2017 was a groundbreaking,record-shattering year in horror cinema. Films likeITandGet Outdominated the cultural conversation and killed it at the box office, making last year the highest-grossing year of all time for horror movies to the tune of more than $730 million domestically. Meanwhile, films likemother!andIt Comes at Nightcrawled under the skin and fostered challenging, sometimes contentious discussions about how we define the genre. Horror has always been an under-sung backbone of the the industry, but it’s rarely become such an overtly influential part of the zeitgeist. Which is to say that 2018 sure has a lot to live up to.
Fortunately, this year’s lineup is stacked with all kinds of promising horror releases, From indie auteurs that promise to spark up new debates to studio fare and big-budget crowd-pleasers, the 2018 haul includes strange and intellectual otherworldly explorations likeAnnihilationandThe Endless, the return of iconic horror franchises likeHellraiserandHalloween, a giant shark movie, a serial killer drama fromLars Von Trier(god help us all), a Christmas zombie musical, and a whole lot more. Get the details on all the most anticipated horror movies of the year in the list below.
For more movies to put on your radar, be sure to check out ourmost anticipated movies of 2018and to keep up with all the horror movies to know, be sure to check out our fullhorror movies release date calendar.
Mom and Dad
Release Date:January 19th
Director:Brian Taylor
Cast:Nicolas Cage, Selma Blair, Anne Winters, Lance Henriksen
Nicolas Cagegets fully unhinged in this zombie comedy by way of parental angst. Cage stars alongsideSelma Blairas a pair of suburban parents doing the daily grind when a mysterious mass hysteria sweeps over the country, causing parents to turn against their own children in a murderous rage. It’s a silly, subversive B-movie splatterfest with plenty of lunatic verve thanks to the script and direction byCrankco-directorBrian Taylor, who previously worked with Cage onGhost Rider: Spirit of the Vengeance. Boasting one of the most in-on-the-joke performances from Cage in recent memory and a fantasticLance Henriksoncameo,Mom and Dadis trim, full-tilt mania with cheeky undercurrents of super dark humor.
Winchester
Release Date:February 2nd
Director:Peter Spierig
Cast:Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Angus Sampson, Sarah Snook
Helen Mirrenvs. Ghosts? I’ll take a ticket, no questions asked. The film comes from the Spiereg brothers, the directorial duo behind last year’sJigsaw, and while theSawreboot may have landed with a thud, the pair’s previous supernatural films, which includeDaybreakersandPredestination, have been underrated genre gems.Winchesteris also based on the fascinating true story of the Winchester House, located in Northern California, where heiress Sarah Winchester (Mirren) famously constructed a series of endless hallways, stairs, and doors to nowhere in a manic attempt to trap the spirits and ghosts roaming the halls of her home. It’s a gripping true-life tale in its own right, but its also ripe for cinematic adaptation with an added dose of the paranormal and the Spiereg brothers are a visually dynamic pair of filmmakers well-fitted to the home’s labyrinthine halls.
Hellraiser: Judgement
Release Date:February 13th
Director:Gary J. Tunnicliffe
Cast:Paul T. Taylor, Damon Carney, Randy Wayne, Alexandra Harris,John Gulager, Mike Jay Regan, Diane Goldner, Heather Langenkamp
Annihilation
Release Date:February 23rd
Director:Alex Garland
Cast:Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Gina Rodriguez
After penning the scripts to a number of the best sci-fi movies of the 21st Century, including28 Days Later,Sunshine, andNever Let Me Go,Alex Garlandmade his directorial debut withEx Machinaand delivered an original chamber piece that topped them all. For his sophomore film, Garland expands his scope drastically with an adaptation of the genre-bending novelAnnihilation. As written by New Weird literary figureJeff VanderMeer,Annihilationis a bizarre, slippery piece of horror via sci-fi nightmarescapes that follows a team of female scientists into a mysterious realm known as Area X, where inexplicable biological wonders and terrors await. It’s clear that Garland has taken some liberties with the source material from the trailers, including some worrying details about the motivations of the lead character, but after the bracing, thoughtful sci-fi mastery on display inEx Machina, and eyeing the incredible cast the director put together, I’m keeping the faith Garland’s going to pull this one off. The fact that international distributors apparently thought the film was “too complicated” with a challenging female lead only makes me more excited.
The Strangers: Prey at Night
Release Date:March 9th
Director:Johannes Roberts
Cast:Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, Martin Henderson, Lewis Pullman
Bryan Bertino’s original film was a doozy of a home invasion horror hinged on a slow-burn and poignant dramatic beats, and now, ten years later, Baghead, Dollface, and Pinup Girl are back for more blood in the long, long, long-developed sequelThe Strangers: Prey at Night.47 Meters DowndirectorJohannes Robertstakes the helm for the follow-up, which moves from the confines of a remote cabin to a sprawling mobile home park where a family comes face-to-face with the masked psychopaths. Roberts has said he’s taking inspiration fromJohn Carpenter’sChristine, using the sequel’s new wide-open locale to put the Strangers' big pickup to use, and early trailers have suggested a serious throwback vibe. What remains to be seen is if the masked trio can still rouse up scares now that the home invasion genre has died off, come back, and been reborn in the high-concept guise ofThe Purgefilms, and if Roberts' sequel can (or even wants to) match the heartbreaking self-seriousness of the original film.
Release Date:March 23rd
Director:Steven Soderbergh
Cast:Juno Temple, Claire Foy, Jay Pharoah, Amy Irving, and Aimee Mullins
Steven Soderberghhas played in a lot of different genres, but he’s never done horror before. Well, lucky us, because he’s dipping a toe in the genre withUnsane, a thriller starringThe CrownbreakoutClaire Foyas a young woman who gets locked up in a mental institution against her will and struggles with determining the line between paranoia and reality. But wait, there’s more – rumor has it Soderbergh shot the entire mystery project on an iPhone. Soderbergh and psychological horror seem like a match made in heaven and the fact that he’s broaching the genre with this weirdo, self-distributed project just makes it all the more exciting.
The Endless
Director:Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
Cast:Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Callie Hernandez, Emily Montague, Tate Ellington
The filmmaking duo behindSpringreturns to the realm of Lovecraftian horror with an entirely different angle inThe Endless, a semi-sequel to their underseen 2012 gemResolution. In addition to their usual roles as a filmmaking team,Justin BensonandAaron Moorheadalso star inThe Endlessas two brothers who return to the cult they escaped as children on the eve of a mysterious even known as “the Ascension”. Once there, they discover there might be something more and something much darker to the cult’s supernatural beliefs than they once believed. It’s a fantastic, surprising, suspenseful, downright clever film and you shouldn’t read any more about it because it’s a real joy to discover as you watch.
Truth or Dare
Release Date:April 13th
Director:Jeff Wadlow
Cast:Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Nolan Gerard Funk, Hayden Szeto Sophia Taylor Ali
Blumhousehad a serious winning streak in 2017, and while their first film of 2018,Insidious: The Last Key, didn’t quite measure up to the creative or box office heights of last year’s big winners, it’s performing right on track for an Insidious sequel and laying track for another big year for the horror studio. Next up isTruth or Dare, an original, high-concept, youth-orientedslasher(a laHappy Death Day) that follows a group of friends who get stuckin a deadly game of truth or dare whensomething starts punishing the players break the rules. It’s a great concept, but also the kind that can be tricky to tie-up with a satisfying ending, However, the first trailer looked promising and theBlumhousehot streak has me hoping that we’re in for another crowd-pleasing horror win.
A Quiet Place
Release Date:April 6th
Director:John Krasinski
Cast:Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe
Surprise! The first on-screen team-up between real-life husband and wife duoJohn KrasinskiandEmily Bluntis a horror film, and one with a great hook.A Quiet Placecenters on a family who lives in utter silence in order to evade a mysterious threat that attacks at any sound, a clever concept rich with set-piece potential, but perhaps challenging to sustain in a full feature. All the same, it’ll be exciting to see how Krasinski utilizes the sense-stimulating concept in his first directorial go at genre filmmaking and I’m especially curious to hear what composerMarco Beltramidoes with the score in a film where the aural soundscape is so important.
God Particle
Release Date:April 20th
Director:Julius Onah
Cast:Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Brühl, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, Ziyi Zhang, David Oyelowo
Ever the cinematic showman,J.J. Abramspulled off a movie miracle back in 2016 when he surprised fans with10 Cloverfield Lane, an unexpected extension of the sci-fi universe introduced inCloverfield(which had a genius stroke of marketing in its own right). It was a thrilling return, but now, two years later, the next installment in the anticipated sci-fi anthology has been delayed and draped in mystery for so long, it’s hard to know what to make of iit. All we know aboutGod Particle, if that’s even still it’s name, is that it has a bangin' cast and follows a team of astronauts in space who discover a dangerous energy source known as the “God Particle”. The fact that the film has been shunted down the release calendar three times from its original February 2017 release date doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence, but it’s still exciting to finally get a better idea of what Abrams and Co. Have in mind for the growing Clover-verse.
