In 2024, horror movies aren’t just about being scary anymore, though that’s still a big part of it. What makes Robert Eggers’s remake of the 1922 silent film Nosferatu so appealing is that early iterations of horror, though iconic in their own right, heavily relied on “wow” factors to overcompensate for poor scriptwriting and then-modern advances, which inadvertently relieved their own “cringe” via parody movies where Marlon Wayans and Anna Feris shout the palatably offensive “ya-mean.”
Now, time has bonafide a once narrow-minded genre with more than one-dimensional tropes and jump scares. Ti West’s “X” trilogy exemplifies how traditional horrors can have well-rounded characters (i.e., the anti-hero Maxine) and compelling storytelling while being psychotically technicolor. There can also be corpse-loving romance and murderous thrills in Zelda Williams’ “coming of rage” film, Lisa Frankenstin. Even this generation’s “scream queen,” Jenna Ortega, is trying their hand at giggles in the highly-anticipated horror-comedy sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Ahead, make your calendar for these upcoming horror films perfect for screaming, laughing, and everything in between.
Immaculate
Release date: March 22, 2024
In 2014, Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria, Madame Web) first auditioned for this religiously devious never-to-be project. Now, the “Anyone But You” star sold the film to NEON as lead actor and producer, co-starring alongside Simona Tabasco (The White Lotus) and Álvaro Morte (The Wheel of Time, Money Heist), after acquiring and rewriting the script. Set in the Italian countryside, a devout Cecilia (Sweeney) starts a new role at a notorious convent with unbeknownst antiChrist dabblings perfect for an almost Easter release.
Late Night with The Devil
Release date: March 22, 2024
Paranormal Activity producers try another “based on true events” production. This time, the film revolves around a lucrative last-ditch effort from a 1970s TV host, played by David Dastmalchain (The Dark Knight, Dune), to keep his broadcast on air. What better way to ensure viewership and ratings than a live conversation with the Devil, especially when things go wrong?
Cuckoo
Release date: May 3, 2024
Known for her killer red-carpet fashion, the 30-second teaser shows a bandaged Hunter Schafer (Euphoria, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) as a swiss blade-wielding teen on an extraterrestrial hunt around her family’s new resort home. The Berlinale 2024 Best Feature Film nominee also stars Dan Stevens (Beauty and the Beast, The Boy and the Heron) and Jessica Henwick (Game of Thrones, Glass Onion).
The Strangers: Chapter 1
Release date: May 17, 2024
Survive a night of terror as a young couple, played by Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) and Gabriel Basso (Super 8), is hunted by three masked assailants in a secluded Airbnb in Oregon. The original 2008 stranger-danger flick starred Liv Tyler (Armageddon, Harlots) and Scott Speedman (Grey’s Anatomy, Underworld).
A Quiet Place: Day One
Release date: June 28, 2024
Now under the helm of director Michael Sarnoski (Pig), the “Quiet Place” series prequel onboards Academy Award-winner Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave, Black Panther) and Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), who cheat death and learn to be stealthy New Yorkers as the city becomes overrun with noise-sensitive killing creatures. Although John Krasinski directed, wrote and starred in the first two films, “Day One” still sees his writing credit.
MaXXXine
Release date: July 5, 2024
Mia Goth will always be a star! Following the bloody massacre of Ti West’s “Pearl” (2022), the disturbing trilogy reaches an epic conclusion as Maxine, mGoth (Suspira, Infinity Pool), continues her quest for stardom in 1980s Los Angeles alongside actress Lily Collins (Emily in Paris, Mirror Mirror) and Grammy-nominated singer Halsey.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Release date: September 6, 2024
Much like how a spook-ified Michael Keaton (Batman, Morbius) once tormented Wiona Ryder (Little Women, Stranger Things) and her sleazy family, Jenny Ortega (Wednesday, Scream IV) will reintroduce the cheeky haunting alongside familiar faces and beloved ghosts to a new generation in the long-awaited follow-up to the 1988 horror-comedy classic.
Smile 2
Release date: October 18, 2024
Although much isn’t known of its plot, moviegoers can expect more creepy smiles and blood-curling delusions as director Parker Finn returns to direct the sequel to his unexpected Paramount hit Smile (2022), this time bringing along Naomi Scott (Aladdin, Charlie’s Angels) to co-star alongside Kyle Gallner (Scream).
Nosferatu
Release date: December 25, 2024
Director Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse, The Witch) casts a Hollywood spectacle for his dark retelling of “Nosferatu,” which stars Bill Skarsgård (It, Barbarian), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals, Avengers: Age of Ultron), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man, The Florida Project), Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Mad Max: Fury Road), Lily-Rose Depp (The Idol, Voyagers) and more. Hopefully, the film properly pays homage to its iconic German silent horror released in 1922, complete with gothic black-and-white cinematography, gangling limbs and fingernail-like claws, and a vampire’s incurable and predatory infatuation with a human woman.
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