After several extremely successful years, the popularity of the horror genre was expected to continue in 2020 with a wealth of high profile releases. Huge horror franchises such as Halloween, The Conjuring, Saw, and The Purge were set to get their latest entries, high-profile directors like James Wan, Zack Snyder, and Edgar Wright had new original movies on the way, and a handful of intriguing indie movies showed that the genre was in great shape. But as we all know, the year didn’t pan out as planned, and the majority of 2020’s highest profile horror movies were pushed to 2021.
That means there is a lot of exciting new scary cinema on the way next year. All of those big franchise movies will finally arrive, along with the sequel to Don’t Breathe, the reboot of Candyman, and a sequel to 2018’s hugely successful A Quiet Place.
However, 2021’s horror line-up doesn’t only include movies that were delayed from the year before. Purge and Halloween producers Blumhouse have several new films in the way, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre will get yet another sequel, Shudder will unleash the outrageous ’80s-set gorefest Psycho Goreman, and acclaimed director Ben Wheatley will reveal the mysterious horror movie he shot during lockdown. So with 2021 almost here, here’s our guide to the most anticipated horror movies to be released over the next 12 months.
Escape Room 2
Release date: January 1, 2021
The 2019 movie Escape Room might not have been a critical hit, but it made a lot of money–$155 million worldwide from a $9 million production budget. Inevitably, a sequel was greenlit, and it will arrive at the start of 2021. Director Adam Robitel and writer Bragi F. Schut are back, and while a storyline or trailer haven’t been revealed yet, it’s safe to assume the movie will involve a group of people once more having to escape from a series of increasingly deadly rooms.
Antlers
Release date: February 19
Guillermo Del Toro’s next directorial effort, Nightmare Alley, isn’t expected until 2022. As a producer, though, his name continues to be attached to a variety of films. Following Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, we have Antlers. It’s a spooky tale of a young boy and something scary that lives in the woods that’s been picking off the locals. Antlers stars Keri Russell (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) and Jesse Plemons (El Camino: A Breaking Bad Story), and is directed by Scott Cooper.
A Quiet Place: Part II
Release date: April 23
With A Quiet Place, The Office and Jack Ryan star John Krasinski proved that he wasn’t just a talented actor–he also has serious chops as a filmmaker. The movie was a tense, terrifying, and moving experience that transcended its gimmicky setup (make a sound and a monster will get you), and grossed more than $340 million worldwide. Krasinski also directs the sequel, which stars Emily Blunt once more, alongside Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou. Krasinski previously hinted that the sequel will expand the setting of the movie, stating, “[It] isn’t just a character to remake or a group of characters or a story. It’s actually a world, which is a whole different, very unique experience.”
Last Night in Soho
Release date: April 23
The zombie comedy classic Shaun of the Dead proved that director Edgar Wright is a huge horror fan, and with Last Night in Soho, he’ll get the chance to show he can make scary as well as funny. It’s a ’60s-set London-based psychological horror film that reportedly takes influence from British classics such as Don’t Look Now and Peeping Tom.The movie stars Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, The Queen’s Gambit), and Matt Smith (Doctor Who) alongside veteran British stars Diana Rigg and Terence Stamp.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw
Release date: May 21
The Saw series is one of the most successful horror franchises of all time, and the ninth movie is on the way. The awkwardly-titled Spiral: From the Book of Saw stars Chris Rock as a cop who gets pulled into a strange murder case, which seems to have links to the activities of the notorious (and very dead) trap-setting maniac Jigsaw. The movie also stars Samuel L. Jackson, and it’s directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who previously helmed Saw 2, 3, and 4. Despite the title and weird, arty poster, the recent first trailer suggests that it’ll be gory business as usual.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Release date: June 4
The Conjuring universe is now the most successful horror movie franchise ever made, and the third film in the main series arrives in 2021. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine Warren, who, as the movie’s title suggests, take on an unusual case of demonic possession. Wilson has stated that the film will have “a much different feel” to previous movies. It’s produced by series creator James Wan once more, and directed by Michael Chaves, who previously helmed 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona.
The Forever Purge
Release date: July 9
In just eight years, the Purge series has produced four movies and two seasons of a spin-off TV show, and a fifth film is on the way. Creator James DeMonaco previously stated that this would be the last one, but given that 2018’s prequel The First Purge was the most successful one so far, it’s hard to believe producers Blumhouse will stop here. But either way, The Forever Purge will pick up where 2016’s Election Year left off, with director Everardo Gout (Luke Cage, Banshee) making his feature debut.
Don’t Breathe 2
Release date: August 13
Fede Alvarez’s highly suspenseful Don’t Breathe was one of 2016’s big surprise hits, making $157 million at the worldwide box office from a modest production budget of $10 million. The movie didn’t necessarily leave the door open for a second entry, but that has rarely (ok, never) stopped Hollywood, and the sequel is on the way. Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues have written the screenplay once more, with Sayagues taking over directorial duties. Stephen Lang will be back as the sinister Blind Man, and he confirmed in October that production has now wrapped on the movie ahead of its release next summer.
Candyman
Release date: August 27
As well as directing the hit movies Get Out and Us, Jordan Peele has kept busy by writing and producing a slate of other genre TV shows and movies. He’s co-written this new version of the terrifying ’90s horror classic Candyman, which is based on the story by Clive Barker. It’s described as a “spiritual sequel,” and while there has been a bit of confusion about who will play the vengeful ghostly former slave of the title, the trailers released so far suggest that it will in fact be original star Tony Todd. The movie stars Aquaman’s Yahya Abdul Mateen II, and it’s directed by rising director Nia DaCosta (Little Woods, Top Boy).
Halloween Kills
Release date: October 15
The huge success of 2018’s Halloween reboot/sequel proved there’s still life in the long-running slasher series. Director David Gordon Green has shot the next two movies back-to-back, and the first will be with us next October. Original star Jamie Lee Curtis is back to fight her masked nemesis Michael Myers on the streets of Haddonfield once more, and series co-creator John Carpenter will provide another iconic score. The third movie, the almost-certainly inaccurately titled Halloween Ends, is due in 2022.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 9
Release date: TBD
The 1974 classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the most influential horror movies of all time and has been followed by numerous sequels, prequels, and remakes over the years. The ninth film in the series is due for release in 2021. While the last film, 2017’s Leatherface, was a prequel to the original Texas Chainsaw, this next entry will reportedly be a direct sequel, set four decades later, that ignores all the films in between. The film is produced by Fede Álvarez (Don’t Breathe) and directed by David Blue Garcia.
Psycho Goreman
Release date: TBD
Steven Kostanski is part of the Canadian horror production company Vestron-6, and he previously directed the acclaimed cosmic horror The Void. His latest movie is Psycho Goreman, which is set for a theatrical release before hitting Shudder next year. It’s a homage to both ’80s kids movies like Explorers and The Goonies and splattery horror of the same era, and tells the story of two kids who befriend a huge, terrifying creature named PG. They get to play baseball with him, but unfortunately, he’s also partial to tearing people’s heads off. Check out the outrageously gory trailer.
Run Sweetheart Run
Release date: TBD
This urban chiller was set to hit theaters in May this year, but it will now head straight to streaming, with a Prime Video release expected some time in 2021. It’s a tale of a date-from-hell, as a single mom (Ella Balinska) ends up being pursued across LA by a psychotic suitor, played by Game of Thrones’s Pilou Asbæk. It looks like another slick, tense, and entertaining movie from Blumhouse productions.
St. Maud
Release date: TBD
First-time British filmmaker Rose Glass made something of a festival splash with this unsettling horror movie, which was set for a summer 2020 release but will now appear sometime next year. The plot focuses on a nurse who becomes infatuated with one of her dying patients and starts to believe that she might be possessed. The movie stars Morfydd Clark, who appeared in last year’s horror hit Crawl, and blends psychological scares and disturbing body horror.
Malignant
Release date: TBD
James Wan is one of the most successful directors working today, but while his biggest hits have been franchise blockbusters Aquaman and Fast 7, his roots lie in horror. He co-created the Saw, Insidious, and Conjuring series and returns to the genre in 2021 with this new scary film. Despite rumors that it’s an adaptation of Wan’s 2011 graphic novel Malignant Man, the director has confirmed that it is in fact an entirely new story. We don’t actually know what it’s about, but it’s definitely one to keep a watch out for.
Army of the Dead
Release date: TBD
Zack Snyder kicked off his directing career with the James Gunn-written remake of Dawn of the Dead, and he’ll soon be back with another zombie movie. It was first announced way back in 2008 but sat unmade for a decade until Netflix picked it up. Dave Bautista heads the cast, and in 2019, Synder gave us a hint about what to expect, describing it as a “heist movie in a zombie-infested Las Vegas.” It sounds awesome.
There’s Someone Inside Your House
Release date: TBD
Director Patrick Brice has shown himself to be skilled at blending genres with his superb horror comedies Creep and Creep 2, and next he’ll tackle the horror thriller There’s Someone Inside Your House for Netflix. It’s based on Stephanie Perkins’ 2017 novel of the same title, and focuses on a teenage girl with a dark past who joins a new school in rural Nebraska. Soon after her arrival, students start dying in a variety of gruesome ways. The novel was acclaimed as an enjoyable throwback to slasher movies, so it’ll be fascinating to see what Brice brings to the genre.
In The Earth
Release date: TBD
Kill List director Ben Wheatley has got a couple of big Hollywood sequels lined up over the next couple of years, namely Tomb Raider 2 and The Meg 2, but in the meantime kept himself busy by making this intriguing low budget horror movie. It was shot in 15 days during quarantine this year, with the entire cast and crew isolating together, and stars Joel Fry (Yesterday), Ellora Torchia (Midsommar), and Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake). The plot centers on the search for a cure for a virus, which leads a scientist to encounter terrifying things deep in a forest.
Wrong Turn
Release date: TBD
The original Wrong Turn was a 2003 survival horror film that focused on a backwoods cannibal family targeting an unfortunate group of friends who make–you got it– a wrong turn into their territory. It spawned no fewer than five sequels, and next year the entire series is getting a reboot. Series creator Alan B. McElroy has written the screenplay, and this time the story centres on mountain-dwelling crazies known as the Foundation who have lived there since before the Civil War and don’t like visitors.
Firestarter
Release date: TBD
The classic Stephen King novel Firestarter was first adapted in 1984, with a young Drew Barrymore playing a pyrokinetic girl who is hunted by a sinister government agency. It’s set to get a new adaptation from Blumhouse–the movie was first announced in 2019 and could potentially be with us later in 2021. It’ll be directed by Keith Thomas, who previously helmed the creepy chiller The Vigil, with Zac Efron starring as the father to the main character.
Vengeance
Release date: TBD
The Office star BJ Novak will make his feature directing and writing debut with this Blumhouse-produced horror thriller. Novak plays a New York radio host who travels to the Deep South to investigate the mysterious death of his girlfriend, and the cast also includes Boyd Holbrook (Narcos, The Predator), Issa Rae (The Hate U Give), and Ashton Kutcher (That ’70s Show). Production was already underway before the pandemic shut down earlier this year, so it should be with us in 2021.