Year in horror · 2026
The best horror movies of 2026, ranked
The best horror movie of 2026 is 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, with Obsession and Resident Evil right behind it. It has been the biggest horror year in decades: three films have passed $400 million worldwide (Wikipedia), and Resident Evil holds the top critics' score of the year at 96% (Rotten Tomatoes).
By the Horror Planet editors · Updated November 9, 2026
Our top 15 of 2026
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)
The best zombie film in years. Ralph Fiennes gives the franchise a heart, and Jack O'Connell's cult gives it teeth.
Obsession (2026)
The phenomenon of the year: a wish-gone-wrong love story that is funny until it is unbearable. Read the ending explained.
Resident Evil (2026)
Zach Cregger made a video game movie that plays like a nightmare with a stopwatch. One courier, one night, Raccoon City.
Backrooms (2026)
Kane Parsons turned a web series into the most disorienting studio horror film in memory. Endless yellow rooms, real dread.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026)
Jane Schoenbrun's love letter to 1980s slashers, with Gillian Anderson as the scream queen everyone wants to be.
Hokum (2026)
Damian McCarthy's Irish hotel ghost story is the one that will make you check the corners of the room.
Leviticus (2026)
A closeted teen, a spirit that wears the face of what he wants, and a conversion camp. Tender and terrifying.
Send Help (2026)
Sam Raimi back in horror, with Rachel McAdams turning a desert island into a power struggle. Gross, funny, mean.
Exit 8 (2026)
A looping Tokyo subway corridor where the only rule is to notice what changed. A perfect midnight puzzle.
Colony (2026)
Yeon Sang-ho, ten years after Train to Busan, seals a tower full of scientists in with a fungal hivemind.
Buddy (2026)
A children's TV unicorn with a dark side, from the creator of Too Many Cooks. The weirdest film on this list.
Undertone (2026)
A possession story told through podcast audio. Sound design that does the scaring for you.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026)
More rich people, more blood, and a sister act that earns the sequel.
Clayface (2026)
A DC villain told as body horror. The transformations are stomach-churning in the best way.
Primate (2026)
A rabid pet chimp, a cliffside house and a party that goes very wrong. Lean and nasty.
The 2026 horror box office top 10
| # | Film | Distributor | Worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Obsession | Focus Features | $524.3M |
| 2 | Resident Evil | Sony | $409.7M |
| 3 | Backrooms | A24 | $400.6M |
| 4 | Scary Movie | Paramount | $231.9M |
| 5 | Scream 7 | Paramount | $213.8M |
| 6 | Insidious: Out of the Further | Sony | $171.6M |
| 7 | Other Mommy | Universal | $115.3M |
| 8 | Clayface | Warner Bros. | $109.0M |
| 9 | Send Help | 20th Century | $94.0M |
| 10 | Lee Cronin's The Mummy | Warner Bros. | $90.6M |
Still to come in 2026
Ti West's Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol and Victorian Psycho open November 13, Violent Night 2 arrives December 4, and Robert Eggers' Werwulf opens Christmas Day (iHorror, Wikipedia). Every date is on our upcoming horror calendar.
How we picked
We weighed reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, Time Out, Mashable and IGN, then ranked by what we would rewatch. Scary Movie and Scream 7 made money but did not make our list; Scream 7 sits at 29% with critics (Rotten Tomatoes).
Next: best of 2025 · best of the 2020s · new horror on streaming.