New Year, More Horror 2024
It’s not a shock that there’s a horror movie lineup for the upcoming year, but what is surprising is how good it looks. Maybe it’s just me but for a while there it seemed like really, genuinely good new horror movies came by less and less frequently but the last few years have broken that curse and 2024 is looking strong as well.
For this post I’ve only included the relatively big horror drops through midsummer but I plan to post about more 2024 releases as the year gets going.
HORROR MOVIES COMING OUT IN 2024
1. Night Swim - in theaters January 5, 2024
An evil spirit haunting a residential pool terrorizes and tries to murder unsuspecting swimmers.
Directed by Bryce McGuire, Written by Bryce McGuire and Rod Blackhurst
Starring Wyatt Russell as Ray, Kerry Condon as Eve, and Amelie Hoeferle as Izzy
Childhood summers spent in my grandma’s in-ground pool have prepared me for this niche fear. Despite some concerns that there won’t be a movie’s worth of story here I’m excited to see this concept play out and am pleasantly surprised by the high budget production value in the trailer.
2. Imaginary - in theaters March 8, 2024
After returning to her childhood home a woman finds that her imaginary friend hadn’t been imaginary afterall and is Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey pissed that she left.
Directed by Jeff Wadlow, Written by Greg Erb, Bryce McGuire, and Jason Oremland
Starring Tom Payne as Max, DeWanda Wise as Jessica, and Veronica Falcon as Dr. Alana Soto
Many of us had imaginary friends in childhood and I can’t be the only one that has thought what would happen if they had been real. I’m not sure what I think about this one quite yet and have the same concern as Night Swim, that there might not be enough there for a full movie.
3. Lisa Frankenstein - in theaters February 9, 2024
A teen love story mashup between Frankenstein, Heathers, and The Loved Ones this Diablo Cody written movie is about a girl who brings her crush back to life and the two go on a journey of love and sourcing missing bodyparts.
Directed by Zelda Williams, Written by Diablo Cody
Starring Kathryn Newton, Liza Soberano, and Jenna Davis
I love Diablo Cody, I love turning coming of age tropes of their head, I love feminine rage (and the journey out of naivety), and I love spunky, weird comedy that is so good you don’t even realize it upon first watch–so I am definitely looking forward to watching this.
4. Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 - releases February 16, 2024
Currently no plot released; Winnie-the-Pooh and his band of other abandoned imaginary friends stalk the forests outside of London after being abandoned by Christopher Robin when he went off to college is the premise of the first movie.
Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, Written by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, Matt Leslie, and A.A. Milne; Starring Scott Chambers, Ryan Oliva, and Tallulah Evans
I’m not stoked about this one, though I do think they made some big changes with the mask for Winnie-the-Pooh that I think could help but overall I’m suspending my thoughts until I see it.
5. The First Omen - releases on April 5, 2024
After starting a life of devotion to the church in Rome an American woman begins to question her faith amid discovering darks, nefarious actions with the intent of creating the antichrist. A prequel to the 1976 movie The Omen, this is a highly anticipated release.
Directed by Arkasha Stevenson, Written by Tim Smith, Arkasha Stevenson, and Keith Thomas; Starring Bill Nighy, Ralph Ineson, and Nell Tiger Free
Lately exorcism movies and really any movie that relies on our respect of religion and the braking of that respect for the true scares hasn’t hit for me. It’s entirely possible that my lack of excitement for this is more of a me-thing than a movie-thing.
6. Horroscope - releases on May 10, 2024 or June 28, 2024 (not official)
College friends have their horoscopes read and then begin to die in ways similar to those horoscopes and attempt to change the outcomes of their fates.
Directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg, Written by Nicholas Adams, Spenser Cohen, & Anna Halberg; Starring Humberly Gonzalez, Avantika, and Jacob Batalon
Two things I love, horror and horoscopes, combined into a movie with an excitingly good cast including Jacob Batalon from Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming adaptation. This movie is in post-production and doesn’t have a trailer yet so it’s nearly impossible to know if this is looking like more of a hit or a miss but it’s a fun thing to see on the distant horizon.
7. The Strangers: Chapter 1 - releases on May 17, 2024
The long anticipated third installment for The Strangers and it’s a prequel. A young couple seeking a new life drive cross-country to Oregon where their car breaks down forcing them to stay in a secluded Air BnB. While there three masked strangers arrive to terrorize the couple.
Directed by Renny Harlin, Written by Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, and Amber Loutfi; Starring Madeline Petsch, Rachel Shenton, and Gabriel Basso
It has always been a shame that there’s only two other movies in The Strangers franchise, one that came out in 2008 and one in 2018, almost six years ago now. I’m looking forward to this coming out especially with Madeline Petsch as the lead.
8. The Watchers - releases on June 7, 2024
An artist in her late 20’s becomes stranded in the Ireland forest and the shelter she finds is actually a place of captivity where alongside three strangers she’s watched and stalked every night.
Directed by Ishana Shyamalan, Written by Ishana Shyamalan and A.M. Shine
Starring Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, and Olwen Fouere
Dakota Fanning can do little wrong as far as I’m concerned so I’m automatically adding this to my Watch List but the added setting of Ireland and the mystery surrounding who the Watchers are also have me intrigued and planning to go see this when it comes out.
9. A Quiet Place: Day One - releases on June 28, 2024
Currently the plot is underwraps and no trailer is out. The movie franchise is about a family trying to survive in a creature infested post-apocalyptic world where they must be silent in order to stay undetected.
Directed by Michael Sarnoski, Written by Michael Sarnoski, John Krasinski, and Bryan Woods; Starring Djimon Hounsou, Alex Wolff, and Lupita Nyong’o
I’m not a huge fan of this franchise, while I think they are good movie this style isn’t my style so I watch just to be part of the conversation but I’m more stoked to see the absolutely fire cast than to find out exactly how the blind creatures took over the world.
10. Speak No Evil - releases on August 9, 2024
A remake of the 2022 movie with the same title, a family is invited to spend a weekend vacationing with friends in a country house. Unfortunately things take a turn for the worst as the vacation devolves into a nightmare.
Directed by James Watkins, Written by Christian Tafdrup, Mads Tafdrup and James Watkins; Starring Mackenzie Davis, James McAvoy, and Scott McNairy
Definitely interested after seeing what the 2022 one is and wondering what will be changed and adapted in this remake since it’s coming out so closely following the original. I’m anticipating it’s the American version of the Danish movie rather than a completely parred down and rebuilt remake however which is still interesting and something to look forward to for summer time.