Are you ready for a Summer of Screams?
Our Summer 2023 Horror Preview is here! The 2023 slate of horror releases looks packed. Tentpole titles like The Boogeyman, Insidious: The Red Door, Talk to Me, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, and more aim to set the box office ablaze. And that’s all nothing compared to the volume of genre offerings heading to streaming, Digital, and VOD.
There’s enough horror here to keep us busy until the Halloween season. It’s a densely packed slate this summer, and trust us: this is only the tip of the iceberg for what’s ahead.
Here’s what is coming soon to help you prepare!
The Ancestral – May 2 (SCREAMBOX)
This haunter hails from the director of Furie and The Princess, Le-Van Kiet. And it’s NOW STREAMING on SCREAMBOX.
In the film, “After suffering a family tragedy, a widower moves his two daughters to a centuries-old ancestral home. When both daughters fall prey to sleep paralysis and night terrors, their father seeks the help of a local psychologist. These chilling secrets and frightening visions eventually prove that not everything is what it seems in the old family house.”
Influencer – May 26 (Shudder)
A social media influencer finds more than she bargained for when she meets a free-spirited stranger while backpacking in Thailand. Co-written and directed by Kurtis David Harder, the mind behind 2019’s Spiral, Influencer will likely come with a hefty dose of dread.
The Wrath of Becky – May 26 (Theaters)
Lulu Wilson’s Becky is back and more violent than ever. Which is terrible news for the fascist organization that tries to mess with her. Writer/Directors Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote recalibrate the tone straightaway with a humorous reintroduction to the title character (our review), delivering comic book-style bloodletting.
The Boogeyman – June 2 (Theaters)
Host director Rob Savage helms the adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, which means we can expect chilling scares. “Yellowjackets” star Sophie Thatcher leads as high school student Sadie, who’s forced to contend with a supernatural entity that preys on suffering.
Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story – June 6 (SCREAMBOX, Digital)
From his iconic role as Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street films to getting behind the camera with 976-EVIL, SCREAMBOX is celebrating the illustrious career of horror legend Robert Englund. Look for a slew of notable talking heads commemorating Englund. The doc is co-directed by Gary Smart and Christopher Griffiths (known for Pennywise: The Story of IT and You’re So Cool, Brewster! The Story of Fright Night) and written by Neil Morris and Smart.
The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster – June 9 (VOD, Digital)
Bomani J. Story’s feature debut gives a righteous reinterpretation of the mad scientist archetype introduced in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Here the mad scientist is a teen, Vicaria (Laya DeLeon Hayes), determined to cure death; but it comes with unexpected new horrors.
Brooklyn 45 – June 9 (Shudder)
Ted Geoghegan (Mohawk, We Are Still Here) is back this year with Shudder’s supernatural horror movie Brooklyn 45. Five military vets gather in a New York brownstone on December 27, 1945, to catch up over drinks, but an impromptu séance derails everything.
The Blackening – June 16 (Theaters)
The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: If a horror movie’s entire cast is Black, who dies first? Our review out of TIFF said of this slasher comedy, “The humour is successful, the violence is fun and frequently cheeky, and the characters are loveable.”
New Religion – June 20 (SCREAMBOX)
For body horror lovers: New Religion is a Japanese surrealist body horror film written and directed by Keishi Kondo. A mother becomes a call girl after her daughter’s death and soon discovers that every photograph of her body brings her closer to her daughter’s spirit. She must decide how far she will go to reconnect with her daughter.
Quicksand – June 23 (Shudder)
An American couple on the brink of divorce travel to Colombia for a work conference. The couple gets caught in a storm that leaves them trapped in a pit of quicksand. The elements, venomous snakes, and more ensure a brutal fight for survival.
Insidious: The Red Door – July 7 (Theaters)
The Lambert family is back in the fifth installment of the Insidious franchise. Josh (Patrick Wilson) and a college-aged Dalton (Ty Simpkins) must go deeper into The Further than ever before. The Red Door brings the franchise full circle for Wilson, who also directed this entry.
We Might Hurt Each Other – July 11 (SCREAMBOX)
This Friday the 13th inspired slasher “follows a group of privileged high school classmates. After these classmates destroy a set of life-size wooden statues during a wild graduation party, a mysterious masked killer begins picking the group off one by one.” The Lithuanian teen horror movie, formerly titled Pensive, was directed by Jonas Trukanas and stars Gabija Bargailaite (Pilgrims).
The Flood – July 14 (VOD, Digital)
This siege thriller pits prisoners and guards against aggressive alligators during a flood. “After a massive hurricane floods Louisiana, it unleashes a threat even deadlier than the rising water level: a relentless horde of giant hungry alligators. When a group of in-transit prisoners and their security guards seek shelter in a local prison, they become prey for the flesh-eating attackers. To survive, the prisoners and guards must fight together in this action-thriller packed with slithery scares and jaw-clenching suspense.”
Cobweb – July 21 (Theaters)
Netflix’s “Marianne” may be no more, but creator Samuel Bodin will return to the genre with Lionsgate’s horror movie Cobweb. The plot follows a little boy unsettled by constant tapping sounds and eventually comes to believe his parents are harboring a dangerous secret. Lizzy Caplan (“Castle Rock”) and Antony Starr (“The Boys”) lead the cast. If Bodin brings the same level of scare crafting as he did with “Marianne,” this could be this summer’s sleeper hit.
Haunted Mansion – July 28 (Theaters)
A mom and her son discover their new home in New Orleans comes with 999 happy haunts in this new live-action adaptation of Disney’s beloved dark ride. LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Rosario Dawson, and Danny DeVito star, with Jamie Lee Curtis as Madame Leota and Jared Leto as the Hatbox Ghost. Justin Simien (Dear White People, Bad Hair) directs the new vision.
Talk to Me – July 28 (Theaters)
Move over Ouija boards; A24 has a new occult party game it wants you to play. Teens learn the hard way not to mess with the dead when a party game involving an embalmed hand goes awry. In my review from Sundance, I raved: “There’s a refreshing ruthlessness to this cautionary tale that plays like a surge of adrenaline; it makes for one hell of an introduction to Danny and Michael Philippou’s brand of horror.”
Sympathy for the Devil – July 28 (VOD, Digital)
Nicolas Cage and Joel Kinnaman embark on a white-knuckle game of cat and mouse in this thriller that promises not everything is as it seems. Yuval Adler (Bethlehem) directed Sympathy for the Devil, and Luke Paradise wrote the script.
Meg 2: The Trench – August 4 (Theaters)
Jason Statham will be back as Jonas Taylor in director Ben Wheatley’s (Kill List, Sightseers, A Field in England, High-Rise, Rebecca, In the Earth) upcoming sequel to the 2018 action-horror movie The Meg. Will the megalodon shark finally go on a feeding frenzy this summer? We’re keeping our fingers crossed. With Wheatley at the helm, all signs point to summer fun.
Elevator Game – August 11 (Shudder)
Megan Best as Becki in ‘Elevator Game’ – Heather Beckstead Photography/Shudder
Rebekah McKendry (Glorious) is playing the Elevator Game with her next horror movie. Based on the online phenomenon of the same name, the story follows an awkward teen who ingratiates himself into a group of recent high school graduates that run an online web series debunking urban legends to find his missing sister. Between Elevator Game and Talk to Me, it’ll be a bad summer for teens dabbling with the occult.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter – August 11 (Theaters)
André Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) promises this “alien on the ocean” depiction of Bram Stoker’s Dracula aims to terrify. Based on the chapter “The Captain’s Log” from Stoker’s novel, expect a much more monstrous vampire (Javier Botet) preying upon the passengers and crew of the Demeter.
birth/rebirth – August 18 (Theaters)
Marin Ireland (The Dark and the Wicked) and Judy Reyes (Smile) deliver captivating performances in this dramatic tale about reanimating the dead by Laura Moss. In his Sundance review for Bloody Disgusting, Trace Thurman wrote, “birth/rebirth offers a motherly twist on the Frankenstein tale.”
Bad Things – August 25 (Shudder)
Bad Things tells the story of a group of friends whose trip to a snowy resort for a weekend getaway devolves into a psychological tailspin and ends in a bloody nightmare. Stewart Thorndike’s horror movie stars Gayle Rankin (“Glow”), Hari Nef (“Barbie”), Annabelle Dexter-Jones (“Succession”), Rad Pereira (“Betty”), Jared Abrahamson (“Ramy”), and Molly Ringwald (“Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”).
They Listen – August 25 (Theaters)
Plot details remain under wraps for this Blumhouse and Sony horror movie, but the cast involved and the release date ensure it’s one to watch. John Cho (Searching) and Katherine Waterston (Alien: Covenant) lead the cast, which includes Greg Hill, Riki Lindhome, Lukita Maxwell, Keith Carradine, Havana Rose Liu, and Ben Youcef.
The Dive – August 25 (VOD, Digital)
Billed as a “deep sea thriller,” The Dive could very likely be an English-language remake of Joachim Hedén’s Breaking Surface. Hedén receives writer credit on this Max Erlenwein-directed thriller that follows two sisters on a diving excursion when one becomes trapped below thanks to a landslide. The other will put her life on the line to save her before time runs out.
Perpetrator – September 1 (Shudder)
Up next from Jennifer Reeder (V/H/S/94, Night’s End, Knives and Skin) is the horror movie Perpetrator, which follows Jonny (Kiah McKirnan), an impulsive teenage girl living in a town where young women continue to go missing and revolve around the power she’s forced to unlock to survive. Alicia Silverstone also stars.
The Nun 2 – September 8 (Theaters)
The Nun (2018)
Bonnie Aarons is back in the habit as Valak in The Nun 2, and The Nun co-star Taissa Farmiga will also be back as her adversary, Sister Irene. This sequel, penned by Malignant scribe Akela Cooper, sees Michael Chaves (Curse of La Llorona, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) taking over as director. Sister Irene will confront Valak again, this time in France in 1956.
Poor Things – September 8 (Theaters)
Willem Dafoe in POOR THINGS. Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
Yorgos Lanthimos reteams with The Favourite star Emma Stone for an adaptation of Alistair Gray’s Frankenstein-esque 1992 novel. Stone plays Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist. With Lanthimos at the helm, we can expect a very atypical, darkly funny, and twisted ride ahead. In other words, it’ll be a genre-bender of the weirdest order.
Satanic Hispanics – September 14 (Theaters)
‘Satanic Hispanics’
Directors Mike Mendez (Big Ass Spider), Alejandro Brugués (Juan of the Dead), Gigi Saul Guerrero (Culture Shock), Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project), and Demian Rugna (Terrified) unite in this horror anthology. Expect a variety of styles and tones to bring the laughs and scares in equal measure.
A Haunting in Venice – September 15 (Theaters)
A scene from 20th Century Studios’ A HAUNTING IN VENICE. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
The third entry in the Hercule Poirot film series from Kenneth Branagh leans into horror. The supernatural thriller based upon the novel Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie introduces a new murder mystery with a new list of suspects. “Now retired and living in self-imposed exile in the world’s most glamorous city, Poirot (Branagh) reluctantly attends a séance at a decaying, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, the detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.” Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey, Kelly Reilly and more star.
Which Summer 2023 horror titles are you most looking forward to?
The post Bloody Disgusting’s Summer 2023 Horror Preview: 29 Horror Movies You Don’t Want to Miss appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.