Pandemic life may have been horror enough for most, and no, this isn’t some comment on Inauguration Day, but those of us who find comfort in giving ourselves the creeps have been in a bit of a drought. Last year saw the displacement of some massive upcoming titles, like “A Quiet Place Part II,” Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele’s “Candyman” sequel, and the next David Gordon Green “Halloween” installment, “Halloween Kills.” Those movies are all set to finally premiere this year, and they – along with a few other holdovers and some new features – are among our most anticipated horror films of 2021.
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As the world continues to get more and more surreal, so too does the film landscape. “Creep” director Patrick Brice is making a teen scream for Netflix, Ilana Glazer is behind a modern horror inspired by “Rosemary’s Baby,” and Nicolas Cage will be in what appears to be, for all intents and purposes, a “Five Nights at Freddy’s” rip-off. “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is making its way back to the big screen, while “The Purge” is about to celebrate its last night of lawlessness.
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From mainstream flicks to Sundance premieres, here are 25 titles you’ll want to catch this year, whether streaming, at the drive-in, or – God and vaccine rollout willing – in a multiplex.
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“Antlers”
Director Scott Cooper has directed movies about country music stars, frontiersmen, and Whitey Bulger, but “Antlers” marks his horror debut. The film, produced by Guillermo del Toro, follows a school teacher who discovers that one of her students has been keeping a supernatural creature in his house. The creature in question is a wendigo, an evil spirit important in First Nations Algonquian culture. The creature, which feeds on human flesh and negative energy, springs from the tribe’s violent experiences with greedy colonists. Though indigenous people frequently factor into horror movies, they do so usually in the form of stereotypical side characters or vengeful spirits. It will be interesting to see what this film does with an intentional eye on that mythology.
Release Date: TBD
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“Army of the Dead”
Zack Snyder hasn’t directed a non-superhero movie in a decade (literally, “Sucker Punch” was back in 2011), so fans of the ultra-stylized action auteur are no doubt excited to see him lead a zombie heist film for Netflix. “Army of the Dead” centers on a group of mercenaries as they raid a Las Vegas casino in the midst of the zombie apocalypse. Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, and Tig Notaro are just a few members of the film’s ensemble cast, which means I can officially fulfill my very specific dream of seeing Tig Notaro in the same movie as Dave Bautista. Notaro was actually added to the film in post to replace alleged predator Chris D’Elia, so even if this film turns out to be a complete mess, it marks an important step toward my other lifelong dream: replacing all men with Tig Notaro.
Release Date: Netflix reportedly wants to release the film in the summer.
“The Blazing World”
“The Blazing World” will premiere in Sundance’s Next section, where recent masterpieces like “Tangerine” and “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” once debuted. The film marks the feature filmmaking debut of 30-year-old actor Carlson Young, best known for playing one of the last teens standing in MTV’s “Scream” TV show. Young will tap back into her scream queen roots to star in the film, which she also co-wrote, playing a troubled young woman who retreats into her own mind after a traumatic childhood event. Co-written by science fiction novelist Pierce Brown and with visuals by “Boyhood” cinematographer Shane Kelly, this first film from Young is shaping up to be a visionary debut. And the fact that it was shot entirely during the pandemic makes the feat all the more impressive.
Release Date: Makes its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
“Candyman”
Any horror fan with a pulse has been anxiously waiting for Nia DaCosta’s “Candyman” since Jordan Peele announced he would produce the project way back in September 2018. DaCosta was brought on two months later, shortly after her debut feature “Little Woods” turned heads at the Tribeca Film Festival. The new “Candyman” will act as a direct sequel to the 1992 classic film of the same name, and follows an artist (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his girlfriend (Teyonah Parris) as they uncover the secrets of Chicago’s now-gentrified Cabrini-Green neighborhood, where a mythical killer named Candyman (Tony Todd) once reportedly stalked his prey. It finally hits theaters this summer.
Release Date: August 27
“Censor”
Sundance premiere “Censor” tells the story of a young woman (Niamh Algar) in 1985 who happens upon a graphic videotape that may be linked to her sister’s disappearance. Welsh director Prano Bailey-Bond drew inspiration from the British “video nasty” censorship movement to inform her first feature. Its gory aesthetic and original premise have made this film one of the most hotly anticipated additions to Sundance 2020, and with horror experts like prosthetics designer Dan Martin (“In Fabric,” “Possessor,” “Color Out of Space”) and production designer Paulina Rzeszowska (“Saint Maud”) on the crew, we’re already on the edge of our seats. “Censor” will debut in the Midnight section, where new horrors staples like “Hereditary” and “The Babadook” once premiered.
Release Date: Makes its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
“Cobweb”
If the French Netflix horror series “Marianne” isn’t on your quarantine binge watch list, it’s time to add it. The chilling paranormal tale put creator and director Samuel Bodin on the map, and now he’s set to debut his first feature. “Cobweb,” produced by Seth Rogan and starring Lizzy Caplan and Anthony Starr, tells the story of a boy who uses the voices in his head to get back at his abusive parents. The script, by Chris Thomas Devlin (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” reboot), was on the 2018 Black List. The film reunites Bodin with “Marianne” camera operator Philip Lozano. We should see it sometime this year, courtesy of Lionsgate.
Release Date: TBD
“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It”
It’s time for the third installment in James Wan’s “The Conjuring” series, the fictionalized chronicles of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. In “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will reprise their roles as Ed and Lorraine as they investigate the first-ever American murder case in which the defendant claimed to have been demonically possessed. That case, as all incorrigible weirdos likely already know, is that of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, a Connecticut man who murdered his landlord in 1981. Ruairi O’Connor (“The Morning Show,” “The Postcard Killings”) joins the franchise as Johnson. “The Curse of La Llorona” director Michael Chaves directed the film, from a script by “The Conjuring 2” co-writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick.
Release Date: June 4