With Halloween fast approaching, we'd hazard a guess that many cinema fans are filling their month of October with as much scary entertainment as they can manage! The build-up to everyone's favorite spooky holiday is always a great time to revisit old horror favorites. But there are also new scares waiting to be unleashed on the world in the rest of 2016 and into 2017. This list will spotlight our 10 most anticipated upcoming horror movies.
First up, the only major horror release in October...
10. Ouija: Origin Of Evil (October 21st)
The first Ouija movie was released in 2014 and was, to put it mildly, terrible. So why would we be anticipating the sequel, Ouija: Origin Of Evil? Well, it all has to do with the creative talent behind the camera. Perhaps in response to the fact that, although the first film did superbly at the box office, critics tore it apart, Universal and Blumhouse have hired a director who has delivered several critically acclaimed horror films in his career.
Mike Flanagan co-wrote and directed Oculus and Hush, both of which were well-received. He's even co-writing this movie with his Oculus writing partner, Jeff Howard, so we're cautiously optimistic about this one.
9. Shut In (November 11th)
Shut In is based on a 2012 Black List script by Christina Hodson. It stars Naomi Watts as a widowed child psychologist who lives an isolated existence in rural New England. She must find a way to rescue a young boy before he disappears forever in a deadly winter storm. The film recently debuted it's spooky trailer. It will be interesting to see how young Jacob Tremblay performs, since he is not far removed from his amazingly precocious turn in Room. The movie also stars Charlie Heaton, who fans may recognize from Netflix' Stranger Things.
8. Incarnate (December 2nd)
Exorcism is all the rage these days, in terms of horror movies and television shows. Incarnate is a WWE Studios/Blumhouse production that stars Aaron Eckhart as an unconventional exorcist who can tap into the subconscious of the possessed. He meets his match when he comes up against an 11-year old boy possessed by a demon from his past. The WWE connection shouldn't necessarily put fans off, as they also produced Oculus, which was great. And hey, if you happen to be a wrestling fan? This one features 'The World's Strongest Man' Mark Henry in a supporting role. So that's cool...right?
7. Keep Watching (December 2nd)
Keep Watching is a movie that could truthfully go either way, but we're going to stay positive about it. Because we're nice like that. Originally entitled Home Invasion, the movie started filming in 2014 and Screen Gems picked up distribution rights in October 2015. Delaying the release of a film by a year is not often a good sign. But the concept sounds frightening, and the movie does have some recognizable names in the cast. Names that include Bella Thorne, Ioan Gruffudd and Carl from The Walking Dead himself, Chandler Riggs. Leigh Whannell, writer/actor and co-creator of Saw and Insidious, also stars.
6. Amityville: The Awakening (January 6th)
Moving into 2017 now, and Bella Thorne pops up in this movie too. According to Wikipedia, this is the 17th (!) installment of the Amityville saga. We're not sure how that's right, considering we only remember the 1970's original and the Ryan Reynolds remake in 2005, but this new sequel looks promising. It's produced by Blumhouse (yes, them again) and follows a new family who move into the notoriously haunted house. When Juliet's (Thorne) comatose twin brother miraculously recovers at the same time as she is having horrifying nightmares and scary things are happening in the house, she realizes that her mother hasn't been entirely truthful with her about their new home! You'd think she would've recognized the iconic windows, right?
5. The Bye Bye Man (January 13th)
The Bye Bye Man is a rarity in today's modern horror world: a horror movie not produced by Blumhouse! Incredibly, they do exist. In all seriousness though, the trailer for the film recently debuted and it looks like a spooky good time. It is based on an (allegedly true) short story from 'The President's Vampire' by Robert Damon Schneck. The story follows three college students who are haunted by the mysterious Bye Bye Man, an entity who may have been responsible for possessing people to commit killing sprees throughout recent history.
4. Split (January 20th)
M. Night Shyamalan (mostly) returned to the good graces of movie fans and critics last year with The Visit, his found-footage horror movie with lashings of black comedy thrown in. That movie wasn't perfect. But it showed that Shyamalan had taken a step back from the critically-savaged big budget blockbusters he had been making. He had instead focused his efforts on something smaller and more personal. And now he is about to deliver Split, which looks like it will continue his return to form. Starring the uber-talented James McAvoy, the film is a psychological thriller about a man with 23 distinct split-personalities who is compelled to abduct three teenage girls. The trailer makes the film look bizarre, harrowing and very frightening.
3. Rings (February 3rd)
In modern-day Hollywood, the remake/reboot is king. It seems we can't go a month without having a few remakes, of all genres, hitting screens. Thusly, when Rings was announced, most fans assumed it was a remake or even a prequel. However, director F. Javier Gutierrez confirmed in March 2015 that it would be a sequel, taking place 13 years after the events of the first two films. This strategy seems risky. The Ring Two came out a full 11 years ago and could have faded from many horror fans memories. For example, Blair Witch was recently released after an even longer gap, and it stuttered at the box office. But the concept of The Ring was always scary. If the marketing campaign is good, we suppose this stands every chance of being a hit.
2. Get Out (February 24th)
Get Out is a horror movie that deals with issues of race in a satirical fashion. It is written and directed by Jordan Peele, a comedian mostly known as one half of the hilarious sketch comedy duo Key & Peele. The trailer recently landed, and was unnerving, offbeat and downright horrifying all at the same time. The movie looks like a true original, and we're really not sure whether it will be good or not. But darnit, we're super interested to see it for ourselves. Perhaps the talents of Peele and producing powerhouse Blumhouse will come up with the goods. The cast, featuring the likes of young British actor Daniel Kaluuya, Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford, is certainly good enough to deliver.
1. Annabelle 2 (May 19th)
Annabelle 2 is a similar case to Ouija: Origin Of Evil. Admittedly, the first film in the franchise was a bit of a let-down. Annabelle was critically mauled. It was seen a quick cash-grab, a poorly executed spin-off from the excellent The Conjuring. But, we're optimistic about the sequel because the studio has hired a top notch director who we hope can bring something special to the material this time. David F. Sandberg directed this year's massive sleeper hit Lights Out, which was a skin-crawling exercise in cinematic tension. That movie was so profitable that a sequel has already been greenlit, which Sandberg is also directing. But first he has turned his hand to Annabelle 2. We're excited to see what he does with the property.
So what do you think? Any horror films we might have missed?
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