out of Hollywood. To regain her youth, she takes a mysterious drug that causes her to morph into a younger, more attractive self named Sue, played by Margaret Qualley. Of course, this doesn’t go well and the two try to kill each other.

Writer/director Coralie Fargeat’s second feature isn’t subtle in its messaging. It also has the most bonkers final act out of any horror film this year. This is pure body horror a-la Cronenberg with a sharp feminist message. You can check out an interview I did with Fargeat from a few years ago over at Signal Horizon about her first film, Revenge.

The Substance can be streamed on MUBI and VOD.

Demi Moore Does Body Horror in The Substance

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A few years ago, for Horror Homeroom, I wrote about how writer/director Coralie Fargeat reverses the male gaze in her rape/revenge debut Revenge. In the beginning of that film, Fargeat focuses the camera’s gaze on Jen (Matilida Anna Ingrid Lutz), the mistress of the uber wealthy Richard (Kevin Janssens), who rapes Jen not long into the runtime. Initially, the camera focuses on Jen’s legs, buttocks, and breasts, as she sucks a lollipop. This switches about halfway through the film, and not only does the gaze switch, but Jen becomes the hunter, ultimately unleashing hell upon Kevin for the brutality he inflicted upon her.

Fargeat’s latest feature, the excellent The Substance, again deals with issues of gender and the male gaze but expands that to include the beauty industry and how culture generally treats aging women, specifically celebrities. To stress that point from the outset, the movie opens with a Hollywood star just constructed on Hollywood Boulevard. It belongs to Elisabeth Sparkle, played by Demi Moore. During the first few years of the star’s existence, people pose for pictures with it. Judging by their clothes, you can tell this it’s the 1980s, which was the start of Moore’s career as a Brat Pack member. As years go by, the star cracks. People walk by it. They spill stuff on it. They don’t recall who Sparkle is. Her celebrity has been reduced to a workout series, and she’s on the cusp of aging out of that, on her 50th bday.

As soon as the film’s first act, Elisabeth gets notification from a strange, anonymous company that she can take a product called “the substance” to essentially look younger again. She really, really wants this, since the powers that be booted her from her workout show, in order to find a younger, more attractive model/actress.

Unlike Revenge, The Substance is very much a body horror movie, and its practical effects are on par with the likes of The Fly, Basket Case, and other great body horror movies of the 1980s. When Elisabeth injects herself with the substance, she passes out on her bathroom floor. Her back splits open, and a younger version of herself appears named Sue (Margaret Qualley). Sue easily lands Elisabeth’s former job. Her face and body are plastered on billboards. She appears frequently in commercials and chats up late-night talk show hosts. She obtains everything Elisabeth once had.

The problem is that the more famous Sue becomes, the more Elisabeth ages. The two entities technically need each other to exist, but Sue takes and sucks more and more from Elisabeth, until she starts to look like a crone. Even prior to that, Fargeat uses lightening and make-up to make Moore look older, to make her skin look as cracked as Elisabeth’s Hollywood star.

The messages in Fargeat’s film are by no means subtle. The film serves up an all-out assault and critique on the beauty industry, the media, celebrity, and how older women are mistreated and even worse, forgotten by the culture that once loved them. Men in suits/bigwig TV execs always tell Sue and Elisabeth to smile more. The film has so many discomforting moments, reinforced by the frequent close-ups that Fargeat uses. The sound design is sometimes amped up too, especially to reinforce how loud and overbearing men in power can be.

Like Revenge, The Substance makes the male gaze obvious with frequent close-ups of Sue working out in front of the cameras, zooming in on her most intimate body parts, objectifying and sexualizing her. Yet, she also knows the power of her own body. She also craves the fame and sues her looks to obtain it.

Yet, what I found to be the most powerful moment isn’t one of the gross-out body horror sequences. Near the midway point, Elisabeth nearly goes on a date with an old classmate who still has a major crush on her and generally likes her. For nearly an hour, she stands in front of the mirror, messing with her make-up. She’s haunted by a massive billboard of Sue just outside of her swanky apartment’s window. Because she no longer feels attractive, Elisabeth never attends the date. It’s heartbreaking, and Moore is great throughout the film, but she’s especially brilliant in that particular scene.


While I don’t think The Substance will resonate with everyone, especially some of the body horror bits, Fargeat isn’t afraid to take some wild wings with her filmmaking. Moore is perfectly cast in this film about an aging celebrity deemed disposable by a celebrity culture that created her. Once again, Fargeat does a lot of interesting things with the camera and the gaze to reinforce points she wants to make about gender.

The Substance is currently in theaters. If you want to learn more about Fargeat’s work, check out this interview I conducted with her for Signal Horizon a few years ago.