Autumn may be around the corner, but the summer isn’t going to end without a bang. August is packing a great variety of horror, covering every nightmare one can imagine.
When a journalist returns to her ancestral home to research a story, a group of locals capture her and accuse her of being the devil. Will she escape? Why have these locals assumed that she is the devil? You’ll have to watch The Old Ways to find out when it releases on August 5th via Netflix.
Ever been bitten by a strange creature and then start to have your body change in unsettling ways? No? Lucky you then. That scenario however is the cursed fate of our protagonist in Teddy, releasing on Shudder August 5th.
As we get older, rebellion is a natural part of life. We hang out with our friends more, stay out later, dig a hole and trap our family in there (wait what?). Well the latter is more so in John’s case. A psychological thriller that also acts as a coming-of-age story, John And The Hole follows the titular thirteen year old having some… minor issues with his family. You can find the film On Demand and in theatres August 6th.
‘The Last Matinee’
Bloody Disgusting once again joins forces with Dark Star Pictures to bring you a new film of chilling delight! The Last Matinee centers around a group of people catching the last showing of a horror movie in a small town theatre; but these moviegoers won’t get to enjoy their popcorn in peace with a murderer on the loose. This Neo-Giallo slasher looks to thrill viewers with extravagant and brutal violence, all while delivering an intriguing setting and atmosphere. The Last Matinee arrives in cinemas August 6th (on Digital HD and VOD August 24th).
Also on August 6th, Netflix unleashes a bloodsucking locusts in the French horror movie The Swarm, wherein a mother raising locusts realizes they have a taste for human blood.
Some folks have trust issues that cause barriers in their relationships. For one young woman who is staying in an isolated cabin, she starts to believe her best friend is stealing her blood. I’m sure things will work out between them just swell. Bleed With Me arrives on Shudder August 10th.
The slasher series is back with brand new fourth season “Slasher: Flesh & Blood,” coming to Shudder on August 12th. The new season follows a wealthy but dysfunctional family gathering for a reunion on a secluded island. Their old wounds and competitive rivalries flare up when the family realizes a masked killer is on the island, intent on cruelly picking them off one by one.
From Cinedigm and Fathom Events, The Stairs is coming to select theaters for one night only on August 12th, with John Schneider (The Dukes of Hazzard) and Academy Award® nominee Kathleen Quinlan (Apollo 13) leading the cast. “In 1997, a young boy is out hunting with his grandfather when he stumbles upon a mysterious staircase deep in the forest. The subsequent disappearance leaves locals baffled as to the fate of the wayward pair. Twenty years later, a group of hikers set off on an ambitious trail, taking them deep into a secluded stretch of woods.”
‘Brand New Cherry Flavor’
Taking place in the ‘90s of Los Angeles, Lisa is an aspiring film director. When a horrible act is done, she sets out on a path for revenge – though, that revenge comes with a supernatural twist. The psychological madness of Brand New Cherry Flavor begins August 13th via Netflix.
Stephen Lang’s Blind Man comes back to theaters on Friday, August 13th, with Don’t Breathe 2 continuing the character’s storyline. He has been hiding out for years in an isolated cabin and has taken in and raised a young girl orphaned from a house fire, but when a group of home invaders shows up, it’s back to business as usual for the Blind Man.
The new movie from Ju-on director Takashi Shimizu, Howling Village will also release on August 13th, coming to select theaters ahead of an On Demand release on August 17th. In Howling Village, “After her brother goes missing, Kanade, a young psychologist visits his last known location, an infamous haunted and cursed site known as ‘Howling Village’ to investigate his disappearance. Her investigation reveals that the village’s mysteries are connected to her family and works to uncover her family’s dark history.”
With visions of a woman in black appearing to her, a woman finds herself driven to kill. Taking her blade into the night, she plunges it into her victims, satiating its need for blood. Girl With A Straight Razor is out August 17th via Blu-Ray, DVD, and VOD.
Social media star Mia finds herself dragged into a variety of twisted games in order to save her friends’ lives. Why is she the target of such cruel actions? Who is doing this to her and her friends? All will be revealed in Shook when it comes to Shudder on August 17th.
‘Demonic’
Neil Blomkamp of District 9 and Elysium returns with his next feature, Demonic. A young woman seeks to understand unsettling details about her distant mother by entering a simulation – only to accidently unleash horrifying demons. Demonic not only looks to be another venture into Blomkamp’s sci-fi genius, but an unnerving work of horror. The film releases in theatres August 20th, as well as on Digital and VOD.
A woman relives the trauma of her past when a serial killer – who happened to have kidnapped her as a child – escapes prison. It is only a matter of time until the killer finds The Girl Who Got Away. This tense thriller makes its way onto VOD and in theatres August 20th.
After a meteor strikes a small town, the environment turns on its inhabitants, killing anyone who dares walk upon the land. That said, it appears the townsfolk don’t stay permanently dead. Risen arrives on VOD August 20th.
Horror fans can also enter The Night House on August 20, with David Bruckner’s new movie coming to theaters nationwide. The Night House follows a widow (Rebecca Hall) who begins to uncover her recently deceased husband’s disturbing secrets, and it was written by Ben Collins & Luke Piotrowski (Super Dark Times, Hellraiser, SiREN).
‘The Night House’
Based on the short story Jerusalem’s Lot by Stephen King, Chapelwaite features Adrian Brody in a chilling mystery drama. After losing his wife, a captain takes his family to a small Maine town where they find themselves threatened by a presence not of this world. You can find the show on Epix starting August 22nd.
Also on August 22nd, AMC kicks off the eleventh and final season of “The Walking Dead.” The long-running series will be ending with an expanded two-year eleventh season that will span 24 episodes, bringing the hit zombie series to an end sometime in 2022.
Ahead of the second season, anime film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf comes to Netflix on August 23rd. “Before Geralt, there was his mentor Vesemir — a swashbuckling young witcher who escaped a life of poverty to slay monsters for coins. But when a strange new monster begins terrorizing a politically fraught kingdom, Vesemir finds himself on a frightening adventure that forces him to confront the demons of his past.”
American Horror Story: Double Feature looks to spice up the formula for the series, offering its story in two parts. Part one is titled Red Tide, with Part two titled Death Valley. The recent trailer provides some hints as to what to expect – shark people and aliens it seems – but not much as far as actual plot details. That said, the two-part concept as separate creature features looks intriguing as hell! The show kicks off August 25th on FX (each episode to then appear on Hulu the following day).
“American Horror Story: Double Feature”
The next day, Shudder unleashes new original body-horror movie Mosquito State on August 26th. “Isolated in his austere penthouse overlooking Central Park, obsessive Wall Street data analyst Richard Boca (Beau Knapp) sees ominous patterns: His computer models are behaving erratically, as are the swarms of mosquitos breeding in his apartment, an infestation that attends his psychological meltdown.”
One man must go through absolute hell to save his terminally ill daughter. Vicious self-mutilation, hitmen and demonic forces make for the horrors that audiences will experience in Behemoth when it hits Digital August 27th.
And of course, the month of horror ends on a high note with Nia DaCosta’s Candyman, finally coming to theaters on August 27th. This “spiritual sequel” to the original classic was co-written by Jordan Peele, and it’s set to give rise to a whole new Candyman. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman) stars in the new movie as Anthony McCoy (that name should sound familiar to fans of the original classic, we’ll say that much), who investigates the legend of Candyman and seems to find himself becoming the latest central figure in the mythology.
‘Candyman’