The Most Anticipated 2018 Horror Movies

2018 has been mapped out with an exciting collection of movies that are bound to make the year a memorable one for horror movie fans all around. With an intriguing concoction of horror, including unique premises, true-life events, and some that even combine comic-book plots with R-rated horror, the New Year is offering up some quality scares. Here’s a look at some of the most anticipated 2018 horror movies!

Insidious: The Last Key

Horror master James Wan (Insidious, The Conjuring universe) is back with the fourth installment of the Insidious saga. Dr. Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) makes her return as the parapsychologist faces a new haunting and evil entity that has invaded her own family home.

Release Date: January 5, 2018

Winchester

The Winchester Mansion, aka the Winchester Mystery House, has been a popular haunted house/tourist attraction for some time now. Based on the true story of Winchester Rifle heiress Sarah Winchester, played by Academy Award winner Helen Mirren, the film infuses a haunting or possible demonic presence with the real events behind Sarah’s obsessive need for the mansion to remain under construction that resulted in dead-end mazes, countless rooms, and mysterious passageways. Sarah believed that the ghosts of those killed by her late husband’s Winchester Rifles were haunting her, thus driving the continuous expansion of the property.

Release Date: February 2, 2018

Annihilation

Academy Award-nominated writer Alex Garland (Ex Machina) adapted and directed this movie based on Jeff VanderMeer’s best-selling trilogy. Natalie Portman stars in the science fantasy horror film as a biologist who enlists a small expedition to search for her missing husband (Oscar Isaac). The group’s efforts to find the injured husband and learn why he mysteriously disappeared forces them to deal with “a contamination, vanishing colleagues, a deadly animal, and a creature known as the Crawler.”

Release Date: February 23, 2018

The Strangers: Prey at Night

There’s nothing more terrifying than when a horror movie’s villains are simply a couple of people who spend their time meticulously terrorizing and killing complete strangers out of their own enjoyment, and without any real discernible reason. The Strangers was an unexpected hit in 2008, successfully hitting on fears of helpless isolation and being hunted by relentless, merciless psychopaths. The sequel is said to take place in a deserted trailer park where a family winds up during their road trip, ultimately leading them to the same three masked killers from the first film.

Release Date: March 9, 2018

A Quiet Place

Despite the array of incredible-looking horror movies on this list, A Quiet Place could be the scary sleeper hit of 2018 (and the one I’m most looking forward to). John Krasinski (13 Hours) is certainly making a name for himself post The Office, not only starring in the film alongside his equally-talented wife, actress Emily Blunt (The Girl on the Train), but directing it as well. The teaser trailer is so well-crafted that the first reveal of loud noise is incredibly jarring and dreadful, even when we don’t yet know what it is we’re supposed to be scared of.

Release Date: April 6, 2018

Cloverfield 3

Originally titled God Particle, the third Cloverfield movie was said to revolve around an American space station. After an accident with a particle accelerator, they find that Earth has vanished altogether and things only get stranger when the crew (including John Krasinski and David Oyelowo) picks up traces of another space station nearby. However, IGN reports that scriptwriter Oren Uziel confirmed there have been some rewrites, leaving us wondering how much of the original premise is still in play.

Paramount Pictures confirmed to ComingSoon.net that the movie is now set to come out in April of this year, instead of on February 2 like it was last announced, which is the third time the movie has been delayed.

Release Date: April 20, 2018

Truth or Dare

There hasn’t been a lot of buzz around this particular release, but after the official trailer hit this month, it certainly looks like a lot of fun. The horror flick, starring Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf) and Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars), gives the seemingly-harmless game of truth or dare an evil twist with deadly consequences for anyone who refuses to play. The trailer is all parts creepy, ridiculous, and ridiculously creepy featuring a unique take on the game and unpleasant smiles that will haunt your dreams.

Release Date: April 27, 2018

Slender Man

Slender Man became well-known on the internet after first appearing in 2009 when Eric Knudsen submitted a couple of photoshopped photos into a paranormal pictures contest. Slender Man was described as a “mythical creature often depicted as a tall, thin figure wearing a black suit and a blank face. According to the legend, he can stretch or shorten his arms at will and has tentacle-like appendages protruding from his back.”

The fictional character’s popularity exploded, explained as an “accelerated version of an urban legend” by Knudsen, with numerous online posters creating their own creepy images with the Slender Man’s appearance as well as new characterizations and a background for the creature. The character has even inspired video games and numerous books. The recently released trailer clearly focuses on one characterization in particular, which involves the Slender Man’s passive aggressive nature where he allows his victims to slowly succumb to madness. The movie may have also been inspired by the real-life event in which two 12-year-old girls stabbed a third friend after luring her into a forest, claiming they did so in “dedication” to the fictional character.

Release Date: May 18, 2018

The Purge: The Island

The fourth installment in this horror movie franchise, focused on a designated night where citizens can commit any crime once a year, has creator and filmmaker James DeMonaco exploring the origins of the Purge. Taking place on Staten Island when the Purge first began, the writer wanted to analyze how the first group of people were convinced in participating in such an event.

DeMonaco discussed with Entertainment Weekly last year how people “start promising very decent sums of money for the very poor people… It becomes a monetization of murder and violence, incentivizing killing and keeping people around for them to be victims. So you see the inception of how grotesque the idea of the Purge is, the manipulation upon the society.”

Release Date: July 4, 2018

The Nun

The next installment in the hugely successful and expansive Conjuring universe will focus on the demonic nun that was first seen in The Conjuring 2, and egg-dropped in Annabelle: Creation. Produced by horror master James Wan and starring Taissa Farmiga (the real-life sister to Vera Farmiga, who plays Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring films), the plot is centered on a priest named Father Burke (Demián Bichir), and a novitiate, Sister Irene (Farmiga), who are sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of a nun at a cloistered abbey. As they uncover unholy secrets, the two confront the demonic nun and the malevolent presence at the abbey.

Release Date: July 13, 2018

The Predator

The popular sci-fi horror franchise is back, this time focusing on the “inner workings” of the aliens and why the Predators came to Earth, including their methods and their technology. Directed by Shane Black, who starred in the original 1987 Predator, the movie stars Thomas Jane (The Mist), Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse), Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us, American Crime Story), Jacob Tremblay (Wonder), and Boyd Holbrook (Logan) who will have to fight back or allow themselves to be hunted and picked off one by one by the extraterrestrial beings.

Release Date: August 3, 2018

The Meg

The creature feature of the year focuses on a deep-sea rescue diver, Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) attempting to save a deep-sea submersible crew who are stranded at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean after being attacked by a megalodon, thought to be extinct. The prehistoric shark went extinct 2.6 million years ago, and paleontologists found that they could have grown to a maximum length of 59 feet, which is about three times as long as the biggest great white shark. With that being said, it sounds like Statham might have his hands full with this particular predator.

Release Date: August 10, 2018

The Little Stranger

Based on the gothic novel by Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger follows Dr. Faraday (Domhnall Gleeson), a country doctor in 1948 who is asked to check on a new patient at Hundreds Hall. Faraday is connected with the Hall, as his mother once worked there as a housemaid. The doctor finds himself drawn into the lives of the Ayres family, a haunting, and how his own story is disturbingly intertwined with the family’s.

Release Date: August 31, 2018

The House with a Clock in Its Walls

The book that the film is being adapted from was originally a children’s gothic horror novel that became a favorite childhood story of screenplay writer Eric Kripke (Supernatural, Timeless). Kripke confirmed on his Twitter that the book is even what initially inspired his hit CW series, Supernatural, and he was obviously excited to be writing the screenplay for the movie adaptation now.

The House with a Clock in Its Walls tells the story of a young orphan named Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro), who assists his magical uncle, Jonathan Barnavelt (Jack Black) in locating a clock that contains the power to bring about the end of the world. Directed by Eli Roth, the film also stars Cate Blanchett (Thor: Ragnarok) as Mrs. Zimmerman and Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) as Isaac Izard.

Release Date: September 21, 2018

Venom

While an official plot has not yet been announced, Venom is well-known in the comic book world as an archnemesis to Spider-Man. Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Mad Max: Fury Road) plays the titular character, also known as Eddie Brock, a journalist that bonds with the symbiote alien suit/lifeforce and begins terrorizing the people of New York and Spider-Man as well.

Spider-Man won’t be in the film as director Ruben Fleischer is focusing on Venom’s dark backstory and is intrigued by the “dark element” of Venom and “a wit that has always appealed” to him. Part of that is the dynamic between Venom and Brock, which is similar to a Jekyll-and-Hyde relationship, essentially exploring the quote: “You’re Eddie Brock. I’m the symbiote. Together we are venom.” Possibly rated R and set to come out just a couple of weeks before Halloween, Venom — and especially Tom Hardy — will draw in horror fans and comic-book audiences alike.

Release Date: October 5, 2018

Halloween

The best aspect of this latest installment of one of the biggest horror movie franchises is the return of creator John Carpenter and the scream queen herself, Jamie Lee Curtis. According to the premise, four decades after escaping Michael Myers’ killing spree in Haddonfield, Laurie Strode (Curtis) has a final confrontation with the masked killer.

The most intriguing twist? The movie is a direct sequel to the original 1978 film, meaning every single sequel that came after will be ignored, allowing Carpenter and screenplay writers Danny McBride (Alien: Covenant) and David Gordon Green (Vice Principals) to explore a fresh timeline expanding from the initial creation.

Release Date: October 19, 2018

The House That Jack Built

There’s no question that audiences have a fascination with serial killers, as we’ve seen even in the recent release and success of Netflix’s Mindhunter. The House That Jack Built follows a highly-intelligent serial killer, Jack (Matt Dillon), over a 12-year span that explores his journey of murder and his development as a killer. Also starring Uma Thurman (Kill Bill),  the title of the movie is based off of the popular British nursery rhyme and cumulative tale of the same name.

Release Date: TBA

Slice

Very little is known about A24 and Chance the Rapper’s upcoming comedy horror, but the bike race app inspired teaser trailer and premise offer enough to make it intriguing. Also starring Joe Keery (Stranger Things), Zazie Beetz (Atlanta), Will Brill (The OA), and Paul Scheer (The Disaster Artist), the slasher is apparently centered around an “enigmatic outlaw framed for a killing spree that targets unsuspecting pizza delivery boys.”

Release Date: TBA 2018