The 2014 horror movies listed below provide considerably more in the way of chills, thrills, and imaginative atmospheres than you can imagine.
There were plenty of excellent horror movies to choose from in 2014, but as is typically the case, the best ones didn’t premiere worldwide.
Several movies would have made this 2014’s list but have only played festivals and have not yet seen a U.S. release.
These include Afflicted and Willow Creek and Black Mountain Side, Cooties, Creep, Cub, The Editor, It Follows, Spring and What We Do In The Shadows, and Zombeavers.
1. The Town that Dreaded Sundown
- Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
- Star casts: Addison Timlin, Veronica Cartwright, and Anthony Anderson
- IMDb ratings: 5.6
It’s one of the best 2014 horror movies. Based on real-life killings in Texarkana, Arkansas, The Town That Dreaded Sundown premiered in 1976.
Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story and his regular partners have crafted a 2014 version that is equal parts sequel and remake. Horror movies are treated in a more critical manner here.
The Phantom initially attacks the Final Girl (Addison Timlin) at Texarkana’s annual Halloween showing of The Town That Dreaded Sundown.
To Gomez-Rejon, he avoided being overshadowed by his wit in this pseudo-reboot. This low-budget horror is more powerful because of its constraint similar to the Phantom’s basic but horrifying disguise.
2. The Quiet Ones
- Director: John Pogue
- Star casts: Jared Harris, Sam Claflin, and Olivia Cooke
- IMDb ratings: 5.1
Take a deep breath and face your worst fears in this horror movie that aims to convert even the most skeptics to the side of supernatural belief.
Coupland, a professor at a prestigious university, is certain that supernatural occurrences such as ghosts don’t exist. He and his two pupils and an invited photographer called Brian set out to verify this by documenting their experiments.
Jane’s negative energy developed “Evey,” a monster that only Jane can see during their secret testing on the young lady who causes odd events. They discovered the woman’s tragic backstory, but it was too late.
3. Willow Creek
- Director: Bobcat Goldthwait
- Star casts: Alexie Gilmore, Bryce Johnson, and Laura Montagna
- IMDb ratings: 5.1
Like The Blair Witch Project and the more recent Paranormal Activity series, Willow Creek is a found footage horror thriller.
Bobcat Goldthwait, whose career as a director has shown an impressive range and a taste for the darkest of black humor, is to be credited for the movie’s overall success.
Bigfoot enthusiast Jim (Bryce Johnson) and girlfriend Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) seek the elusive crypto-hominid in Willow Creek. However, the movie lacks the shock value of Goldthwait’s previous works.
Still, the movie’s writing and directing show off the enormous talents of the writer-director. Willow creek is among the best 2014 horror movies.
4. The Babadook
- Director: Jennifer Kent
- Star casts: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman and Daniel Henshall
- IMDb ratings: 6.8
You can read a lot about it here and elsewhere, and it’s all true. Movie director Jennifer Kent’s story of a recently widowed single mother dealing with her son’s fear of the monster in his closet features a strong performance from mother and son.
Also, the script offers a sad look at grief, loss, and loneliness that would be just as frightening even without the possible presence of a monster.
5. Starry Eyes
- Director: Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer
- Star casts: Alex Essoe, Amanda Fuller, and Noah Segan
- IMDb ratings: 6.0
In Starry Eyes, the idea of the price of fame is explored in a compelling way. To get her big break, aspirational actress Sarah (Alex Essoe) gets cast in the strange movie, The Silver Scream, and her body deteriorates as she transforms into something unidentifiable.
One of the best ways to describe what it’s like to be an actor is by using this analogy: “A pact with the devil, as it were.”
Moreover, it leads to some very inventive gross-outs in the horror genre: Regardless of whether or not you want it to, there is a shower scene that has a lasting impact.
Despite the familiar Faustian storyline, the sheer brilliance of Starry Eyes’ visuals raises the movie above the ordinary.
6. Don’t Blink
- Director: Travis Oates
- Star casts: Mena Suvari, Joanne Kelly, and Fiona Gubelmann
- IMDb ratings: 4.8
All of the lodge’s employees and other guests have vanished, leaving a group of friends to fend for themselves in the wilderness.
Then their population began to decrease. The movie’s premise is a little more sci-fi than horror, but an aura of mystery and dread keeps both the protagonists and the audience on their toes.
Despite its actors and the Syfy channel vibe, it’s one of the best 2014 horror movies and also an atmospheric movie.
7. Afflicted
- Director: Derek Lee and Clif Prowse
- Star casts: Cliff Prowse, Derek Lee, and Michael Gill
- IMDb ratings: 6.2
Afflicted uses YouTubers as its heroes and reimagines the found-footage genre with a modern twist. For this online movie, filmmakers Derek Lee and Clif Prowse portray themselves as two friends on a European trip, pretending to be recording it all.
Afflicted feels more authentic than many other attempts into discovered footage because the men appear so involved in the YouTube world, the affected identities, and the demand for immediate reaction.
There are no indicators of supernatural activity in the movie, even as Derek begins to show signs of becoming a vampire.
These teenagers, facing a supernatural sickness and rising cruelty that they don’t comprehend, can’t bring themselves to put down the camera and stop shooting.
There’s something insightful about this observation. Everything, no matter how heinous, must be recorded and uploaded.
8. Late Phases
- Director: AdriánGarcíaBogliano
- Star casts: Nick Damici, Ethan Embry, and Lance Guest
- IMDb ratings: 6.0
Late Phases is one of the best 2014 horror movies. A werewolf attacks Ambrose, a blind Vietnam veteran, as soon as he enters a retirement home. What makes Ambrose so interesting to watch is that he’s not your normal horror movie protagonist.
Due to his advanced age and physical impairment, which are both uncommon in this genre, the viewer has a lot more to root for him.
There’s no mystery to the plot because Ambrose knows what attacked him and when the thing will return. However, the excitement comes from seeing him prepare and convince his son Will (Ethan Embry) that there’s more to come.
9. Big Bad Wolves
- Director: Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado
- Star casts: Lior Ashkenazi, Rotem Keinan, and Tzahi Grad
- IMDb ratings: 6.8
The Israeli Big Bad Wolves depicts a father’s determination to save his stolen child in a more gruesome (though strangely less dismal) light than 2013’s Prisoners.
As Gidi and Micki take turns torturing Dror, they attempt to get him to divulge the whereabouts of his most recent victim, who is the girl’s father, Gidi (Tzahi Grad), and Micki (Lior Ashkenazi).
Even though the torture is horrifying, Big Bad Wolves manages to make the viewers question Dror’s guilt while also sympathizing with the perpetrators.
There are moments of dark comedy that ease some of the stress, but they also contribute to the uneasy moral ambiguity that permeates the movie.
10. Housebound
- Director: Gerard Johnstone
- Star casts: Morgana O’Reilly, Rima TeWiata, and Glen-Paul Waru
- IMDb ratings: 6.7
Kiwi directors are known for their unique style of blending humor with horror. Gerard Johnstone pays tribute to Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive and The Frighteners for his debut movie, but the director’s unique vision sets Housebound apart from the pack.
O’Reilly plays Kylie Bucknell, the criminal who is sentenced to house detention with her domineering mother, Miriam, after being stopped in her heist (Rima TeWiata).
For the first time in a long time, Miriam believes that her house is haunted, but Kylie, who openly despises and resents her mother and her new living conditions, refuses to believe in the supernatural.
At times, Housebound takes surprising twists, but the movie’s real achievement is keeping an even keel of hilarity and terror.
11. Oculus
- Director: Mike Flanagan
- Star casts: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, and Katee Sackhoff
- IMDb ratings: 6.5
It’s one of the best 2014 horror movies. Following Kaylie and Tim Russell as they attempt to destroy a haunted mirror that Kaylie believes is responsible for the death of their mother, Marie, the movie alternates between the past and present (Katee Sackhoff).
Oculus uses the mirror’s capacity to distort reality to great purpose, which may seem foolish at first. However, Oculus is an expert at doing just that. It’s packed with surprises, but the gut-punch finale sticks with you the most.
12. Cheap Thrills
- Director: E.L. Katz
- Star casts: Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, and Sara Paxton
- IMDb ratings: 6.7
It’s one of the best 2014 horror movies about how far people will go for money, and Cheap Thrills is no exception. Since the writing is so dark and the actors are so talented, Cheap Thrills can pull off some of the most shocking twists in recent history.
Violent antics are paid for by the rich couple Colin and Violet, who pay the guys for Violet’s sick enjoyment, and the two men have an encounter with each other at a party.
While Cheap Thrills may easily fit into the thriller or dark comedy genres, there is true terror in what Craig and Vince are ready to do for the sake of surviving.
