Well, let’s just all agree that 2020 stole all the good moviegoing experiences we missed from the before times, especially when it came to horror films. In 2021, after pretty much a continuous year of cinemas being closed, we’re primed and ready to get back to sitting on the edge of our seats in a movie theatre, panicked by the promise of being scared into oblivion. With a bunch of last year’s movies being delayed until 2021, and a selection of brand new ones lined up for release, we’ve got a double dose of horror movies coming this year.
But what are they? And when are they getting released? Here’s what we know so far.
Spiral – 14 May
A spin-off from the lucrative Saw series, this project starring Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson follows police detectives exploring a grisly series of murders only to get wrapped up in the killer’s game themselves.
Army of the Dead – 14 May
More of a slasher comedy than a straight-up horror, this new Netflix movie from Justice League director Zack Snyder repaints Las Vegas as a zombie wasteland. John Cena stars.
Seance – 21 May
Suki Waterhouse plays the lead role in this new Shudder movie about a private girls’ school haunted by a dangerous presence after a group of friends accidentally summon the spirit of a dead student. As you do.
A Quiet Place: Part II – 28 May
Approximately 84 years after its scheduled release, the sequel to 2018’s fraught and clever horror A Quiet Place is coming. This time, the family being stalked by violent creatures that are drawn to sound realise that’s only one of the scary animals lurking in the outside world.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – 28 May
The third Conjuring movie starring scream queen Vera Farmiga is based, once again, on a real life case. This time, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren look into the first lawsuit in American history where a woman uses demonic possession as a justification for murder.
Censor – 11 June
Prano Bailey-Bond’s directorial debut remains one of the most freakish things we’ve seen this year. This 80s-set movie about a woman who sees a familiar face in a video nasty tape and spirals trying to find out if it’s real or not is a must-watch this summer.
Fear Street – Summer 2021
Netflix’s hot property for the summer is a trilogy of movies tied to the classic series from R.L. Stine of Goosebumps fame. Set across centuries in the Ohio town of Shadyside, it follows a group of teenagers realising the creepy goings-on around them may be part of a long thread that runs throughout history.
The Forever Purge – 9 July
An isolated version of the Purge series’ plotline, The Forever Purge focuses on a Mexican couple stuck in a Texas ranch, trying to escape from a drug cartel. But their pursuit of safety is hindered by a group of outlaws who plan to continue their own Purge long after the law has been suspended. Good luck!
The Night House – 16 July
A Sundance hit back in 2020, this Searchlight Pictures horror carries the same kind of hype as Hereditary. Led by Rebecca Hall, this is a horror story about a woman in mourning coming to terms with the death of her husband in the holiday home he built. But at night, a spectre forces her into a place of fear, only to be gone and untraceable by the time day breaks.
Candyman – 27 August
Nia DaCosta’s Jordan Peele-produced horror remake has been at the top of our watch list’s for a while now. After a long delay, it’s finally coming. The movie riffs on the original, about a housing project in which a man with a hook for a hand stalks the streets, appearing in a mirror to kill anyone who says “Candyman” into a mirror five times. A decade later and gentrification has claimed the area, but the violent man with a hook for a hand still remains.
Malignant – 10 September
James Wan, the director and producer behind Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring movies, will be hoping to kickstart a new franchise with Malignant. Not much is known about it so far, but we do know it will be his riff on Giallo horror from the 70s, so Suspiria fans should pay attention.
Halloween Kills – 15 October
After Jamie Lee Curtis bossed her role in the 2018 reboot of the classic horror franchise by David Gordon Green, she’s back again. In this follow-up, we meet her again right from where the last movie left off, as she tries to track down Michael Myers, the madman serial killer who’s still on the loose.
Last Night in Soho – 22 October
Anya Taylor-Joy serves Jenny Humphrey realness in this psychological horror about a young fashion designer who is able to travel back to 60s London to meet her idol. It seems messing with time, however, has dark and disastrous consequences.
Antlers – 29 October
Guillermo del Toro executive produces this supernatural horror about a schoolteacher convinced that one of her peculiar pupils is hiding a fantastical creature inside his house. Sounds cute? Well, it’s rated R so…
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City – 24 November
The famed video game series gets a big-screen reboot led by Skins star Kaya Scodelario. Details are still scarce, but it will apparently take place in 1998, and cover the story behind Spencer Mansion and Raccoon City. Johannes Roberts, who directed the fraught shark attack movie 47 Metres Down, has directed it.
There’s Someone Inside Your House – 2021
Netflix’s other big horror bet for 2021 is this bloody James Wan-produced movie. Set in Nebraska, it focuses on a Hawaii-born exchange student who arrives in a small town and finds a serial killer is targeting her classmates, wearing a mask of the victim’s face as they attack. The girl and her friends are forced to find out his identity before he strikes next.
Till Death – 2021
Eleven years after the cult hit Jennifer’s Body, Megan Fox makes her return to horror in this movie from first-time director S.K. Dale. In it, she plays a woman handcuffed to her dead husband as part of a revenge plot who’s got to evade the men hellbent on finishing her off too.