Blumhouse continues to be one of the most successful horror studios in the film industry. Founded in 2000 as Blum Israel Productions, the studio grew to prominence by releasing many low-budget, director-driven hits made by the likes of James Wan, Mike Flanagan, Jordan Peele, and M. Night Shyamalan.
As with every studio, not all their films are so beloved, but they remain a go-to source of modern frights for many horror fans. With the release of the studio’s latest film, Imaginary, it’s time to explore the top 10 best scary movies from Blumhouse.
10. Paranormal Activity (2007)
In one of Blumhouse’s first-ever productions, a couple films themselves to monitor the evil spirit haunting them in their new house. Paranormal Activity makes the most of its minuscule budget to build heart-pounding suspense as the invisible entity makes things go bump in the night and ultimately tears the two leads apart.
Thanks to its viral marketing and resulting box-office success, not only did the film reinvigorate the found-footage genre, but it singlehandedly made Blumhouse a household name.
9. Insidious (2010)
After a young boy (Ty Simpkins) falls into a coma, he becomes the beacon of malevolent spirits that follow his family from house to house. Taking cues from Poltergeist and A Nightmare on Elm Street, this low-budget film from director James Wan unleashes a unique house of horrors built on palpable tension and some incredible jump scares.
The final act may be a bit clunky, but Insidious still lands firmly as a solid and shocking roller coaster into the world of ghosts and demons. The fifth and latest entry, Insidious: The Red Door, is just as good, and some might argue even better than the original.
8. Sinister (2012)
When a true crime novelist moves into a new house, he finds a collection of snuff films that carry a demonic presence that targets him and his family.
Sinister may resort to jump scares and overused tropes, but director Scott Derrickson makes the most out of them and its unnerving score to produce a chilling nightmare that crawls beneath the audience’s skin. In fact, the film was even labeled the scariest of all time based on a scientific study into viewers’ heart rates, which says a lot.
7. Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
Ouija never should’ve even gotten a prequel after critics panned it so hard. However, director Mike Flanagan (The Midnight Club) proved that a terrific film was buried within it, thanks to this terrifying, nostalgic story that explores the Zander family’s tragic encounter with the paranormal. There have been many possession films in the past 50 years, but Ouija: Origin of Evil ranks among the best of them thanks to its clever scares and well-rounded story.
6. The Black Phone (2021)
What do you get when you pair up Sinister director Scott Derrickson and writer Joe Hill, son of author Stephen King? The Black Phone, that’s what. This film follows a young boy (Mason Thames) who gets taken by a child murderer (Ethan Hawke) and uses a disconnected phone that allows him to speak to the ghosts of his previous victims.
Reminiscent of The Shining and It, this film delivers a chilling ’80s throwback with incredible performances from its cast, with Hawke introducing a terrifying villain for the ages with his portrayal of the mysterious masked Grabber.
5. Hush (2016)
Also directed by Mike Flanagan (The Fall of the House of Usher), this home invasion film follows a deaf woman (Kate Siegel) who finds herself targeted by a crossbow-wielding killer (John Gallagher Jr.) in her isolated house.
With its simple, but inventive concept, Hush immerses the audience in its terrifying game of cat-and-mouse. Each twist and sound keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, anxious to see who will get the upper hand.
4. M3GAN (2023)
When a roboticist (Allison Williams) becomes the legal guardian of her orphaned niece (Violet McGraw), she gifts her an experimental AI toy that grows protective of her new friend — and increasingly violent. The “killer doll film” had already been done to death with characters like Chucky and Annabelle. However, the campy sci-fi slasher M3GAN presents an exciting new story that pokes fun at modern consumerism while presenting a harrowing tale about people’s overreliance on technology, especially when it comes to raising kids.
3. The Invisible Man (2020)
This remake of The Invisible Man follows a woman (Elisabeth Moss) who fears she is being stalked by her abusive ex-boyfriend (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) in a high-tech invisibility suit.
After Universal’s Dark Universe landed dead on arrival with The Mummy, this movie proved that classic monster movies can be done right in the 21st century thanks to its clever scares, suspenseful atmosphere, and profound social commentary.
2. Halloween (2018)
Before David Gordon Green drew the hate of many classic horror fans, he breathed new life into the Halloween franchise with this acclaimed reboot. Forty years after rampaging through Haddonfield, the institutionalized Michael Myers escapes once again to wreak havoc on Halloween night.
By retconning the mythos established in previous movies, this 2018 film brought the franchise back to its roots, reestablishing Myers as a mysterious stranger unrelated to Laurie Strode while exploring new ideas about what makes him tick. It also continues Laurie’s story as she struggles to connect with her estranged family and live with her trauma. And in the process, it usurps the original film in terms of character development.
1. Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele forever changed the horror landscape with his directorial debut. Get Out follows a young Black man (Daniel Kaluuya) who visits his white girlfriend’s parents, and grows increasingly uncomfortable as a sinister plot comes to light.
This genuinely scary satire analyzes the racism still embedded in American society, as well as the systematic repression African Americans experience in the modern world embodied by the dreaded Sunken Place. This film only gets better with each viewing, as it reveals some new detail that shows how meticulously crafted this recent masterpiece is.
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