24 Horror Movies of 2022 That Got Surprisingly Good Reviews

Whether they were released via streaming services or in theaters, there was certainly no supply shortage of horror movies in 2022. But what were some of the best? Well, as with most things, it all depends on how you define “best.”

For the purposes of this list, we’re qualifying “best” as movies that received at least six stars on IMDB and fresh ratings of 60% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes.

But we’re also factoring in Google users scores. Sometimes they’re on par with the IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes assessments. Sometimes they’re not, but in all cases, they’re over 50%. That’s what resulted in these 24 movies that got surprisingly good reviews, which are listed by release date.

Best Horror Movies of 2022

1. Scream (a.k.a. Scream 5)

Release date: Jan. 14, 2022

IMDB: 6.3 | Rotten Tomatoes: 76% | Google Users: 66%

I had mixed feelings when I heard about the Scream remake/sequel. As far as franchises go, it’s been one of the better ones. But as is the case with sequels, the follow-ups are never as good as the originals. At some point, all good things must come to an end.

At least, you’d think they would. Sadly, almost all sequels end up wearing out their welcome and continuing on long after they should. Was the new Scream about to fall victim to that?

Even though it was using the familiar brand name, it also didn’t want to identify itself as either a remake of the original or a sequel. It ended up being its own unique hybrid that a lot of people liked, especially because it meshed fresh new faces with OG characters.

While it didn’t tarnish the franchise like I feared it might, I only mildly liked it. But that’s just me. It was the first horror movie of 2022 that everyone raved about, but it wouldn’t be the last.

2. Fresh

Release date: Jan. 20, 2022

IMDB: 6.7 | Rotten Tomatoes: 81% | Google Users: 76%

Even before it dropped on Hulu, critics were already talking up Fresh. It worked. Intrigued by the hype, I gave it a go, but maybe my hopes were set too high. As far as Hulu fare goes, it was good, but ultimately forgettable. I didn’t remember what it was about from the name alone. Of course, when I rewatched the trailer for this post, it all came back to me.

The interesting thing is, Fresh shared a common thread with so many of the horror movies in 2022. For instance, cannibalism was big. In this case, one woman detours down a very dark and troubling dating road, leading her to discover that her seemingly perfect new beau harbors an unusual appetite for flesh.

3. X

Release date: Mar. 18, 2022

IMDB: 6.6 | Rotten Tomatoes: 94% | Google Users: 58%

Horror Twitter blew up when X first came out, and stayed enthused about the movie for months. When I finally got a chance to watch, I finally understood why. At least for the first two-thirds of the movie. Then I had flashbacks of Drag Me to Hell, which I clicked off pretty fast. The old gypsy attacking Alison Lohman’s character was a deal-breaker for me. Couldn’t suspend my belief to buy off on that part of the storyline.

Anyway, X started off strong. I was all set to give it a 10 out of 10 stars. Or, as I like to judge things around here, five out of five skulls. Then the narcissistic homicidal horny old lady came into play. Even though the direction the movie went turned me off, I rode it out until the end.

Because up until that point, I dug the throwback vibe, both in the movie’s setting and the way the film was laid out. Maybe the very end would redeem itself somehow. It didn’t, but hey. It was good…until it wasn’t.

4. You Won’t Be Alone

Release date: Apr. 1, 2022

IMDB: 6.3 | Rotten Tomatoes: 93% | Google Users: 52%

The title alone sounds terrifying. “You won’t be alone” can either be a comforting promise or an intimidating threat. In this case, I’m not sure which way to interpret it. A little of both, I guess.

This period piece foreign horror movie is set in 19th century Macedonia where an ancient spirit transforms a kidnapped girl into a witch. But when the witch accidentally kills a peasant, she takes on the peasant’s shape and experiences life as a human. It seems she continues to repeat that pattern to figure out what it means to be human.

The trailer’s visuals evoke shades of Robert Egger’s The Witch, but You Won’t Be Alone appears to offer a different spin on the witch trope. I haven’t seen it so I don’t know if it does, though.

5. Hatching

Release date: Apr. 29, 2022

IMDB: 6.2 | Rotten Tomatoes: 92% | Google Users: 57%

Coming-of-age movies usually fall into two categories: comedies or dramas. Sometimes they are even a blend of both. Hatching ventures into the fantasy horror realm with what Bloody Disgusting called “a modern monstrous fairy tale.”

Mother-daughter relationships can be tricky, and sometimes contentious or just downright toxic. I haven’t seen this one but from the trailer, I got the impression the daughter is definitely trying to cope with not only an image-obsessed mom but a downright cold-hearted one. But will the strange egg the daughter finds and brings into her room to nurture help or hurt her relationship with her mom? This one looks crazy twisted! And yet, perhaps also poignant.

6. Men

Release date: May 20, 2022

IMDB: 6.1 | Rotten Tomatoes: 68% | Google Users: 50%

This may be one of the lowest-ranking movies on our list of best horror movies of 2022, but at least the gap between IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, and Google users isn’t so wide. It seems for the most part people thought it was decent enough.

The trailer looks haunting as hell. And if you’re a woman, you can probably identify with how the men in this movie treat the woman. We’ve all experienced being blamed, mansplained, judged, not heard, and accused. But Men takes it to a whole other level. And judging from the reviews, the ending leaves some wanting, confused, or a bit of both. I think that’s why it was liked, but not loved.

7. Watcher

Release date: Jun. 3, 2022

IMDB: 6.3 | Rotten Tomatoes: 87% | Google Users: 76%

Not to be confused with Netflix’s The Watcher series, which also released in 2022, Watcher is about a woman moving to Bucharest and perhaps across the street from a serial killer stalking the city. Fans loved the Hitchcockian, Rear Window-esque thriller that upped the scares by placing the protagonist in an unfamiliar city. But for those who also enjoy vicariously traveling through films, it was a chance to escape to Romania for an hour and a half.

8. Incantation

Release date: Jul. 8, 2022

IMDB: 6.2 | Rotten Tomatoes: 70% | Google Users: 82%

Incantation is the first movie on our best horror of 2022 list where the Google users score is higher than both IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. If you’re a fan of both Asian horror and the found footage genre, and haven’t seen it yet, this might be one to add to your Netflix queue. Which is exactly what I did halfway through the trailer. What’s the deal, Netflix? This one should’ve been one you recommended for me. Or does the blame rest on me? Maybe you did and I ignored it. Well, I plan to watch it now so all’s good.

9. Nope

Release date: Jul. 8, 2022

IMDB: 6.9 | Rotten Tomatoes: 82% | Google Users: 65%

Jordan Peele took on UFOs and life forms Not Of Planet Earth and showed they’re not necessarily mutually exclusive. I thought it was a fun romp into the sci-fi thriller genre for him, with the exception of an awkward part that took an up-close and personal look at the alien. Ignoring that, and reveling in Keke Palmer’s lively character and performance, I thought Nope made for a great way to enjoy respite in a cool theater on a hot summer’s day. Or evening, as the case was.

10. Bodies Bodies Bodies

Release date: Aug. 5, 2022

IMDB: 6.3 | Rotten Tomatoes: 86% | Google Users: 60%

What else would 20-somethings who find themselves stuck in a remote mansion during a hurricane do except party and play games? The premise easily could’ve made a wild comedy too, and to come extent it is, but it most definitely takes a turn toward the dark side with a killer game. It reminds me a little of the humor of Freaky blended with a horror whodunit component of Scream and a dash of Ready or Not.

11. Prey

Release date: Aug. 5, 2022

IMDB: 7.2 | Rotten Tomatoes: 93% | Google Users: 87%

Even though Predator is a franchise that has actually put out some decent sequels, I thought the last thing we needed was another installment. Prey proved me wrong. It may have been the sequel we’d wanted all along but just never knew it.

It took the familiar hunter we all know from the other movies and put him in somewhat familiar territory, a remote forest, but against a group of people like we’ve never seen before. And with a strong female for him to contend with. Prey surprisingly turned out to be a lot of fun. Which, in my defense, it was a Hulu release. I know a lot of people were wondering how good it would be because of that. Surprisingly, not only good but also a lot of fun, as evidenced by its high rankings.

12. Barbarian

Release date: Sep. 9, 2022

IMDB: 7.1 | Rotten Tomatoes: 92% | Google Users: 81%

Another similar thread running through a lot of 2022’s horror movies involved the main character, usually a single woman, using an app to either date or travel, only to wind up finding herself in some freaky horrific situation. Barbarian was woven from that cloth.

It contained a lot of twists in its non-linear storytelling. I kept asking myself two questions: 1. “What the hell is happening?” and 2. “Where is this movie going?” I wasn’t necessarily sold on where it ended up, but I liked that I had NO clue how it would all turn out. Its unpredictability was a fresh change of pace alone.

13. Speak No Evil

Release date: Sep. 9, 2022

IMDB: 6.6| Rotten Tomatoes: 85% | Google Users: 64%

After forming a friendship while on vacation in Toscana, a Dutch couple invites their newfound Danish friends to come visit them. But yikes. Whatever good opinion and impression the Danes had of their friends is quickly squashed. Especially when boundaries are crossed and politeness and acceptability are put to the test. Speak No Evil looks intense, twisted, unrelenting, and disturbing.

14. Pearl

Release date: Sep. 9, 2022

IMDB: 7 | Rotten Tomatoes: 91% | Google Users: 89%

Pearl is the second same-year released sequel —or rather prequel— to X, which was a departure from the norm. Most franchises wait a year or more before releasing the next installment. Director Ti West decided to shake things up. He didn’t even let the dust settle before releasing this movie that shows the “X-traordinary origin story” of a female slasher.

15. Sissy

Release date: Sep. 29, 2022

IMDB: 6.2 | Rotten Tomatoes: 96% | Google Users: 86%

Old school friends, including an influencer and a bully, find themselves in a remote cabin for a mutual friend’s hen weekend. But bullies grow up, right? Change? Nope. Add in secrets and easy access to sharing them on social media, and you’ve got yourself Sissy, the horror dramedy. Which, for whatever reason, conjured up Heathers vibes for me.

16. Smile

Release date: Sep. 30, 2022

IMDB: 6.6 | Rotten Tomatoes: 80% | Google Users: 60%

Smile might be an example of a case of “don’t judge a movie by its trailer.” It looked like a re-imagining of “death passed on from one victim to another” movies such as The Ring, It Follows, One Missed Call, etc. It didn’t particularly appeal to me, but everyone who saw it agreed while it felt familiar in some respects, it was also creepily fresh in its own right. I have a feeling I’ll end up streaming it to find out.

17. Terrifier 2

Release date: Oct. 6, 2022

IMDB: 6.2 | Rotten Tomatoes: 85% | Google Users: 84%

Terrifier 2 was the other 2022 horror movie that Horror Twitter raved about in the same way it did about X. I don’t think anyone really had high expectations for it. Terrifier garnered mixed reviews and wasn’t a financial windfall. It’s understandable why no one really expected a sequel until there it was. And I don’t think a lot of people realized what a cult following the first one had amassed, or what a fan club Art the Clown had. And then, in an even more unlikely journey for this sequel, Terrifier 2 proved to be the rare exception where the sequel ranks higher than the original!

18. Deadstream

Release date: Oct. 6, 2022

IMDB: 6.5 | Rotten Tomatoes: 91% | Google Users: 88%

What would happen if you mashed up popular YouTuber Mr. Beast with Destination Fear, in particular Dakota Laden? Mix the two together into one “intrepid” vlogger and put him in a haunted abandoned house in an attempt to rack up views for his channel, and you might end up with something like Deadstream. OMG I laughed way too hard during the trailer, which may be the best parody of a paranormal investigation horror movie yet. Between it and Speak No Evil, I may have to renew my Shudder subscription for a bit.

19. Hellraiser

Release date: Oct. 7, 2022

IMDB: 6 | Rotten Tomatoes: 65% | Google Users: 73%

Hulu pulled out another remake surprise with its rendition of the 80s cult classic, Hellraiser. Did we need it? Maybe not, but it seems many were happy to receive the new incarnation of Pinhead and the Chatterer anyway.

20. Piggy

Release date: Oct. 14, 2022

IMDB: 6.2 | Rotten Tomatoes: 92% | Google Users: 74%

Movies like Piggy invoke a sense of understanding why some people are desperate to fit in. Especially when their differences make them stand out, which provokes certain untoward individuals to bully them. Piggy serves as both a cautionary tale to the bullies of the world and an underdog story. And it offers a delicious moral conundrum: Will Piggy help authorities catch the person who kidnapped the girls who make her life hell?

21. Soft & Quiet

Release date: Nov. 4, 2022

IMDB: 6.2 | Rotten Tomatoes: 86% | Google Users: 66%

As maybe only a Blumouse movie can, Soft & Quiet examines a part of Americana in a way no one really has yet. It seems wholesome enough at first. You have a kindergarten teacher attending a womens group of some sort. Harmless, right? How could it possibly devolve into horror? Easy. Just add in right-wing extremism and white nationalism, and before you know it, the gut-twisting social commentary is a train wreck of a movie you can’t look away from.

22. The Menu

Release date: Nov. 18, 2022

IMDB: 7.5 | Rotten Tomatoes: 89% | Google Users: 84%

It seems so exciting. You hop on a ferry that whisks you away to an exclusive restaurant on a remote island, where you’ll feast on an acclaimed chef’s lavish fare. But in a twisted curdle of chaos, the star-studded cast of The Menu discovers they’re actually on the menu instead. It’s like Hell’s Kitchen meets The Hunts.

23. Bones and All

Release date: Nov. 18, 2022

IMDB: 7 | Rotten Tomatoes: 82% | Google Users: 76%

We’ve had some comedy horror entries on our list of best horror movies of 2022, but no romance horror films. Until now. Screenrant argues Bones And All is a horror movie, yes. After all, it’s about cannibals. But as disturbing as that is, it’s also a coming-of-age love story. One that highlights what happens when two people who feel separate from the rest of the world find each other and accept each other, bones and all. (Okay, that’s not what the title of the movie means, but it still works in this context.)

24. The Pale Blue Eye

Release date: Dec. 23, 2022

IMDB: 6.7 | Rotten Tomatoes: 66% | Google Users: 84%

Christian Bale stars as veteran detective Augustus Landor, who’s called in to investigate the murder of a West Point cadet. He ends up geting an assist from another young cadet who the world will come to hail as a literary great, Edgar Allan Poe. The Pale Blue Eye isn’t based on a true crime, or even a real moment from Poe’s life, but it is fun to see the famous horror writer brought to life in a scary story like this. One can only imagine he’d be both flattered and amused by it.

Check-In

What was/were the best horror movie(s) you saw in 2022? Are any on this list?