As one of the most consistently popular movie genres for over a century now, the world of horror movies has evolved in some amazing ways over the decades. Between social media and streaming services that help new generations discover the classics for the first time, mainstream horror has become more popular than ever among contemporary audiences. However, this usually means the demand for major productions and mainstream films is always high.

Given that these films often command higher budgets and all the bells and whistles that come with major studio backing, they usually have a significant advantage over foreign or indie horror films. However, for a while now, there have been a lot of complaints from horror fanatics over the absence of good horror films — or at least original ones. All this is probably why one of the most highly-rated horror films of the year has flown under the radar despite being a fantastic film. That film was the Irish horror film Oddity, and, despite its small budget, the movie is being called one of the best in the genre this year.

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Oddity Burrows Under the Skin as It Peels Back Layers

Currently sitting at a 96% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Oddity is delighting critics and creeping out audiences everywhere as more and more people discover its macabre delights. The film’s modest production was evident by its cast, which is relatively unknown outside local audiences. It starred a mix of Irish and Welsh actors: Carolyn Bracken, Gwilym Lee, and Tadhg Murphy, among a relatively small overall cast. It revolves around a psychiatrist who lives in an old, expansive country house. After his wife is murdered one night while alone at the house, her twin sister, a somewhat bizarre self-expressed psychic medium, begins looking into what happened to her.

What follows takes viewers on a terrifying journey as the film peels itself back layer by layer to unveil mysteries along the way that the audience was never even aware were playing out from the beginning. The film is a prime example of something that many modern fans of the genre are appreciating more and more — slow-burn horror that leaves audiences thinking about the film long after its over. On that count, Oddity does a masterful job of not just creeping but properly burrowing itself under the skin to leave viewers on tenterhooks throughout, despite the slow build-up for the first hour of its 98-minute runtime.

Oddity Is Bizzare, Patient, and Efficiently Terrifying

Oddity achieves more effective scares than most big-budget studio horror films by using its scares efficiently, without undue fluff or cheap theatricality for the sake of it. Unlike how many modern horror films prioritize jump scares and shock value, which only ever results in them coming across as derivative, Oddity is being lauded for its restraint and the measured approach to ensure its scary scenes are frighteningly effective without being cliché-ridden.

While it gets bizarre at times, the scenes ultimately resolve themselves and make much more sense once the truth is revealed. By being unafraid to take a slow burn approach early on, the film does a great job of building up suspense. Its scenes are also creative and cleverly constructed, adding a disturbing edge to it. As a result of all these traits, the film has been one of the darlings of indie festivals like South by Southwest and Fantasia.

As mentioned, many critics have deemed Oddity refreshing as it doesn’t rely on jump scares and gimmicks, similar to other 2024 titles like Longlegs and Late Night with the Devil. While awarding it three and a half out of four stars, here’s what Sheila O’Malley, writing for Roger Ebert, had to say about the film’s director, Damian Mc Carthy, as she compared it to his first horror film, Caveat:

“Oddity” is, if anything, even more unsettling. In “Caveat,” Mc Carthy created a creeping sense of dread and outright terror, sometimes from merely pointing the camera at a slightly ajar door. Mc Carthy has patience as a filmmaker. He can wait. He doesn’t try to overwhelm with easy jump-scares. He allows the sense of uneasiness to build and build.

Oddity Represents the Best of Modern Horror

Despite having a modest budget and a relatively unknown cast, Oddity was outrageously good — fully deserving of all its critical praise and then some. While franchise films, classic horror villains, and major studio-led horror films will always be welcome and popular among horror fans, many are tired of sifting through dozens of them a year to find one good one. In that sense, many indie and foreign-made horror flicks seem to have unlocked what fans are after these days and have been able to deliver great horror films far more consistently. These include some pretty significant shifts from conventional horror.

For one, chief among what most horror fans agree on is that jump scares don’t scare anyone anymore — at least not in any way that could ever garner a horror movie any meaningful acclaim. Secondly, you don’t always need strong supernatural elements or monsters if you’re able to effectively build fear by creating tension, suspense, and psychological scares with a compelling atmosphere. These can often be more scary than demons or ghosts when done right since they sit in your mind and can result in the kind of proper discomfort that horror films should be all about.

We’ve seen some terrific recent examples of low-budget and indie horror films that have been fantastic. In some cases, their ability to scare audiences out of their wits was a result of clever filmmaking that never needed a massive budget or CGI to be effective. Films like The Witch in the Window, Talk to Me, and You’ll Never Find Me have been some notable examples of this new age in horror.

What major horror studios don’t seem to grasp is audiences now have access to a far wider breadth of movies from other countries via streaming services. As a result, expectations are shifting, and most horror fans aren’t impressed by the same tired old tropes inherent in demon, ghost, or slasher films that mostly place jump scares and gore above substance. As another terrific entry to this new horror wave, Oddity again shows how effectively you can scare an audience without fancy tricks or a large budget. Oddity is available to rent on Apple TV, Prime Video, and Google Play, with the film coming to Shudder on Sept. 27.