Audiences love to see the return of their favorite filmmakers, stars, characters, and even story arcs, and the upcoming horror movies have some brilliant reappearances in store for fans of the genre, both behind and in front of the camera.
There’s a whole host of directors returning to make new horror films, including Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz with The Devil’s Bath, Osgood Perkins with Longlegs, M. Night Shyamalan with Trap, and Robert Eggers with Nosferatu. Upcoming horror movies featuring characters – and big toothy villains – who are coming back to our big screens include the new version of The Crow from director Rupert Sanders, the Blumhouse remake of Speak No Evil, and Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus.
Further popular properties return to continue spinning out their tales with new releases including Ti West and Mia Goth’s MaXXXine, A Quiet Place: Day One from director Michael Sarnoski, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and two sequels to recent genre favorites: Smile 2 and Terrifier 3.
And more stars of the genre including Dan Stevens, Jeffrey Combs, Danielle Harris, Tony Todd, Dee Wallace, Felissa Rose, and newly crowned king of the possession flick Russell Crowe will all be back on our screens with Cuckoo, Stream, and The Exorcism respectively.
With all these firm faves plus a bunch of fresh talent and ideas, the upcoming horror movies have something for everyone seeking some spine-chilling entertainment this year. Below are our picks of the best upcoming horror movies headed our way. Following two brilliantly grueling horror features, 2014’s Goodnight Mommy and 2019’s The Lodge, directing partners Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz are now back with The Devil’s Bath. Based on historical records, their new horror movie was shot on 35mm and debuted at the Berlinale film festival earlier this year, where it won a Silver Bear award for its cinematography. The film is set in 18th century Austria, where a recently married woman finds herself increasingly trapped in a murky and lonely life of chores and expectations, leading to evil thoughts and the possibility of committing a shocking act of violence that seems like the only way out of her inner prison. The Devil’s Bath will arrive on the horror streaming service Shudder on June 28.
Russell Crowe is becoming somewhat of a late-career scream queen what with his popular role as Father Amorth in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist (which grossed nearly $77 million worldwide and has just been greenlit for a sequel) and now his turn as a troubled actor in Joshua John Miller’s upcoming possession flick, The Exorcism. Crowe plays Anthony Miller (note the name), a movie star who begins to unravel while shooting a horror film, while his estranged daughter (played by Ryan Simpkins from the Fear Street trilogy), wonders if he's slipping back into past addictions or whether there's something more sinister at play. (Spoiler: there’s something more sinister at play). Joshua John Miller has strong pedigree in the genre, having appeared in 1987’s Near Dark as childlike vampire Homer, written the 2015 fan-favourite The Final Girls, and as the son of Jason Miller who starred as Father Karras in William Friedkin’s 1973 all-timer The Exorcist. In other words, this guy knows some things about actors being surrounded by weirdness on set and about creating entertaining meta movies of his own. Starring in The Exorcism alongside Crowe and Simpkins are Samantha Mathis (Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, American Psycho), Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator Salvation) and David Hyde Pierce (Hellboy).
From director Michael Sarnoski, who brought us the violent culinary Nicolas Cage vehicle Pig in 2021, A Quiet Place: Day One serves as a prequel to the 2018 horror smash hit original and its sequel in 2020. This third film in the series about a world where humans are pitted against blind but noise-sensitive creatures will star Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator, Blood Diamond, who also made a brief appearance in A Quiet Place Part 2), Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, Overlord), Alex Wolff (Hereditary, Old) and Lupita Nyong’o (Us, Little Monsters). With the tagline "Hear how it all began" and a trailer teasing a proper action-packed alien invasion, this will be a return to the start of a series that audiences have become invested in and an end-of-the-world monster movie that may be this summer’s big horror blockbuster.
Aside from a teaser trailer and a handful of images, we know relatively little about the upcoming third part in Ti West’s X trilogy, although the plot synopsis promises that the film will center around Maxine, the only survivor of the bloody incidents of the first film, as she continues her journey towards fame as an adult film actress in mid-80s Los Angeles. Mia Goth returns following her resplendent turns in 2022’s X and follow-up Pearl, and will be joined by Michelle Monaghan (Nanny, The Craft: Legacy), Elizabeth Debicki (Widows, Tenet), Lily Collins (Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile), Kevin Bacon (Friday the 13th, Hollow Man) and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad).
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