This past decade has produced some great horror movies, in fact the 2010’s has been a fantastic decade for horror films, and 2015 is no exception. So here are the 15 best horror movies from 2015.
However, before I get into this list, I would just like to go over some guidelines that I have set for my list. If a movie debuted at a movie festival like SXSW or Grimmfest in 2014 but didn’t have a theatrical release until 2015, then I’m counting it as a 2015 film; same guidelines for movies released direct to video/on demand.
15. Last Shift
Plot: Jessica Loren is new to the police force and is assigned to the final night shift at the old police station. But little does she know that it’s haunted by a Manson-like cult on the one year anniversary of their deaths.
What makes it one of the best horror films of 2015: It has a creepy atmosphere and solid directing. This movie takes a pretty familiar concept and uses it pretty well, and even though it’s not revolutionary, it’s still pretty solid. The setting is probably the best part, as it’s unusual to feature a horror movie set in a police station; while this movie makes the most of that setting.
Last Shift is a pretty strong horror movie due to its abundance of building tension and atmosphere and not on jump scares- even though there are some jump scares. But the dark and creepy atmosphere definitely makes this movie worth checking out, and at 90 minutes it’s at least worth watching if you have nothing else to watch.
Final Thoughts: The main cult leader, Joshua Mikel, is actually pretty good. Even though he’s barely in it, he’s very good when he is.
14. Hellion
Plot: A teenager, after realizing she’s pregnant, stays home alone on Halloween night. However, things take a terrifying turn when devilish trick-or-treaters come knocking on her door and won’t leave.
What makes it one of the best horror films of 2015: It’s a bizarre atmospheric horror film. Director Bruce McDonald, best known for the excellent 2008 horror film Pontypool, delivers another fairly solid horror film; because the look and costumes that the children wear are actually pretty creepy. However even though Hellion is great a horror film, it’s not as good as Pontypool. The main reason for this is because of the bizarre framing and often times jarring editing.
The movie’s nonlinear structure gets kind of tedious after a while, because you often times don’t know what’s happening, and honestly feels kind of pointless. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s bad, because Hellion has a great atmosphere and is another solid horror film from Bruce McDonald.
Final Thoughts: The children’s masks are very creepy. Also, the purple lighting that makes up most of the second act definitely makes the movie look unique.
13. Dark Was The Night
Plot: A mysterious beast from the woods is stalking a small town. This beast begins to kill livestock and terrorizes the town’s people. A sheriff attempts to figure out what’s going on while protecting his family and the town’s people.
What makes it one of the best horror films of 2015: It has a very dark and kind of creepy atmosphere, even though it’s a bit boring and the acting is not that great. The movie feels like a throwback monster movie that includes a lot of the major points that most monster movies have- which includes the paranoid town folk, the monster eating the livestock, and the fact that the audience rarely sees the monster.
Dark Was The Night could have been better, but the thing that really kills this movie is the lighting and acting. The lighting was way too dark, and not in an atmospheric way but in a muddy bleak kind of way. Meanwhile the acting is very wooden, as the main actor Kevin Durand just feels so wooden and lifeless. Plus when you do see the monster, it’s not that great. But the parts that are strong, like the creepy mood and setting, definitely makes the movie worth checking out at least once.
Final Thoughts: Kind of an uneven horror movie. However, it does have the look and feel of an X-Files episode, so that’s pretty cool.
12. Infini
Plot: A rescue team goes to save a survivor on a far off planetary mining facility; but things soon take a bizarre turn when things don’t go according to plan.
What Makes it one of the best horror films of 2015: It’s an extremely bizarre sci-fi horror film that’s akin to films like Alien and Event Horizon. Infini is sci-fi horror at its best, as it’s filled with tension and steam. The sets are fantastic due to the bleak and industrial looking settings; in fact Infini was made to look like sci-fi horror films from the mid 70s to the early 80s. The only thing that’s not that great about this movie is the bizarre rapid editing, which is fine but gets kinda tiring after a while.
Final Thoughts: A totally awesome sci-fi horror throwback that’s seemingly underrated; although it might take a few watches to fully figure it out.
11. Bloodsucking Bastards
Plot: A group of office workers have their soul sucking jobs made worse when they realize their fellow workers are being turned into vampires.
What makes it one of the best horror films of 2015: The dialogue and the blood soaked last half makes this movie fairly notable. If you were to watch the first half hour of Bloodsucking Bastards, you wouldn’t exactly feel like this would be notable, as the dialogue is immature and the writing feels stale, but after it gets going, it does gets better. The last half is blood soaked and the jokes get a lot better and makes for a pretty good climax.
Final Thoughts: For a horror comedy it’s pretty weak, it’s not bad but those first thirty minutes definitely feel long, but after that it gets better; and it’s always great to watch Fran Kranz in a film, the stoner character from Cabin in the Woods.
10. Suburban Gothic
Plot: When Raymond- a psychic- is forced to go home, he stumbles across a ghost that terrorizes his family. So it’s up to Raymond and Becca, a girl he knew back in high school, to put this ghost to rest.
What makes it one of the best horror movies of 2015: It’s a surprisingly funny horror comedy that feels fresh and entertaining. As far as horror comedies go, Suburban Gothic feels fresh because of the witty script and extremely likable pairing of Matthew Gray Gubler and Kat Dennings; who perfectly bounce off of each other.
This movie feels like horror comedies from the 80s like Beetlejuice, Night of the Creeps and Gremlins, as those films are horror comedies but are light on scares and focus more on the comedy and characters. Suburban Gothic is fantastic and will entertain any horror fan.
Final Thoughts: Needed more John Waters and Jeffery Combs; apart from glorified cameos.
9. Wolfcop
Plot: An alcoholic cop begins to turn into a werewolf after a freak accident, and soon this cop uses his new found werewolf abilities to fight crime as a Wolfcop.
What makes it one of the best horror movies of 2015: It’s a trashy throwback horror film that is short, sweet, and to the point. Wolfcop isn’t the type of movie to win an Oscar but at least it’s not awful enough to win a Razzie. Wolfcop is the type of movie that isn’t high brow horror and doesn’t need to be. Because this movie is entertaining in a sort of schlocky Troma type of way. There’s not a lot to say about this movie, it’s dumb but entertaining.
Final Thoughts: At 79 minutes it’s at least worth checking out if you see it on Netflix or at somebody’s house.