Throughout 2020’s nightmarish fever dream, we at least experienced some escapism through a handful of creepy new horror movies, from Elisabeth Moss‘s chilling encounters in The Invisible Man to Kristen Stewart‘s trippy sea-monster shenanigans in Underwater. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many slated movies were understandably put on the back-burner, including Candyman, A Quiet Place Part II, and Halloween Kills. Right now, it looks like we’ll be getting ample scares in 2021, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed and our holy water at the ready. Ahead, we’ve rounded up all the new horror movies set to come out in 2021, from the third Conjuring movie to a Fear Street adaptation!
The Devil's Light
In The Devil’s Light, Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers) has a calling for exorcising demons, but sisters aren’t allowed to exorcise demons in her institution. It’s only when she comes face to face with a new mysterious demonic force with a connection to her past that she’s able to fully realize her powers.
Release date: Jan. 8
Last Night in Soho
This psychological thriller features a young girl who loves fashion design and somehow finds herself going back in time to the ’60s. During this blast to the past, she meets her idol and discovers that things are not as they appear. The film features Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin McKenzie, and Matt Smith.
Release date: April 23
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
We’ve had quite a few movies with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, but this installation is technically the third in the Conjuring series. The upcoming film follows how a murder suspect, Arne Cheyenne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor), becomes the first person to claim demonic possession as a defense.
Release date: June 4
The Forever Purge
The final addition to the Purge franchise, The Forever Purge yet again brings us back to the annual Purge, during which all crimes are legal in America over the course of a 12-hour window. Among the cast are Ana de la Reguera, Josh Lucas, Tenoch Huerta, Leven Rambin, and more.
Release date: July 9
Old
We don’t know much about M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming thriller, which was created on 35 mm film instead of digital. We do know that the cast is stacked, featuring players such as Gael García Bernal, Alex Wolff, Eliza Scanlen, Thomasin McKenzie, and Ken Leung.
Release date: July 23
Don't Breathe 2
The Blind Man (Stephen Lang) from the horror thriller Don’t Breathe is back, and this time, he’s been hiding out in a remote cabin and raising a young orphan. Now, there’s a new group of criminals who take the girl, so he’s forced to leave his home to get her back safely.
Release date: Aug. 13
Deep Water
Real-life couple Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas portray a husband and wife who start to play dangerous games with each other in Deep Water. The erotic thriller is based on the Patricia Highsmith novel of the same name in which a couple’s open marriage takes a turn when some of the wife’s lovers go missing. Its supporting cast includes Tracy Letts, Finn Wittrock, Jacob Elordi, Lil Rel Howery, and more.
Release date: Aug. 13
Resident Evil
Set in 1998 Raccoon City, this upcoming film is a reboot of the Resident Evil franchise. It’ll be an origin story based on the first and second installations of the classic survival horror game series.
Release date: Sept. 9
Escape Room 2
Escape Room follows a group of six strangers who, as the title suggests, enter an escape room and find themselves in a deadly maze of games. The sequel picks up where Escape Room left us – with only two characters, Zoey (Taylor Russell) and Ben (Logan Miller), surviving.
Release date: TBA
Abruptio
Abruptio features James Marsters (aka Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Les Hackel, a man who gets an explosive device implanted into his neck. In order to stay alive, Les must commit terrible crimes while figuring out who’s manipulating him. The puppet-animated horror movie will also star Christopher McDonald, Jordan Peele, and Sid Haig.
Release date: TBA
Army of the Dead
After directing 2004’s Dawn of the Dead, Zack Snyder is back with Army of the Dead, which stars Dave Bautista and follows a group of mercenaries as they plan a heist during a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas. There’s more of the franchise to come, with a prequel feature and a spinoff anime series in the works.
Release date: TBA
Fear Street
R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series is getting a Netflix trilogy adaptation starring Gillian Jacobs. Similar to the Goosebumps books, the original YA novel series follows a group of teenagers in Shadyside, OH, who encounter creepy, often paranormal events, only Fear Street features more gore.
Release date: TBA
Malignant
Horror director James Wan (co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises and creator of the Conjuring franchise) has an original project that’s wrapped up and ready to go, with Annabelle Wallis, Jake Abel, George Young, and more in the cast. We don’t know much about the thriller, but Wan has confirmed on his official Facebook page that it’s not based on his graphic novel Malignant Man.
Release date: TBA
Wendell and Wild
Yearning for more Key & Peele? You’re in luck. Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key are back together in Wendell and Wild as the titular demon brothers who must go up against a nun and her two goth teen apprentices.
Release date: TBA
Wrong Turn
Alan B. McElroy’s Wrong Turn film series has a seventh movie coming into the fold. The reboot will follow friends who, while hiking the Appalachian Trail, encounter The Foundation, a community of people who have lived in the mountains for centuries. Stranger Things baddie Matthew Modine is starring.
Release date: TBA
