Top Spooks: The Best New Horror Movies of 2024 (So Far)

• Late Night with the Devil
• Immaculate
• Stopmotion
• You’ll Never Find Me

• The First Omen
• Baghead
• Here for Blood

In Cameron and Colin Cairnes’ unsettling found footage fake documentary, late-night host Jack Delroy’s (David Dastmalchian) ambition leads him to invite a malevolent demon—as a possessed guest—into his life. Horrible hijinks ensue (of course), putting Delroy, the devil-girl, her guardian, and the other guests (a mentalist and the James Randi-style skeptic there to debunk him) through hell on live TV.

With debts to other found footage films like the WNUF Halloween Special and The Exorcist, the Cairnes’ film is an uneasy good time. Late Night with the Devil is still in theaters (for now), and it’ll hit Shudder on April 26.

Sydney Sweeney as a nun is quite a change of pace, but the Euphoria star inhabits (snort) the role well. Sister Cecilia arrives at a convent for senior sisters and fits in almost too well when she, a virgin, conceives a child. The ex-scientist priest and other church authorities tell her it’s a blessing. It’s not, though, and Sweeney’s Cecilia begins to figure this out as increasingly spooky stuff transpires within the celibate sorority. Her faith falters to the point she’s had enough. But can she escape this predicament? Mmmmmaybe.

Immaculate flirts with nunsploitation (probably because of Sweeney’s sexy rep) and derives from other devil-baby movies until its unpredictable and shocking end. Spoiler alert: You’re not the father!

You wouldn’t think that live-action body horror and stop-motion animation could work so well together, but first-time feature director Robert Morgan works magic with the combo. Ella (Aisling Franciosi), an animator trapped as an assistant to her famous and dying mother, attempts her own project with the help of a bossy, creepy little girl in her building. The girl dictates a story—and particular artistic choices—to Ella, who complies, losing her mind (and then some) in the process. You might get grossed out during Stopmotion, so keep a barf bag within reach.

In this first feature from Indianna Bell and Josiah Allen, a young woman (Jordan Cowan) knocks on Patrick’s (Brendan Rock) trailer door on a dark and stormy night. She needs a ride, but Patrick won’t give her one until the storm passes. He invites her in, and the two lie to each other until it’s unclear if either of them is safe in the company of the other.

Suspicions form and change frequently throughout the film as the mystery deepens and the tension tightens. It all leads to a shocking reveal, but you’ll have to watch this Shudder original to discover what happens.

Another devil-baby movie, released a week after Immaculate? Yup. Arkasha Stevenson’s prequel to Richard Donner’s 1976 classic The Omen isn’t exactly the same as Immaculate, but they were probably roommates at a previous convent.

Going into The First Omen, we know that another mysterious, not-so-immaculate conception will bring forth Damien Thorn—aka The Antichrist—The Omen’s central character. Damien, however, plays only a bit part in the prequel. Rather, we follow his mother, Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), and learn the twisted machinations that lead to the boy’s birth.

Since the Omen sequels are so disappointingly bereft of the original film’s creeping dread and intermittent shocks, we worried the prequel would be, too. Instead, we’re delighted that The First Omen got most everything terrifyingly right.

Based on Alberto Corredor’s 2017 short, Baghead finds an organizationally and financially challenged young woman, Iris (Freya Allan), inheriting a pub from her absentee father (Peter Mullan).

The joint comes with a basement tenant, a wraith-like, shapeshifting creature that wears a burlap bag over its head. The pub owner is inextricably linked to the beast and can control it—to a point. Iris learns that such power can be lucrative since the creature can channel dead loved ones. There’s a catch, though: You get two minutes. Anything after that and, uh, we’ll let you see what happens.

Big, bad babysitter movies (lowest-common-denominator PG action-comedies where Hulk Hogan or Vin Diesel kicks ass to protect children) should be more like Here for Blood. Daniel Turres’ award-winning horror-comedy brings wrasslin’, rock ‘n’ roll, social commentary, and practical blood ‘n’ guts to the mix—sublime improvements all around.

Shawn Roberts (Land of the Dead) plays a former pro wrestler whose girlfriend tags him in on her babysitting gig. When a cult of masked killers shows up (because of course that would happen), Roberts dispatches them with moves straight outta WrestleMania, and blood gets everywhere. A cameo from Twisted Sister vocalist Dee Snider—as a ravenous, raving disembodied skull—is the cherry atop the pile of bodies in this raucous Screambox original.