The 20 Best R-Rated Horror Movies of the 2010s, Ranked

The horror genre has evolved significantly over the course of the past decade, as scary films have managed to reach a mainstream audience in a major way for the first time in decades. While there was concern that the overabundance of superhero cinema would crowd out the marketplace and make it harder for smaller films to find an audience, the last decade has proven that audiences are willing to invest their time in horror cinema that can make them think critically and cringe at the graphic nature of what they are watching.

The popularity of niche studios like A24, Neon, Sony Pictures Classics, and Fox Searchlight has helped call attention to arthouse projects, all whilst franchises like It and The Conjuring are at the peak of their power. Here are the best R-rated horror movies of the 2010s, ranked.

20 ‘Scream 4’ (2011)

Directed by Wes Craven

Scream 4proved to be an appropriate type of “legacy sequel,” as Wes Craven returned to steer the franchise that he had created in a new direction. Although it had been over a decade since the release of Scream 3, Craven found an inventive new way to take on the classic material by showing how Sidney (Neve Campbell) copes with the legacy of the events of the first three films.

Although Campbell once again proves to be one of the best final girls of all-time, Scream 4 does an excellent job at bringing in a new generation of young stars, with Rory Culkin and Emma Roberts in particular doing great work. As with every Scream film, the final twist is so brilliantly handled that it is worth rewatching the entire film to see how Craven pulled it off so well.

19 ‘Sinister’ (2012)

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Sinister was a really interesting take on the “true crime” concept, as the film centers on a curious writer (played brilliantly by horror legend Ethan Hawke) as he tries to uncover the secret behind an enigmatic murder spree. While some had doubted Scott Derrickson as a director after he helmed the disappointing remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still, Sinister proved that he could combine atmosphere and jump scares to great effect.

Sinister certainly earns its R-rating, as it features some truly shocking moments of gore in its final sequence. However, it is the deep psychological questions regarding people’s inherent curiosity about ghost stories that have the deepest lasting power out of anything in the film; it’s no surprise that the sequel, which lacked Derrickson as a director, was not nearly as successful at handling these more subtle themes.

18 ‘The Babadook’ (2014)

Directed by Jennifer Kent

The Babadook is one of the best examples of using horror to deconstruct trauma, as Jennifer Kent’s brilliant masterpiece encapsulated all the anxieties that one might feel as they become a parent, and grow concerned about the child that they have brought into the world.

While Kent’s script does a great job at treating the mental health issues with the respect that they deserve, The Babadook’s greatest success is the amazing performance by Essie Davis, whose work easily ranks among the greatest “final girls” in history. Horror does not always give such juicy parts to middle-aged women, but The Babadook showed the pressures of maternity brilliantly thanks to the immensely vulnerable work that Davis did. If the Academy Awards did not have such a notorious bias against films within the horror genre, Davis would have walked away with an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

17 ‘The Conjuring’ (2013)

Directed by James Wan

The Conjuring inspired a bit of a phenomenon, as there have now been several sequels, spinoffs, and prequels set in the same universe as James Wan’s highly influential horror classic from 2013. While it is interesting to examine how the events of the film connect to the roader universe of Annabelle and The Nun, The Conjuring was a success because, first and foremost, it is just as scary as one might expect from a supernatural story from Wan.

The Conjuring is also a great character piece, as Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) proved to be compelling characters that audiences were willing to follow throughout multiple sequels. While the film hints that it is loosely inspired by true events, Wan finds a way to expand and embellish history in a way that combines the best of the true crime and supernatural subgenres of horror.

16 ‘Oculus’ (2014)

Directed by Mike Flanagan

Oculus was an early masterwork from Mike Flanagan, the acclaimed horror storyteller behind such heralded Netflix original shows as The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Midnight Club, Midnight Mass, and The Fall of the House of Usher.

Flanagan clearly has a great ability to examine the effects of trauma on dysfunctional familial relationships, and Oculus managed to cut to the core of a sibling dynamic over an extended period of time thanks to the brilliant performances by Brendan Thwaites and Karen Gillan. Flanagan has done an excellent job at adapting the work of Stephen King with films like Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game, but Oculus served as a reminder that he is a truly great writer on his own, and is capable of bringing to life truly fascinating original stories that show different aspects of the horror genre.

15 ‘Midsommar’ (2019)

Directed by Ari Aster

Midsommar is a biting, and at times hilariously dark examination of toxic relationships that draws from classic “cult horror” films like Don’t Look Now and The Wicker Man. While it feels fresh and modern thanks to the excellent chemistry between Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor, the film evokes the feeling that an age-old evil has been unleashed.

Midsommar was somewhat inspired by real Swedish festivals, which somehow makes its examination of cult radicalization and mob mentality even more frightening. Although Midsommar has a very dark sense of humor (particularly when it comes to the torture and humiliation of Reynor’s character), the graphic dismemberment and evil ceremonies held in the final act are enough to disturb even the most hardcore horror movie buff. Among many other things, Midsommar introduced the idea that Pugh was one of her generation’s most defining scream queens.

14 ‘The Lighthouse’ (2019)

Directed by Robert Eggers

The Lighthouse is a horror film that shows the merits of simplicity, as the entire film revolves around two lighthouse keepers who gradually lose their minds in isolation. While generally this feels like a concept that would’ve worked best as a short film, and not a full feature, the chemistry between Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe is so electrifying that it never feels as if The Lighthouse is wasting the viewers’ time.

The Lighthouse is simply beautifully photographed, as its Academy Award-nominated use of black-and-white visuals felt like a completely immersive examination of life off the coast of New England in the middle of the 19th century. While the hard pivot into the supernatural comes at just the right time in the narrative arc, there’s just enough ambiguity regarding the two main characters and their relationships to spark dozens of interesting different interpretations.

13 ‘Fright Night’ (2011)

Directed by Craig Gillespie

Fright Night is one of the few modern remakes that actually improves upon its predecessor, as it managed to capture a sense of campiness and gleeful depravity in a way that put the 1985 original from director Tom Holland to shame. While modern horror remakes like Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street failed because they simply tried to replicate familiar moments of iconography, Fright Night was able to add new elements to the mythology, particularly with Colin Farrell’s performance as a charismatic vampire.

Fright Night features a terrific ensemble cast, with David Bowie giving a scene-stealing performance as the character that the late great Vincent Price had occupied in the original. Although director Craig Gillespie would go on to find success with Dumb Money and Cruella, it would be great to see him make his return to the horror genre.

Watch on Hulu

12 ‘Us’ (2019)

Directed by Jordan Peele

Us is one of the more thought-provoking horror films of the past decade, as it is not a film that can be easily summarized after just one viewing. Although it begins as a fairly straightforward home invasion thriller, Us morphs into a dark study of doppelgangers living beneath the shadows of seemingly “normal society;” as with the writer/director’s previous work, there’s a good deal of social commentary, as the film can be perceived as an extended metaphor about the differences between class in America.

It would be impossible to talk about Us without mentioning Lupita Nyong’o, whose brilliant performances as two very different versions of the same character should have earned her serious consideration for an Academy Award nomination. Nonetheless, the political and social implications of Us and its observations about inequity are still as relevant now as they were when the film was initially released.

Rent on Apple TV

11 ‘Under the Skin’ (2014)

Directed by Jonathan Glazer

Under the Skin is perhaps the closest thing film fans will get to a modern version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, as Jonathan Glazer’s experimental science fiction thriller asks similar questions about the inherent nature of humanity. The unusual narrative follows an unnamed alien seductress (played by Scarlett Johansson in one of her best roles ever) as she attempts to learn more about mankind by picking up men and luring them to their deaths.

Under the Skin can be perceived as a metaphor for both immigration and rape culture, but it’s also an expertly crafted thriller in which Glazer doesn’t give the audience the opportunity to anticipate what is coming next. Johansson sheds all aspects of stardom to give a performance that is truly ”inhuman,” and Under the Skin‘s shocking ending is so ambiguous that it has sparked many wild theories and different interpretations of what actually happened.

10 ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ (2017)

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

The Killing of a Sacred Deer was a haunting deconstruction of a dysfunctional family unit that examined ethics, loyalty, and the price that one would go to in order to pay for their sins. Although Yorgos Lanthimos dabbled in more commercially appealing cinema with his subsequent work on The Favourite and Poor Things, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is an uncompromising, bleak work of extremist cinema that is intended to confuse and disturb its audience with its shocking ending.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer certainly earns its R-rating with some truly graphic sequences of torture, but it’s also a masterful work of acting, as the incredible performances from Nicole Kidman, Collin Farrel, Raffey Cassidy, and Barry Keoghan breathe life and humanity into the inherently upsetting material. It’s not the type of film that audiences will sleep easy after watching.

9 ‘Black Swan’ (2010)

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Black Swan is an amazing examination of how haunting the pursuit of artistic perfection can be, particularly for those in an intensely competitive field that requires both physical endurance and emotional investment. Writer/director Darren Aronofsky has long been interested in telling disturbing tales of human misery, but Black Swan is unique in that it uses the guise of something beautiful to draw the viewer into a dark story about dual identity and mental illness.

Natalie Portman won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her incredible performance as Nina, a ballerina forced to bring out her dark side when she is cast in the primary role for the ballet Swan Lake. Portman’s commitment to nailing the dance choreography and showing the depth of ballet performances resulted in an earnest work of acting that is just as tragic as it is terrifying; the film simply would not have worked as well without her.

8 ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ (2012)

Directed by Drew Goddard

The Cabin in the Woods is a horror film that is made for buffs of the genre, as it succeeds in turning every cliche on its head and satirizing a ton of all-time classics, such as Evil Dead and Halloween. While the film starts off like just another remote slasher film, it slowly reveals itself to be a deep conspiracy thriller about the ways in which archetypes are perpetrated in horror cinema. Although the twist initially is a shock, it’s even more impressive to see how deeply Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon explore the context and its ramifications.

What’s most impressive is that the satirical edge of The Cabin in the Woods never overtakes its scariness, as the graphic death sequences in the film are no laughing matter. The genuine originality of The Cabin in the Woods was very refreshing.

7 ‘It Follows’ (2015)

Directed by David Robert Mitchell

It Follows was an extraordinary breakthrough for David Robert Mithcell that felt like an extended throwback to classic John Carpenter films like The Fog, The Thing, Christine, and Halloween. Teenage sexuality has always been a critical component within horror cinema, but It Follows takes that concept to the extreme by having a malevolent sexually transmitted disease serve as the primary antagonist of the story.

Although there is a fair amount of social commentary that makes it very rewatchable, It Follows is so atmospheric and spooky that it stands out amidst other horror films of the decade that aren’t nearly as precisely directed. It also established its breakout star Maika Monroe as an instant icon of the genre who will surely be remembered as one of the 21st century’s finest “scream queens” because of her ability to play self-assured, competent heroes.

6 ‘The House That Jack Built’ (2018)

Directed by Lars Von Trier

The House That Jack Built is a film made to engender controversy, as it most certainly one of the most violent films released theatrically to a wide audience in the 2010s. Lars Von Trier has certainly made a lot of intense thrillers about disturbing subject material, but The House That Jack Built sought to get within the mind of a malicious serial killer who views himself as an artist.

Matt Dillon was able to shed his “heartthrob” persona that he had earned from several 1990s romance films in order to play one of the scariest villains in recent memory. While there is enough violence in The House That Jack Built to disturb even the most hardened horror buff, there’s also a sly sense of humor in which Von Trier is able to make a situational comedy about a deranged villain trying to mask his addiction.

Watch on AMC+

5 ‘Suspiria’ (2018)

Directed by Luca Guadagnino

Suspiria is one of the rare horror remakes that is arguably as good as the original, as director Luca Gudangnino chose to completely invert the style of Dario Argento’s 1977 classic. While the original giallo film was around 90 minutes and featured bold, bright colors, Gudagnino’s remake for Amazon Studios was well over 150 minutes and had a drab, oppressive visual design.

Guadagnino used his remake of Suspiria to dig in deeper into the themes of sexuality and repression that were hinted at in the original, all whilst featuring beautiful ballet sequences that somehow transform into pure nightmare fuel at any given moment. Although it’s easy to accuse a film as visually ambitious as Suspiria to be “all style with no substance,” there is clearly an undercurrent of social and political commentary that Gudagnino adds to the film for those willing to think about it in a critical way.

4 ‘The Witch’ (2015)

Directed by Robert Eggers

The Witch is a masterful work of period horror because it perfectly captures the aesthetics of the colonial era of American history, and how religious pandaemonium led to distrust and conflict among families. While Robert Eggers includes some ambiguous elements that aren’t ever completely explained to the audience, The Witch certainly confirms the supernatural forces that it is playing with in a shocking ending that has to be seen to be believed.

The Witch is a film that doesn’t rely on jump scares or obvious violence to engage the audience, as it succeeds in crafting a creepy atmosphere that only grows more intense with each subsequent plot twist. Eggers has proven to be a modern horror auteur with his work on The Lighthouse and The Northman, but The Witch remains the most disturbing film that he has created thus far.

3 ‘Get Out’ (2017)

Directed by Jordan Peele

Get Out was truly a game-changing horror film that established Jordan Peele as the voice of a generation, a surprising fact for anyone who grew up watching his Key & Peele sketch videos. A timely examination of racial politics in the wake of the Obama era, Get Out explored how the trivialization of Black trauma could lead to further victimization.

Get Out became one of the rare horror films that broke out at the Academy Awards, as Peele won the award for Best Original Screenplay, alongside nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Daniel Kaluuya). Although there’s an academic way to break down the various metaphors that are incorporated throughout Get Out, it’s also a purely terrifying small-town horror film that is bound to keep viewers on the edge of their seats until it reaches its shocking ending.

2 ‘Hereditary’ (2018)

Directed by Ari Aster

Hereditary is one of the best horror films ever made about familial grief because some of the scariest moments in the film have nothing to do with demonic possessions. Anyone that has ever lost a loved one or felt ill-equipped at dealing with familial trauma may find themselves enraptured by Hereditary, as Ari Aster pulls no punches when examining the perils of living in a dysfunctional household.

Hereditary featured an all-time great horror performance from Toni Collette, whose encapsulation of maternal pain and rage would have earned her an Oscar nomination if the Academy Awards weren’t so biased against the horror genre. Although Collette’s work understandably earned the most attention, the strong work by Gabriel Byrne and Alex Wolff should not be overlooked as being essential to the film’s earnest examination of the awkward side of family dynamics following a traumatic incident.

1 ‘Green Room’ (2016)

Directed by Jeremy Saulnier

Green Room proved that some of the best horror films don’t have to be supernatural, as Jeremy Saulnier’s claustrophobic A24 thriller is set within a shockingly realistic version of reality. Green Room harkens back to the work of Alfred Hitchcock’s great thrillers like Rear Window and Rope, as it contains a majority of its action and suspense into a single location.

Green Room notably featured a rarely menacing turn from Patrick Stewart, an actor that many had come to associate with warmth and heroism due to his roles in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises. Stewart is absolutely terrifying as a ruthless neo-Nazi skinhead, and his late great Star Trek alum Anton Yelchin gives one of the best performances of his career as an uncomfortable punk rocker who tries to keep his bandmates safe under increasingly dangerous circumstances that go out of control.

NEXT: The Best Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked