These 2026 Horror Movies Are Better Than 'Obsession'

Image via A24 Published Sep 2, 2026, 12:27 AM EDT Remus is a writer, editor, journalist, and author with an eye for detail and an extremely active imagination. He is an enthusiast of everything to do with the graphic medium, whether it's Western comics and their adaptations or manga and anime. Remus is also the author of the sci-fantasy novel Once Upon a Time in Hyperspace and several works of short fiction in the mystery, comedy, and horror genres. Sign in to your Collider account Between indie breakouts, experimental hits, and legacy franchises, horror cinema has expanded to unpredictable dimensions in 2026. The supernatural psychological horror, Obsession, further reinforced that the genre will continue to evolve in surprising ways. YouTube creator Curry Barker’s theatrical feature debut, the movie puts a new spin on the “careful what you wish for” trope with a young man’s earnest wish for his friend to fall in love with him turning into a deadly nightmare. On its release, the film became a cult hit and has already been called an instant classic. While Obsession has been sweeping acclaim and accolades for its standout performances and production, the year has also seen the releases of several other remarkable films that rival (and in some cases, surpass) the new horror hit. Many of these are films that earned critical acclaim, but haven’t had quite the same cultural footprint or mainstream traction, overshadowed by Obsession’s viral success. So, without further ado, here’s our selection of 2026 horror movies that are arguably better than Obsession. 1 ‘Hokum’ (2026) Image via Neon Written and directed by Damian McCarthy and starring Adam Scott, Hokum is a supernatural horror film about Ohm Bauman, a novelist who travels to Ireland to scatter his parents’ ashes. While staying at a remote hotel full of secrets and ghost stories, Ohm encounters a murder, horrifying visions, and disturbing events that force him to uncover the truth while also dealing with his personal demons. The movie’s cast also includes Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Michael Patric, and Austin Amelio. First screened at the 2026 South by Southwest Film Festival, Hokum is an atmospheric blend of good old haunted house motifs, folk horror, murder mystery, and self-awareness, woven together with jump scares and psychological dread. Adam Scott plays against type and is riveting as a genuinely detestable character, a performance that earned him widespread acclaim. The film is a terrifying metaphor for guilt and trauma that can scare you just as much as Obsession. 2 ‘Backrooms’ (2026) Image via A24 Backrooms marks the feature directorial debut of YouTuber and visual artist Kane Parsons, who adapts his internet phenomenon into a chilling sci-fi psychological horror film. Set in the 1990s, the film follows Clark, a furniture store owner who discovers a hidden portal in the basement that opens into an endless maze of yellow-walled rooms. When Clarke goes missing in the labyrinth, his therapist sets out to find him, only to discover her own reality distorting. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve lead the cast, with Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell in other key roles. Claustrophobic and confusing, Backrooms successfully adapts a viral internet concept into a creepy cinematic experience. The film’s unusual concept comes to life with terrific camerawork and surreal effects that make the horror feel all the more intimate. Since its release, the movie has been phenomenally successful, both critically and commercially, and it even became A24’s highest-grossing film of all time, making Parsons the youngest filmmaker to reach number one at the United States box office. 3 ‘Send Help’ (2026) Image via 20th Century Studios Sam Raimi returns to horror after 17 years with this chilling survival horror thriller that once again proves his mastery of the genre. Starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien as the central characters, Send Help follows Linda, a finance employee, and Bradley, her newly appointed boss, who survive a plane crash and get stranded on a deserted island. While they wait for help, their desperate attempts to survive increase tensions between them, sparked by their professional hostility, leading to dangerous outcomes. The movie’s cast also includes Edyll Ismail, Xavier Samuel, Chris Pang, and Dennis Haysbert. Filled with madness, gore, and a menacing employee-employer chemistry, Send Help makes for a welcome return for Raimi to his signature style and genre. McAdams is riveting as the overlooked employee-turned-survivor, evenly matched by O’Brien’s arrogant boss. Simultaneously frightening and darkly funny, Send Help has garnered critical acclaim for its clever writing and performances, which often surpass those of Obsession, even if it didn't exactly shatter box office records. Collider Exclusive · Horror Survival Quiz Which Horror Villain Do You Have the Best Chance of Surviving? Jason Voorhees · Michael Myers · Freddy Krueger · Pennywise · Chucky Five killers. Five completely different ways to die — if you're not smart enough, fast enough, or self-aware enough to avoid it. Only one of them is the villain your particular set of instincts gives you a fighting chance against. Eight questions will figure out which one. 🏕️Jason 🔪Michael 💤Freddy 🎈Pennywise 🪆Chucky TEST YOUR SURVIVAL → 01 Something feels wrong. You can't explain it — you just know. What do you do? First instincts are the difference between the survivor and the first act casualty. ALeave immediately. I don't need to understand a threat to respect it. BStay quiet and observe. If I can see it, I can understand it. If I can understand it, I can avoid it. CStay awake. Whatever this is, I am not going to sleep until I feel safe again. DConfront it directly. Fear grows in the dark — I'd rather know what I'm dealing with. ECheck everything, trust nothing. The threat might be closer than I think — and smaller. NEXT QUESTION → 02 Where are you most likely to find yourself when things go wrong? Setting is everything in horror. Where you are determines which rules apply. ASomewhere remote — a cabin, a campsite, off the grid and away from people. BA quiet suburban neighbourhood where nothing ever happens. Except tonight. CIn my own head — the most dangerous place of all, depending on what's already in there. DWherever children are — because something about this place attracts the worst things. ESomewhere ordinary — a house, a toy store, a place where the last thing you'd expect is a threat. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What is your most reliable survival asset? Every survivor has a quality the villain didn't account for. What's yours? APhysical fitness — I can run, I can swim, I can outlast something that relies on brute persistence. BSpatial awareness — I always know the exits, the hiding spots, the fastest route out. CPsychological resilience — I've faced my worst fears before. They don't have the same power over me. DEmotional steadiness — I don't panic. Panic is what gets you caught. EScepticism — I don't underestimate threats because of how they look. Size is irrelevant. NEXT QUESTION → 04 What kind of fear is hardest for you to fight through? Knowing your weakness is the first step to not dying because of it. AThe unstoppable — something that will not stop, cannot be reasoned with, and is always getting closer. BThe invisible — a threat I can feel but can't locate, watching from somewhere I can't see. CThe psychological — something that uses my own mind and memories against me. DThe unknowable — something ancient, shapeless, that feeds on the fear itself. EThe mundane — a threat so ordinary-looking that no one will believe me until it's too late. NEXT QUESTION → 05 You're with a group when things start going wrong. What's your role? Horror movies are brutally clear about who survives group situations and who doesn't. AThe one who says "we need to leave" first — and means it, even when no one listens. BThe one who stays quiet, watches the others, and figures out the pattern before anyone else does. CThe one who holds the group together when panic sets in — because someone has to. DThe one who asks the questions nobody wants to ask — because ignoring them gets people killed. EThe one who takes the threat seriously when everyone else is laughing it off. NEXT QUESTION → 06 What's the horror movie mistake you're most likely to make? Honest self-assessment is a survival skill. Denial is not. AGoing back for someone — I know I shouldn't, but I can't leave them behind. BAssuming I'm safe once I've found a hiding spot. That's when it finds me. CFalling asleep when I absolutely cannot afford to. Exhaustion is its own enemy. DLetting my curiosity override my instincts — I always need to understand what I'm dealing with. EDismissing the threat because of how it looks. That's exactly what it wants. NEXT QUESTION → 07 What's your best weapon against something that can't be stopped by conventional means? Every horror villain has a weakness. The survivors are always the ones who find it. AThe environment itself — I use the terrain, the water, the geography against it. BPatience — I wait, I watch, and I strike at the one moment it doesn't expect. CLucidity — if I can stay in control of my own mind, it loses its primary weapon. DCourage — facing it directly, refusing to run, taking away the fear it feeds on. EImprovisation — I use whatever's at hand, however unconventional. Creativity over brute force. NEXT QUESTION → 08 It's the final scene. You're the last one standing. How did you make it? The final survivor always has a reason. What's yours? AI kept moving. I never stopped, never hid for too long, never let it corner me. BI figured out the pattern before anyone else did — and I used it against the thing following it. CI stayed awake, stayed lucid, and refused to give it the one thing it needed most. DI stopped being afraid of it. And the moment I did, everything changed. EI took it seriously from the start — and I never once made the mistake of underestimating it. REVEAL MY VILLAIN → Your Survival Odds Have Been Calculated Your Best Chance Is Against…Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck. Jason VoorheesJason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit. He moves in straight lines toward his target. He doesn't strategise, doesn't adapt, doesn't outsmart. He simply pursues. Your ability to keep moving, use the environment, and resist the panic that freezes most victims gives you a genuine edge. The Crystal Lake survivors were always the ones who stopped running in circles and started thinking about terrain, water, and distance. You think like that. Which means Jason, for all his indestructibility, would face someone who simply refused to be where he expected. Michael MyersMichael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it's too late for anyone who isn't paying close enough attention. But you are paying attention. You notice the shape in the window, the car parked slightly wrong, the silence where there should be sound. Michael's power lies in the invisibility of ordinary suburbia — the fact that nothing ever looks wrong until it already is. Your spatial awareness and instinct to map every room, every exit, and every shadow before you need them is precisely the quality Laurie Strode had. You are not a victim waiting to happen. You are someone who already suspects something is wrong — and acts on it. Freddy KruegerFreddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised. You are harder to destabilise than most. You've faced uncomfortable truths about yourself and you haven't looked away. The survivors on Elm Street were always the ones who understood what was happening and chose to face it rather than flee from it. Freddy's greatest weakness is that his power evaporates in the presence of someone who refuses to give him the fear he feeds on. Your psychological resilience — the ability to stay grounded when reality itself becomes unreliable — is exactly the quality that keeps you alive here. PennywisePennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it. The Losers Club didn't survive because they were braver than everyone else. They survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly. You ask the questions others avoid. You look directly at what frightens you rather than turning away. That directness — the refusal to let fear fester in the dark — is Pennywise's worst nightmare. It chose the wrong target when it chose you. You are exactly the kind of person whose fear tastes like nothing at all. ChuckyChucky's greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it's already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is. You don't have that gap. You take threats seriously regardless of how they present — and you never make the mistake of underestimating something because of its size or appearance. Chucky relies on surprise, on the delay between recognition and response. You close that delay faster than almost anyone. Your instinct to treat every unfamiliar thing with appropriate scepticism — rather than dismissing it because it seems absurd — is the exact quality that keeps you breathing. Against Chucky, not laughing is already winning. You are very good at not laughing. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 4 ‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ (2026) Image via Sony Pictures Releasing The fourth entry in Alex Garland’s 28 Days film series, directed by Nia DaCosta, 28 Years Later: Bone Temple is a direct sequel to 2025’s 28 Years Later and follows Spike, a young survivor from the previous film, who is now adopted into Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal’s Satanic cult. Simultaneously, the isolated Dr. Ian Kelson comes closer to finding a cure with his Alpha Infected friend, Samson. Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, and Chi Lewis-Parry reprise their roles from the previous film, appearing alongside Robert Rhodes, Erin Kellyman, Emma Laird, and Sam Locke. The 28 Days Later film series has become the definitive modern zombie horror franchise, and Bone Temple successfully expands on that reputation. Alongside deeper dread and more gruesome violence, the latest installment also boasts thought-provoking themes and emotional moments. Powered by its compelling performances, the film escapes every expectation and predictability of the genre and easily ranks among the best films of 2026. 5 ‘Exit 8’ (2026) Image via Neon / Courtesy Everett Collection Directed by Genki Kawamura, Exit 8 is a Japanese psychological mystery horror film based on the 2023 video game The Exit 8 by Kotake Create. The film follows an anonymous man, dubbed the Lost Man, who is stuck in a time loop inside a Tokyo Metro corridor and must find the anomalies in each loop to escape the endless repetition. Kazunari Ninomiya plays the central character, with Yamato Kochi, Nana Komatsu, Naru Asanuma, and Kotone Hanase in notable roles. Exit 8 premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best Feature Film and earned rave reviews from critics. The film eliminates all visual distractions with its simplistic, sterile environment and minimal, unnamed characters, allowing the audience to feel as helpless and hopeless as the protagonist. Released in the U.S. a year later, Exit 8 has earned praise from reviewers and fans alike for successfully translating the original experience of the game onto the screen. 6 ‘Faces of Death’ (2026) Image via IFC A meta-horror reimagining of the 1978 film, Faces of Death follows Margot, a content moderator for a video platform called Kino, who comes across a series of videos depicting brutal executions and deaths recreated from the titular cult horror film. When she investigates the veracity of the content, she discovers a sadistic serial killer obsessed with the movie who’s chasing online fame by posting gruesome murders. Barbie Ferreira stars as Margo, with Dacre Montgomery, Josie Totah, Aaron Holliday, Jermaine Fowler, and Charli XCX in supporting roles. Directed by Daniel Goldhaber, Faces of Death sits right at the intersection of fiercely untraditional, deviant, and heavily meta, drawing from the exploitative nature of the original film. While its narrative is morbid and gory, it is also an intelligent and well-performed depiction of the current social media landscape and internet sleuthing. First screened at the 2026 Beyond Fest, Faces of Death earned praise for its smart meta-commentary on digital desensitization, as well as its thrilling performances, though it did face some criticism for its use of generic slasher tropes. 7 ‘Leviticus’ (2026) Image via Sundance An Australian coming-of-age romantic supernatural horror film written and directed by Adrian Chiarella in his feature directorial debut, Leviticus follows two teenage boys in a tight-knit, religious community who are forced to undergo a supernatural conversion therapy ritual. Following the ritual, each of them gets terrorized by a terrifying shapeshifting entity that turns into the person they desire the most: each other. The film stars Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Jeremy Blewitt, and Mia Wasikowska. As a tense supernatural horror built around a tender teenage romance, Leviticus is affecting in the most unexpected ways. The film’s horror does not come from the unseen entity but from how the entity’s presence causes a creeping dread in the characters, and by extension, in the audience. At the time of its premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, Leviticus earned sweeping praise for its story and performances, surpassing the critical acclaim of Obsession, even if it does not match the latter’s record-breaking success. Release Date June 18, 2026 Runtime 88 minutes Director Adrian Chiarella