As with the past few years, the horror genre has been extremely successful and prolific in 2026. Today’s episode of Sounds of Cinema caught up with some of the horror films released earlier this year.
Horror Sequels
The horror genre is known for its sequels and while there have been a few, the genre has steered more toward original projects in 2026. It may be just as well since the sequels we’ve gotten this year have generally disappointed.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – The second film in the planned 28 Years Later trilogy was actually better than its predecessor. It builds on what we’ve seen before while offering a fresh story with provocative ideas and a soulful style.
Evil Dead Burn – The Evil Dead series under Sam Raimi was known for its humor and fun. In an attempt to do something different, the filmmakers of Evil Dead Burn have made a film that’s not much fun at all.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is more of the same while lacking the novelty and subversive spirit of the original movie.
Scream 7 – What was once an edgy and smart franchise has become a generic exercise in slasher filmmaking. Scream 7 is not a terrible movie but it adds nothing new to the franchise.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 may be the best installment of the worst trilogy. The finale introduces new ideas and demonstrates some ambition but the payoff is uninteresting.
Liminal Spaces Movies
2026 has seen a lot of films set in liminal spaces. Characters become trapped in a limbo between different planes of existence.
Backrooms is a frightening and engaging work of surrealist horror. It functions as a haunted house experience but there is something more going on here. This is the kind of film that probably benefits from multiple viewings, inviting the audience to piece together what they’ve seen.
Buddy will primarily appeal to viewers who grew up in the 1990s. The first half is stronger than the second half but it’s unique, impressively crafted, and wickedly funny.
Exit 8 is an exceptional liminal space horror film. It minimizes the puzzle aspect of the premise but the film uses this concept to explore the emotional and psychological aspects of the human experience.
It Ends fashions a simple concept into a provocative metaphor. The movie suffers from some technical flaws and it’s not a film for a horror audience looking for a traditional scare. But viewers who are willing to go for the ride may find this the movie to be a rewarding watch.
Art Film Horror
The liminal space horror films can be seen as part of a larger trend in the genre toward avant-garde and experimental filmmaking.
Her Private Hell is Nicolas Winding Refn’s return to filmmaking and it was beautifully crafted but the whole is less than the sum of its parts. It’s a film that tests our attention and patience for purposes that are trite and opaque.
Leviticus has a provocative conceit without a worthy story. The filmmakers are stuck on the initial idea and don’t develop it into something dramatically or thematically cohesive.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is doing a lot—some of it very interesting—but the film ultimately buckles under the weight of its ambitions. It’s not much of a horror picture but it will appeal to viewers who like to intellectualize the genre.
Video Game Horror Films
2026 may be the year that video game adaptations turned a corner. Not all of these films were good but enough of them were financially successful and creatively polished to suggest that this genre has turned a corner. Many of this year’s video game adaptations have been horror films.
Iron Lung is a mostly well made work of cosmic horror and it ought to play for fans of the game and for newbies. It also expands our understanding of what a video game adaptation can be.
Mortal Kombat II is a mediocre film. Die hard fans of the series will probably be pleased by it but the sequel is forgettable and unengaging.
The Mortuary Assistant is a frustrating movie. It’s made with some style but none of the frights mean anything. The movie is an incoherent grab bag of spooky scenes.
Resident Evil is an excellent standalone horror film. How viewers feel about it as an adaptation may depend on how precious they hold the source material. But this is a chaotically fun mix of scares and humor.
Return to Silent Hill may be of interest to fans of the series but this an example of the perils of a fan-oriented approach to filmmaking. The moviemakers recreate the original material but do not adapt it to the different medium.
Shark Movies
Recent years have seen the release of a lot of shark movies. This has continued in 2026.
Deep Water has some exceptional moments but overall the film underwhelms. It’s only exciting in fits and starts and never fully engages the audience.
The Devil’s Mouth has some impressive stuff in it but just as much that is sloppy. The murky imagery makes the movie too hard to watch.
Thrash is an inconsistent shark film. The filmmakers can’t settle on a tone and the credible parts of the movie are offset by moments that are very stupid.
Also released: The Bay, Chum, and Shark Frenzy.
Underseen and Underappreciated Films
Clown Panic is a worthwhile documentary about the 2016 killer clown panic.
The End of Oak Street – It may seem strange to call a big studio film with movie stars underappreciated but The End of Oak Street was a really fun late summer adventure with a horror element.
Faces of Death uses the 1978 documentary in a way that is more than just a gimmick. This is a satisfying serial killer thriller but also a relevant work of media criticism that is smart and scary and unsettling. Faces of Death is what the most recent Scream sequels should have been.
Hokum is a well-made horror picture. It’s frightening and surprising but also has moments of humanity and grief.
Hunting Matthew Nichols is a frightening and well produced found footage movie.
They Will Kill You is an action-horror romp that is terrifically weird. All that’s missing is some memorable dialogue.
Misfires
The Bride! – This movie is a hot mess but it’s an interesting mess with a bold style and a maelstrom of ideas. It’s not entirely coherent but it is unique and creative, giving us a Frankenstein story we haven’t seen before. If it finds its audience, The Bride! could become a cult title.
Clayface is a sloppy and careless mess of a film that is comparable to Morbius and Madame Web.
Dracula: A Love Tale – A ripoff of 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula that does everything worse.
Ice Cream Man – The debut feature from Eli Roth company The Horror Section is never more than an imitation of the sleazy direct-to-video horror of the 1980s.
The Last House wastes a good cast and an interesting idea.
Other Mommy is a slapdash supernatural story. There are a few creative images in the movie but it’s frustratingly careless with characters and logic.
Slanted copies elements of better films (namely The Substance) but it fails to do anything interesting or original.
Others
Infirmary is a bore. This attempt to be a lean found footage shocker proves too sparse for its own good. There’s nothing here but a few cliches.
The Influencer Project has some scary moments and as a pseudo-documentary it is generally well assembled. But this movie takes on pressing issues of safety, technology, and media responsibility and does nothing new or interesting with it.
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is more of a possession story than a mummy movie. The Mummy is a scary but compromised film. It’s scary but overlong.
Obsession – The big horror hit of 2026. A few technical defects aside, this is a well-crafted picture that is consistently frighting, surprising, and thoughtful.
Pinocchio Unstrung is leaps ahead of the other entries in the Twisted Childhood Universe franchise. There’s some style to it and some impressive special effects but the storytelling is sloppy.
Pretty Lethal is not great filmmaking but it is the kind of movie that young people would have a blast watching at a sleepover.
Primate – This killer ape movie opens slowly but once it gets going Primate is an effective horror picture.
Psycho Killer – This one was divisive and the reviews were not kind. Psycho Killer is messy and anachronistic and not all of it works but its weirdness makes this a fresh and distinct title in the current horror marketplace.
We Bury the Dead is an ambitious but ultimately misjudged attempt to expand the possibilities of the zombie genre. The storytelling is too wobbly and disconnected to accomplish what the filmmakers are attempting.
Coming Soon
Breeder – A poodle breeder expands her business to breeding people. Opening in theaters October 28.
The Canvas – A supernatural movie about a haunted painting. The film is expected to release on October 30.
Holy Father – A follow up to Shravan Tiwari’s 2025 film Holy Ghost is an exorcism movie starring Eric Roberts. The film is expected to release on October 31.
Dead of Night – A series off murders in a small town. Opening in theaters on November 13.
Victorian Psycho – Maika Monroe plays a psychotic nineteenth century governess. Opens in theaters on November 13.
Hexed – Not horror but witchcraft related, this animated coming of age story opens in theaters on November 25.
Werwulf – Robert Eggers’ next film is about lycanthropy. Opens in theaters on December 25.
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