Horror has seen a renaissance in the last few years, thanks to critically acclaimed films like Get Out, The Bababook, The Witch, Midsommar, and Hereditary. The genre has seen new artistic heights and delightfully trashy lows, and it looks like we're going to have a GREAT year in scary movies. Here's some of the flicks we're going to check out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMikVmOhDN0
The Grudge – January 3
This one is kind of a cheat because it just came out today, but the original films are some of my favorite and I am going to see it later today.
You know the drill. Someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage and their anger manifests as an unstoppable supernatural force.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCFWEzIVILc&t=13s&gclid=CjwKCAiA6bvwBRBbEiwAUER6Jd757zc34xk2-il9HOWowJabk--NOG_GyYebjOjOd1EF6LZR5tZqJxoCfXIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Underwater – January 10
Kristen Stewart stars in this Alien-esque horror flick about a group of scientists who are trapped in an underwater research facility after an earthquake. As they struggle to survive, they realize something very weird is stalking them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl33gU2APIs
The Turning – January 24
Based on the original is-it-real-or-all-in-their-head story The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, this movie updates the tale into a gothic phantasmagoria starring Finn Wolfhard as an odd little creep and Mackenzie Davis as the woman sent to be a live-in tutor (do we still use the word 'governess' these days?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agnpaFLo0to
Color Out of Space – January 24
It's Nicholas Cage doing Lovecraft in a movie that looks a lot like the cult film Mandy. What's not to love?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZblQLhKcZQ
Gretel & Hansel – January 31
Oz Perkins, who did the eerie horror flims The Blackcoat's Daughter and I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House, tells a haunting fairy tale about two lost youths and the witch they meet in the woods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D05YjZmVSI
Come to Daddy – February 7
I'm really excited about this one. Elijah Wood, who has made some incredible horror films lately, stars as a hipster type whose long-lost father requests a reunion with him. It turns out that his dad is into some very dark stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6O30nJ02PU
Fantasy Island – February 14
Remember the '80s version of Fantasy Island with Ricardo Montalban and Hervé Villechaize? Well, there's a new version of it and it's scary!
A group of people are brought to an island paradise where all their wishes come true.
Be careful what you wish for.
Brahms: The Boy II – February 21
Remember The Boy, that odd little horror film about a family hiring a babysitter for a doll but it turned out that there was a guy living in the wall who was the adult version of the doll or something like that?
Well apparently they're doing it again. With Katie Holmes. Neat!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSBsNeYqh-k
The Invisible Man – February 28
I'm really excited about this one. After several unsuccessful attempts to make a Universal monster shared universe, this movie retells the story of the Invisible Man as an abusive stalker, with Elizabeth Moss as the object of his obsession.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEMwSdne6UE
A Quiet Place: Part II – March 20
This sequel to last year's surprise hit A Quiet Place features Emily Blunt reprising her role as a young mother trying to raise a family in a world where the slightest sound attracts horrifying monsters. This time, we learn that the monsters aren't the only thing to fear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXs2-TY9qok
Saint Maud – March 27
Another enticing horror tale from A24 Studios, Saint Maud is about a religious fanatic with a dark past who takes a job working as a home care nurse for a dying woman. As the nurse's faith is tested by her patient's cynical nature, her madness manifests as something more sinister.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aiYxwVuZ1o
Antlers – April 17
Guillermo Del Toro produced this film written by Channel Zero creator Nick Antosca, about a young man who harbors a terrible secret. Dunno much more than that, but Channel Zero was fantastic and I can't wait for this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk9ILYbehuU
Antebellum – April 24
Everyone's celebrity crush Janelle Monáe stars as a modern woman trapped in an Antebellum slavery nightmare. No doubt some jerk with a Confederate battle flag on his/her truck is already mad about this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahZFCF--uRY
Ghostbusters: Afterlife – July 10
I guess they're trying this again?
I didn't love the remake with Kristin Wiig but I felt like I had to defend it from Internet jerks. This one forgets that one exists and goes back to the original film and has a lot of the original creators, so that's also a thing.
Coming Up Later In The Year
There's also a bunch of stuff that hasn't had trailers released yet, so here's the quick rundown.
Candyman – June 12
Jordan Peele produced the remake of this classic horror film.
Morbius – July 31
The next Marvel antihero film produced by Sony stars Jared Leto as a vampire vigilante.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – September 11
Oh lahd they comin'.
Last Night in Soho – September 25
Edgar (Shaun of the Dead) Wright directs a horror film about a fashionista who travels back to 1960s London to meet her idol, only to see that he wasn't who she thought he was.
Halloween Kills – October 16
You can't keep a good slasher down and Jamie Lee Curtis returns to fight once more.
Godzilla vs. Kong – November 20
It doesn't matter who wins the fight, the real victor is construction firm that wins the rebuilding contracts.
