Need a good scare that’s approved by the general public? Here are the top 10 horror movies of the 2020s, based on box office.
10. M3GAN (2022)
Total Gross Worldwide: $180,089,109 (The source for all box office numbers in this story is BoxOfficeMojo.com.)
If the Annabelle movies proved anything, it’s that people love creepy dolls.
In this horror movie from Gerard Johnstone, that fear of dolls is combined with a more modern horror: artificial intelligence. M3GAN is designed to be a child’s best friend — but then the dolls starts taking matters into her own hands, and hastening to violent ends.
M3GAN was so successful that it earned itself a sequel: the upcoming M3GAN 2.0 is coming to theaters soon.
And she’s on our list of the Scariest A.I. Movie Villains.
9. Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
Total Gross Worldwide: $189,086,877
This is the fifth installment in the Insidious franchise, and a direct sequel to 2013’s Insidious: Chapter 2.
The Conjuring star Patrick Wilson directs and stars in this movie, showing his prowess in the horror genre. Set in 2019, the story follows Josh Lambert, catching up with him nine years after his possession.
Lambert’s not doing great. And to make matters worse, his son, Dalton, draws a picture of the red door that marks the entrance to the dark realm, The Further.
8. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Total Gross Worldwide: $206,431,050
The seventh installment in the Conjuring universe film, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is a sequel to The Conjuring 2.
It follows Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal investigators who helped the Perrons and the Hodgsons in the previous films. But this time, they’re up against a demonic possession unlike anything they’ve ever seen before.
7. Smile (2022)
Total Gross Worldwide: $217,408,513
This film follows a woman who witnesses a death and immediately begins seeing people all around her with the absolute creepiest smiles on their faces imaginable.
It’s a horrible curse that never ends — not unless it’s passed onto the next person by forcing them to witness a horrible death as well. The only way to get rid of it is to either die or kill someone else. How awful!
This movie was so successful that it got a sequel, Smile 2, which came out earlier this year.
6. A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
Total Gross Worldwide: $261,523,954
The third installment in John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place franchise, Day One is a prequel film that sets up the events of A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place II.
It follows Lupita Nyong’o as a cancer patient living in New York when the alien creatures with supersonic hearing invade. Supporting cast include supporting cast includes Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, and Djimon Hounsou, who returns to his role from A Quiet Place Part II.
5. The Nun II (2023)
Total Gross Worldwide: $269,467,073
Another facet of The Conjuring universe are The Nun movies. This is the second one, starring Taissa Farmiga — sister of The Conjuring star Vera Farmiga.
A sequel to The Nun but a prequel to first The Conjuring movie, The Nun II takes place in 1956 France. WHen a priest is murdered, Sister Irene has to face a spreading evil once again in the force of a demonic entity.
4. Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023)
Total Gross Worldwide: $291,493,620
The Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson stars alongside You‘s Elizabeth Lail and the original Scream‘s Matthew Lillard in this horror movie about a security guard who starts working at the Chuck E. Cheese-like Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.
But once he spends his first night in the creepy establishment, he realizes that working the late shift is going to be tougher than he expected.
This supernatural horror movie is based on the video game of the same name created by Scott Cawthon.
3. A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
Total Gross Worldwide: $297,372,261
After the deadly events of the first A Quiet Place movie, in A Quiet Place II, the Abbott family has to venture out into the wild in a risky play to continue their survival.
This one stars Emily Blunt and Millicent Simmonds reprising their original roles as mother and daughter, and also introduces a new character played by Cillian Murphy.
2. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
Total Gross Worldwide: $332,871,446
There are a good amount of sequels and spin-offs on this list, showing that people love a second crack at a classic. This year’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is no exception.
Made 36 years after the original Beetlejuice, which is a Halloween classic, the second installment finds Lydia (Winona Ryder) once again haunted by the hilariously dastardly Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), especially when her daughter (Jenna Ortega) discovers a portal to the afterlife.
1. Alien: Romulus (2024)
Total Gross Worldwide: $341,909,154
The seventh installment in the beloved Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus takes place between the events of the first Alien (1979) and the second movie, Aliens (1986).
Starring Cailee Spaeny, it follows space colonizers who encounter a terrifying alien creature while scavenging an abandoned space station. Here’s our cover story with director Fede Alvarez, producer Ridley Scott and Spaeny, as well David Jonsson, who plays her android brother.
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Main Image: Sosie Bacon in Smile. Paramount Pictures.
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