Adam Wingard came up through the scrappy, micro-budget horror scene of the late 2000s before breaking out with two of the best genre movies of the 2010s, You’re Next and The Guest. Then came a decade of big IP (Blair Witch, Netflix’s Death Note and two MonsterVerse movies) that seemed to sand down everything that made him special. With Onslaught, he’s finally back to what he does best. Here are his feature films since You’re Next, ranked from worst to best.
Quick list:
- The Guest (2014)
- You’re Next (2013)
- Onslaught (2026)
- Blair Witch (2016)
- Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
- Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
- Death Note (2017)
7. DEATH NOTE (2017)
A few years ago, I would have considered Adam Wingard one of the fastest-rising horror directors on the globe. Then came the mediocre Blair Witch, and then the notoriously awful Death Note. Attempting to cram a celebrated Japanese manga into a 101-minute supernatural thriller, Wingard’s film is hurried and barebones, spilling over with laugh-out-loud bad dialogue and characters we don’t give a damn about. A severe misfire and a painful watch.Rent or buy on Amazon
6. GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE (2024)
More a proper Kong movie with some Godzilla spice sprinkled on top than the titan buddy movie the marketing promised, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is loud, brash and dumb, with its wee share of monster fun. The color palette, a brightly lit miasma of neons, lands somewhere between Lisa Frank and an EDM rave, which at least gives it a goofy sense of style. But Wingard can’t construct a single set piece that’ll be remembered a week after release.Rent or buy on Amazon · Read the full review
5. GODZILLA VS. KONG (2021)
The first of Wingard’s MonsterVerse entries delivers exactly what the title promises, titans trading blows across a neon-drenched Hong Kong, and not a whole lot more. The humans are mostly set dressing, but the monster mayhem is big, goofy fun, and it’s a better time than the even louder sequel that followed.Rent or buy on Amazon
4. BLAIR WITCH (2016)
When Wingard’s secret sequel was still called The Woods, it was one of my most anticipated movies of the season. As a follow-up to The Blair Witch Project, it expertly ramps up the ominous elements that made the original so nightmare-inducing, but in emphasizing raised stakes over creative daring, it fails to accomplish anything new. As a Wingard horror movie, it’s a disappointingly lateral move to material that ought to be beneath him.Rent or buy on Amazon · Read the full review
3. ONSLAUGHT (2026)
Forget whatever Adam Wingard has been doing for the past decade. This is what he’s good at. Both a throwback to mindless ’80s ass-kickers and a rollicking good time at the theater, Onslaught plays to his greatest strengths: a silly premise, brisk pacing, standout sound design, a killer score and a kickass final girl. If only he’d pushed the blood, carnage and lunacy a little further, it might have been something truly unforgettable.Rent or buy on Amazon · Read the full review
2. YOU’RE NEXT (2013)
You’re Next follows Erin (a joyfully manic Sharni Vinson) on a meet-the-parents trip with her boyfriend that turns into an impromptu family reunion/slaughterfest. Much as The Cabin in the Woods did for cabin slashers, it uses gleeful violence and sardonic storytelling to remind us why horror still matters and what makes it so much fun. Bloody, simple, unadulterated fun at the movies.Rent or buy on Amazon · Read the full review
1. THE GUEST (2014)
Slam Drive and Stoker together, rub them down in a spicy ’80s genre marinade, sprinkle with mesmerizing performances and dollops of camp, and you have The Guest. Like a turducken of genre, it’s a campy horror movie stuffed inside a hoodwinking Cannon action flick and deep-fried in Bourne-style thriller. Dan Stevens is absolutely magnetic as the title character, and the whole thing is 30-caliber entertainment, mainlining laughs, thrills and excitement like a junkie on a bender.Rent or buy on Amazon · Read the full review · Wingard and the cast talk The Guest
FAQ
What is the best Adam Wingard movie?
By my ranking, The Guest (2014) is Adam Wingard’s best film, followed by You’re Next (2013).
What is the worst Adam Wingard movie?
Death Note (2017), his Netflix adaptation of the Japanese manga, sits at the bottom of my ranking.
What is Adam Wingard’s newest movie?
Onslaught (2026), a bloody ’80s-style throwback that marks his return to smaller-scale genre filmmaking.
Where should I start with Adam Wingard?
Start with The Guest, then You’re Next. Together they show off everything he does best.
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By: Matt Oakes
Started blogging about film in college when the university paper wouldn’t have him. Dislikes your consensus film Twitter favorites. Devotee of horror movies that make him die a little inside. Catches films at festivals when he can. Proud SFCS and OFCS member and Tomatometer-approved critic. Editor-in-chief of Silver Screen Riot.
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