The summer movie season is often dominated by big-budget blockbusters while the fall season brings in the colder weather, leaves changing colors, and the arrival of Halloween. Understandably, this also results in some of the most anticipated horror movies of the year finding their way into theaters.
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The slate of upcoming horror movies is full of familiar franchises, whether it be a sequel, remake, or adaptation, though the subject matter of the biggest films range a variety of subgenres. Whether you’re interested in the supernatural, exploitation films, or your standard slasher, the next few months will offer audiences a number of different chilling experiences.
With August winding to a close, scroll down to see the horror films we’re most excited to see as the temperatures outside begin to drop!
7) ‘The House with a Clock in Its Walls’ – Opens 9/21
Based on the children’s book of the same name, The House with a Clock in Its Walls tells the spine-tingling tale of 10-year-old Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) who goes to live with his uncle in a creaky old house with a mysterious tick-tocking heart. But his new town’s sleepy façade jolts to life with a secret world of warlocks and witches when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead.
Director Eli Roth has regularly proven how he has no trepidation about venturing into disturbing subject matter with films like Cabin Fever and Hostel, with those films offering audiences gruesome special effects. This film will require Roth to show immense amounts of restraint, piquing our curiosity of how the director handles a more PG-rated adventure.
6) ‘The Predator’ – Opens 9/14
From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home in Shane Black’s explosive reinvention of the Predator series. Now, the universe’s most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species. When a young boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.
While the titular character is a widely-known hunter in the world of sci-fi, multiple sequels in the franchise have failed to capture what made the original Predator so iconic. Black’s involvement in the upcoming film has us excited for the return to form for the sequel, making us wonder if the new film could be a game-changer for the series.
5) ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’ – Opens 11/9
Lisbeth Salander, the cult figure and title character of the acclaimed Millennium book series created by Stieg Larsson, will return to the screen in The Girl in the Spider’s Web, a first-time adaptation of the recent global bestseller. Golden Globe winner Claire Foy, the star of The Crown, will play the outcast vigilante defender under the direction of Fede Alvarez, the director of 2016’s breakout thriller Don’t Breathe; the screenplay adaptation is by Steven Knight and Fede Alvarez & Jay Basu.
While the film might not be your average horror film, it’s easy to see from the trailer that the sequel won’t be pulling its punches in its depictions of thrilling subject matter, with Alvarez using his horror sensibilities to deliver an uncompromising adaptation of the novel. Additionally, we’re looking forward to seeing how Foy compares to Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara’s interpretations of Salander, with previous incarnations of the character setting the bar quite high.
4) ‘Overlord’ – Opens 11/9
On the eve of D-Day, a group of American paratroopers are dropped behind enemy lines to carry out a mission crucial to the invasion’s success, but as they approach their target, they begin to realize there is more going on in this Nazi-occupied village than a simple military operation. They find themselves fighting against supernatural forces, part of a Nazi experiment.
Early reports about the film implied that Overlord could be part of the Cloverfield universe of sci-fi/horror films, which JJ Abrams has seemingly refuted. Early footage of Overlord has teased that audiences will get a no-holds-barred bloodbath bonanza, falling more in line with an adaptation of zombie levels of Call of Duty than what the Cloverfield films have already offered audiences.
3) ‘The Nun’ – Opens 9/7
When a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania takes her own life, a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate. Together they uncover the order’s unholy secret. Risking not only their lives but their faith and their very souls, they confront a malevolent force in the form of the same demonic nun that first terrorized audiences in The Conjuring 2, as the abbey becomes a horrific battleground between the living and the damned.
The Conjuring franchise has established itself as one of the more exciting and compelling contemporary horror series, with The Nun looking to expand the terrors outside of one house and create a more adventurous narrative. Between the talent involved and the consistency of The Conjuring films, The Nun looks to set the pace early on this fall that other horror films will have to live up to.
2) ‘Halloween’ – Opens 10/19
A British documentary crew comes to the States to visit Michael in prison for a retrospective of the maniac’s night of terror — but their project becomes way more interesting when Myers escapes custody, retrieves his signature mask and seeks revenge on Laurie, with others naturally being part of his impressive career body count along the way. In the decades following the fateful Halloween night that forever altered the former babysitter’s life, Laurie has armed and prepped herself for Michael’s inevitable return — to the detriment of her family, including daughter Karen and granddaughter Allyson.
This new chapter in the Halloween saga could make or break the franchise, as it marks the return of actors Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle, in addition to original director John Carpenter serving as executive producer. The sequel is prepped to be one of the more inventive sequels in the series, as it ignores the narrative of all films other than the original, possibly breathing new life into the stagnated series.
On the other hand, it’s possible that the film is merely another chapter in the series that offers an expected game of cat and mouse between Michael Myers and his prey, possibly being the nail in the coffin of one of cinema’s defining slasher series.
1) ‘Suspiria’ – Opens 11/2
A remake of Dario Argento’s masterpiece, Suspiria is set in 1977 Berlin and follows a young American woman who joins a prestigious dance company. She arrives just as one of the members mysteriously disappears. As she gets more involved in the dance company, she begins to suspect that the dance troupe is harboring a disturbing secret.
Other films being released this fall have more brand recognition than Suspiria, though, in the horror community, the original film is considered the Holy Grail of Italian horror. At worst, the film could be a forgettable reimagining of a classic, though with director Luca Guadagnino having claimed that he wants the movie “to perform as the most disturbing experience you can have,” we can only imagine what kinds of horrors he has in store for audiences.
