Top 15 Best Upcoming Horror Movies of 2026–2027 / Photo Courtesy of Horizon Dwellers (AI Assisted)
Synopsis: Horror fans have a lot to look forward to. A medieval werewolf film lands on Christmas Day 2026, a new Exorcist arrives in March 2027, and the Conjuring, Blair Witch and Mummy franchises all return before the end of next year. This guide covers fifteen scary movies on the way, with release dates, plots and the people behind them. Dates are US theatrical dates and may still move, so check before booking tickets. Here is what is worth putting on the calendar.
Horror has done rather well for itself lately. Sinners and Weapons packed cinemas and started arguments in the car park afterwards, and 2026 kept the lights low with Send Help, Backrooms and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Studios noticed, as studios do, usually a few years after the money first turned up.
The Top 15 Best Upcoming Horror Movies below stretch across the next year, starting on Christmas Day 2026 and ending in October 2027. The lineup holds a medieval werewolf, a fresh Exorcist, a masked killer on a riverbank and a mummy with a very long memory.
Table of Contents
1. Werwulf (December 25, 2026)
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Robert Eggers does not make cheerful films, and Werwulf looks set to keep the tradition going. The story is set in 13th-century England, where a mysterious creature stalks the foggy countryside and old folklore turns out to have teeth. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe lead the cast.
Eggers built his reputation on The Witch, The Lighthouse and Nosferatu, three films in which mud, weather and dread get roughly equal billing. Filming took place in Surrey’s Bourne Wood and on Dartmoor, which is as good a place as any to be chased by something hairy.
Another Christmas Day release for Eggers, and a rather dark present for the family.
- Director: Robert Eggers
- Release: December 25, 2026 (US), January 1, 2027 (UK)
- Distributor: Focus Features
2. Pendulum (January 1, 2027)
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Pendulum opens the year on New Year’s Day 2027, a bold date for a film about a holiday going wrong. Mark Heyman, who co-wrote Black Swan, makes his directing debut with it, and Darren Aronofsky is among the producers. Vertical Entertainment is releasing it.
Married couple Patrick and Abigail travel to a new-age retreat in New Mexico, hoping to heal after a traumatic event. Patrick is willing to do anything to help his wife, but he grows distrustful of the retreat’s enigmatic leader, played by Jacki Weaver, while Abigail falls under her spell. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Phoebe Dynevor and Norman Reedus also star.
Cult-style horror works because it starts out friendly. Everyone is calm, the tea is warm, and the exits are a little further away than they ought to be. The MPA has rated the film R.
- Release: January 1, 2027
- Writer-director: Mark Heyman (feature debut)
- Rating: R, for violence, sexuality, drug use, nudity and language
3. River (January 15, 2027)
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River is horror at its simplest. Three estranged siblings return to their rural hometown after their father’s death and set out on a remote river to scatter his ashes at his favorite spot. Jane Levy, Jessica Rothe and Max Mattern play the siblings.
Then the boat breaks down, the phones lose signal, and a masked figure appears on the shore. Dane DiLiegro plays the killer. The only way out is to put old grudges aside, which is difficult when someone is hunting the family.
Joshua Giuliano wrote and directed it as his feature debut. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness program, where early reviews were strong, and Universal and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster picked it up afterwards. It is rated R for strong bloody violence, some grisly images and language.
- Release: January 15, 2027
- Writer-director: Joshua Giuliano
- Rating: R
4. The Revenge of La Llorona (February 26, 2027)
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Latin American folklore has few ghosts as persistent as La Llorona, the weeping woman who haunts rivers and has never been known for her forgiving nature. The Revenge of La Llorona is a sequel to 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona, part of the wider Conjuring universe.
Jay Hernandez and Monica Raymund lead the cast, and Raymond Cruz returns as the curandero Rafael Olvera. The story follows a fractured family who must face their past and team up with their estranged grandfather to stop the Weeping Woman before she claims their children for good.
Santiago Menghini, who made No One Gets Out Alive, directs from a script by Sean Tretta, with James Wan and Gary Dauberman among the producers. Warner Bros. brought the release forward to February 26, 2027, earlier than its first date of April 9. The first film earned about $123 million worldwide on a $9 million budget.
- Release: February 26, 2027 (moved up from April 9, 2027)
- Director: Santiago Menghini
- Series: sequel to The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
5. The Exorcist: Martyrs (March 12, 2027)
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The original Exorcist spent fifty-odd years frightening people about beds, stairs and priests. Mike Flanagan’s The Exorcist: Martyrs takes the name in a new direction, with Scarlett Johansson as Detective Julie Miller, a hero who ended a satanic serial killer’s reign thirteen years earlier.
A new killer now writes her name in an altar boy’s blood in a church crypt. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Father William, who heard the old killer’s last confession, and Sasha Calle plays rookie detective Gina Restrepo. According to the film’s synopsis, the case points to a line of killers that includes H.H. Holmes and the Zodiac.
Earlier reports used the title Deceiver; Universal now calls it Martyrs. Diane Lane, Carla Gugino and John Leguizamo are also attached. It is part detective story and part religious nightmare.
- Release: March 12, 2027
- Filmmaker: Mike Flanagan
- Lead: Scarlett Johansson
6. Wolf Creek: Legacy (March 19, 2027)
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The Australian outback has plenty of room, and that is exactly the problem. Wolf Creek: Legacy sends a family of American tourists into the hunting grounds of Taylor, the franchise’s killer, with John Jarratt among the names attached.
The parents sacrifice themselves to save their children. The kids are then left alone, lost and hunted in the vast wilderness, where the nearest help is a very long walk away. Sean Lahiff is directing.
The series has always used distance as a weapon: no signal, no road, no witnesses. Fans of survival horror can expect plenty of heat and dust and very little cover.
- Release: March 19, 2027
- Director: Sean Lahiff
- Setting: the Australian outback
7. Monitor (April 16, 2027)
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Somebody has to watch the worst of the internet so that nobody else has to. Monitor follows Maggie, played by Brittany O’Grady, a content moderator whose job is to scrub the internet’s most harmful material. When a disturbing video surfaces, something begins to spread across screens, going after anyone who watches.
The film is the feature debut of writer-directors Matt Black and Ryan Polly, based on their own viral short. It premiered at SXSW in March 2026, where early reviews described a supernatural slasher in the spirit of A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Ring. Taz Skylar and Viveik Kalra are also in the cast.
Searchlight Pictures acquired the US rights and set the release for April 16, 2027. The idea has a nasty modern edge: the threat lives in the same device that carries the shopping lists and the group chats.
- Release: April 16, 2027 (Searchlight Pictures)
- Writer-directors: Matt Black, Ryan Polly
- Lead: Brittany O’Grady
8. Paranormal Activity (May 21, 2027)
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The new Paranormal Activity is still untitled, but it is officially the eighth film in the franchise. Ian Tuason, who made Undertone, directs for Paramount, and James Wan, Jason Blum and original creator Oren Peli are producing. Chase Yi, Sonia Mena and Maya da Costa are in the cast.
Plot details are under wraps, with one exception. Blumhouse said at its New York Comic Con panel that the film returns to the same house as the original, which was reported by Dread Central.
The first film was shot for about $15,000 and went on to earn roughly $194 million worldwide. Franchise fatigue is real, but so is the nervous pleasure of staring at a dark hallway for ten minutes while nothing happens. Then something does.
- Release: May 21, 2027
- Director: Ian Tuason
- Producers: James Wan, Jason Blum, Oren Peli
9. Skeletons (June 4, 2027)
Skeletons begins with a family that looks perfectly ordinary. A young boy slowly discovers that his beloved parents are hiding a disturbing secret about his mother’s true nature.
Brie Larson, John Goodman and Willa Fitzgerald are among the names attached, with J.J. Abrams also credited. Brian Duffield and JT Mollner appear on the credits list too.
Domestic secrets make strong horror because the fear has nowhere to go. Home is supposed to be the safe place, and the film takes that very seriously by making it the least safe one.
- Release: June 4, 2027
- Cast attached: Brie Larson, John Goodman, Willa Fitzgerald
- Premise: a boy and his mother’s secret
10. Possession (June 11, 2027)
A marriage ends, and then the wife starts acting very strangely. Possession is a remake of Andrzej Żuławski’s 1981 supernatural thriller, which starred Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani, and it follows a spy whose wife begins behaving in increasingly disturbing ways after she asks for a divorce.
Parker Finn, who directed Smile, is adapting it for Paramount. Callum Turner and Margaret Qualley play the husband and wife, with Diego Calva, Madeline Brewer, Emory Cohen, Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Paul Dano also in the cast. Their roles have not been revealed.
A spy knows how to read people, which makes it all the more uncomfortable when the person across the table stops being readable. Spy thriller and haunted-marriage chiller in one package.
- Release: June 11, 2027
- Filmmaker: Parker Finn
- Source: remake of the 1981 film Possession
11. Crawl 2 (July 16, 2027)
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The first Crawl put a hurricane, a flooded house and some very large alligators into a single afternoon, and audiences enjoyed every damp minute. Crawl 2 takes the reptiles to New York.
A hurricane has passed, the streets and sewers are flooded, and the alligators have taken the chance to explore the city. Alexandre Aja, who made the first film, is attached, with Mason Gooding and Emily Rudd in the cast.
Sewers, subway steps and flooded basements give a creature feature plenty of corners to hide in. A July release is well timed for a movie best enjoyed with something cold to drink and both feet off the floor.
- Release: July 16, 2027 (Paramount)
- Filmmaker attached: Alexandre Aja
- Cast: Mason Gooding, Emily Rudd
12. A Quiet Place Part III (July 30, 2027)
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A Quiet Place has taught audiences to eat popcorn very, very slowly. A Quiet Place Part III arrives July 30, 2027, in a world where sound-sensitive creatures have killed almost everyone. John Krasinski returns to write, direct and produce, after directing the first two films.
Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe are back, and Jack O’Connell, Jason Clarke and Katy O’Brian join the cast. Plot details have not been announced. Paramount moved the date back from July 9.
The earlier films proved that horror works well when the characters are afraid of making any noise at all. After the 2024 prequel A Quiet Place: Day One, this is the next main chapter in the Abbott family story.
- Release: July 30, 2027 (Paramount)
- Writer-director: John Krasinski
- Returning cast: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe
13. The Conjuring: First Communion (September 10, 2027)
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The Conjuring universe has been quietly collecting haunted houses for years, and the box office has rewarded it. The Conjuring: Last Rites earned about $487 million worldwide in 2025, a franchise best, so another chapter was only a matter of time.
The Conjuring: First Communion is a prequel set before the events of the first film. Garrett Wareing and Amanda Fix play the young Ed and Lorraine Warren, taking over from Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. Rodrigue Huart directs from a script by Richard Naing and Ian Goldberg, who also wrote Last Rites.
Plot details have not been shared. Fans can expect cold spots, creaking floors and at least one scene where somebody says the house feels wrong. That is the comfort of a franchise: it knows what it is and does it with polish.
- Release: September 10, 2027
- Director: Rodrigue Huart
- Cast: Garrett Wareing, Amanda Fix
14. Blair Witch (September 24, 2027)
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In 1999, a handful of student filmmakers went into the woods and started the found-footage craze. Nearly three decades later, Lionsgate is reviving The Blair Witch Project as a “new vision” meant to introduce the classic to a new generation. The film is still untitled.
Dylan Clark, who got his start on YouTube, is directing from a script by Chris Thomas Devlin. The original creators Eduardo Sánchez, Daniel Myrick and Gregg Hale, along with original cast members Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams, are executive producers, not returning on screen. Jason Blum and James Wan are among the producers.
The original earned nearly $250 million worldwide on a micro budget. The woods are the same, the sticks are presumably still arranged in odd shapes, and somebody will stand facing a corner. Plot details have not been revealed.
- Release: September 24, 2027 (Lionsgate)
- Director: Dylan Clark
- Status: untitled reboot of The Blair Witch Project
15. The Mummy: The Book of the Dead (October 15, 2027)
Photo Courtesy of Universal Pictures
The list closes with a reunion. The fourth Mummy adventure, long called The Mummy 4, now has its official title: The Mummy: The Book of the Dead. It arrives October 15, 2027, nearly nineteen years after Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and Universal moved it up from a May 2028 slot.
Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz play Rick and Evie O’Connell again, with John Hannah, Kevin J. O’Connor and Oded Fehr returning. Michael Johnston and Numan Acar join the cast. Plot details have not been revealed.
Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the duo behind the recent Scream films, direct from a script by David Coggeshall. Sand, scarabs and sarcasm are probably safe bets, and as an October release it makes a fitting finale for this list.
- Release: October 15, 2027
- Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
- Returning cast: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah
FAQs
Werwulf opens first, on December 25, 2026 in the US. Return of the Living Dead was once set for November 2026, but a rights dispute and a reported 2027 listing make its date uncertain, so it is not on this list.
Not quite. Studios move dates often: The Mummy: The Book of the Dead jumped forward from May 2028, and La Llorona moved up from April 2027. These are US theatrical dates, so check again closer to release.
Werwulf, Pendulum, River, Monitor and Skeletons appear to be original, non-franchise projects. Possession is a remake of a 1981 film, and the other nine continue or revive existing series.
Yes, it is in the works, and director Damien Leone has pointed to 2027. No release date is official, though. Leone has said announcements will come from him, so any October date is only a guess.
Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah return, with Oded Fehr and Kevin J. O’Connor also in the cast. Newcomers include Michael Johnston and Numan Acar. Radio Silence directs.
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