The 20 most anticipated horror movies of 2026

Strap in for the quickfire follow-up to a Danny Boyle threequel that left everyone’s jaws on the floor with a final scene intro for Jack O’Connell’s Jimmy Savile-alike cult leader Sir Jimmy Crystal. Boyle passes the torch to Candyman’s Nia DaCosta and it’ll be fascinating to see how she handles that archness, and discover what an American filmmaker brings to a franchise that, at its heart, has been a exploration of Englishness in extremis.

In cinemas Jan 16

The knock on the Silent Hill movies is that they’re visually impressive but narratively incoherent. Who knows if the third film will buck that friend, but there’s obviously still an audience for them regardless. Adapting its story from the second edition of the video on which the series is based, this sequel follows a man searching for a missed romantic connection in the titular town, only to find strange, disturbing phenomena afoot.

In cinemas worldwide Jan 23

We’ve had lions, sharks, wolves, alligators and spiders. Now it’s the turn of – checks notes – the chimpanzee to turn into a human-hunting killing machine in this Hawaii-set monster movie. A group of teenage girls must find a way to survive when their previously loveable chimp turns savagely rabid and starts bumping them off one by one. We’re calling it Deep Blue Flea. 

In cinemas Jan 30

Renny Harlin’s horror trilogy has struggled to find an audience even among dedicated horrorheads over its first two instalments. It’s probably too late in the day to turn the tide of indifference but Harlin and co will be hoping to go out strongly with a final splurge of bloody vengeance. Madelaine Petsch is back as the scream queen dealing with those masked killers. 

In cinemas Feb 6

He was dead and buried but now he’s back from beyond the grave. Yes, Luc Besson has a new Dracula movie out this year and it looks like it’ll be upping the action on the mythical neck-biter. Otherworldly Nitram star Caleb Landry Jones plays the 15th century prince cursed with eternal life, while Christoph Waltz completes a Frankenstein/Dracula double as the priest sworn to bring down the toothy Transylvanian. 

In cinemas Feb 6

Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp adapts his own sci-fi novel about a parasitic fungus that runs amok in a storage unit after escaping a military base. Stranger Things’ Joe Keery, who brings experience with military experiments gone wrong, and Smile’s Sosie Bacon must avoid infection from the mind-controlling goop. Liam Neeson’s bioterror veteran brings growly expertise and some comic relief to this Twilight Zone scenario. 

In cinemas Feb 13

The Nun’s Corin Hardy takes a leaf out of The Exorcist and Talk To Me’s book of frights with an ancient artefact that brings ruin to a group of high-schoolers who stumble upon it. In a devilish and Final Destination-y twist on the format, this one is a whistle that summons the future death of anyone who blows on it. Yellowjackets’ Sophie Nélisse and Logan’s Dafne Keen will be among those hoping it’s not them.

In UK cinemas Feb 13

After years working in Hollywood, mostly as a producer and agent, Gavin Polone makes his big-screen directorial debut with a movie whose title does not mislead. When her husband is murdered, a midwest cop (Georgina Campbell) doggedly tracks the killer, who turns out to be quite psycho indeed. It looks exceedingly Longlegs-coded, but Malcolm McDowell is in the cast, and that dude can make anything creepy just by association.

In cinemas Feb 20

Yep, the ‘90s slasher franchise is still screamin’ after all these years. How much juice could it possibly have left? Enough to draw back original star Neve Campbell, who returns in time to see her daughter (Isabel May) stalked by a fresh Ghostface Killer. Former series villains Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley are also in the cast, potentially taking on Hannibal Lecter roles helping Sidney figure out how to find and stop the new murderer on the block.

In cinemas Feb 27

Maggie Gyllenhaal trades Elena Ferrante for Mary Shelley in her sophomore directorial effort, a monster movie musical set in Al Capone’s Chicago based on James Whale’s The Bride of Frankenstein from 1935. That enough of a change-up for you? It seems more self-consciously campy than scary – and closer to Dick Tracy than Guillermo Del Toro – but it looks like a wild ride worth taking, particularly with Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale portraying something like an undead Bonnie and Clyde.

In cinemas Mar 6

Samara Weaving’s bride-to-be turned total badass in Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s deliciously nasty wedding-spoitation film. But having laid waste to her psychotic in-laws, she’s now forced into a Succession-meets-Squid Game scenario in which the world’s wealthiest people must hunt her down or risk losing their fortunes. With Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood and – wait for it – David Cronenberg joining the fray, it should be gory fun.

In cinemas Apr 10

The cataclysmic failure of the Tom Cruise-fronted The Mummy was the first and final nail in the coffin for Universal’s Dark Universe, a planned franchise of classic monsters. Blumhouse and Warner Bros.’s new riff on the bandaged monster is both unconnected and likely to be a lot scarier and horror-forward than that 2017 misfire – especially with Evil Dead Rise’s Lee Cronin behind the camera. Jack Reynor and Victoria’s Laia Costa star.

In cinemas Apr 17

Irish filmmaker Damian Mc Carthy broke through in 2024 with Oddity, a taut supernatural revenge story with a folk-horror atmosphere. Now, he’s landed a big-name star for his followup in Adam Scott, playing an author who travels to West Cork to spread his parents’ ashes and finds himself ensconced in some eerie happenings. The trailer alone contains enough pure-grade nightmare fuel by itself. That mask that looks like a hybrid of late-stage Michael Jackson and a rabbit? Get out of here!

In cinemas May 6

The comedy-to-horror pipeline produces another name to watch: former sketch comic Curry Barker, whose debut feature won raves out of last year’s Toronto Film Festival. A lonely record store clerk (Michael Johnston) uses a wish-granting toy to make his crush (Inde Navarrette) fall in love with him, a gambit that ends up working a bit too well. Hardcore horror-heads might already know Barker from his viral 2024 short Milk and Serial, but it looks like he could be embarking on a Zach Cregger-like trajectory.

In cinemas May 15

A fresh page is turned on the Necronomicon with this latest reboot for Sam Raimi’s OG video nasty, the sixth entry in the franchise. It’s come a long way since those scrappy, guerilla-style days in the woods of Tennessee: Bruce Campbell is long gone and another new batch of victims step in to face the legends of the viscera-lusting dead. Infested director Sébastien Vaniček takes the reins this time.

Out worldwide Jul 24

The Insidious series finally finished with Patrick Wilson and family in 2023’s The Red Door, but that doesn’t mean the franchise is done. The sixth film travels deeper into the lore of ‘the Further’, a supernatural dimension populated by ghosts and demons desperate to use human hosts to cross over into the physical world. Nope’s Brandon Perea joins the cast. 

In cinemas worldwide Aug 21

Think of it as Sharknado without the ’nado, or Crawl minus the crocs. Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola, mastermind of the Nazi-zombie satire Dead Snow, directs this year’s token shark survival thriller, about a hurricane that brings hordes of hungry death-fish swimming into a flooded coastal town. It opens on July 4 weekend, famously when Jaws was unleashed on the world – a hilariously ballsy move.    

In cinemas Jul 3

Normally, the reboot of a schlocky video game franchise wouldn’t warrant much excitement, but there’s one big reason to anticipate the newest Resident Evil movie: it’s being helmed by Weapons and Barbarian mastermind Zach Cregger. No word on plot, but Cregger is promising a wholly original story set in the gory, zombie-infested world of the game, with Weapons standout Austin Abrams set to star. At this point, Cregger’s earned our trust, so consider us cautiously optimistic.  

In cinemas Sep 18 

Yet another James Wan production, which means it’s guaranteed to spin off into a zillion-dollar franchise. All right, maybe not, but this child-possession flick has an impressive pedigree behind it, with a script from Succession alum Nathan Elston, based on a book by Bird Box author Josh Malerman, and starring roles from Jessica Chastain and Karen Allen. A young girl in a household being fractured by divorce is haunted by an entity she refers to as ‘other mommy’ – that phrasing alone is shiver-inducing.

In cinemas Oct 9

Universal’s attempt to revive its stable of classic movie monsters may have stumbled out the gate, but Robert Eggers is doing his best to fill the void. Following up his successful remake of Nosferatu, the director is now helming a werewolf tale, albeit in his signature antiquarian style, with a setting in the 13th century English moorlands. Lily Rose-Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson – all principal cast members in Nosferatu – are on board.

Out in US theatres Dec 25