2015 was a great year for cinema. Film witnessed the return of Mad Max following a 30-year hiatus, Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, and co. star as investigative journalists at the Boston Globe unraveling a child-sex ring in Spotlight, Matt Damon assumed the role of a stranded astronaut in Ridley Scott’s The Martian, and legacy sequels were becoming the dominant form of pop culture with the three knock-out box office hits of Jurassic World, Creed, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The horror genre, meanwhile, is in an interesting state of transition. Spurred on by hits like The Conjuring and You're Next, the genre was moving away from found footage movies (although there were still plenty of those) and into a more supernatural haunting angle and embracing horror films from auteur directors. While blockbuster movies started to dominate the conversation, filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro, M. Night Shyamalan, and Eli Roth were delving into horror like never before while new exciting voices like Leigh Whannel, Robert Eggers, and David Robert Mitchell were emerging. Here is a look back at the ten best horror films of 2015.

Update October 15, 2023: This article has been updated to look back at the year 2015 and the exciting horror films that were released that year.

10 Knock, Knock

Knock Knock
Lionsgate Premiere

There are few auteurs that have the capacity to tell the tale of two women plotting to hurt Keanu Reeves better than the mind of Eli Roth. As one of horrors' smartest headmasters, Knock, Knock, in many ways, plays as something that could also be translated to the theater. Roth has taken a simple concept and thoroughly shaken it up in a way that adds a third dimension to what can often prove to be a rather 2D genre. The film also was, for many, their first introduction to Ana de Armas.

9 Victor Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein Trailer Starring James McAvoy & Daniel Radcliffe

While it might not feature the traditional "scares" one expects from a horror movie, Victor Frankenstein is a reimaging of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, one of the seminal pieces of horror fiction, and the Frankenstein monster is one of cinema's most iconic horror icons so that earns this film a place on this list. Starring James McAvoy as Victor Frankenstein and Daniel Radcliffe as Igor, this is one of the freshest interpretations of the legendary story, opting to focus on the lead-up to the creature's creation and what drove these men's desire to craft the legendary creature and what it means to make a man.

8 Scouts vs Zombies

Scouts Vs. Zombies Begins Production in Los Angeles

One would imagine the uptake in scouting endeavors would increase tenfold if the famously uncool world of cub scouts injected a bit of zombifying panache into its activities. 2015 flick, Scouts Vs. Zombies follows an unlikely group of Cub Scouts who are tasked with trying to prevent Zombies from taking over their small town. This uber cool tale plays like Stand By Me meets Zombieland, and 2015 was a much better year for horror because of it.

7 Insidious Chapter 3

Woman Screaming in Insidious Chapter Three
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA)

By and large, the first two chapters in this trilogy were relatively solid. The anticipation and fairly good reviews only seemed to bolster Insidious Chapter 3 upon its release in 2015. The team behind this movie and the surefire hand of first-time director Leigh Whannell, who had become well-acquainted with the franchise, having penned the scripts for the previous installments, is what helps this movie be a cut above most paranormal thriller fare.

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Sure, there are missteps along the way, but I challenge any paranormal film to present a place like The Further in a creepier way. It also was a hint of what Whannell would accomplish with his 2020 film, The Invisible Man. The Insidious brand is still alive and well, with the latest film, Insidious: The Red Door, being a surprise hit in the summer of 2023.

6 The Final Girls

The Final Girls by Todd Strauss-Schulson
Stage 6 Films

A horror comedy, The Final Girls is a love letter to 80's horror movies as it focuses on a group of high schoolers who are transported into a 1986 slasher film. Very much The Last Action Hero of slasher films, The Final Girls a fun meta-commentary on not just horror slashers but also the 1980s as a whole, which makes it more than a Scream knockoff. It also features a great cast that includes Tarissa Farmiga, Adam DeVine, Alia Shawkat, Nina Dobrev, Malin Akerman, Thomas Middleditch, and Alexander Ludwig.

5 Krampus

Krampus 2015
Legendary

People don't really associate Christmas with horror, although one of the most popular tales does feature three ghosts. Krampus was the second-holiday horror film from director Michael Dougherty after his iconic film Trick r Treat. Krampus brings the iconic folklore creature to life in a horror movie that is equal parts scary and comedic. Despite being a movie with a monstrous gingerbread man and the scariest jack-n-the-box put to screen, the movie is still a sweet message about putting aside the commercialism of Christmas and embracing the love of one's family.

4 Crimson Peak

Javier Botet walks as bloodied creature Enola in Crimson Peak
Universal Pictures

Dismissed at the time of its release for not being scary enough, Crimson Peak has become a cult classic in recent years. This gothic horror film from Guillermo del Toro is the closest thing audiences will get to his version of The Haunted Mansion. The movie is dripping with gothic atmosphere straight out of Hammer horror film, as well as graphic blood, but maintains all the beauty one expects from the acclaimed director. Also, any horror film that has Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain in its cast deserves a mention here.

3 The Visit

The Visit
Universal Pictures

Sure, M. Night Shyamalan appeared to be late to the party with the whole found footage thing. However, despite many a cynical tendency, especially when it comes to assessing the series of misfires Shyamalan has presided over since, The Visit is a trusty, albeit conventional steed as far as horror movies are concerned. The Knock at the Cabin director's 2015 project is constructed on a simple premise: kids go to stay with their grandparents, and nightmarish events unfold.

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While it is somewhat formulaic in structure and predictable in nature, it certainly isn't shy on suspense or providing the audience with that adrenaline rush we so crave. It also was Shyamalan's first positively reviewed film in over a decade and relaunched his career that he would follow up with Split, Glass, Old, and The Knock at the Cabin.

2 The Witch

Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch (2015)
A24 / Elevation Pictures

2015’s The Witch was the deeply heralded, Robert Eggers’ feature debut, and one that, for many reasons, would have many an audience member and critic alike sit up and take note of Eggers’ unorthodox approach to filmmaking. A baby-faced Anya Taylor Joy and Ralph Ineson front this unassuming cast and star in the titular roles as Thomasin and William, respectively, the daughter and father of a Puritan family banished to live on the edge of civilization in 17th-century New England.

Setting up a farm on the outskirts of a deeply dense, naturally imposing forest, the family begins to fall victim to apparent witchcraft, with the work of a sinister supernatural presence at large. Unsurprisingly, Eggers’ unique creation drew comparisons to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in the way it employs rhetoric around witchcraft in a period setting and a fundamentalist, almost militant attitude towards any form of religious contempt. The Witch is a truly chilling folkloric tale, and its disconcerting psychological impact on audiences lingers on long after the credits.

1 It Follows

It Follows opening scene of the movie
RADiUS-TWC

While It Follows actually came out in 2014, it made its US debut in 2015, so we have very little excuse not to claim it. This film focuses on a group of friends in the suburbs who have to contend with a sexually transmitted disease that seemingly attracts dead people to kill them. In a race against time, the group must rally together to protect their friend and protagonist, Jay (Maika Monroe), from the perils that face them and her.

Built on a peculiar yet truly distinctive concept, David Robert Mitchell's low-budget horror is a refreshing spin on a genre that can often be devoid of original ideas. It Follows, alongside The Witch, has been two of the most impactful horror films in recent memory and has set a template for a new era of elevated horror that audiences are still enjoying today.