13 new horror movies to creep you out this Halloween season
The Halloween season is upon us! But which recent, new, and upcoming movies should you interrupt your pumpkin-carving schedule to check out? Below, you’ll find 13 films which, with any luck, will tickle your fancy — and tingle your spine!
Midsommar (out now on VOD)
Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor‘s couple-coming-to-the-end-of-their-relationship make the terrible mistake of visiting a remote Swedish village in Hereditary filmmaker Ari Aster’s unforgettable slice of folk-horror.
In the Tall Grass (out now on Netflix)
Can grass really be scary? Yes! In this adaptation of Stephen King and Joe Hill‘s novella, a clutch of folks find themselves hopelessly, and terrifyingly, lost in a remote field full of tall you-know-what.
Tigers Are Not Afraid (out now on Shudder)
Paola Lara plays an orphan named Estrella who joins a gang of kids in an unnamed Mexican town and attempts to evade the murderous attentions of a drug cartel. The fantastical twist? She is armed with three wishes. The result is a remarkable and unforgettable mix of real-world horrors and beguiling fantasy, which has been given the thumbs-up by Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Guillermo del Toro.
Bliss (out now on VOD)
Director Joe Begos’s 16mm sensory assault stars a simply terrific Dora Madison as a Los Angeles artist who discovers that becoming a vampire does wonders for her painter’s block.
Depraved (out now on VOD)
The Frankenstein story has been told on umpteen occasions, but never quite like this update from director Larry Fessenden. David Call plays a PTDS-stricken army medic who literally pieces together Alex Breaux’s Adam in his Brooklyn laboratory.
Little Monsters (playing in theaters, Oct. 8; streaming on Hulu, Oct. 11)
When a zombie outbreak erupts, Lupita Nyong’o’s schoolteacher must protect her young charges — both physically and mentally — in this horror-comedy, which costars Alexander England and Josh Gad. Watch the gore and expletive-filled red-band trailer, below.
Zombieland: Double Tap (out in theaters, Oct. 18)
A decade on, Zombieland stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin return to carry on fighting zombies and, of course, themselves. This time around, the core group of undead-slayers is joined by Rosario Dawson, Luke Wilson, Thomas Middleditch, Avan Jogia, and Zoey Deutch.
The Lighthouse (out in theaters, Oct. 18)
Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson play a pair of nineteenth-century lighthouse keepers whose tenure on a remote island turns nightmarish in writer-director Robert Eggers’ follow-up to his acclaimed 2015 film, The Witch.
Eli (out on Netflix, Oct. 18)
Young actor Charlie Shotwell is the unfortunate title character, whose illness requires him to live completely sealed off from the outside world. The good news? A doctor agrees to treat Eli at her clean house facility. The bad? The joint seems to be haunted.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (out on digital, Oct. 22)
Directed by André Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe) and produced by Guillermo del Toro, the late ’60s-set Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark brings to vivid life a clutch of author Alvin Schwartz’s monstrous tales. A perfect introduction to the genre for young horror fans in-the-making.
Countdown (out in theaters Oct. 25)
Elizabeth Lail’s nurse plays a young nurse who downloads an app that claims to predict exactly when a person is going to die. So what? So, it tells her she only has three days to live!!!
Girl on the Third Floor (out in theaters and on VOD, Oct. 25)
This haunted house tale stars wrestler-turned-actor CM Punk as a husband and father-to-be who attempts to renovate his new home by himself. But is the real danger the ghosts he encounters or his own inner demons?
Doctor Sleep (out in theaters, Nov. 8)
Just when you think pumpkin season is definitely over, director Mike Flanagan (Gerald’s Game, The Haunting of Hill House) unleashes his latest fright-fest, an adaptation of Stephen King’s 2013 sequel to his horror classic, The Shining. Ewan McGregor stars as the grown-up, and deeply troubled, Danny Torrance, while Rebecca Ferguson plays the leader of a cult that feeds on children with psychic powers.
Related content:
