10 Exciting Horror Movies Still To Come In 2024

Summary

• 2024 has been a great year for horror so far, with a mix of returning franchises and fresh, original ideas.
• Upcoming horror movies in 2024 offer a lot of variety, catering to all fans of the genre.
• Big-name directors like M. Night Shyamalan, Robert Eggers, and Tim Burton are contributing to a bumper year for horror fans.

2024 still has plenty of treats for horror movie fans yet to come. 2024 has been a great year for horror so far, with a great mix of styles to breathe new life into the genre. There have been new entries into popular franchises, including A Quiet Place: Day One and The First Omen, but there have also been plenty of fresh, original ideas. Movies like I Saw the TV Glow and Longlegs have been met with critical acclaim.

Despite this run of great horror movies, fans can expect much more to come in the second half of 2024. There is a lot of variety in the upcoming crop of horror movies, so there should be something for all fans of the genre. M. Night Shyamalan, Robert Eggers and Tim Burton are among the big-name directors contributing to a bumper 2024 for horror fans, and there also some smaller movies with cult-classic potential.

10 Starve Acre

July 24

Starve Acre has flown under the radar, but the British folk horror has plenty of potential. House of the Dragon‘s Matt Smith and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s Morfydd Clark are trading fantasy for horror in this adaptation of Andrew Michael Hurley’s award-winning 2019 novel. Director Daniel Kokotajlo previously wrote and directed the semi-autobiographical drama Apostasy, but Starve Acre is his first journey into horror.

Drawing on British folklore and the atmosphere of the countryside,
Starve Acre
looks set to be a surprising treat for horror fans.

Starve Acre follows a couple who must fight to keep obscure sinister forces at bay when their child starts acting strangely. Drawing on British folklore and the atmosphere of the countryside, Starve Acre looks set to be a surprising treat for horror fans. The film screened at a few film festivals in 2023 and earlier in 2024, but it has faced a long wait for a general release. It currently has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes based on critical reviews.

9 Trap

August 9

M. Night Shyamalan has held a reputation as a master of twists ever since 1999’s The Sixth Sense, and Trap looks set to play with this reputation. The trailer reveals a huge twist almost immediately, but this has only led fans to speculate over Trap‘s potential second twist. Trap stars Josh Hartnett as a serial killer who realizes that the concert he has accompanied his daughter to is being swarmed by law enforcement to catch him.

More so than any of his previous films,
Trap
looks like it is beckoning Shyamalan’s audience to play a game with the director.

After a mid-career slump, Shyamalan has bounced back with a string of horror hits like Split and Knock at the Cabin. The director has never been afraid to take risks, and this makes his movies even harder to predict. More so than any of his previous films, Trap looks like it is beckoning Shyamalan’s audience to play a game with the director, with marketing acknowledging his idiosyncratic flair.

8 Alien: Romulus

August 16

The long-running Alien franchise is returning to its roots with its newest entry, as a group of young space explorers come face-to-face with a xenomorph. Cailee Spaeny leads a cast of exciting new talent, and her character could be the spiritual successor to Ripley that the franchise has struggled for. Romulus looks like a darker take on the Alien franchise, and the trailers emphasize the horror elements of the movie.

The long-running
Alien
franchise is returning to its roots with its newest entry, as a group of young space explorers come face-to-face with a xenomorph.

While Alien: Romulus also features some breathtaking outer space visuals in its trailers, just like Prometheus, Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe director Fede Álvarez seems more concerned with the movie’s potential to frighten its audience. He has claimed that Romulus will be a standalone adventure that doesn’t require much knowledge of the franchise, so newcomers will be able to enjoy it too.

7 The Crow

August 23

The Crow is the second adaptation of James O’Barr’s comic book series, after the 1994 version starring Brandon Lee. Bill Skarsgård will be playing the role of Eric Draven, but the original movie’s cult following has meant that his casting is just one point of controversy surrounding the remake. Brandon Lee died during production of The Crow due to a malfunctioning prop gun, and some fans are upset that the remake may not honor his legacy in the right way.

This second adaptation of the comic book series is more than a remake of the 1994 movie, so it should bring its own ideas to the story.

Despite the controversy surrounding the movie, there are plenty of reasons to look forward to The Crow. This second adaptation of the comic book series is more than a remake of the 1994 movie, so it should bring its own ideas to the story. The trailer suggests that The Crow will feature plenty of action as well as horror, and Skarsgård will be bringing his own approach to the character.

6 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

September 6

After 36 years, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice is finally returning for a sequel, with Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara all involved. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis won’t be returning, but Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe could be the perfect choices to bring some fresh blood into the sequel. Most importantly, Burton is back in the director’s chair, and the trailers display his trademark visual style.

Beetlejuice
‘s zany sense of humor has earned the first film a cult following, and seeing the cast rekindle their dynamic is long overdue.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice catches up with the characters decades later. Lydia Deetz now has a daughter of her own, Astrid, and the family are set to return to Winter River. Astrid could play the same role that her mother does in the first movie, unleashing Keaton’s stripy-suited bio-exorcist. Beetlejuice‘s zany sense of humor has earned the first film a cult following, and seeing the cast rekindle their dynamic is long overdue.

5 Speak No Evil

September 13

Speak No Evil is an English-language remake of a Danish-Dutch co-production of the same name. The original earned a string of great reviews, but its impact was limited. James Watkins, director of Eden Lake and The Woman in Black, is leading the remake, with a cast that features James McAvoy. Rather than focusing on the culture clash between Danish and Dutch families, 2024’s Speak No Evil is about Americans and Brits who befriend one another on holiday.

Speak No Evil
delivers a shocking twist ending, so it will be interesting to see whether the remake can keep things interesting for fans who already know what’s in store.

Speak No Evil delivers a shocking twist ending, so it will be interesting to see whether the remake can keep things interesting for fans who already know what’s in store. There’s a possibility that the new version could change the story, but this is just speculation. Putting the narrative issues to one side, the trailer shows that Speak No Evil has managed to recapture the same unsettling atmosphere.

4 Terrifier 3

October 11

The Terrifier franchise has surpassed all expectations, and the third entry in the franchise will look to continue this trend. Each of Damien Leone’s slashers have come with a slightly bigger budget, but they have still been puching above their weight, proving that there is an appetite for original stories in the horror genre. Terrifier 3 comes with a budget of $2 million, still minuscule compared to its competitors.

For his third solo movie, Art the Clown will be back for a holiday-themed story, terrorizing people as they drift off to sleep on Christmas Eve.

For his third solo movie, Art the Clown will be back for a holiday-themed story, terrorizing people as they drift off to sleep on Christmas Eve. Fans can expect more brutal gore and plenty of jump scares. The ending of Terrifier 2 shows that even decapitation is not enough to stop the supernatural killer clown, which once again raises the stakes for the franchise’s next entry.

3 Smile 2

October 18

Smile was one of the biggest surprise packages in the horror genre of the last few years, earning over $200 million at the box office in 2022. This means that anticipation is sky-high for the sequel, coming this October. Smile 2 will follow a new character, Skye Riley, as she is haunted by the same mysterious entity from the first movie. Joel will be looking for answers after Rose’s death at the end of Smile.

A lot rides on the first sequel, but
Smile
has franchise potential.

Smile gained plenty of attention for its viral marketing campaign in 2022. While there haven’t yet been any signs of a repeat in 2024, Smile 2 is just as exciting. A lot rides on the first sequel, but Smile has franchise potential. The popularity of the new characters could be key, but recapturing the same atmosphere will set Smile 2 well on its way to being a crowdpleasing sequel.

2 Nightbitch

December 6

Based on the best-selling novel by Rachel Yoder, Nightbitch is an upcoming horror movie starring Amy Adams. Nighbitch was hailed as a modern feminist fable after its publication. The book follows a stay-at-home mother who occasionally transforms into a hungry dog. She tries to reconcile her new life as a parent with her social and professional aspirations, but she is crushed under the weight of expectation.

Nighbitch
was hailed as a modern feminist fable after its publication.

Nightbitch is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September before a wide release in December. Very little is known about the movie so far, other than the plot details which can be gleaned from the novel. No trailer has been released yet, so fans will have to wait to see Amy Adams’ interpretation of the character. Nightbitch is being billed as a comedy horror, and the book has a dark sense of humor.

1 Nosferatu

December 25

1922’s Nosferatu is one of the foundational films of the horror genre, and it influenced the language of cinema for years to come. Now, 102 years later, horror sensation Robert Eggers is creating his own take on the classic. With The Witch and The Lighthouse already among his list of credits, Eggers has announced himself as one of the most exciting voices in the horror genre.

There haven’t been any images released of Skarsgård in costume so far, meaning that audiences may have to wait until the Christmas Day release date to see Eggers’ take on the iconic movie monster.

Nosferatu shares a lot in common with Dracula, as the movie features a shadowy vampire stalking new prey in Europe. The cast of Nosferatu includes Willem Dafoe, Lily Rose-Depp and Nicholas Hoult, with Bill Skarsgård playing Count Orlok the vampire. There haven’t been any images released of Skarsgård in costume so far, meaning that audiences may have to wait until the Christmas Day release date to see Eggers’ take on the iconic movie monster.