Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
New Year, new batch of movies! Like a kid in a candy store or better yet, like a kid who knows exactly what shelf I can find my favourite candy on in the store, I bypassed all the MCU, HBO or the million other acronyms out there and got to googling what I can expect this year in terms of horror.
Last year was decent and I definitely had my favourites (you can check those out here) but to be honest the pickings felt a tad slim. But this year I see a ton of good stuff on the horizon. And while I’m sure I’ve missed a few good ones at first glance, the following seven are the ones that only the big guy upstairs can prevent me from checking out. So with a maniacal laugh and a ton of evil hand rubbing (I swear that wasn’t meant to sound sexual) here are my Top 7 New Horror Movies I’m Excited for. Why seven? Because there was no way I could whittle this down to five!
#7 Orphan: First Kill
I dunno…I dunno…I honestly don’t know why this is even a thing. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious to see where it goes.
The first Orphan movie is basically a Lifetime thriller with one helluva twist, and said twist, coupled with a dynamic performance by actress Isabelle Fuhrman, went a long way in planting the 2009 psychological horror film deeply into the memories of those who saw it.
Now I’m not a fan of horror prequels, like at all! They very rarely work as we already know what comes next, but every now and again they do hit on something memorable (Ouija: Origin of Evil, Annabelle: Creation, Final Destination 5) so I’m adding this one to my list and hoping that Orphan: First Kill manages to entertain me, at least as much as its predecessor did.
#6 Fresh
Info on Fresh is limited at this time but the casting of Sebastian Stan (MCU’s “Bucky” Barnes/The Winter Soldier) in a horror movie made me sit up and pay attention.
The synopsis so far is simply, “The horrors of modern dating seen through one young woman’s defiant battle to survive her new boyfriend’s unusual appetites.” Is he a cannibal? Vampire? Ozzy Osbourne impersonator? I have no idea. The cast is familiar but mostly unknown to general audiences, and it’s the directorial debut for Mimi Cave so it’s really hard to get a beat on what to expect. Here’s hoping Fresh offers up something really juicy to sink our horror loving teeth into.
#5 Morbius
Okay I may have lied a bit when I said I bypassed the MCU. Then again this one is coming from Sony, so let’s call it Marvel-adjacent.
I had high hopes for The New Mutants that deflated like a sad balloon after it was released. But my horror loving heart is never gonna give up on the hopes of seeing my favourite horror-based comic book heroes (and villains) brought to the big screen.
Morbius (or Morbius The Living Vampire if you wanna get fancy) will be played by Jared Leto and with a trailer that seems to promise lots of vampire-based action I have my fingers, toes and eyes crossed that this will be as fantastic as possible. Because let’s face it—if Sony doesn’t stick the landing on this one, the chances of us seeing titles like Midnight Sons, Marvel Zombies (I know, I know What If? did it but I still want more!) or Justice League Dark (yes it’s DC, but we’re just talking horror comics here) ever show up on the big screen might just be slim to none.
#4 Scream
I’m already hearing good things about this revival but it’s not official until I lay eyeballs on it myself.
Bringing back the iconic characters of the franchise while introducing a bunch of newcomers, Scream (2022) promises to be an amalgamation of all the wit that made the first one the beloved slasher it is while also giving us something new to chew on. It’s a high bar set by horror great Wes Craven so only time will tell if director team Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett can not only jump the bar but possibly set one of their own. Either way, it’ll be fun to see Ghostface in action once again.
#3 Halloween Ends
Warning: This entry contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Halloween Kills. If you don’t wanna be spoiled skip to number two. You’ve been warned!
Halloween Kills might’ve been my biggest disappointment last year if Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City didn’t’ already exist. There was just too much going on in HK and I felt like we ended up with an unfocused mess of a movie.
But the good news is David Gordon Green has one last chance to get it right and that chance is Halloween Ends which is set to premiere on October 14th. With a four-year jump from Halloween Kills and Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) left standing after her daughter Karen was brutally murdered by old Mikey Myers, this one is set to be the death match to end all death matches. I’ll just say it now—if I don’t get a knock-down drag out fight between Laurie and Michael here, I’m kicking the Halloween franchise to the curb for the foreseeable future. Get it right Gordon, get it right!
#2 The Black Phone
I’m a big fan of Joe Hill’s work and while I haven’t read The Black Phone I did listen to it on Audible and loved it, so to say I’m excited for this one is a bit of an understatement.
The trailer looked great and while Ethan Hawke is not what I pictured this particular antagonist as he’s an actor who is no stranger to horror and I think it will be great to finally see him in such a villainous role. Produced by Jason Blum of Blumhouse fame, The Black Phone follows a serial killer who abducts kids. When a boy named Finney is kidnapped by “The Grabber” he’s placed in a room that has a phone on the wall. The phone is disconnected yet Finney starts to receive calls, calls that are coming from past victims who will try to help him escape.
The concept is right up my alley (I’ve got a thing for kid-based horror; takes me back to my childhood) so here’s hoping this one doesn’t just live up to my expectations, it surpasses them.
#1 Nope
Jordan Peele came out of the horror gates swinging with Get Out and since then fans are always clamouring to see what he does next.
Like Fresh we also have little to no information on Nope but what we DO know is Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Black Panther, Judas and the Black Messiah) will be working with Peele yet again and this time he’s joined by Keke Palmer (Scream Queens) and Steven Yuen (The Walking Dead) just to name a few. Jordan Peele is at the top of his game so Nope is at the top of my list as I’m sure we’re going to get another tale of horror that leaves us analysing it for days (or more) to come.
So that’s my list. Which of these are you most excited about? Any that you would add? And you can check out more great horror lists below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
Double Tap Baby!