Bookmark this page as we celebrate and list what is deemed to be the Top 20 Highest Rated and Best Horror Movies of 2022.
We have been treated to a collection of amazing horror movies in 2022 on various platforms. And while the pandemic did delay some productions, the horror wave shows no sign of slowing down. Horror is still one of the most popular genres in films, especially in the era of trends and memes. Here, at Ready Steady Cut, we have compiled The Top 20 Best and Highest Rated Horror Movies in 2022. We have used Rotten Tomatoes as the indicator. However, to see a difference in objectivity, we will show the IMDB rating too. Additionally, we will share an article of our review if we have published one on this site.
We will, of course, keep this page updated as we continue to find out what the best horror movies of 2022 are.
The Top 20 Best Horror Movies of 2022
20. Scream (2022)
While many were against the fifth Scream, mostly because it was not titled Scream 5, it managed to have a cultural impact. Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpi and Tyler Gillett, Scream (2020) managed to keep its edge. Plus, why would you not keep up with this popular franchise?
Official premise: Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past.
Cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Melissa Barrera.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 76%
IMDB rating: 6.3/10
19. Crimes of the Future (2022)
With an impressive cast, this horror always had a lot going for it, and it has just entered the top 20 best horror movies of 2020. As the synopsis shows, this film encourages us to find out a bit more deeply about the human condition.
Official premise: As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the body undergoes new transformations and mutations. With his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), celebrity performance artist, publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. Timlin (Kristen Stewart), an investigator from the National Organ Registry, obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed… Their mission — to use Saul’s notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Scott Speedman.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 79%
IMDB rating: 5.9/10
18. Resurrection (2022)
Rebecca Hall leads in this horror movie that has caught critical attention from various critics, which has sealed this film in the top 20 horror list.
Official premise: Margaret’s life is in order. She is capable, disciplined, and successful. Soon, her teenage daughter, who Margaret raised by herself, will be going off to a fine university, just as Margaret had intended. Everything is under control. That is, until David returns, carrying with him the horrors of Margaret’s past.
Cast: Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth, Grace Kaufman, Michael Esper.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 81%
IMDB rating: 5.9/10
Ready Steady Cut Rating: 4/5 – read the review.
17. The Black Phone (2022)
One of the best horror adaptations of the year makes it to the top 20 movies list, sneaking in at number 17. The short adaptation caught critics’ eyes with a great performing cast and high-octane entertainment.
Official premise: Finney, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 82%
IMDB rating: 7.0/10
16. Nope (2022)
Despite plenty of mixed reactions on social media, Jordan Peele’s Nope has made it into the critically acclaimed list of best horror movies of 2022. It has been admired for its originality and thickens Peele’s growing catalog of horror films.
Official premise: Two siblings who run a California horse ranch discover something wonderful and sinister in the skies above, and the owner of an adjacent theme park tries to profit from the mysterious, otherworldly phenomenon.
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 82%
IMDB rating: 7.0/10
Ready Steady Cut Rating: 3.5/5 – read the review.
15. Medusa (2022)
Mixing religious hypocrisy and sexism with fury, Medusa was praised for its stylish tone. Horrors have a hard time being original, but separating a film with style will get audiences talking.
Official premise: Mari and her friends broadcast their spiritual devotion through pastel pinks and catchy evangelical songs about purity and perfection, but underneath it all they harbor a deep rage. By day they hide behind their manicured façade, and by night they form a masked, vigilante girl gang, prowling the streets in search of sinners who have deviated from the rightful path. After an attack goes wrong, leaving Mari scarred and unemployed, her view of community, religion, and her peers begin to shift. Nightmares of repressed desires and haunting visions of alluring temptation become undeniable and the urge to scream and release her paralyzing inner demons is more powerful than ever before. A neon-tinged genre-bender that gives provocative form to the overwhelming feminine fury coursing through modern life, MEDUSA dares us not to look away.
Cast: Mari Oliveira, Bruna Linzmeyer, Thiago Fragoso, Lara Tremouroux.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%
IMDB rating: 5.6/10
14. Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
While the premise of this horror is generic, its amazingly well-delivered whodunnit storyline captured audiences and critics alike.
Official premise: When a group of rich 20-somethings plan a hurricane party at a remote family mansion, a party game goes awry in this fresh and funny look at backstabbing, fake friends, and one party gone very, very wrong.
Cast: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha’la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%
IMDB rating: 6.8/10
Ready Steady Cut Rating: 3.5/5 – read the review.
13. Watcher (2022)
Noted as a chilling grip on the material, Director Chloe Okuno knocked this out of the park, comfortably entering the top 20 list for the best horror movies of 2022.
Official premise: As a serial killer stalks the city, Julia — a young actress who just moved to town with her boyfriend — notices a mysterious stranger watching her from across the street in this terrifying thriller.
Cast: Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman, Burn Gorman, Tudor Petrut.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%
IMDB rating: 6.3/10
12. You Are Not My Mother (2022)
With a provoking title, bringing plenty of intrigues, Director Kate Dolan made a smart, creepy, and chilling horror film,
Official premise: It’s the week before Halloween. Char’s bedridden mother, Angela, has mysteriously gone missing. All that remains is her abandoned car parked in the middle of a field. When Angela returns home to their North Dublin estate the following evening without explanation, it becomes clear to Char and her grandmother, Rita, that something is amiss. She might look and sound the same, but Angela’s behavior has become increasingly erratic and frightening, as if she has been replaced by a malevolent force. As Halloween approaches, a night steeped in ancient Irish myth and legend, Char must unearth the dark secrets of her family in order to uncover the truth behind her mother’s disappearance and save her, even if it means potentially losing her forever.
Cast: Jade Jordan, Carolyn Bracken, Hazel Doupe, Paul Reid.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%
IMDB rating: 5.8/10
11. What Josiah Saw (2022)
Some audiences were irked by the unpleasantness of this horror film, which gives a strong reason to watch this critically acclaimed horror movie that made it into the best of 2022.
Official premise: Everyone in town knows about the haunted Graham Farm on Willow Road. You’ll hear there’s a bad history to it. Josiah and his youngest son, Thomas, are all that remain of this estranged family. But after experiencing terrifying visions from beyond, Josiah decides they must change their ways to right a great wrong. After being away for over two decades, Eli and Mary, Josiah’s eldest children, are enticed to sell the property and reunite at the old farmhouse in hopes of closing this haunting chapter of their lives for good. Sins of the past will be paid in full.
Cast: Robert Patrick, Nick Stahl, Scott Haze, Kelli Garner.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
IMDB rating: 6.1/10
10. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
Based on the title, you would not believe this is a horror, but this ambitious film is haunting and unsettling, with a slant on coming-of-age.
Official premise: Late on a cold night somewhere in the U.S., teenage Casey (Anna Cobb in her feature debut) sits alone in her attic bedroom, scrolling the internet under the glow-in-the-dark stars and black-light posters that blanket the ceiling. She has finally decided to take the World’s Fair Challenge, an online role-playing horror game, and embrace the uncertainty it promises. After the initiation, she documents the changes that may or may not be happening to her, adding her experiences to the shuffle of online clips available for the world to see. As she begins to lose herself between dream and reality, a mysterious figure reaches out, claiming to see something special in her uploads.
Cast: Anna Cobb, Michael J. Rogers.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
IMDB rating: 5.3/10
9. The Sadness (2022)
The title sounds grim, and it is from, but don’t be put off. This is one of the best dystopian horror movies in 2022.
Official premise: The city of Taipei suddenly erupts into bloody chaos as ordinary people are compulsively driven to enact the cruelest and ghastly things they can imagine. Murder, torture, and mutilation are only the beginning… A young couple is pushed to the limits of sanity as they try to reunite amid the violence and depravity. The age of civility and order is no more.
Cast: Regina Lei, Tzu-Chiang Wang, Berant Zhu, Ying-Ru Chen.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%
IMDB rating: 6.5/10
8. Hatching (2022)
One of the best horror movies of 2022 shows off new talent too. Director Hanna Bergholm enters the fray as one of the upcoming directors with Hatching.
Official premise: In HATCHING, 12-year-old gymnast, Tinja (Siiri Solalinna), is desperate to please her image-obsessed mother, whose popular blog ‘Lovely Everyday Life’ presents their family’s idyllic existence as manicured suburban perfection. One day, after finding a wounded bird in the woods, Tinja brings its strange egg home, nestles it in her bed, and nurtures it until it hatches. The creature that emerges becomes her closest friend and a living nightmare, plunging Tinja beneath the impeccable veneer into a twisted reality that her mother refuses to see.
Cast: Siiri Solalinna, Sophia Heikkilä, Jani Volanen, Oiva Ollila.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
IMDB rating: 6.3/10
7. Mad God (2022)
If you want to stimulate your brain, then this film, by Director Phil Tippett, is a visual treat as he proves that stop-motion animation is here to stay even in the modern day of cinema.
Official premise: Follow The Assassin through a forbidding world of tortured souls, decrepit bunkers, and wretched monstrosities forged from the most primordial horrors of the subconscious mind. Every set, creature, and effigy in this macabre masterpiece is hand-crafted and painstakingly animated using traditional stop-motion techniques. MAD GOD is a labor of love, a testament to the power of creative grit, and an homage to the timeless art of stop-motion animation. Ready your eyes. Ready your spirit. Prepare to meet your maker.
Cast: Alex Cox, Niketa Roman, Satish Ratakonda, Harper Taylor.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
IMDB rating: 6.8/10
6. Barbarian (2022)
With humor and chilling moments, this film has been hailed for its unpredictability. Director Zach Cregger has managed to surprise, bringing in one of the best horror movies of 2022.
Official premise: Traveling to Detroit for a job interview, a young woman books a rental home. But when she arrives late at night, she discovers that the house is double booked and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she decides to spend the evening, but soon discovers that there’s a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest.
Cast: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
IMDB rating: 7.7/10
5. You Won’t Be Alone (2022)
While some audience complained about the artsy element of this horror film, critics were encouraged by the freshness of the horror tropes.
Official premise: Set in an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, YOU WON’T BE ALONE follows a young girl who is kidnapped and then transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit. Curious about life as a human, the young witch accidentally kills a peasant in the nearby village and then takes her victim’s shape to live life in her skin. Her curiosity ignited, and she continues to wield this horrific power in order to understand what it means to be human.
Cast:Noomi Rapace, Anamaria Marinca, Alice Englert, Carloto Cotta.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
IMDB rating: 6.4/10
4. Prey (2022)
When fans heard there was going to be a Predator sequel on streaming, eyebrows were raised, but Director Dan Trachtenberg proved that with the right character development, and a good focus on action, anything is possible.
Official premise: Set in the Comanche Nation 300 years ago, “Prey” is the story of a young woman, Naru, a fierce and highly skilled warrior. She has been raised in the shadow of some of the most legendary hunters who roam the Great Plains, so when danger threatens her camp, she sets out to protect her people. The prey she stalks, and ultimately confronts, turns out to be a highly evolved alien predator with a technically advanced arsenal, resulting in a vicious and terrifying showdown between the two adversaries.
Cast: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Stormee Kipp, Michelle Thrush.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
IMDB rating: 7.2/10
Ready Steady Cut Rating: 3.5/5 – read the review.
3. X (2022)
We love a slasher film, but this critically acclaimed horror movie gives a fresh look at the genre in ways that surprised everyone. Ti West digs deep!
Official premise: In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives.
Cast: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
IMDB rating: 6.6/10
2. Hellbender (2022)
Horror mixed with coming-of-age can be hit and miss, but Hellbender brings a concept that must be seen. The three directors, John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser, hit the heights of the best horror movies of 2022.
Official premise: A teen and her mother live simply in a home in the woods, spending their time making metal music. A chance encounter with a fellow teen causes her to uncover a connection between her family and witchcraft, which causes a rift with her mother.
Cast: Zelda Adams, Toby Poser, Lulu Adams, John Adams.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
IMDB rating: 5.8/10
1. The Innocents (2022)
Hitting the number 1 spot and staying there, for now, is the chilling and subverted The Innocents. You’ll find yourself provoked as you walk away from this film. It’s no wonder it has been highly critically acclaimed.
Official premise: During the bright Nordic summer, a group of children reveal mysterious powers. But what starts out innocent soon takes a dark and violent turn in this gripping supernatural thriller.
Cast: Rakel Lenora Fløttum, Alva Brynsmo Ramstad, Sam Ashraf, Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
IMDB rating: 7.0/10
And that’s it, folks, the Top 20 Best and Highest Rated Movies of 2022! And we will make sure to update this page every three months, so keep it bookmarked!
Is there any films on this list that you disagree with or any that you think should be added? Comment below.
