2018 has come to a close and with a brand new year, comes a brand new bunch of horror films to look forward to! Below is a selection of the films I am looking forward to the most in 2019! This may seem a bit late but I wanted to wait a couple of months in to the year for some more confirmed release dates and trailers to come out!
The New Mutants
The New Mutants was on my most anticipated horror films of 2018 list, but due to the film being extremely postponed to August 2019, I thought it made sense to add it to this list too – hopefully it won’t end up being on my most anticipated films of 2020 list!
As seen in Logan and Deadpool (both fantastic films), Fox has been incorporating a wider range of genre elements in to their X-men films. Following suit, The New Mutants has taken on a horror/psychological thriller genre style and as an X-men fan, I could not be more excited to see how this turns out. The New Mutants has a strong lead cast consisting of Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Split), Masie Williams (Game of Thrones) and Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) has myself and many others very excited!
Due to be released August 2nd!
IT: Chapter 2
IT: Chapter 1 was one of my favourite films of 2017, so I can’t wait to see what the sequel brings to the table. The IT mini-series is a cherished favourite of mine, however the second half which focuses on the adults versions of the losers club holds up pretty badly, especially in comparison to the child focused portion. Considering how great the 2017 adaption was, I can’t wait to see what they do with the source material and more importantly, what they do with the scare factor!
Due to be released September 6th!
3 From Hell
The third and instalment in Rob Zombie’s much loved (by some anyway, including myself) House of 1000 Corpses/The Devil’s Rejects franchise. I absolutely love the first two films and the vast majority of Zombie’s work, both movies and music, and I can’t wait to see what the Firefly clan do next! Sid Haig, Sheri Moon Zombie and Bill Moseley have knocked it out of the park with these characters so far, here’s hoping they bring that sinister, dark magic yet again!
No release date as of yet, but it is expected to be released later this year!
Pet Sematary
As a big Stephen King fan, I personally found the original film had a fair bit to be desired, with a poor lead performance being the made factor that dragged it down, I just couldn’t care for the father of the film when he was so clearly incompetent, however, with that being said, the original is not with out it’s charm! So I was very intrigued to see that in this day and age where Stephen King adaptions are being pumped out like crazy, to see that a film with such a cult following was being remade. When the trailer dropped I was immediately interested with so many brilliant pieces of imagery as well as some very strong casting, John Lithgow as Jug in particular has me very excited to see how this one turns out!
Due to be released April 5th!
Midsommar
Ari Aster has blown me away time and time again with his modern day masterpiece ‘Hereditary’, (which topped my favourite films of 2018 list) as well as with his brilliant short films ‘The Strange Thing About The Johnsons’ and ‘Munchausen’. So when it was announced that he would be reuniting with production company A24 to bring his next piece of traumatising art to the big screen, I knew I was in for another amazingly horrific experience! The trailer depicts some of the most jaw droppingly gorgeous shots ever put in a horror film, with wide open fields in broad daylight that contrast starkly with the dark and oppressive tone the film’s trailer is giving off. I really can’t wait for this one!
Due to be released August 16th!
MA
This trailer for ‘MA’ had me hooked as soon as I saw it. Octavia Spencer looks like she is having the time of her life, playing a cold and manipulative antagonist in this eerie horror/thriller. The film appears to be filled with great characters and acting (which is to be expected with Spencer in the main villainous role) as well as a great deal of tension and I can only assume some brilliant twists and turns are due to take place as well!
Due to be released May 31st!
US
Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’ was my favourite film of 2017 and I have been eagerly awaiting his next venture in to the horror genre and from what has been show of his next film ‘Us’, I will not be disappointed! The film appears to be full of grizzly and unsettling imagery and fantastic performances all around. The overwhelming sense of unease and paranoia is almost over powering just from the trailer alone so I can’t wait to witness ‘Us’ in just a couple of weeks time, as of writing this!
Due to be released March 22nd!
Brightburn
For anyone who has seen the trailer for this film, I would agree that it can basically be summed up as ‘what if Superman was evil’? This is not a negative in anyway in my eyes as it isn’t something that has been delved into in film form as far as I am aware. Couple that with awesome visuals such as the one above, input coming from three of the Gunn brothers (James Gunn of Slither and Guardians of The Galaxy fame being the best known of the three, who is serving as producer) as well as a great cast including Elizabeth Banks and of course, the terrifying idea of an unstoppable, all powerful being that wants to kill everyone and everything. What is there not to be excited about?
Due to be released May 24th!
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
There has been a great deal of hype surrounding the release of the ‘Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark’ film adaption for a while now, and as each mini-trailer revealed a selection of hellish and terrifying beasts, ghosts and ghouls, I would say that hype was justified. Guillermo Del Toro acting as producer gets me very excited as the man has such an eye for horror with a great flair for practical creature designs and in a film all about a whole host of horrific creatures, what could be better? Couple this with André Øvredal (‘The Autopsy of Jane Doe’ and Troll Hunter’) as director and we are in for one hell of a ride!
Due to be released August 9th!
Doctor Sleep
Now this is going to be very interesting! A sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ starring Ewan McGregor as an adult Danny Torrence, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name and written and directed by the modern day horror movie master Michael Flanagan (‘The Haunting of Hill House’, ‘Hush’, ‘Oculus’, ‘Ouija: Origin of Evil’ and ‘Gerald’s Game’ to name but a few!). Every aspect of this film so far has me unbelievably excited, that the only real issue I see is myself having to keep my expectations in check so don’t over hype myself! But seriously, how great does all of that sound?
Due to be released October 31st!
Honourable Mentions
With my top 10 picks for this year (that we know are coming out) laid out above, I thought I would take the time to mention just a few other films that I am looking forward to seeing this year!
Glass, Happy Death Day 2U & Velvet Buzzsaw – These were both great films, but didn’t make the list because by the time I finished this post, I had already seen these movies!
The Curse of La Llorna – An eerie horror tale based on an equally unnerving Mexican urban legend!
Hellboy – An action/horror hybrid based on one of my all time favourite comic book series’. While I am excited to see this, my love for the Guillermo Del Toro Hellboy films has me somewhat biased!
The Prodigy – Much like Brightburn, we have an creepy child that is not as innocent as he appears, but how? That I do not know, but I am looking forward to finding out!
Zombieland: Double Tap – The Long awaited sequel to 2009’s horror comedy classic!
If you have made it this far, thank you so much for reading! If I missed any horror films that you are excited about, let me know in the comments and let’s geek out about them!
Stay Creepy!
Movie Night Massacre 