2018 is going to be a great year for horror movies. We’ve already gotten the fourth film in the Insidious franchise and it was vastly better than the third film in the series. In 2018, we’re getting the fifth film in The Conjuring series, The Nun. If it is anything like the previous four movies, it’ll be full of jump scares with a good plot attached.
Along with The Nun, there are several horror movies coming out in 2018 that are a mix of reboots, original films, movies based on books, and sequels. Out of all of these horror movies, it is hard to pick which one looks the scariest and which one is going to have the best twist ending. Only time will tell!
16. The Grudge Reboot
Premieres: TBD
The Grudge is getting another reboot. This 2003 film was already a revamp of the original Japenese version, and it spun two sequels. In 2011, it was announced another movie would be released in 2013/2014, but nothing came to fruition. By 2014, it was announced that a reboot of the franchise would be happening instead of a new installment. The reboot is going to have new characters, a new ghost, and new mythology. On July 6th, 2017, it was announced that Nicolas Pesce was set to rewrite Jeff Buhler‘s script and direct the reboot.
15. Firestarter
Premieres: TBD
Just like IT, no Stephen King film is sacred and out of reach for a reboot. But if the Firestarter reboot is anything like 2017’s IT, it’ll be great. The 1984 Drew Barrymore film will get the revamp-treatment, and it will be produced by horror powerhouses Blumhouse and Universal Pictures. The book adaptation will stay true to its source material — following a father and daughter duo on the run from the government. The father, Andy, took part in an experiment with his future wife to gain telekinetic abilities, which then lead to the birth of their daughter. In Firestarter, the couple’s daughter winds up being pyrokinetic. A little Stranger Things-esque, no?
14. The Crooked Man
Premieres: TBD
Much like The Nun (more on that later), The Crooked Man is a direct spin-off of The Conjuring 2. “There was a crooked man… and he walked a crooked mile. He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse… And they all lived together in a little-crooked house.” These lines were quite possibly the creepiest part of that film and hearing the little children say the rhyme and watching his crooked body come to life gave audiences nightmares for weeks. James Wan is joining the project after previously working on The Conjuring 2. The film is currently in the works and will be released after The Nun.
13. Winchester
Premieres: February 2, 2018
No, Supernatural fans, it isn’t that Winchester family. But Winchester looks scary enough without Sam and Dean getting involved. If you’ve ever traveled to Northern California, chances are you’ve heard of the Winchester Mystery House. This horror film is based on the building of said house. As the story goes, when Sarah Winchester’s husband and child died suddenly, she began building the house at the advisement of a medium — thinking that this will rid her of the haunting from ghosts of those who’d been shot by the Winchester rifle. Helen Mirren is gracing us all by taking on the eccentric and eerie role of Sarah Winchester in this film.
12. The Strangers: Prey at Night
Premieres: March 9, 2018
Now, when The Strangers came out in 2008, it was a bit of a snooze fest. The Strangers: Prey at Night takes the excitement to whole new levels and looks to be action-packed. The film serves as a sequel, though it’s currently unclear how the two storylines are related. The Strangers: Prey at Night follows a family that becomes trapped in a mobile home park for the night. Things take an awful (for them) but exciting (for us) turn when three masked strangers show up and begin to harass them. Perhaps the same group of killers from movie #1? Christina Hendricks and Bailee Madison star as two of the women being terrorized in this movie.
11. A Quiet Place
Premieres: April 6, 2018
The plot of A Quiet Place is virtually unknown, but that is part of the marketing for this film. In the, there are no words spoken. John Krasinski acts as writer, director, and star of the movie, working with his wife Emily Blunt for the first time professionally. The film’s tagline is “silence is survival.” From what we can tell, the family of four (John, Emily, and their fictional son and daughter) live in total silence. They have sand and soft patches to walk on, so their footsteps can’t be heard. There are giant claw marks on their wall, which elude to the fact that some type of monster is hunting them (and/or everyone). Basically, we can’t wait until April 6 just so we can find out what the hell is going on!
10. Truth or Dare
Premieres: April 27, 2018
Who knew a simple game of truth or dare could get so creepy? In this movie, Lucy Hale brings all of her friends to Mexico when a cute guy says there is a party. Classic. It turns out that he lured them there because he needed people to play the game. The rules are simple, do the dare or tell the truth. Otherwise, you die. When her friends don’t follow the rules, they begin getting picked off one-by-one.
Truth or Date is out here trying to ruin our childhood. Nothing is creepier than the intimate scene in the between Lucy and Tyler Posey when Lucy smirks and begins to strangle Tyler. Nightmares. We’re sure there’s more where that comes from.
9. Slender Man
Premieres: May 18, 2018
Yup, they really are making a movie about Slender Man. If you’re unaware of who he is, the supernatural character originated in a Creepypasta (basically a wormhole on the internet of made up scary stories). He is a tall, thin, faceless man who wears a black suit; he is known to terrorize and abduct children. He was also to blame for the real-life stabbing of a young girl whose friends believed they impressed the Slender Man with their actions of violence. The fictional film, Slender Man, will follow the story of four teenagers from a rural town who are living in fear. After trying to debunk the story of Slender Man, they soon learn that they were wrong about the fictionality of this creepy dude… and then one of the friends goes missing.
8. The Purge: The Island
Premieres: July 4, 2018
Someone out there is either a genius or really, really messed up. Whoever thought of the idea for The Purge tapped into America’s darkest urges and the series has since spawned a huge franchise. While all of the films in the franchise are loosely connected, the stories aren’t often interlocking. We haven’t gotten a trailer yet for The Purge: The Island, but we do know it is actually a prequel film. The Purge: The Island is going to look at what happened in the U.S. that led up to the first “Purge Night.” Holy f*ck.
7. The Nun
Premieres: July 13, 2018
Like many of the films on this list, The Nun is not the first in the franchise. In fact, The Nun is coming to theaters thanks to the success of The Conjuring 2. The film franchise, based primarily on the lives and cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren, has spawned four films so far, and The Nun will make lucky number 5. If you recall, in The Conjuring 2, Lorraine has a vision so awful, it nearly impairs her — that vision is centered around a nun character. Thus, The Nun will take place in 1952 (about 25 years before the events of The Conjuring 2), and it will have to do with a priest named Father Burke who is sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of a nun.
6. The Predator
Premieres: August 3, 2018
If you’ve ever seen any film in the Predator franchise, then you know how things go, yet this revamp is spicing things up. The Predator follows Quinn McKenna, a special forces commando who finds out about the existence of predators, but no one seems to believe him. He then gathers up a team to hunt the extraterrestrials, including a few marines and a scientist (played by Olivia Munn). The adorable Jacob Tremblay also has a starring role in this film — he portrays Quinn’s troubled son, who is bullied in school for having autism. Yet, he finds purpose in the hunt for the predators.
5. The Meg
Premieres: August 10, 2018
While there are no photos and no trailer out yet for The Meg, it still sounds intense. Imagine Jaws, plus Jurassic Park and think extra scary. If you are afraid of the creatures in the ocean, The Meg is not for you. Jason Statham stars in the film as former Naval captain Jonas Taylor. Jonas escapes the clutches of a 70-foot shark but must go back to face the same massive creature to save those trapped. The giant shark is a megalodon shark; a breed previously thought to be extinct. The megalodon shark, also known as a big tooth, lived approximately 23 to 26 million years ago. Yikes!
4. Goosebumps: Horrorland
Premieres: September 21, 2018
Now, you might think Goosebumps is a series for children, and sure that’s how it began, but it’s scary — even for adults! If you went back and rewatched the ’90s TV show (especially the “Slappy” episode), chances are you won’t sleep that night. In 2015, we got a taste of Jack Black as horror author R.L. Stine and we’re back at it this September.
The first movie actually holds a pretty decent score on Rotten Tomatoes of 76%. The same year the film came out, it was announced the film would get a sequel. The plot is currently unknown for the film, but based on the title, Goosebumps: Horrorland, it should be expected to follow the horror novella of the same name in the Goosebumps series.
3. The Return of the Killer Klowns From Outer Space in 3D
Premieres: September 28, 2018
Clowns are not everyone’s jam. In fact, some people are so terrified of clowns, they’ll cry. Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns, and this film is definitely profiting off of that phobia. The original film, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, is a cult classic horror film that was released thirty years ago. In honor of the film’s anniversary, the “klowns” are coming back to take over the Earth, and the humans need to stop them. The sequel has been in the works ever since the first film was released — so it’s been a long time in the making. The hope is to create a whole franchise of films and develop the story for television. Lofty goals. Looks like there’s a lot riding on the success of this September movie!
2. Halloween
Premieres: October 18, 2018
How has it already been 40 years since Halloween was released? Damn, Jamie Lee Curtis looks incredible still. The original “Scream Queen” and “Queen of Slasher Films” is returning to the franchise that launched her into superstardom. Despite the fact that Halloween has had seven sequels and a reboot of the franchise, this version of Halloween will be a direct sequel to the original 1978 film. It intends to ignore every other film in the series. Jamie is reprising her role of Laurie Strode, along with Nick Castle returning to play Michael Myers, the role that he originated in the franchise.
1. Overlord
Premieres: October 26, 2018
There isn’t too much currently known about Overlord, but we do know it’s set in 1944 during World War II. It follows two American paratroopers who are shot down over Normandy in the midst of the D-Day invasion, where they discover that the “Nazis are using supernatural forces against them.” J.J. Abrams is working as the producer on the film and because of that, it’s rumored to take place in the same universe as Cloverfield — thus leading to our immense intrigue. Wyatt Russell (son of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell) and Jodan Avepo are set to star in the horror flick.