Shudder Best of 2024

It simply has to be said that Shudder had a heck of a year. Several of their original and exclusive films are likely to wind up on many year-end horror lists. This truly feels like the year that Shudder found its footing again. They also slightly changed their formula by releasing a lot of their bigger hits in theaters prior to streaming them. This helped build up the buzz.

Here are my favorite Shudder releases from 2024

Late Night with the Devil

Late Night with the Devil is so much fun. The film, written and directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes, stars David Dastmalchian as late-night talk show host Jack Delroy. Jack’s life is a mess. His wife recently died of cancer and his show continually falls behind in the ratings. Jack’s Halloween special is his last chance to save his fledgling celebrity.

To up the ratings, he hosts Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), author of Conversations with the Devil, and the subject of her book, Lily (Ingrid Torelli). Lily survived a Satanic cult and apparently harbors a demon. Of course, nothing goes as planned. Yes, this is a possession movie, but one that reaches some unexpected places, including a bonkers ending. All of the performances in this are great, but especially Dastmalchian. He really carries this film.

Exhuma

The South Korean film Exhuma is one atmospheric spookfest with plenty of twists and turns. Writer/director Jang Jae-hyun‘s film deals with South Korean folklore, layered family secrets, and hidden history. The less I say about this one the better. If you haven’t seen it yet, go in blind. Fans of The Wailing should definitely check this out. It’s just as visually engrossing.

In a Violent Nature

Writer/director Chris Nash’s In a Violent Nature isn’t for everyone. It features A LOT of nature shots and walking. Yet, it includes some of the gnarliest kills out of any film this year, especially that certain yoga one near the halfway point. Imagine if a Friday the 13th was shot totally from Jason’s POV. That’s basically In a Violent Nature.

We follow the killer Johnny (Ry Barrett) for the duration. We know nothing about anyone he kills, except that they’re young people that arrived on his hollowed grounds at the wrong time. Say what you want about this film, at least Nash managed to do something different with the slasher formula.

Stopmotion

Stopmotion is an unsettling commentary on the artistic process. Director Robert Morgan’s film follows stop motion artist Ella Blake (Aisling Franciosi). She grieves the loss of her overbearing mother, played by Stella Gonet. Mom was also a stop motion artist, but nothing Ella created was ever good enough.

After her mom dies, Ella exists her shadow and begins her own process. What she crafts, however, is truly the stuff of nightmares. Out of all the films on this list, Stopmotion has some of the most impressive special effects.

Azrael

Azrael is one heck of a bloody entertaining time that features no dialogue. It also stars Ready or Not’s Final Girl Samara Weaving as Azrael. Directed by E.L. Katz with a script by genre mainstay Simon Barrett, the film takes place in a dystopian universe where no one speaks. There are also vicious creatures that lurk in the woods.

Weaving’s character escapes imprisonment and sacrifice to the ancient creatures at the hands of a devout, fundamentalist community. She spends half the film hunted, before she becomes the hunter. The plot in this one is a bit light, but it’s still a heck of a good time and gruesome, too.

Rita

 Jayro Bustamante‘s follow-up to his stellar 2019 film La Llorona is the dark fantasy feature Rita. This film follows a group of young women trapped in a prison deep in the Guatemalan jungles. The movie is primarily told through the eyes of 13-year-old Rita, played by Giuliana Santa Cruz. Rita faces imprisonment for trying to save her sibling from their sexually abusive father. Those in power don’t believe her story.

At the prison, she befriends other young women dressed as angels. Together, they stage a rebellion for International Women’s Day. Rita is all kinds of beautiful, heartbreaking, and chilling in the sense these horrific acts actually occur in such prisons. Bustamante continues to be one of the most interesting international genre directors we have.

Oddity

Ever since I first watched Damian Mc Carthy’s creepy and atmospheric Oddity, I couldn’t stop thinking about that damn wooden mannequin. Like Mc Carthy’s first feature Caveat, Oddity is all about the Gothic mood and tone. The creaky old house where most of the film occurs is shadowy and gloomy. It’s always raining outside. Meanwhile, not everything is as it seems.

Like any good Gothic work, Oddity is very much about buried secrets, in particular what happened to Dani (Carolyn Bracken). Her sister, Darcy, also played by Bracken, just knows something sinister happened to Dani. She’s determined to unearth the truth. Oddity is absolutely one of this year’s must-watches.

MadS

While a few of the films on this list are slower burns, like Oddity and Exhuma, MadS is anything but. This is a high-octane zombie feature, shot in one-take by writer/director David Moreau (Them). The film essentially shifts POV three times. It initially follows Romain (Milton Richie), who scores a new drug, takes a hit, and then decides to share the drug at a party he and his girlfriend, Anais (Lucille Guillaume), host.

Shortly after he leaves his dealer’s place, Romain encounters a hysterical bandaged woman who jumps into his passenger seat and refuses to leave. Immediately, it’s clear something’s wrong. She plays an eerie recording that hints she escaped from a lab. Then, she starts stabbing herself, bleeding all over Romain. From there, the movie becomes an unrelenting, end-of-the-world scenario that shows just how fast and easily everything could collapse in a small town. This movie is like 28 Days Later amped up to an eleven.

No matter what 2025 brings, horror will remain the comfort genre we need. It’ll continue to address our deepest anxieties and fears. Hopefully, Shudder’s releases will be as strong as 2024. As for this Shudder Secrets column, it’ll be ending on this platform with this article. I’m grateful for the opportunity to highlight Shudder’s latest releases, and I’ll still continue to review their new releases for other outlets as I can. You can still read my previous articles in the Shudder Secrets archives.

Many, many thanks to Signal Horizon, especially editor-in-chief Tyler Unsell, for giving me this platform. It’s truly been a blast!