Here are the films that didn’t fail to freak us out this year: thrill-seekers were delighted…
The best of 2023. Throughout the month of December, AlloCiné offers you thematic tops based on viewer ratings, to highlight the best films and series of the year and suggest some catch-up sessions.
2023 rhymes with fear thanks to this selection of horror films that have won over spectators. Return of successful franchises or real novelties, very real (and eternal) killers or supernatural entities determined to kill: it’s all there.
On the menu, blood, gore, jumps, twists and even originality: here are the Top 5 best horror films of 2023 according to AlloCiné spectators!
5th – Scream VI 3/5
Paramount Pictures
The legendary saga made its return this year, creating an event in theaters: in fact, Scream VI is the part which had the best start of the entire franchise! After striking three times in Woodsboro, after terrorizing the Windsor campus and the Hollywood studios, Ghostface moves and decides to take action in New York! But in a city this big, no one will hear you scream…
Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Hayden Panettiere and Courteney Cox are back here to face the scariest Ghostface since the original film: that’s what it says.
Particularly brutal, this sixth part offers as a bonus tasty twists that will leave you speechless. More tense and gory than ever, the jumps are there. You have been warned.
4th – Smile 3.1/5
Paramount Pictures
After witnessing a traumatic incident involving one of her patients, psychiatrist Rose Cotter’s life turns into a nightmare. Overwhelmed by a mysterious force, Rose will have to confront her past to try to survive…
217 million dollars at the international box office for a budget of 17 million, that sums up the Smile phenomenon. In France, the film even achieved more admissions in the second week than in the premiere: something unprecedented in the history of genre cinema.
On the program, unbearable tension, stubborn unease, terrifying visions and blurred bearings: it is one of the creepiest films of the genre, it must be admitted. Devilishly effective, smile even convinced the master of horror himself, Stephen King, who in addition to describing the film as frightening, praised the performance “hell” of its main actress, Sosie Bacon.
Producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, Insidious, American Nightmare, Get Out…) has not recovered either, with certain images from the film having difficulty erasing from his memory. That says a lot…
3rd – The Hand 3.1/5
SND
Here’s another low-budget film that has become a true social phenomenon: The Hand of Danny and Michael Phillipou has garnered praise this year, appearing among the greatest successes of independent production company A24.
Inspired by true stories, the film follows the story of a group of teenagers using a mysterious haunted hand to summon spirits to possess them. Only one rule to follow: do not hold your hand for more than 90 seconds.
But possession, like a drug (which has gone viral on social media), ends up inviting terrible forces when one of them breaks this golden rule. Who can we trust now: the dead or the living?
If the film makes its characters endearing, it is to make them suffer better. And you will love it. Just listen to Peter Jackson on the subject: here you are treated to the most intense horror film in several years, continually scary and disturbing – in the best way possible. The hand is truly one of the gems of 2023, not to be missed.
2nd – Thanksgiving: horror week 3.2/5
Sony Pictures Releasing France
Born from a fake trailer made more than fifteen years ago, Thanksgiving: Horror Week marks the return of Eli Roth (Hostel) to the horror genre.
A year after Black Friday turned into chaos, a mysterious killer takes inspiration from the traditional Thanksgiving holiday to terrorize the town of Plymouth (Massachusetts), birthplace of the famous holiday.
As residents are eliminated one by one, these seemingly random murders reveal a true, more sinister plan. Unmasking the killer and surviving then becomes a necessity for the inhabitants if they do not wish to become guests of a completely twisted Thanksgiving dinner…
Massacre against a backdrop of criticism of consumer society and social networks, Thanksgiving: Horror Week is a real slasher. Carried by a sympathetic cast – including Patrick Dempsey, Nell Verlaque, Addison Rae, Rick Hoffman and even Gina Gershon – it is startling, hard-hitting, gory, brutal, sometimes funny but above all frightening. Fans of the genre will be won over.
1st – Saw X 3.2/5
Metropolitan FilmExport
The legendary saga is resurrected with a tenth opus whose plot takes place between the events of its first two parts, Saw and Saw II. Thus, his legendary killer can be reborn: John Kramer (Tobin Bell), alias Jigsaw, is truly back in this new chapter.
Suffering from cancer and in despair, the latter goes to Mexico to undergo an experimental operation capable of curing him. However, he discovers that this is all a scam targeting vulnerable patients.
Driven by a new goal, the famous killer returns to his work, and decides to take his revenge on these crooks in a terrible “game” of which he has the secret and through traps always more Machiavellian and ingenious than the others. .
Under the direction of Kevin Greutert, chief editor of the saga since its beginnings, who is directing its third episode here, Saw The film also has the particularity of presenting Jigsaw as the victim for whom we almost feel compassion: it’s genius.
Gory and sadistic nugget, with psychological suspense and emotions as a bonus, Saw X is the second favorite opus of the saga according to AlloCiné spectators, and the most uncomfortable too. All is said.
Ranking made up of films released in cinemas in 2023 and with a minimum of 300 ratings. Don’t hesitate to post your notes and reviews on the profiles of these films (and others), and to post your own top one in the comments below!