If you want to get your thrill on this year, there’s no shortage of horror movies coming to a theater (or streaming service) near you.
It appears that 2019 is the year of the fright, with everything from intriguing indies and long-awaited sequels to more than one Stephen King adaptation on the horizon. Check out the scariest horror flicks still to come in 2019 — and a few for 2020. Something on this list is sure to whet your appetite for the gruesome, the gory and the supernatural.
Octavia Spencer stars as Sue Ann, a reclusive character who lets local teens booze it up in her basement on the condition they call her “Ma.” But her hospitality soon turns into horror. Screen Rant called Tate Taylor’s “Ma” a “slow burn thrill ride” and praised Spencer for a “terrifically creepy performance.” In theaters now.
Elle Callahan’s directorial debut “Head Count,” starring Isaac W. Jay, Cooper Rowe and Ashleigh Morgan, features a group of teens battling a demon they unintentionally revive with a campfire ghost story session.
“Callahan has a real knack for creating an unsettled atmosphere,” reads a review in Variety. In theaters and available to stream June 14.
Jim Jarmusch’s zombie fantasy “The Dead Don’t Die” follows a small-town police force as they combat a sudden zombie invasion. It may be more comedy than horror, but the impressive ensemble cast (including Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Selena Gomez, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Tilda Swinton and Danny Glover) make it well worth a watch this summer. It’s been described as “close to perfection” by Rolling Stone. In theaters June 14.
Chuckie’s back — sort of. This time, he’s called Buddi and he’s not a plush toy; he’s a doll-shaped smart device with a killer instinct. Directed by Lars Klevberg and starring Aubrey Plaza, Mark Hamill and Brian Tyree Henry, it’s a hotly-anticipated contemporary re-imagining of the 1988 horror classic. In theaters June 21.
The scariest doll in the world may have been locked away by demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren in “The Conjuring,” but Annabelle’s powers are stronger than even the most sacred glass, enabling her to enlist the help of other evil spirits to terrorize the Warrens’ young daughter Judy. “Annabelle Comes Home” is directed by Gary Dauberman and stars McKenna Grace, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson. In theaters June 26.
If you were terrified by 2018’s “Hereditary,” start preparing yourself for “Midsommar,” director Ari Aster’s follow-up, which is set at a sinister summer festival. Fellow director Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) said it “usurps ‘The Wicker Man’ as the most iconic pagan movie to be referenced” and has “some of the most atrociously disturbing imagery I’ve ever seen on film.” In theaters July 3.
“Darlin'” is actor-turned-director Pollyanna McIntosh’s sequel to Lucky McKee’s 2011 release “The Woman,” in which McIntosh played the lead role. Several years after “The Woman” ended, “Darlin'” continues the story of a young feral girl trying to transition back into society at a Catholic care home. The Hollywood Reporter described it as a “slasher horror meets coming-of-age story.” In theaters July 12.
As if being trapped in a flooding house during a Category 5 hurricane isn’t frightening enough, father Dave (Barry Pepper) and daughter Haley (Kaya Scodelario) have to deal with a bunch of alligators. “Crawl,” by “Piranha 3D” and “The Hills Have Eyes” director Alexandre Aja, promises bloody creature violence and lots of high-pitched screaming. In theaters July 12.
In “Brahms: The Boy II,” directed by William Brent Bell, Katie Holmes returns to the horror genre as the mother of a young boy who befriends a life-like doll called Brahms. The sequel to the 2016 film “The Boy,” it also stars Ralph Ineson, Owain Yeoman and Christopher Convery. In theaters July 26.
Director Jennifer Kent’s follow-up to “The Babadook” is the ruthless tale of a young woman (Aisling Franciosi) looking to avenge her murdered family in the British penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land (now the Australian state of Tasmania). The period thriller, which also stars Sam Claflin and Baykali Ganambarr, has been the subject of controversy due to its graphic scenes of rape and murder. In theaters August 2.
Not one for anyone scared of snakes, “Them That Follow” is a gothic thriller set in the Appalachian mountains, starring Alice Englert (“Beautiful Creatures”) and Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”). The directorial debut of Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage was described by Variety as “an agonizing slow burn.” In theaters August 2.
Based on Alvin Schwartz’s children’s book series “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by André Øvredal, this spooky flick features a group of young teenagers who stumble across an abandoned house containing a book once owned by the daughter of a wealthy family that disappeared without a trace. In theaters August 9.
The sequel to 2017’s surprise box office hit “47 Meters Down,” “47 Meters Down: Uncaged” ventures back into shark-infested waters, this time in Brazil’s backpacking hub. Directed by Johannes Roberts, it stars John Corbett, Nia Long, Sophie Nelisse and Corinne Foxx. The official movie poster, shared on Instagram by movie poster page @coolmovieposters, says it all. In theaters August 16.
The long-awaited second part of the adaptation of the 1986 Stephen King classic, “It: Chapter Two” introduces the now grown-up Losers’ Club (featuring Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy and Bill Hader) nearly three decades after the events of the first film. Naturally, Pennywise will be back to make their lives hell. In theaters September 6.
In the absence of any official plot synopsis, there’s still fervent speculation surrounding “The Hunt,” directed by Craig Zobel and starring Emma Roberts, Justin Hartley, Glenn Howerton and Betty Gilpin. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it’s “a subversive feature that takes its cues from the current political climate in America, elevating the current conflict between right and left wings to a more extreme, and violent, level.” In theaters September 27.
Fans of “Zombieland” have waited an entire decade for the sequel, and the whole writing and directing team (Ruben Fleischer, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese) as well as the original cast (Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin) are back. In theaters October 11.
As the follow-up to “The Shining,” one of the most famous — and popular — horror movies of all time, the team behind “Doctor Sleep” have the weight of the world’s expectations on their shoulders. Based on Stephen King’s 2013 book of the same name, the sequel follows a grown-up Danny Torrance, played by Ewan McGregor, trying not to follow his father’s path toward alcoholism. In theaters November 8.
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There’s still no release date for Netflix’s adaptation of a short story by Stephen King and his son Joe Hill that was first published in Esquire magazine. Directed by Vincenzo Natali and starring Patrick Wilson, Laysla De Oliveira and Harrison Gilbertson, “In the Tall Grass” is causing serious excitement among horror fans already. Available to stream via Netflix in late 2019.
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The highly acclaimed Mexican ghost movie “Tigers Are Not Afraid,” written and directed by Issa Lopez, has been doing the film festival rounds for a while now, but finally has a U.S. release via horror streaming service Shudder. Starring Paola Lara, Juan Ramón López, and Hanssel Casillas and hailed by SlashFilm as “one of 2018’s best undistributed films,” it tells the story of a group of orphaned kids trying to survive during a drug war. Available to stream on Shudder in late 2019.
An eerie ghost story set in a department store, Peter Strickland’s “In Fabric” follows the life of a cursed dress as it passes from person to person, wreaking havoc as it goes. The Los Angeles Times called it “a movie of ravishing colors and textures that ultimately elevates style and sensuality into something genuinely meaningful.” In theaters in late 2019.
The follow-up to the 2016 thriller “Under the Shadow,” “Wounds” has experienced setbacks but finally has a semi-official release date for late 2019. Directed by Babak Anvari and starring Zazie Beetz, Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson, it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019. Hammer plays a New Orleans bartender named Will whose life is turned upside down in the very worst way when he finds a cursed phone in his bar. In theaters in late 2019.
The upcoming reboot of the “Grudge” series, simply called “Grudge,” has Lin Shaye and Andrea Riseborough heading the cast. Director Nicolas Pesce told EW that his film has a “very different” take than previous installments. “There’s a thousand Grudge movies out there, and we wanted to figure out a way to kind of put a new, fresh spin on it, and it’s going to be exciting,” he said. In theaters January 2020.
Initially scheduled for release in April 2018, “The New Mutants,” directed by Josh Boone, stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton, Blu Hunt and Henry Zaga as young mutants fighting to save themselves from captivity in a secret facility. The X-Men spin-off has been delayed (more than once) to allow for reshoots to make it more frightening. In theaters April 2020.
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“The Girl on the Third Floor,” the writing and directing debut of Travis Stevens, stars ex-wrestler and MMA fighter Phillip Jack Brooks as a man who arrives with his family to renovate a mansion with an eerie past. (Allegedly, the movie was shot in an actual haunted house in Frankfort, Ill., outside of Chicago.) Release date TBD.
Total Film called Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse” “the best thing to come out of Cannes 2019.” Thrillist concurred that it was “the most electrifyingly scary movie of the Cannes Film Festival.” The film stars Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as two men slowly going mad in a lighthouse. It’s shot entirely in black and white and in a square aspect ratio to increase the old-school suspense vibe. Release date TBD.
