2026 Horror Preview: Will It Live Up to 2025?

It’s that time again. With the calendar about to flip over to a fresh, new year, we have compliled a list of some of the most interesting horror movies that are scheduled to be released over the next twelve months. And here it is, the 2026 Horror Preview:

WE BURY THE DEAD – Theatrical, January 2

From Zak Hilditch, writer/director of the Stephen King adaptation 1922, comes “a story about grief, loss, and the undead.” Daisy Ridley of the Star Wars franchise takes on the role of Ava, a desperate woman whose husband is missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a “body retrieval unit,” but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she’s burying start showing signs of life. Ridley is joined in the cast by Brenton Thwaites (Titans) and Mark Coles Smith (Mystery Road: Origin). JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray had the chance to see the movie a while back and wasn’t overly impressed by it (you can read his 6/10 review HERE), writing that “with so much zombie content out there, it’s very difficult to add anything new to the genre. Inevitably, this movie doesn’t manage to overcome the familiarity of the genre, but even still, it is mostly entertaining for much of its running time thanks to the ace technical packaging, and good performances from Ridley and Thwaites. It’s solid but unspectacular. “

PRIMATE – Theatrical, January 9

At the helm of Primate is genre regular Johannes Roberts, who has previously directed Hellbreeder, Darkhunters, Forest of the Damned, F, Roadkill, Storage 24, The Other Side of the Door, 47 Meters Down, The Strangers: Prey at Night, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. He also contributed a segment to the horror anthology V/H/S/99. Roberts has written the Primate screenplay with his frequent collaborator Ernest Riera. In this one, a group of friends’ tropical vacation turns into a terrifying, primal tale of horror and survival. If you’d like more information on what’s going on, you can check out the 8/10 review from JoBlo’s own Mike Holtz at THIS LINK. He described the film as “an unapologetic blood bath of fun” that’s about a rabies-crazed chimp. Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur (CODA) stars alongside Johnny Sequoyah (Dexter: New Blood), Jessica Alexander (Amadeus), Victoria Wyant (My Fault: London), Benjamin Cheng (d’ILLUSION: The Houdini Musical), Gia Hunter (Sherlock and Daughter), Miguel Torres Umba (National Theatre co-production Kin), Kae Alexander (Ready Player One), Tienne Simon (Grime Kids), Charlie Mann (Lazarus), newcomer Amina Abdi, and Albert Magashi (National Theatre Live: Dear England).

28 YEARS LATER PART II: THE BONE TEMPLE – Theatrical, January 16

28 Days Later director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland finally reunited to make a sequel to their zombie (or, if you prefer, infected people) movie classic. 28 Years Later, which was meant to launch a whole trilogy of 28 Days Later sequels, reached theatres at the end of June 2025, and the second chapter in the trilogy, 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple, will help us kick off the new year. Garland also wrote the screenplays for the sequels that will come after 28 Years Later, but Boyle passed the helm over to Candyman and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta for the sequel. (He might circle back for the trilogy capper.) A lot of viewers seemed to find 28 Years Later to be underwhelming, but the first reactions to the sequel have described the new film as brutal, bonkers, and brilliant.

KILLER WHALE – Theatrical, Digital, and VOD, January 16 

Virginia Gardner of Halloween, Fall, and A Breed Apart dives into aquatic horror with Killer Whale, which was directed by Jo-Anne Brechin from a screenplay she crafted with Katharine E. McPhee (no, that Katharine McPhee is not the same person as the singer who was on American Idol.) The synopsis: Hold your breath as you witness revenge rise from the deep. After a life-shattering tragedy, Trish tries to comfort her best friend, Maddie, by taking her on a spectacular adventure in a private lagoon halfway across the world. Their peaceful retreat soon becomes a terrifying fight to stay alive when the ocean’s most bloodthirsty predator seeks vengeance for a brutal life in captivity. Mel Jarnson (Mortal Kombat), Mitchell Hope (Descendants), Ron Smyck (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire), Scott James George (Thor: Love and Thunder), Isaac Crawley (Sacrifice), Aliandra Calabrese (Joe vs. Carole), and Mia Grunwald (Designing Christmas with You) round out the cast.

NIGHT PATROL – Theatrical, January 16

Starring Jermaine Fowler (The Blackening), Justin Long (Tusk), wrestler CM Punk (Girl on the Third Floor), Dermot Mulroney (Young Guns), RJ Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Freddie Gibbs (Down With The King), YG (White Boy Rick), Flying Lotus (Ash), Jon Oswald (Lowlife), and Nicki Micheaux (Lowlife), director Ryan Prows’ Night Patrol follows an LAPD officer (Fowler) who must put aside his differences with the area’s street gangs when he discovers a local police task force is harboring a horrific secret that endangers the residents of the housing projects he grew up in. Long plays the officer’s partner, recruited as a legacy into night patrol. Cyler stars as the officer’s brother, who sees what he isn’t supposed to see, while Mulroney plays Long’s character’s father, a sergeant with many secrets. Punk rounds out the cast as the sergeant’s brutal right-hand man. Prows wrote the script with Shaye Ogbonna, Tim Cairo, and Jake Gibson. This quartet previously collaborated on the screenplay for Prows’ feature directorial debut, the quirky crime thriller Lowlife.

RETURN TO SILENT HILL – Theatrical, January 23

Brotherhood of the Wolf and Silent Hill director Christophe Gans’ new Silent Hill movie Return to Silent Hill, which is said to be “totally independent from the two previous movies” in the film franchise, is based on the video game Silent Hill 2. The story follows James, a man broken after being separated from his one true love. When a mysterious letter calls him back to Silent Hill in search of her, he finds a once-recognizable town transformed by an unknown evil. As James descends deeper into the darkness, he encounters terrifying figures both familiar and new and begins to question his own sanity as he struggles to make sense of reality and hold on long enough to save his lost love. The film stars Jeremy Irvine (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) and Hannah Emily Anderson (Jigsaw).

UNTITLED HOME INVASION ROMANCE – Digital, January 27

Directed by American Pie legend Jason Biggs, who also stars in the film, the comedy thriller Untitled Home Invasion Romance (that does seem to be the final title) will tell us the following story: With his marriage on the rocks, Kevin whisks his wife Suzie away on a romantic getaway with a wildly misguided plan: fake a break-in and play the hero. But when things spiral and someone turns up dead, Kevin finds himself at the center of a murder investigation, with lies piling up faster than the alibis. Biggs’s co-stars include Meaghan Rath (Hawaii Five-0), Anna Konkle (PEN15), Justin H. Min (Beef), and Arturo Castro (Broad City).

SEND HELP – Theatrical, January 30

Rachel McAdams reteams with her Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director Sam Raimi for a “really outrageous” survival horror thriller from the writers of Freddy vs. Jason and Friday the 13th 2009, Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. (With some revisions by A Quiet Place writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.) Deadline mentioned, “the film is described as a two-hander horror thriller set on an island, falling somewhere between Rob Reiner’s Stephen King adaptation Misery and Robert Zemeckis’ classic Castaway.” They reported that the film is a survival horror thriller about two colleagues who become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it’s a battle of wills and wits to make it out alive. McAdams is joined in the cast by Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner), Chris Pang (Interior Chinatown), and Dennis Haysbert (24).

WORLDBREAKER – Theatrical, January 30

 Brad Anderson, whose credits include Session 9 and The Call, directed the sci-fi action creature feature Worldbreaker, which is described as being “a pulse-pounding sci-fi action thriller about survival, sacrifice, and a young woman’s fight to step out of the shadows and into the war she was born to face.” Here’s the synopsis: After the Breakers rose—monsters that infect and twist their victims—men fell first, leaving women to lead the fight. Willa’s mother is one of the war’s fiercest warriors; her father, a battle-scarred veteran, hides with Willa on a remote island, training her to survive. Their fragile peace is shattered when a mysterious girl drifts ashore. Willa, longing for connection, shelters her in secret—until the truth emerges and danger follows. With Breakers closing in, Willa must rely on her father’s training and her own courage to survive. The stars Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil), Luke Evans (Beauty and the Beast), Billie Boullet (The Worst Witch), and Mila Harris (Coyotes).

IRON LUNG – Theatrical, January 30

Content creator and entrepreneur Markiplier has written, directed, and self-financed a horror film based on the video game Iron Lung, created by David Szymanski, and he also stars in the movie. Here’s the synopsis, straight from Markiplier: The stars are gone. The planets have disappeared. Only individuals aboard space stations or starships were left to give the end a name — The Quiet Rapture. After decades of decay and crumbling infrastructure, the Consolidation of Iron has made a discovery on a barren moon designated AT-5. An ocean of blood.
Hoping to discover desperately needed resources they immediately launch an expedition. A submarine is crafted and a convict is welded inside. Due to the pressure and depth of the ocean the forward viewport has been encased in metal. If successful, they will earn their freedom. If not, another will follow. This will be the 13th expedition. Markiplier is also self-distributing the film, aiming to get it into 50 to 100 independent theaters on its opening weekend.

GRIZZLY NIGHT – Digital and VOD, January 30

Directed by Burke Doeren, Grizzly Night is a fact-based “nature run amok” movie with the following synopsis: Based on true events, this terrifying survival thriller follows a rookie park ranger thrust into the fight of her life when Glacier National Park becomes the scene of deadly grizzly attacks. As panic spreads and communication breaks down, she must lead a group of frightened strangers through the darkness, confronting both the untamed wilderness and her own fears. What begins as a quiet summer evening turns into a night of chaos that changes the nation’s understanding of wildlife forever. Charles Esten (Outer Banks), Brec Bassinger (Stargirl), Oded Fehr (The Mummy), Jack Griffo (The Thundermans), Josh Zuckerman (Oppenheimer), Joel Johnstone (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), and Matt Lintz (Ms. Marvel) star.

TWISTED – Digital, February

Originally announced under the title The Monster, this horror thriller from director Darren Lynn Bousman (who’s best known for directing Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, and Spiral: From the Book of Saw) tells the story of two millennials who make quick money by leasing incredible New York City apartments they don’t own to people who don’t know they are being scammed. The con works brilliantly until they run into an apartment owner with a dark secret who flips the game on them. Djimon Hounsou of A Quiet Place Part II and A Quiet Place: Day One stars alongside Lauren LaVera, who played heroine Sienna in Terrifier 2 and Terrifier 3, Alicia Witt (Longlegs), Gina Philips (Jeepers Creepers), Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers), Mia Healey (The Wilds), Michael Lombardi (The Deuce), David Call (Insidious: The Red Door), Victor Del Rio (Precognito), Cedric Benjamin (Luke Cage), Zac Jaffee (Hustlers), Renés Rivera (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Hari Bhaskar (First Shift), Kristina Krasniqi (Celebrity Ghost Stories), and rapper Jacob Lukas Anderson, a.k.a. Prof.

DRACULA: A LOVE TALE – Theatrical, February 6

Director Luc Besson’s “big-budget reimagining” of the Dracula concept was given a theatrical release in the summer of 2025, but won’t be reaching North American theatres until February. The story follows Dracula as he connects with a woman in Belle Epoque Paris, who resembles his beloved wife Elisabeta, who died in mid-15th century Transylvania. Per legend, it was Elisabeta’s suicide that led Romanian ruler Prince Vlad III (the real-life inspiration for Dracula) to forsake God and embrace life as a vampire. The action moves between time and the settings of Dracula’s castle in Romania’s Transylvanian Mountains and Belle Epoque Paris, which substitutes Stoker’s original UK settings of Whitby and London. The Paris-set scenes in the second part of the film unfold in the lead up to July 14, 1989, as the city gears up to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution. The title character is played by Caleb Landry Jones, who just worked with Besson on his previous film, Dogman.

A JoBlo EXCLUSIVE: Madelaine Petsch as Maya in The Strangers – Chapter 3. Photo Credit: Jordy Clarke/Lionsgate

THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3 – Theatrical, February 6

Director Renny Harlin shot an entire trilogy of Strangers movies at the same time, and while there was a point when it looked like Lionsgate might be releasing all three of the movies within 2024, that idea was clearly pushed aside. The Strangers: Chapter 1 (read our review HERE) reached theatres back in May of 2024, and The Strangers: Chapter 2 (read that review HERE) didn’t come along until September of 2025. Thankfully, the wait for The Strangers: Chapter 3 won’t be as long. Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) stars in this trilogy and is joined in the cast by the likes of Richard Brake (31), Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer), Rachel Shenton (All Creatures Great and Small), Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy), and Ema Horvath (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power). The Strangers: Chapter 1 centered on Petsch’s character as she drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers. Lionsgate plans from there to expand the story in new and unexpected ways with its sequels. Here’s the synopsis for Chapter 3: This final chapter delves into newer and darker territory, the franchise’s darkest descent yet — a ruthless thriller with scares that deliver. The Strangers: Chapter 3 closes the trilogy with a full-circle reckoning that expands the mythology of the iconic masked killers. Madelaine Petsch returns as Maya for the Final Girl’s long-awaited vengeance, delivering a final chapter that fans won’t want to miss. Tethered by a frightening conclusion, Maya and the Strangers are locked on an unavoidable, unforgiving collision course — a showdown that proves they’re far from strangers now.

WHISTLE – Theatrical, February 6

Dafne Keen of Logan and His Dark Materials and Sophie Nélisse of Yellowjackets and The Book Thief star in Whistle, the latest horror film from The Hallow and The Nun director Corin Hardy. Scripted by Owen Egerton from his own short story, Whistle has the following synopsis: A misfit group of unwitting high school students stumble upon a cursed object, an ancient Aztec Death Whistle. They discover that blowing the whistle and the terrifying sound it emits will summon their future deaths to hunt them down. As the body count rises, the friends investigate the origins of the deadly artifact in a desperate effort to stop the horrifying chain of events that they have set in motion. Keen and Nélisse are joined in the cast by Sky Yang (Rebel Moon), Percy Hynes White (Wednesday), and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead). 

PSYCHO KILLER – Theatrical, February 20

Psycho Killer is based on a screenplay written by Se7en scribe Andrew Kevin Walker. Gavin Polone, producer of Zombieland and the Walker-scripted 8MM, is at the helm of the film, with Georgina Campbell (Barbarian) and Logan Miller (Escape Room) in lead roles and 6’5″+ former professional wrestler James Preston Rogers in the title role. Campbell is taking on the role of Jane Thorne, a police officer who makes it her mission to take down a serial killer referred to on the news as the ‘Satanic Slasher,’ following the murder of her state trooper husband. We had previously heard that Miller’s character is Marvin, a goth-type nebbish who works for the mysterious Pendleton in his massive mansion. Pendleton is so mysterious, Deadline didn’t even explain who they were referencing when they dropped that description. Months later, in their release date report, they credited Miller with playing the ill-fated state trooper husband… so this movie is so shrouded in mystery, even Deadline is confused.

THIS IS NOT A TEST – Theatrical, February 20

Director Adam MacDonald (Backcountry, Pyewacket, Out Come the Wolves) teams with Totally Killer and Heart Eyes star Olivia Holt for an apocalyptic horror thriller that’s based on a YA novel by bestselling author Courtney Summers and described as “The Breakfast Club meets 28 Weeks Later.” The film follows Sloane and a small group of her classmates who take cover in their high school to escape their suddenly apocalyptic hometown. As danger relentlessly pounds on the doors, Sloane begins to see the world through the eyes of people who actually want to live and takes matters into her own hands. Holt is joined in the cast by Froy Gutierrez (The Strangers: Chapter 1), Luke MacFarlane (Bros), Corteon Moore (Overcompensating), Chloe Avakian (John Wayne Gacy), and Carson MacCormac (Clown in a Cornfield).

SCREAM 7 – Theatrical, February 27

After a behind-the-scenes shake-up that saw the exit of Scream (2022) and Scream VI stars Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega from the franchise (along with the director who was originally signed to direct Scream 7, Christopher Landon), this slasher sequel has been reworked to focus on original heroine Sidney Prescott, played by Neve Campbell. Original Scream writer Kevin Williamson directed the film, working from a screenplay by returning writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May (1883), Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Afterlife), Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann (Gen V), Sam Rechner (The Fabelmans), Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect), Mark Consuelos (Riverdale), fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, Joel McHale (Community), and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Although two of the “core four” characters established in the previous two movies are no longer around, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back… and so are Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively, and did not appear to make it out of those movies alive. David Arquette is also back as the dearly departed Dewey, who exited the world of the living in the fifth movie. It hasn’t been revealed how these dead characters are making a comeback.

THE BRIDE! – Theatrical, March 6

Writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal‘s The Bride! is a new take on the concept of the 1935 classic The Bride of Frankenstein. Starring Peter Sarsgaard (Garden State), Penelope Cruz (Vanilla Sky), Annette Bening (American Beauty), Julianne Hough (Rock of Ages), John Magaro (September 5), Jeannie Berlin (The Heartbreak Kid), and Gyllenhaal’s brother Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), with Jessie Buckley (Men) as The Bride and Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) as Frankenstein’s Monster, The Bride! has the following synopsis: A lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to seek the aide of a Dr. Euphronius in creating a companion for himself. The two reinvigorate a murdered young woman and the Bride is born. She is beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police and a wild and radical social movement. Bening plays Dr. Euphronius. Sarsgaard has denied the rumors that the movie is a musical, but also admitted that there are some dance routines.

TOUCH ME – Theatrical, March 20

Written and directed by Addison Heimann, Touch Me is described as being “a wacky, wild, sensual homage to Japanese exploitation films.” Starring Olivia Taylor Dudley (The Magicians), Lou Taylor Pucci (Evil Dead), Jordan Gavaris (Orphan Black), Marlene Forte (A Haunted House), and Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds), it tells the story of two cringe millennials, Joey and Craig, who do everything in their power to do absolutely nothing. Of course they have capital T childhood trauma, but so does everyone, so like, judge them however you like. Seriously, JUDGE THEM. One regular day, Joey’s super hot alien ex, Brian, comes back into town begging for her to forgive him and come back to his desert mansion for the weekend. With nothing better to do (and also a pretty unfortunate sewer explosion in Craig’s house), the two trepidatiously accept. Also the fact that Brian’s slimy sexual tentacle appendage removes anxiety and depression maybe helps solidify their decision. But at the house, under Brian’s veneer of healing is a sinister plot filled with murder, mayhem, and blood. Then again, maybe they can all get along in the most glorious throuple you’ve ever seen. A press release lets us know that this is “a psychosexual horror-comedy with 100% old-school practical effects, about the nature of co-dependent friendships and how far we are willing to go for a slice of happiness.”

READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME – Theatrical, March 27

Six years ago, genre regular Samara Weaving starred in a very cool horror comedy called Ready or Not, which was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who went on to make the two most recent Scream sequels and the “Dracula’s daughter” movie Abigail. Now, the team has come back together for Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, where Weaving is joined in the cast by Kathryn Newton (who worked with the directors on Abigail), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings), Shawn Hatosy (The Faculty), Néstor Carbonell (Lost), Kevin Durand (also from Abigail), Kara Wooten (Revival), Juan Pablo Romero (Please, After You), Varun Saranga (Wynonna Earp), Masa Lizdek (Simulant), Nadeem Umar-Khitab (Wedding Season), Daniel Beirne (Ginny & Georgia), Antony Hall (Run the Burbs), Olivia Cheng (Warrior), and legendary filmmaker David Cronenberg. Moments after surviving an all-out attack from the Le Domas family, Grace (Samara Weaving) discovers she’s reached the next level of the nightmarish game — and this time with her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) at her side. Grace has one chance to survive, keep her sister alive, and claim the High Seat of the Council that controls the world. Four rival families are hunting her for the throne, and whoever wins rules it all.

THE YETI – Theatrical and Digital, April 10

From the writing and directing duo of Gene Gallerano and William Pisciotta comes The Yeti, which tells the following story: Merriell Sunday Sr. and Hollis Bannister vanished in Alaska. Ellie and Merriell Jr. mount a search, but an ancient threat stalks their expedition into the wilderness, hunting them as they seek the truth behind the disappearances. Brittany Allen (Dexter: Original Sin), Eric Nelsen (1883), Jim Cummings (The Last Stop in Yuma County), Christina Bennett Lind (The Lonely Man with the Ghost Machine), and Linc Hand (42) star with William Sadler (Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight) and Corbin Bernsen (Major League).

THE MUMMY – Theatrical, April 17

Don’t let the title fool you: this movie is coming our way from New Line Cinema, so it’s a “new take on the horror trope revolving around the ancient mummified undead” that has nothing to do with the classic Universal horror property (in fact – don’t be surprised if it gets renamed). Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin teamed with Atomic Monster and Blumhouse Productions for this one, which Cronin said “will be unlike any Mummy movie you ever laid eyeballs on before. I’m digging deep into the earth to raise something very ancient and very frightening.” Jack Reynor (Midsommar), Laia Costa (Victoria), May Calamawy (Moon Knight), Veronica Falcón (Queen of the South), Hayat Kamille (Vikings: Valhalla), and May Elghety (Clash) star. Details on their characters have not been revealed. We do know that Reynor will not be playing the mummy in this film.

HOKUM – Theatrical, May 1

Adam Scott (Severance) stars in writer/director Damian McCarthy’s Irish supernatural horror film Hokum, which tells the story of a horror novelist who visits a remote Irish inn to spread his parents’ ashes, unaware the place is rumored to be haunted by a witch. Here’s the synopsis: When reclusive novelist Ohm Bauman (Scott) retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, the staff’s tales of an ancient witch haunting the honeymoon suite take hold of his mind. Soon, disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance draw him into a nightmarish confrontation with the darkest corners of his past. Scott is joined in the cast by Peter Coonan (Bad Sisters) and David Wilmot (Bodkin).

DEEP WATER – Theatrical, May 1

Gene Simmons of the rock band Kiss has launched a new production company with Gary Hamilton (so the company is appropriately called Simmons/Hamilton Productions), and the first project they gave the greenlight to was a shark thriller called Deep Water – with Deep Blue Sea director Renny Harlin at the helm! Scripted by Pete Bridges and John Kim, Deep Water centers on an eclectic group of international passengers whose plane, en route from Los Angeles to Shanghai, is forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. The terrified group is forced to work together and overcome their differences if they hope to escape their sinking plane and the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage. The film stars Aaron Eckhart of Harlin’s The Bricklayer, Sir Ben Kingsley (Gandhi), Molly Wright (Netflix’s True Spirit), Angus Sampson (Mad Max: Fury Road), Kelly Gale (Plane), singer and actor Li Wenhan, who is a member of the Chinese-Korean K-Pop group UNIQ, and Nashi (Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms).

OBSESSION – Theatrical, May 15

In 2024, Curry Barker wrote, directed, and starred in the found footage horror movie Milk & Serial, which is said to have had a budget of $800. Baker then released the movie through YouTube, where the free-to-watch video has racked up more than 2 million views. Even though he already sent Milk & Serial out into the world, it’s his new horror movie, Obsession, that’s being billed as his feature directorial debut. Starring Michael Johnston (Teen Wolf) and Inde Navarrette (Superman & Lois), Obsession is a story about a hopeless romantic who makes a wish that his long-time crush falls in love with him. A sinister enchantment ensues. Here’s the official synopsis: After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price. Cooper Tomlinson (Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (Killer Rental), and Andy Richter (Conan) are also in the cast.

SCARY MOVIE 6 – Theatrical, June 12

After a thirteen year break, the Scary Movie horror parody franchise is back – and it’s being revived with the help of the people who got it started in the first place: the Wayans Brothers! The Wayans Brothers have written the screenplay with Rick Alvarez, with director Michael Tiddes bringing the wackiness to the screen. Franchise stars Anna Faris and Regina Hall returning after sitting out Scary Movie 5 and are joined in the cast by Damon Wayans Jr. (Let’s Be Cops), Kim Wayans (Dance Flick), Heidi Gardner (Hustle), Cheri Oteri (Liar Liar), Chris Elliott (Cabin Boy), Lochlyn Monroe (Freddy vs. Jason), Dave Sheridan (The Devil’s Rejects), Jon Abrahams (House of Wax), Olivia Rose Keegan (Minx), Savannah Lee Nassif (Dance Rivals), Cameron Scott Roberts (Departing Seniors), Sydney Park (There’s Someone Inside Your House), Gregg Wayans (Fifty Shades of Black), Ruby Snowber (Yellowstone), newcomer Benny Zielke, Shawn Wayans (White Chicks), and Marlon Wayans (Him). It has been hinted that I Know What You Did Last Summer, the Scream franchise, Heretic, Longlegs, Get Out, Nope, and Sinners may be among the movies that get spoofed this time around.

EVIL DEAD BURN – Theatrical, July 24

In the build-up to the release of Evil Dead Rise in 2023, Evil Dead franchise rights holders Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Rob Tapert let it be known that they were already looking forward to producing more entries in the series, with Campbell revealing they were hoping to make a new sequel / spin-off every two or three years. They have proved their commitment to this idea by hiring Sébastien Vaniček, who made his feature directorial debut on the French horror film Vermin, a.k.a. Infested, to write and direct a new installment in the franchise. They gave the director complete creative control on the movie, which he says has “a French twist.” Francis Galluppi, who just made his feature directorial debut with the crime thriller The Last Stop in Yuma County, has already been hired to make the next Evil Dead movie after this one.

FLOWERVALE STREET – Theatrical, August 14

Pretty much everything about Flowervale Street is being kept under wraps. Last year, film journalist Jeff Sneider reported the rumor that Flowervale Street happens to be “a dinosaur movie set in the ’80s,” and The Hollywood Reporter’s sources have said it’s “a family adventure set in the 1980s that involves dinosaurs.” We know for sure that it has been directed by It Follows‘ David Robert Mitchell for Warner Bros. Pictures, Jackson Pictures, and J.J. Abrams’ company Bad Robot. The cast includes Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada), Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Maisy Stella (Nashville), and Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth). The movie was previously scheduled to reach theatres on May 16, 2025, then March 13, 2026. We’ll see if it sticks with August 14.

CLAYFACE – Theatrical, September 11

Back in 2021, filmmaker Mike Flanagan let it be known on social media that he was interested in making a “standalone horror/thriller/tragedy” movie that would center on the DC Comics Clayface character. When James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios and launched the DC Universe, he got his chance. Flanagan wrote the screenplay for Clayface, which has been brought to the screen by Speak No Evil director James Watkins. Deadline reminds us, “Clayface is shape-shifting villain in the Batman comics and got his introduction as part of Detective Comics #40. The original Clayface was a moderately successful actor who adopted the identity of a character he’d portrayed in a horror pic after turning to crime. Clayface has a body seemingly made out of clay and has appeared over the years in various films, series, animated works, video games and other forms of media.”Tom Rhys Harries (Kandahar) plays the title character and is joined in the cast by Naomi Ackie (I Want to Dance With Somebody)  and Max Minghella (Spiral: From the Book of Saw).

RESIDENT EVIL – Theatrical, September 18

Zach Cregger, writer/director of Barbarian and the recently released film Weapons, is directing the new Resident Evil movie for Sony and also wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead) and the story apparently harkens back to the original Capcom game’s horror roots. Here’s the supposed logline: Bryan, a laid-back organ courier, is sent on a late-night delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital. En route through a snowy mountain road, he accidentally hits a strange woman with his car. She survives—but something is very wrong. As he tries to help, Bryan stumbles into a full-blown outbreak involving horrifying tentacle-based mutations and bio-engineered monstrosities. Weapons cast member Austin Abrams has the lead role and is joined in the cast by Paul Walter Hauser (Cobra Kai), Zach Cherry (Severance), Kali Reis (True Detective: Night Country), and Johnno Wilson (I Love That for You). Cherry is said to be playing a scientist at a hospital and Reis plays an ex-military character that was initially written for a male actor. Cregger took the approach of telling an original story with original characters that’s set within the world of the Resident Evil video game franchise because he feels that the stories of the video game characters are already being perfectly told in the games.

OTHER MOMMY – Theatrical, October 9

Rob Savage moves on from a Stephen King adaptation to a Josh Malerman adaptation, as The Boogeyman director is at the helm of this film adaptation of Bird Box author Malerman’s novel Incidents Around the House, which is coming our way from Blumhouse and Atomic Monster. Jessica Chastain (It Chapter Two), Jay Duplass (Transparent), Dichen Lachman (Severance), Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark), and Arabella Olivia Clark (Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere) star in Other Mommy, which centers on 8-year-old Bela (Clark), who lives in a home strained by her parents’ troubled marriage, only to see her life further upended by a sinister entity she calls “Other Mommy.” When this malevolent presence emerges from her closet, persistently asking “Can I go inside your heart?”, Bela refuses. But soon, Other Mommy’s manifestations become increasingly aggressive, threatening the safety of Bela’s family.

REMAIN – Theatrical, October 23

The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan and The Notebook author Nicholas Sparks have teamed up for the supernatural romantic thriller Remain. They created the original story together, with Shyamalan going off to write a screenplay based on the story while Sparks turned the idea into a novel. As was said at the time, “Both will be based on the same concept and set of characters but designed for their individual mediums.” The Sparks novel is already on store shelves and is available for purchase at THIS LINK, sporting the following description: A one-of-a-kind novel that grapples with the supernatural mysteries of life, death, and human connection—an unprecedented collaboration between the globally bestselling author of love stories like The Notebook and the renowned writer and director of blockbuster thrillers like The Sixth Sense. When New York architect Tate Donovan arrives in Cape Cod to design his best friend’s summer home, he is hoping to make a fresh start. Recently discharged from an upscale psychiatric facility where he was treated for acute depression, he is still wrestling with the pain of losing his beloved sister. Sylvia’s deathbed revelation—that she can see spirits who are still tethered to the living world, a gift that runs in their family—sits uneasily with Tate, who struggles to believe in more than what reason can explain. But when he takes up residence at a historic bed-and-breakfast on the Cape, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Wren who will challenge every assumption he has about his logical and controlled world. Tate and Wren find themselves forging an immediate connection, one that neither has ever experienced before. But Tate gradually discovers that below the surface of Wren’s idyllic small-town life, hatred, jealousy, and greed are festering, threatening their fragile relationship just as it begins to blossom. Tate realizes that in order to free Wren from an increasingly desperate fate, he will need to unearth the truth about her past before time runs out . . . a quest that will make him doubt whether we can ever believe the stories we tell about ourselves, and the laws that govern our existence. Love—while transformative—can sometimes be frightening. A story about the power of transcendent emotion, Remain asks us all: Can love set us free not only from our greatest sorrows, but even from the boundaries of life and death? Shyamalan’s film stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton), Julie Hagerty (Airplane), Jay O. Sanders (When You Finishing Saving the World) Tracy Ifeachor (The Pitt), Hannah James (Mercy Street), Caleb Ruminer (The Irrational), Kieran Mulcare (Jessica Jones), Maria Dizzia (My Old Ass), and Ashley Walters (Adolescence).

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD – Theatrical, November

Forty years ago, writer/director Dan O’Bannon delivered one of the most highly entertaining zombie movies of all time with The Return of the Living Dead – and now, we’re getting a reboot from Muck and Kill Her Goats director Steve Wolsh. Information found on the Living Dead Media website reveals: Our reboot of Return of the Living Dead will expand the existing world created by the original 5 films, while staying true to the R-rated, sci-fi, horror, dark comedy roots adored by fans of the cult classic around the world for the last 35 years. ​We are excited to resurrect this storied franchise for current fans and new generations of zombie fans. Here’s the set up: Taking place 18 months after the events at the UNEEDA Warehouse in Louisville, KY, a new Trioxin 2-4-5 leak puts a small Pennsylvania town on the brink of a zombie outbreak during Christmas, 1985. If surviving a zombie outbreak isn’t hard enough, the characters and the Army will have to also contend with blizzard conditions. This Christmas, it’s Tarman who will be coming to town. Devon Sawa (Final Destination) plays a character named Isaac Horton in the film, with Casimere “Cash” Jollette (Tiny Pretty Things) as Delilah Horton and Kynlee Heiman (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever) as Sophia Horton. Alexander Ward, who has played “demons, monsters and villains” in the likes of Teen Wolf, Ghosted, Annabelle Comes Home, Westworld and American Horror Story, is this project’s version of Tarman.

EBENEZER: A CHRISTMAS CAROL – Theatrical, November 13

Sure, this movie is likely to be a heartwarming viewing experience fit for the whole family, but the Charles Dickens source material will also give director Ti West, whose filmography has primarily consisted of horror movies up to this point, the opportunity to tell “a thrilling ghost story.” Deadline reminds us, the classic Charles Dickens story has seen its fair share of retellings over the years with its tale of an elderly miser visited by the ghost of his former business partner and the spirits of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. For his first major studio movie, West will be telling a thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’ London, following one man’s supernatural journey to face his past, present and future and fight for a second chance. Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands) plays Ebenezer Scrooge and is joined in the cast by Andrea Riseborough (Mandy), Ian McKellen of the X-Men and Lord of the Rings franchises, Tramell Tillman (Severance), Daisy Ridley (the Star Wars franchise), Rupert Grint (the Harry Potter franchise), Sam Claflin (Daisy Jones & The Six), Charlie Murphy (Halo), Arthur Conti (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), and Ellie Bamber (Willow).

WERWULF – Theatrical, December 25

The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman, and Nosferatu writer/director Robert Eggers has dealt with some dark subject matter over the course of his career – but the darkest story is yet to come. Eggers has written the screenplay for Werwulf with Sjón, his co-writer on the Viking saga The Northman. Details are being kept under wraps, but The Hollywood Reporter’s sources told them “the story is set in 13th century England. The script also features dialogue that was true to the time period and has translations and annotations for those uninitiated to Old English. Initially, Eggers was planning on shooting the feature in black and white, but that is no longer the case. Suffice to say that considering the setting and the dialect, Eggers is promising another deep dive into a muddy, costumed, and violent time period consistent with his oeuvre which has earned him a loyal film following.“ Screen Daily adds that the story centers on a mysterious creature who stalks a foggy countryside as local folklore becomes a terrifying reality for the villagers. During a recent Q&A event, Eggers told the audience that his “medieval werewolf movie” is, “the darkest thing I’ve ever written, by far.” The film is also a Nosferatu reunion for Eggers and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, and Willem Dafoe.

THE BACKROOMS – Release TBD

Some of today’s biggest genre companies – A24, James Wan‘s Atomic Monster, the Stranger Things makers at 21 Laps, and Planet of the Apes producers Chernin Entertainment – are joining forces for The Backrooms, which marks the feature directorial debut of teenage director and VFX artist Kane Parsons. The film is based on a series of viral videos Parsons released through his YouTube channel Kane Pixels. If you were to splice those videos together they would reach feature length, but the feature version of The Backrooms is going to be something entirely new. The screenplay for the feature has been written by Roberto Patino (DMZ). Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) star alongside Mark Duplass (Creep), Finn Bennett (True Detective), Lukita Maxwell (Shrinking), and Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap) 

FORBIDDEN FRUITS – Release TBD

Oscar-winning Juno writer Diablo Cody, who has also written the genre films Jennifer’s Body and Lisa Frankenstein, is producing Forbidden Fruits, which marks the feature directorial debut of Meredith Alloway and is an adaptation of the Lily Houghton stage play Of the Women Came the Beginning of Sin, and Through Her We All Die. Lili Reinhart (Hustlers), Lola Tung (The Summer I Turned Pretty), Victoria Pedretti (You), Alexandra Shipp (Barbie) and newcomer Emma Chamberlain star in the film, which has the following synopsis: Free Eden employee Apple secretly runs a witchy femme cult in the basement of the mall store after hours – with fellow fruits Cherry and Fig. But when new hire Pumpkin challenges their performative sisterhood, the women are forced to face their own poisons or succumb to a bloody fate.

ICE CREAM MAN – Release TDB

Director Eli Roth had been planning to make a sequel to his slasher movie Thanksgiving in 2025, but when he wasn’t able to get that one into production, he just pivoted over to another horror movie,Ice Cream Man. The film follows an idyllic summer town descending into madness when an ice cream man serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results. Plot details are being kept under wraps. Roth directed the film from a screenplay he wrote with Noah Belson, based on “an original idea he has had for over twenty years, but studios were too nervous to finance.” Roth’s company The Horror Section fully financed the film with Media Capital Technologies.

SOULM8TE – Release TBD

Universal had been given this film, a Blumhouse/Atomic Monster production that’s set in the universe of the M3GAN films, a theatrical release on January 2 – but a month before that date, they dropped it from their release schedule and the producers started shopping it around to other distributors. It’s not clear why Universal lost faith in SOULM8TE, although the box office disappointment of M3GAN 2.0 might be to blame. Described as “Fatal Attraction with robots,” the movie will show us what happens when a man acquires an Artificially Intelligent android to cope with the loss of his recently deceased wife. In an attempt to create a truly sentient partner, he inadvertently turns a harmless lovebot into a deadly soulmate. This “1990s erotic thriller with a new technological twist” stars Evil Dead Rise actress Lily Sullivan, Claudia Doumit (The Boys), and David Rysdahl (Booger.) Rysdahl is playing the man, while Sullivan plays the android. Details on the role Doumit will be playing have not been revealed. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray saw an early preview of the film at CinemaCon last April and reported, “Seems similar to Companion. Centers on a sexbot that becomes so obsessed with her “owner” that she kills anyone close to him and goes on a murder spree. Looks more violent (and kinkier) than M3GAN but has the same humor. When a woman she’s about to kill says ‘Women aren’t supposed to be pitted against each other,’ she answers, ‘Don’t start that girl power shit with me.’“

TRASH’S REVENGE – Release TBD

Trash was the character played by scream queen Linnea Quigley in The Return of the Living Dead – and yes, Quigley is also back for Trash’s Revenge. Her Return co-stars Beverly Randolph, Thom Mathews, Miguel A. Núñez Jr., John Philbin, and Drew Deighan are also in the cast. Plus, the late James Karen and Don Calfa are going to be resurrected through the use of CGI! Eric Roberts and Michelle Bauer are in the cast as well, along with Andrew Pierson, playing a Elon Musk type character named Nathan Virel; news anchorman Danny Langston; and zombies Kevin Plantz, Dave Knee, and Sean Wolfe. Quigley is producing Trash’s Revenge, with Randolph serving as an associate producer and Night of the Living Dead co-creator John A. Russo co-producing. Richard Driscoll is the writer/director. Here’s what it’s all about: As the saga continues decades after the horrific events of the 1985 cult classic, Trash the notorious punk rocker, played by Linnea Quigley, finds herself trapped in a past where fame has faded. Once a rebellious icon, Trash now embraces the persona of a grotesque Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard, attending conventions to sign autographs while her co-stars rise to greater heights. For Linnea, her legacy as a star of Return of the Living Dead becomes both a curse and a twisted ticket to notoriety in an industry obsessed with horror and scandal. But when a young filmmaker approaches her to make a documentary with staged re-enactments from the original film to celebrate the film’s 40th Anniversary, Linnea sees an opportunity to reclaim her place in the spotlight no matter the cost. As the documentary delves into her past, a shocking truth emerges: Return of the Living Dead wasn’t just fiction, part of it was real. Linnea confesses that she still possesses three original cannisters from the film, hidden away in her basement. Cannisters that were never revealed to the public… until now. Here’s a shorter description: A punk rocker rises from the dead, hungry for fame and flesh. She heads to Hollywood, manipulating a filmmaker to document her gruesome “comeback.” Her notoriety and body count grows, leading to a bloody showdown that will decide her fate.

THE YOUNG PEOPLE – Release TBD

Lola Tung (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Nico Parker (How to Train Your Dragon) star in The Young People, the latest horror film from Longlegs and Keeper director Osgood Perkins. Also in the cast are Tatiana Maslany (The Monkey), Heather Graham (Suitable Flesh), Johnny Knoxville (Jackass), Lexi Minetree (The Paramedic Who Stalked Me), Lily Collias (Good One), Brendan Hines (Lie to Me), Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife), and Best Actress Oscar winner (for The Hours) Nicole Kidman. Details on the role Kidman will be playing have not been revealed. In fact, we don’t know who anyone’s playing. This project is being kept tightly under wraps. Perkins is directing The Young People from his own script. When filming began, an image of the script was shared online, and a glimpse of the top line of page 76 indicates that Perkins is entering Lovecraftian territory with this film, because there’s a reference to “The Old Ones.”

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