For a marathon to work, you need a few films that people already love, at least one genuine discovery, and something that sparks a conversation at the end.
The 2020s have already produced films that will be studied for decades - lean, precise, unafraid to take audiences seriously.
Horror works best when it earns the dread before deploying it. The best films in the genre build something you care about, then threaten it.
When brothers Pedro and Jimi discover that a demonic infection has been festering in a nearby farmhouse, they attempt to evict the victim from their land. Failing to adhere to the proper rites of exorcism, their reckless actions inadvertently trigger an epidemic of possessions across their rural community.
When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.
A fading celebrity decides to use a black market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.
When an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare.
Dr. Kelson finds himself in a shocking new relationship - with consequences that could change the world as they know it - and Spike's encounter with Jimmy Crystal becomes a nightmare he can't escape.
The horror films worth watching are the ones that stay with you not because of the scares but because of what the scares meant. These films mean something.
A live broadcast of a late-night talk show in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms.
In late 15th-century Eastern Europe, Prince Vlad II's bride is brutally murdered. As a result, he renounces God and damns Heaven itself. Cursed with eternal life, Vlad is reborn as Dracula, an immortal warlord who defies fate in a blood-soaked crusade to wrench his lost love back from death.
When Cecilia's abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.
In 1666, a colonial town is gripped by a hysterical witch-hunt that has deadly consequences for centuries to come, and it's up to teenagers in 1994 to finally put an end to their town's curse, before it's too late.
An American priest working in Mexico is considered a saint by many local parishioners. However, due to a botched exorcism, he carries a secret that's eating him alive until he gets an opportunity to face his demon one final time.
The films that change cinema are rarely the ones trying to. They're usually just trying to be great - and accidentally redrawing the map.
A great horror film doesn't leave you frightened. It leaves you thinking. These films earn that distinction.