Joey Magidson
The Sunday Scaries are upon us once again! Yes, as the weekend concludes, most of us feel an oncoming sense of anticipatory dread about the week ahead. Anxiety about work manifests itself into a feeling that’s known as the Sunday Scaries. However, we at Awards Radar are here to combat that, by taking back the name. Now, we want you think about a horror-centric piece on the site when you hear the term. So, let us continue on with another installment of the Awards Radar Sunday Scaries! This time around, we’re taking a look at the very best horror efforts that have graced screens (or streaming services) so far during the year that is 2026…
So far, 2026 has been a real interesting year for horror, at least to me. Obviously, Backrooms and Obsession have been incredible successes, though they somewhat bounced off of yours truly (don’t worry, the internet has let me know about it). For me, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is one of the more sadly under seen genre efforts of the year, as it’s genuinely terrific. Even without loving Backrooms and Obsession, I still found enough here to dig on, with plenty more to come. As always, it all made this a very easy and very fun assignment, coming up with the best horror films of the first half of the year.
As a bonus, before we get to my actual list, fellow gorehound Myles Hughes has once again contributed his picks, which are as follows:
5. Exit 8
4. Send Help
3. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2. Obsession
1. Backrooms
Here now are my picks for the five best horror films so far in 2026, accompanied by a piece from my review:
Special Citation: Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (seen during the first half but is a late summer release)
Honorable Mention: The Bride! and Primate
5. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
Ready or Not was a delightful surprise for me, mixing comedy and horror in a consistently entertaining manner. Nothing about it called for a sequel, but then again, Radio Silence has proven themselves time and time again, even with Scream sequels, so they deserved the benefit of the doubt. While Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is completely unnecessary and nothing about the film breaks any new ground, the pleasures here are quite similar to last time out. While the element of surprise is no longer in their favor, the ability to consistently entertain, as well as play the premise out to its full potential, is once again in evidence. Did I demand a sequel to Ready or Not? No. Did I enjoy the hell out of this, nevertheless? You bet I did.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come doesn’t have the same wow factor as its predecessor, admittedly, but all involved know what works about the property. Raising the stakes and opening up the world can be a mixed bag for a sequel, but this flick manages not to dilute what works. Last time around, I was grinning from ear to ear throughout. Here, my smile wasn’t quite as big, but it sure was there, basically from start to finish.
4. Exit 8
Despite being reasonably knowledgable about video games, I’ll admit that The Exit 8 had snuck below my radar. A so-called “walking simulator” of sorts, it’s a genre of game I don’t always vibe with, but on occasion can become engrossed within. Firewatch, for example, I fell in love with. I say this bring up how I went into Exit 8, the adaptation of the game, without any clear expectations, beyond wondering how the spartan premise could be faithfully executed. Well, for (mostly) better and (occasionally) worse, this film has managed to do so. Just in terms of pulling it off, the movie has to be considered one of the more effective and successful video game adaptations we’ve seen to date.
Exit 8 takes the first person game and, while not expanding the world, finds the cinematic version of things. Once the premise settles in, it takes a bit to get on its wavelength, and on occasion, some restlessness sets in, but when this flick is firing on all cylinders, it’s hypnotic and unsettling, even if it does fall short of the greatness it manages to hint at. Still, if this seemed unfilmable, the filmmakers have found a way to prove that thought wrong.
3. Send Help
I don’t remember why I never made it to a press screening for Send Help. After all, I love Dylan O’Brien and am always down for a Sam Raimi movie. One where Rachel McAdams gets to let her freak flag fly? Yes, please. So, while I came to the film a bit after the fact, I still had a great time with it. Raimi is delighting in this smaller scale, going back to his roots, while McAdams and O’Brien play off of each other really well. If you didn’t get a chance to see this one in theaters, do as I did and rectify that ASAP. Send Help is a hoot of a horror flick.
Sometimes, a bit of the old ultraviolence is just what the movie doctor ordered. They Will Kill You has no qualms about giving you creative and unrelenting gore, which makes the horror comedy almost singular in its focus. Now, there’s an attempt to throw in some commentary about the wealthy elite and gentrification, but it’s in the shadow of watching Zazie Beetz kick ass. Considering how badass she is and what a strong ass-kicker she is, few will find themselves complaining about this film.
They Will Kill You certainly has shades of the Ready or Not franchise to it, though this is done with a bit more style and with a greater focus on brutal bloodshed, as opposed to the comedy. Now, there are some very funny moments in this movie, to be sure. It’s just not leading with the comedic element of the flick. That being said, there are a few ridiculously silly moments that can’t help but lead to laughter, which the film knows and utilizes well.
1. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
When 28 Years Later (reviewed here) hit theaters about seven months ago, it was not what a lot of audiences expected. The first effort in a purported new sequel trilogy to 28 Days Later (and it’s own sequel 28 Weeks Later), it felt very much like its own thing, full of original ideas and truly building on what’s come before. Now, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple continues that trend, while also exploring even bolder aspects of the story. In doing so, instead of being an unnecessary new edition, it’s the best of the franchise to date, and yes, that’s including the original.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is not just the quietest installment yet, it also manages to be, when it gets violent, the most brutal in the series so far. At one point it might be ruminating on agnosticism vs faith, while in the next, savage gore abruptly happens. What might have been tonal whiplash in lesser hands instead is the sort of heady horror that we now know to expect from this property.
Stay tuned for another Sunday Scaries installment next week!
Comments
Loading…