Re-launching an iconic franchise isn’t an easy task, but Blumhouse’s magic touch led to one of the most critically acclaimed and financially successful horror films of the year. They did it by both respecting the past (bringing back Jamie Lee Curtis) and ignoring it, changing the canon so you only needed to have seen the first film to know what’s going on. It’s not perfect, but it’s still more than worthy of a spot on our top 10.

You might have missed Anna And The Apocalypse, thanks to a limited cinema release and a modest marketing budget, but this is destined to be a cult classic for years to come. It follows the adventures of Anna and her pals, as they’re forced to fend off a zombie apocalypse. So far, so generic, but did we mention it’s a Christmas film? Oh, and it’s also a musical. Funny, moving and constantly entertaining, get ready to add Anna to your annual Christmas movie lineup next year.

Basically, imagine Inglourious Basterds meets From Dusk Till Dawn, and that’s Overlord, the most action-packed horror flick of the year. Set on the eve of D-Day, we follow a gang of plucky paratroopers as they encounter a whole bunch of monsters best left to your imagination until you’ve had a chance to see the film. Overlord didn’t find its audience in cinemas, but its quality means it’ll be enjoyed for years to come.

British horror filmmaking at its best, this adaptation of the smash play shouldn’t have worked as well as it did on the big screen. But a combination of brilliantly executed jump-scares, genuine tension and beautifully nuanced performances led to the creation of a modern cinematic classic.

Definitely not for everyone, Gaspar Noe’s brave, bold and brutal horror film starts out as essentially the most cinematic music video ever made, before shifting into a disturbing nightmare, after the dancers’ drink is spiked with LSD. Once seen, never forgotten.

Mainstream horror had a particularly good 12 months in 2018, with Hereditary’s ‘classy Conjuring’ finding a large audience of shock devotees. Sure, it’s basically Rosemary’s Baby with more jump-scares, but some genuinely surprising moments and a stunning central performance from Toni Collette meant Hereditary transcended its influences to become a fascinating study of madness, ghosts and family.

A woman is wronged, and seeks justice. That’s a premise that could be used to describe a billion exploitation flicks, but Revenge’s combination of style and substance made it feel fresh and exciting. Weird, unique and constantly compelling, the title keeps things simple, but the film is anything but.

With Resolution, Spring and now The Endless – their biggest movie to date – producers / writers / directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (who also both star in the film) have grown into genuinely exciting filmmakers. The Endless might only be known to fans of cult cinema, but expect these two to go places. As for the film, the less we say, the better – but expect a surreal sci-fi horror about a couple of brothers who go back to a cult they were once members of, which also happens to be unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

Audiences went in expecting to throw popcorn at the screen and openly mock the latest cringe-fest from direct-to-video star Nic Cage. What they got was a psychedelically-shot exploration of grief, that’s so well-made the director was compared to Kubrick, containing Cage’s best performance since Leaving Las Vegas. Expect this one to pop up for midnight screenings at independent cinemas until the end of time. And maybe even beyond.

As much as we loved Mandy, the defining horror story of 2018 has to be A Quiet Place, a movie directed by Jim from The Office, starring Mary Poppins, that somehow managed to be one of the most intense cinematic experiences any of us have ever had. And any film that builds forcing audiences to shut up and pay attention into its premise is a masterpiece, as far as we’re concerned. It might lose some of its magic when we watch it at home, but A Quiet Place was the horror film to beat in terms of delivering sheer movie magic this year.