Attention horror fans! Find out what to watch and what to watch out for in 2026 courtesy of fellow horror aficionado Matt Glasby, author of The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film – available here.
Primate
Apes have been responsible for more onscreen carnage than [insert name of modishly naff horror director here]. New from Johannes Roberts (47 Metres Down) is this Cujo-with-a-chimp variant, which sets the simian carnage amid a girlie holiday to Hawaii, for some reason. Early reviews have been excellent, and the trailer absolutely rips.
SOULM8TE
A spin-off from the M3GAN films, this sci-fi-tinged erotic thriller about a grieving husband and his new wank doll has more pedigree than its plot suggests. Jason Blum and James Wan produce, while co-writer/director Kate Dolan made 2021’s intriguing You Are Not My Mother, so there’s hope for something a bit different.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
After the massive WTF-fest that was 28 Years Later, who knows what’s to come in this speedy zombie sequel, directed by Nia DaCosta (Candyman 2021)? More from Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), we’ll bet, a character so staggeringly misconceived he’s based on one of the UK’s most notorious paedophiles.
Return To Silent Hill
Overseen by visionary film-maker (their words not ours) Christoph Gans, director of the 2006 original—and the very silly Under Paris—this belated new entry in the videogame franchise stars Jeremy Irvine (Baghead) and Hannah Emily Anderson (Jigsaw). Expect plenty of atmospherics, but not a lot of plot.
Whistle
With a big nod to MR James (author of the classic story Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad) and It Follows, the latest from Corin Hardy (The Nun) concerns an Aztec death whistle that brings all kinds of, well, death when blown. Dafne Keen (Logan, TV’s His Dark Materials) is the unlucky sucker.
Scream 7
After much production turbulence—not to mention the appalling treatment of Melissa Barrera—everyone’s favourite smartarse slasher franchise returns. The big news? MVPs Kevin Williamson, Neve Campbell and Matthew Lillard are back, as is David Arquette, despite his character being dead. Meta gonna meta.
The Bride!
Following her excellent debut as writer-director, 2021’s The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal returns with a reworking of the 1935 classic Bride of Frankenstein. As if that wasn’t intriguing enough, the cast is off-the-charts: Jessie Buckley as the Bride, Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s monster, plus Annette Bening, Pénelope Cruz, Gyllenhaal’s similarly vowel-happy husband Peter Sarsgaard and her brother Jake.
They Will Kill You
The first release from Nocturna, set up the Muschietti siblings (who made IT), stars Zazie Beetz (Joker) as a woman who takes a housekeeping job at a mysterious NYC high-rise run by a satanic cult. Writer-director Kirill Sokolov described it as “a tonal mix of Ready or Not and The Raid”. Good luck with that.
Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come
Speaking of which, the Radio Silence team return with this weirdly timed sequel to their 2019 kill-the-rich hit. Samara Weaving is back as game night survivor Grace MacCaullay, heading an intriguing cast that includes Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood and David fucking Cronenberg.
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy
Not to be confused with the new Brendan Fraser/Rachel Weisz flick, this standalone effort stars Jack Reynor (Midsommar) and Leia Costa (Victoria). If it’s an attempt to lift the curse that has beset the character in recent years, it’s backfired. Universal demanded a title change and early test screenings have been poor.
Evil Dead Burn
Perhaps Cronin should have stayed with the Evil Dead franchise, which passes to Sébastien Vaniček (Infested) after 2023 excellent Evil Dead Rise, and will star Souheila Yacoub (Dune: Part 2). “I want people to feel physically drained when they leave the theatre,” Vaniček told Variety, “like they’ve been through an emotional and intense journey.”
Insidious 6
Despite the series peaking about halfway through 2010’s part one, there are two more Insidious films on the way. First out of the red door is this much-delayed effort, featuring Amelia Eve (The Haunting of Bly Manor) and series regular Linn Shaye, but there’s also Thread: An Insidious Tale, which stars Kumail Nanjiani and Mandy Moore as grieving parents who can travel through time.
Resident Evil
Another Resident Evil film—aren’t they all pony? Well, yes, but this one is being reimagined by Zach Cregger, who’s currently two for two with Barbarian and Weapons. Suffice to say, he’ll probably take a different route than Paul WS Anderson. Austin Abrams (the homeless guy from Weapons) and Paul Walter Hauser star.
Werwulf
Clever-clogs auteur Robert Eggers (The Witch, Nosferatu) returns with more uber-art-directed vintage horror. This time he has the wolfman in his sights, but will it be awesome like his earlier efforts, or overengineered like the later ones? Guess he must be eyeing the mummy next, right? Right?
