No matter what you look for in a scary film – whatever gets your blood pumping and the hairs standing up on the back of your neck – there’s an upcoming horror movie headed for your eyes in the darkness of the cinema.
Blockbuster horror fare from legendary filmmakers like Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and fresh tales from newer big names in the genre like Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, Alexander Aja’s Never Let Go, and Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu are lining up to freak you out. And prolific genre studios always seem ready with some scares up their sleeves, including new releases like A24’s The Front Room and Heretic, and Blumhouse’s AfrAId and Speak No Evil.
Sequels and new additions to familiar franchises like Smile 2 and Terrifier 3 join revisits to older favourites, whether that’s a fresh telling of Stephen King’s vampire classic Salem’s Lot or the prequel to Rosemary’s Baby: Apartment 7A. Nightbitch (starring Amy Adams) and Your Monster (starring horror girlie Melissa Barerra) will bring more dark horror comedy to our screens. And more brand new stories are on their way to provoke nightmares to keep you up at night, with Starve Acre, Bagman, Oddity and Azrael.
So whether you want supernatural spooks, comedic creeps, brilliant body horror, post-apocalyptic peril, murderous machines, psychotic serial killers, fear-filled folk horror, vampires, cults, ghosts or creature features, below are our picks of the most exciting upcoming horror movies.
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Starve Acre
Release date: September 6, 2024
Based on Andrew Michael Hurley’s award-winning novel of the same name, and following its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival in 2023, Starve Acre will have its anticipated cinema release this September. The film is an unsettling British folk horror written and directed by BAFTA nominee Daniel Kokotajlo (Apostasy) and starring Matt Smith (Last Night in Soho, His House) and Morfydd Clark (Saint Maud). In 1970s rural Yorkshire, a couple’s seemingly idyllic life is thrown into turmoil when their young son starts acting out of character and a sudden, tragic event drives a wedge between them. While Juliette (Clark) turns to the local community to find some kind of peace, Richard (Smith) obsessively buries himself in exploring a folkloric myth about an ancient oak tree that once stood on their land, and they soon discover dark and sinister forces in their remote home of Starve Acre that may offer a disturbing possibility of reconnection. Kokotajlo has said that his film “taps into a timeless fear that feels more relevant than ever: the idea that returning home, to nature, and regressing into childhood, is a big mistake.” That sounds like classic folk horror goodness to us!
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Release date: September 6, 2024
Get ready to don your finest black and white stripes and practice your best Harry Belafonte, as Tim Burton is set to bring one of his most iconic characters back to the big screen, with a sequel to his 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice. The stacked cast includes Michael Keaton who is returning to the title role as the grotesque and hilarious ‘bio-exorcist’, with Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara also reprising their parts from the original film, plus Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci, and Justin Theroux. Not a whole lot is known yet about the specific story of the follow-up but audiences should expect distinctive Burton aesthetics, camp and kooky antics from offbeat characters, and hopefully at least one bizarre toe-tapping musical number. This should be a fun and creepy legacy sequel to help get us in the mood in the run-up to the spooky season.
The Front Room
Release date: September 6, 2024
Fans of modern hit horror films like Hereditary (2018), Get Out (2017) and Mother! (2017) are sure to get a kick out of the latest genre offering from studio A24, directed by Max and Sam Eggers - the younger brothers of modern master Robert Eggers (Max also co-wrote 2019's The Lighthouse). The Front Room stars Brandy Norwood in her long-awaited return to the horror genre following 1998’s slasher sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and tells the story of a newly expecting couple who take in an ailing, hyper-religious stepmother, played by Poor Things’ Kathryn Hunter, who immediately asserts her dominance in the household, to terrifying effect.
Speak No Evil
Release date: September 13, 2024
This American remake of the acclaimed 2022 Danish shocker is coming to cinemas in August from Universal and Blumhouse, and has recently received a rating of ‘R’ from the Motion Picture Association (MPA), hopefully promising the Stateside version will not be pulling any punches, just like the original most certainly did not. The film will be a retelling of the terrifying story of a family invited to spend a weekend in an idyllic country house, going from a dream vacation to a psychological nightmare. James Watkins (Eden Lake, The Woman in Black) is in the director’s chair, and James McAvoy (Split) and Mackenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate, The Turning) will star. Hollywood remakes of recent smash hit horrors can be touch and go, but with Christian and Mads Tafdrup – the director and writer of the original, respectively – on writing duties alongside Watkins, this could prove to be a worthwhile stab at bringing the tale of socially-awkward scares to a wider audience.
The Substance
Release date: September 20, 2024
Director Coralie Fargeat announced her stunning cinematic arrival in 2017 with the blood-soaked rape-revenge flick Revenge, and now she’s back with her much-anticipated sophomore effort The Substance. Starring Demi Moore (Ghost, Disclosure), Margaret Qualley (Poor Things, Sanctuary) and Dennis Quaid (The Day After Tomorrow, The Intruder), The Substance follows a fading celebrity who decides to use a black market cell-replicating drug that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself. The film won the Best Screenplay Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and is a dark, wild, and stylish movie. It’s looking to be one of the best and most successful genre movies of 2024. Don’t miss this one.
Bagman
Release date: September 20, 2024
Filmmkaer Colm McCarthy is back in the horror director’s chair following his 2016 zombie hit The Girl With All The Gifts, with this family-centric creep-fest coming to our screens in September. Bagman follows Patrick (Sam Claflin), a father desperately struggling against his deepest inner anxieties when a sinister threat from his childhood returns to haunt him and his family. The figure of the Bagman feeds on children’s fear, preying on ‘nice’ kids and stealing them away in his bag, and now he’s after Patrick’s young son. Also starring Antonia Thomas and William Hope, you might not want to let this one out.
Strange Darling
Release date: September 20, 2024
Following its critically acclaimed premiere at 2023’s Fantastic Fest, and currently sitting at a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the smart, twisty new horror movie Strange Darling is set for cinema release this August. The film is directed by JT Mollner and stars some exciting talent including Willa Fitzgerald (The Fall of the House of Usher), Kyle Gallner (Smile, Jennifer’s Body, The Passenger), and Barbara Hershey (Black Swan, the Insidious movies). Strange Darling takes a dark sideways look at modern dating and women’s safety, trussed up in a frenetic serial killer narrative that’s full of surprises, when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a vicious murder spree. With horror master Mike Flanagan calling it “sublimely brilliant” and advising audiences to go in blind, this should be one very much on horror fans’ radars.
Never Let Go
Release date: September 20, 2024
Alexander Aja, one of the enfant terrible of French horror cinema, known for movies like Switchblade Romance, Horns, Crawl, and the remake of The Hills Have Eyes, is back with his new movie, Never Let Go, which follows a family that has been haunted by an evil spirit for years. Oscar-winner Halle Berry stars as the mother taking care of her two young sons after the world has ended, until their safety and their surroundings come into question when one of the boys begins to doubt whether the evil is real. Reminiscent of films like Bird Box and the recent Arcadian, the title ‘Never Let Go’ refers to the family’s mantra, as they stay attached to the ropes that tether them to their remote cabin whenever they venture forth from its relative safety. The marketing suggests various sources for the family’s peril, including scary visions, their natural surroundings, and potentially some large scaly monsters. All will be revealed this September.
Apartment 7A
Release date: September 27, 2024
This prequel to the 1968 occult horror classic Rosemary’s Baby is set in mid-'60s York City, where a struggling young dancer suffers a devastating injury and finds herself drawn in by dark forces through a peculiar, well-connected, older couple who promise her a shot at fame. Directed by Natalie Erika James, who made her feature debut in 2020 with the excellent supernatural chiller Relic, and starring Julia Garner (The Assistant), Dianne Wiest (The Lost Boys, Edward Scissorhands), and Jim Sturgess (The Other Me), Apartment 7A explores what happened in the apartment before Rosemary moved in.
Azrael
Release date: September 27, 2024
A new action-packed horror movie starring genre darling Samara Weaving (Mayhem, The Babysitter, Ready or Not, Scream VI) and directed by E.L. Katz (Cheap Thrills), Azrael had its world premiere at SXSW in March, hit the UK at August’s FrightFest, and is now due to come to cinemas at the end of September. In a post-apocalyptic world, a cult of zealots hunt down a young woman who is to be sacrificed to pacify an ancient evil, but Azrael (Weaving) will stop at nothing to ensure her own survival and she makes a savage bid for freedom that accelerates towards a vicious, revenge-fueled showdown. The film also features an impressive genre-leaning supporting cast including Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Femme, Candyman), Vic Carmen Sonne (Holiday), and Katariina Unt (November).
Oddity
Release date: October 3, 2024
For anyone who’s seen Damian McCarthy’s previous horror film Caveat, and subsequently never slept soundly again, the prospect of another haunting feature from the director is both a thrilling and terrifying one. McCarthy’s sophomore movie, another Shudder original, follows Carolyn Bracken (You Are Not My Mother) as Darcy, a woman who hopes to uncover the truth behind her sister's death with the ‘help’ of a wooden mannequin. With the tagline ‘every murder lives on’, Oddity is very much a mystery to be solved, and if you are familiar with Caveat, you might even recognise a familiar long-eared face. This will definitely be one to watch in the dark.
Salem’s Lot
Release date: October 11, 2024
Just when you didn’t think there could be any more Stephen King adaptations, another tome is added to the ‘time for a remake’ shelf. And this time, it’s a heavy hitter. For those of a certain age, one of the most terrifying horror moments lurks in Tobe Hooper’s Salem’s Lot TV series from 1979 as a vampire child arrives at a window asking to be let in… This means no pressure for Conjuring Universe staple Gary Dauberman on both directing and screenplay duties. The good news is that given that he is also responsible for the screenplay of both parts of IT, Dauberman already has keen King conversion chops. The similar ‘terror in a small town’ theme of Salem’s Lot as a vampire holes up in the old house on the hill could mean very good things. The movie was initially meant to release in 2022 but, after a 2023 date was cruelly snatched away, we're now excited to be looking at October this year.
Smile 2
Release date: October 18, 2024
After Smile made an impressive $217m worldwide in 2022, it was always likely that Paramount Pictures and Temple Hill Entertainment would opt for a sequel, and after a fair amount of secrecy and teases, it has now been confirmed to be hitting our screens just in time for Halloween. Director Parker Finn is back, and the sequel is taking the chilling phenomenon from the first movie to a new level as global pop sensation Skye Riley begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Performer Naomi Scott (Power Rangers, Charlie’s Angels) stars as Skye, and a viral marketing campaign for the film has also seen a single titled ‘Blood on White Satin’ released by the actress/fictional pop star at the center of the movie. Rosemarie DeWitt (The Staircase), Kyle Gallner (Jennifer’s Body, Scream, The Passenger), and Lukas Gage (Assassination Nation, How to Blow Up a Pipeline) also star.
Watch the Smile 2 trailer here.
Terrifier 3
Release date: October 11
If you’re a horror fan, you might have had long lost friends get in touch at one point last year just to ask you if you had managed to catch a certain murderous clown movie. Art the Clown, the sadistic villain of Terrifier 2, apparently had cinemagoers requiring (helpfully branded) sick bags. The hype, not to put too fine a point on it, was real. And it’s impossible to argue with the figures. Terrifier 2 - a fun, gory, if overly long throwback slasher movie - cost only $250,0000 to make but grim reaped a cool $15 million at the global box office. Hence Terrifier 3, which will debut exclusively on US horror streaming service Screambox.
As reported by Bloody Disgusting, director Damien Leone is excited to bring even more extremity to the series for this threequel. “Aside from a yearning for new and exciting horror villains like Art the Clown, a large part of Terrifier 2’s success was based on its unprecedented theatrical release and its uncompromising nature. It’s pretty clear that we’re now entering a slasher genre renaissance; perhaps the biggest one since the '90s. Filmmakers like myself are gonna have to keep pushing the envelope so it’s encouraging when a company respects a director’s vision and understands what makes a certain type of film successful.”
Your Monster
Release date: October 25, 2024
Directed by Caroline Lindy in her feature debut, and starring Melissa Barrera (Scream, Abigail), Meghann Fahy (The White Lotus) and Edmund Donovan (Civil War), Your Monster is a romantic-comedy-horror film about falling in love with your inner rage. Barrera plays Laura Franco, a musical theatre actress who, after her life falls to pieces when her boyfriend dumps her as she’s recovering from cancer, finds her voice again when she meets a terrifying, yet weirdly charming monster living in her closet. Tommy Dewey, who also Executive Produced the film, reprises his role as ‘Monster’ in this genre mash-up, following his appearance in Lindy’s 2020 short of the same name.
Heretic
Release date: November 15, 2024
Hugh Grant may not be the first person to spring to mind when you think of horror movie baddies, with his history of period dramas, romantic comedies, and kids films, but as Mr Reed in Brian Woods and Scott Beck’s upcoming film Heretic, he looks to be delivering a particularly menacing turn. The movie also stars Sophie Thatcher (The Boogeyman, Yellowjackets) and Chloe East (The Wolf of Snow Hollow) as two young religious women going door-to-door, who find themselves drawn into a game of cat and mouse when they enter Mr Reed’s home. Woods and Beck return as directing partners following previous genre outings together with Haunt (2019) and 65 (2023), and Heretic is produced by A24, so we’re excited to see the toe-curling results coming out from this impressive team of collaborators.
Nightbitch
Release date: December 6, 2024
Based on Rachel Yoder’s novel of the same name, and with a screenplay penned by Yoder and director Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Nightbitch is the new darkly comedic horror movie starring Amy Adams (Arrival, Nocturnal Animals) as a woman who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mother, only to find that her domesticity soon takes a surreal turn. The story was adapted with Adams in mind, (she also produces), and co-stars Scoot NcNairy (Gone Girl, Destroyer), Mary Holland (Self Reliance), and the iconic Jessica Harper (Suspiria, Phantom of the Paradise, Bones and All).
Nosferatu
Release date: December 25, 2024
We’ve been teased with Robert Eggers’ adaptation of Nosferatu for a while now. First it was happening, then it wasn’t, then it was, and now we’ve finally gotten a first look! Following the 1922 classic directed by F.W. Murnau and the 1979 remake from Werner Herzog, Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman) is officially bringing his version of one of the most genuinely chilling vampire tales to the big screen - and it’s gearing up to continue the tradition of Count Orlok being a truly terrifying monster. The chameleonic Bill Skarsgard (IT, Barbarian) will embody Orlok this time around, alongside another impressive Eggers' ensemble including Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, Nicholas Hoult, Ralph Ineson, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. We can’t wait to sink our teeth into this one!
Watch the first Nosferatu trailer now.
