The Best Horror Movies of 2014, Ranked
Underrated Cult Classics and Modern Terrors
Explore the best horror movies of that year, featuring psychological thrillers, supernatural chills, and indie gems like The Babadook and Creep.
About 2014 Horror Movies
Ten years later, we can look back at 2014 and identify it as the moment the modern horror landscape truly shifted its skin. It was a transitional period, moving away from the lingering exhaustion of the found footage boom and the mean spirited torture porn era, and toward something far more cerebral and aesthetically driven. To look at the theatrical slate from that year is to see the birth of what critics would eventually call elevated horror, though at the time, we were just happy to be genuinely unsettled again.
At the center of this movement was Jennifer Kent with The Babadook. It is difficult to overstate the shockwave this film sent through the community. By anchoring its scares in the crushing weight of grief and the unspoken resentment of motherhood, Kent reminded audiences that the most terrifying monsters are the ones we grow inside our own homes. The creature itself was a masterpiece of storybook minimalism, but the true terror lived in Essie Davis’s harrowing performance. It signaled a return to the psychological depth of the 1970s, proving that a horror film could be a prestige drama in disguise.
While Kent was exploring grief in Australia, David Robert Mitchell was reinventing the slasher in Detroit with It Follows. It remains one of the most stylish horror films of the last two decades. By taking a simple, metaphorical premise about mortality and intimacy and filming it with wide, panning shots and a pulsing synth score, Mitchell stripped away the jump scares that had plagued the genre for years. He replaced them with a constant, nagging sense of dread. It forced the viewer to scan every inch of the background, making every extra walking toward the camera feel like a death sentence.
The year was also remarkably international and experimental. From Iran by way of California, Ana Lily Amirpour gave us A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. Billed as the first Iranian Vampire Western, it was a black and white exercise in cool that felt more like a New Wave art film than a traditional monster movie. Then there was The Guest, which blended 1980s action tropes with a slasher sensibility, and Creep, which managed to breathe vital new life into the found footage format by focusing on eccentric character study rather than supernatural spectacle.
Even the underground was thriving. This was the year of Starry Eyes, a visceral look at the cost of fame that felt like a spiritual successor to any Cronenberg body horror classic. It was also the year we saw What We Do in the Shadows, which proved that the genre could be hilariously self aware without losing its bite.
Looking back, 2014 feels like the year the genre stopped apologizing for itself. It was no longer just about teenagers in the woods or cheap thrills for a Friday night audience. The directors of 2014 treated horror as a high art form, using it to dissect trauma, sexuality, and loneliness with a precision that had been missing from the mainstream for a long time. It laid the groundwork for everything we love about the genre today, reminding us that horror is at its best when it reflects the dark, complicated parts of being human.
Mourning Grave
2014A boy who can see ghosts moves to a small town, where he befriends a female ghost. The two work together to investigate a masked ghost who is murdering students one by one.
Lights Out
2014A woman prepares for bed, but realizes that something may be lurking in the shadows.
Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 2
2014Step back into the imaginative and frankly terrifying world of Becky & Joe with Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared. In this episode: Some things change over Time.
Among the Living
2014Three teenagers skip school in order to explore an abandoned film studio lot where they catch sight of a woman being dragged by a masked man.
Too Many Cooks
2014"Too Many Cooks" is a humorous parody of US sitcoms of the 1970s and the 1980s, meanwhile what seems like an interminable opening theme, a mysterious killer makes his way and kills (preparing a lunch with their limbs) various members of the Cook Family.
The Houses October Built
2014Beneath the fake blood and cheap masks of countless haunted house attractions across the country, there are whispers of truly terrifying alternatives. Looking to find an authentic, blood-curdling good fright for Halloween, five friends set off on a road trip in an RV to track down these underground Haunts. Just when their search seems to reach a dead end, strange and disturbing things start happening and it becomes clear that the Haunt has come to them…
The Legend of the Guanajuato Mummies
2014Three friends confront a horde of mummies, who have inexplicably awakened, and try to rescue their pal, not realizing they have fallen into a trap.
Bag Boy Lover Boy
2014Oddball hot dog vendor Albert is shocked to find himself becoming the bizarre muse of enigmatic NYC photographer Ivan Worthington. But shocks come his way even more so when he finds out how difficult is is to succeed in the art world, leading him to take his own photographs that suit his very unique - and very limited - skill set.
WolfCop
2014It's not unusual for alcoholic cop Lou to black out and wake up in unfamiliar surroundings, but lately things have taken a turn for the strange...and hairy. WolfCop is the story of one cop's quest to become a better man. One transformation at a time.
Zombeavers
2014College friends find their weekend of sex and debauchery ruined when deadly zombie beavers swarm their riverside cabin.
Alleluia
2014Michel, a murderous womanizer, meets introverted Gloria online and treats her to a whirlwind one-night-stand. Offering herself as an accomplice in his seductive crimes, the unhinged lovers embark on a deadly odyssey amplified by wild sex, unbridled jealousy, and passionate forays into the dark arts. This smart and gory shocker breathes new life into the lovesick horror genre to serve up a chilling tale of white-hot desperation and terrifying devotion.
The Quiet Ones
2014A professor and his students perform a dangerous experiment that causes a young woman to lose her sanity.
Werewolf Rising
2014Desperate for a break from big city life, Emma heads to her family's cabin deep in the Arkansas hills. As she settles in for some much-needed R&R, she learns that something unspeakable lurks in the surrounding darkness. As the full moon rises, a bloodthirsty werewolf emerges from the shadows, slaughtering everyone in its path and revealing a sinister underworld Emma never knew existed. Thrown into a fight for her life, and her very soul, Emma will need to escape these big bad woods before it's too late.
Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead
2014The gruesome Nazi Zombies are back to finish their mission, but our hero is not willing to die. He is gathering his own army to give them a final fight.
What We Do in the Shadows
2014Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.
Honeymoon
2014On her honeymoon, a young bride sleepwalks into the woods surrounding a secluded cabin. When she returns, she looks the same—but something about her is terrifyingly different.
The Canal
2014A man who suspects his wife is cheating on him begins having nightmarish visions of an evil presence that he believes inhabits his house.
Life After Beth
2014Zach is devastated by the unexpected death of his girlfriend, Beth. When she mysteriously returns, he gets a second chance at love. Soon his whole world turns upside down...
Housebound
2014When Kylie Bucknell is sentenced to home detention, she's forced to come to terms with her unsociable behaviour, her blabbering mother and a hostile spirit who seems less than happy about the new living arrangement.
![2014 Horror in [REC]⁴ Apocalypse (2014)](https://rjgdcnzjkzxpvqohbtdp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/listicle-images/tmdb/responsive/rec-apocalypse-185341-480.jpg)
[REC]⁴ Apocalypse
2014Ángela Vidal, the young television reporter who entered the building with the firemen, manages to make it out alive. But what the soldiers don't know is that she carries the seed of the strange infection. She is to be taken to a provisional quarantine facility, a high-security installation where she will have to stay in isolation for several days. An old oil tanker, miles off shore and surrounded by water on all sides, has been especially equipped for the quarantine.
The Town that Dreaded Sundown
2014A masked maniac terrorizes the same small community where a murderer known as the Phantom Killer struck decades earlier.
This meta-sequel manages to honor the 1976 original while deconstructing the very nature of true-crime obsession. It is a visually slick slasher that thrives on its self-aware relationship with its own blood-soaked legacy.
Creep
2014Looking for work, Aaron comes across a cryptic online ad: “$1,000 for the day. Filming service. Discretion is appreciated.” Low on cash and full of naiveté, he decides to go for it. He drives to a cabin in a remote mountain town where he meets Josef, his cinematic subject for the day. Josef is sincere and the project seems heartfelt, so Aaron begins to film. But as the day goes on, it becomes clear that Josef is not who he says, and his intentions are not at all pure.
Mark Duplass delivers a performance of weaponized awkwardness that redefines the heights of invasive discomfort. The film strips away supernatural artifice to reveal the raw, terrifying unpredictability of a human being who simply won't respect boundaries.
Starry Eyes
2014A hopeful young starlet uncovers the ominous origins of the Hollywood elite and enters into a deadly agreement in exchange for fame and fortune.
A scathing indictment of the Hollywood dream, this film captures the physical and moral rot required to achieve stardom. It is a grueling watch that utilizes body horror as a sharp metaphor for the soul-crushing price of ambition.
The Taking of Deborah Logan
2014What starts as a poignant medical documentary about Deborah Logan's descent into Alzheimer's disease and her daughter's struggles as caregiver degenerates into a maddening portrayal of dementia at its most frightening, as hair-raising events begin to plague the family and crew and an unspeakable malevolence threatens to tear the very fabric of sanity from them all.
What begins as a sobering documentary on Alzheimer’s disease curdles into one of the most disturbing supernatural possession films of the decade. The performance-driven horror creates an agonizing intersection between medical tragedy and occult malevolence.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
2014In the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.
This Iranian vampire western drips with monochrome cool, favoring atmosphere and subtext over traditional jump scares. It is a stylish exercise in slow-burn tension that reclaims the bloodsucker as a symbol of feminist vigilante justice.
As Above, So Below
2014When a team of explorers venture into the catacombs that lie beneath the streets of Paris, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead.
By repurposing the claustrophobia of found footage for a descent into the Parisian catacombs, this film crafts a literalized vision of hell. The clever integration of alchemy and historical myth elevates it far above the standard shaky-cam fare.
Tusk
2014When his best friend and podcast co-host goes missing in the backwoods of Canada, a young guy joins forces with his friend's girlfriend to search for him.
Kevin Smith pivots into body horror with a grotesque, darkly comedic experiment that challenges the viewer’s threshold for the absurd. It is a singular, polarizing descent into madness that finds genuine horror in the violation of the human silhouette.
Oculus
2014A woman tries to exonerate her brother's murder conviction by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon.
Mike Flanagan orchestrates a dizzying temporal puzzle that treats trauma as a recursive loop. The film’s brilliance lies in its editing, seamlessly blurring the lines between past and present until the audience is as gaslit as the protagonists.
Annabelle
2014A couple begins to experience terrifying supernatural occurrences involving a vintage doll shortly after their home is invaded by satanic cultists.
While its predecessor introduced the porcelain terror, this spinoff effectively weaponizes domestic silence to build a sustained sense of dread. It succeeds by leaning into the uncanny valley of its title object, proving that an unmoving face can be the most unsettling presence in the room.
The Babadook
2014A grieving single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book manifests in their home.
Jennifer Kent’s debut represents a masterclass in psychological manifestation, transforming the suffocating weight of grief into a spindly, storybook nightmare. It is a rare genre piece that feels both emotionally bruising and viscerally terrifying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about this list and SnakeDrafts
- The Babadook combines psychological horror with deep emotional drama, exploring themes of grief and motherhood. Its atmospheric storytelling and unique creature design have made it a standout example of elevated horror from 2014.
- 2014 horror movies like Oculus and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night emphasized atmospheric tension, character depth, and stylistic innovation. This year marked a transition toward cerebral and aesthetically driven horror, moving away from the formulaic found footage and graphic torture themes.
- Yes, indie gems such as Creep and Housebound received significant praise for their fresh takes on horror. These films offered intimate storytelling with unique tones, blending horror with thriller and comedy elements to great effect.
- Supernatural themes are central to many 2014 horror films, including Annabelle and The Taking of Deborah Logan. These movies use ghostly and paranormal elements to intensify suspense and explore psychological fears, contributing to the genre's evolving complexity.
- Several 2014 horror films blend genres innovatively, such as Tusk, which mixes horror and comedy, and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, which combines horror with romance. These genre mash-ups contributed to the era’s experimental and fresh approach to horror storytelling.
- Films like The Taking of Deborah Logan and The Canal skillfully integrate mystery and horror, creating suspenseful plots that unravel secrets gradually. This interplay between mystery and horror adds depth and intrigue to the viewing experience.
- Many 2014 horror movies delve into psychological horror, examining mental states and emotional trauma, exemplified by movies like Oculus and The Babadook. This focus helped redefine the horror genre by emphasizing internal fears over external gore.
