The most anticipated horror movies of 2023

Horror is off to a strong start this year, thanks to M3GAN, and there's much more on the way, including Cocaine Bear, Evil Dead Rise, and Scream VI

By Matthew Jackson | January 9, 2023 | 1:00pm

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The most anticipated horror movies of 2023

Clockwork from left: Scream VI (Screenshot: Paramount Pictures/YouTube); Knock At The Cabin (Photo: Universal Pictures); Evil Dead Rise (Photo: Warner Bros.); Cocaine Bear (Photo: Universal Pictures) Graphic: The A.V. Club

We’ve only just put the wraps on a terrific year for horror films, and it’s looking like 2023 could be even stronger. M3GAN got things off to a dangerously delightful start over the weekend, and the rest of this year figures to bring plenty more chills and thrills (and even some laughs) to theaters and your favorite streaming services. From indie viral sensations to franchise restarts and more, these are the horror films on our radar as we head into 2023.

Sick

Sick | Official Trailer | Peacock Original

Release date: January 13, 2023 (Peacock)Starring: Gideon Adlon, Bethlehem Million, Jane AdamsDirector: John HyamsHailing from Scream creator Kevin Williamson, who both co-wrote and produced the project, emerged from the Halloween season festival circuit in 2022 as one of the pandemic-era’s most intriguing horror films, and it’s about to be unleashed on a wider audience. The film begins with a familiar pandemic scenario: Two friends find a place to hole up together in the midst of the 2020 lockdown, then things morph into a home invasion thriller that’s part full-on slasher, part meditation on the uncertainties of the pandemic’s earliest weeks. It’s got a strong horror pedigree and a lot of buzz, so keep it on your radar.

Skinamarink

Skinamarink - Official Trailer [HD] | A Shudder Original

Release Date: January 13 (in theaters)Starring: Lucas Paul, Dali Rose TetreaultDirector: Kyle Edward BallAfter blowing up the genre festival circuit in late 2022, writer/director Kyle Edward Ball’s viral horror sensation finally arrives in front of general audiences in early 2023, and while it doesn’t play by the same rules as many horror films, you won’t want to miss it. launches from a very simple premise: Two children, alone in their house, realize that their parents are gone and that all exterior doors and windows in the home have disappeared. What happens next is dreamlike, terrifying, and unforgettable.

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There’s Something Wrong With The Children

THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CHILDREN | Official Trailer | Paramount Movies

Release date: January 17 (digital and on-demand)Starring: Zach Gilford, Alisha Wainwright, Amanda CrewDirector: Roxanne BenjaminBody At Brighton Rock director Roxanne Benjamin returns with this tale of two couples, a pair of creepy children, and a hike in the woods gone very, very wrong. With a bit of a throwback vibe thanks to the title treatments and the slick soundtrack, and loads of tension from Benjamin’s direction, takes a straightforward setup and looks to turn into 90 solid minutes of dread, with much more than spooky children on the line.

Infinity Pool

INFINITY POOL - Official Trailer

Release date: January 27 (in theaters)Starring: Alexander Skarsgard, Mia Goth, Cleopatra ColemanDirector: Brandon CronenbergAfter the skin-crawling success of his sci-fi horror film Possessor, Brandon Cronenberg is back with something that looks altogether stranger, kinkier, and perhaps even more terrifying. follows an uninspired writer as he heads to a luxury resort in search of new ideas. What he finds when he gets there is a conspiracy involving a strange cloning tank, a set of ritualistic and truly unsettling masks, and a fan who’ll do just about anything to help him transform into something more. And if that doesn’t do it for you, the trailer promises Alexander Skarsgard in a dog collar. What’s not to love?

Knock At The Cabin

Knock at the Cabin - Official Trailer 2

Release date: February 3 (in theaters)Starring: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben AldridgeDirector: M. Night ShyamalanHigh-concept thriller machine M. Night Shyamalan returns with , his adaptation of Paul Tremblay’s novel The Cabin At The End Of The World. The story boasts a particularly intriguing premise: a couple and their young daughter are visited by a quartet of strangers, each armed with a handmade weapon, all promising something terrifying. The family must sacrifice one among them, or the world will end. It sounds crazy, but the news on the TV tells a different story, and what follows is a tense battle for survival with global implications. It’s got everything we want from a Shyamalan film and then some, including Dave Bautista dominating the frame.

Attachment

ATTACHMENT Official (2022 Movie) Trailer HD | Horror-Romance Movie HD | Nordisk Film Production

Release date: February 9 (Shudder)Starring: Josephine Park, Ellie Kendrick, Sofie GråbølDirector: Gabriel Bier GislasonA slow-burn, creeping horror film rooted in Jewish folklore, is the story of two young women who develop a romance that’s interrupted by injury, leaving them both to retire to the home of one of their overbearing mothers. From there, things start to get strange, and it becomes clear that in this house, a mother’s protection is about more than codependency. After a successful string of screenings on the festival circuit last year, Attachment is poised to emerge as one of 2023's most intimate, creepy horror films.

Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey Trailer #1 (2022)

Release date: February 15 (in theaters)Starring: Craig David Dowsett, Chris Cordell, Nikolai LeonDirector: Rhys Frake-WaterfieldThough M3GAN might have taken the viral horror crown already in 2023, she’s not the only strange creation who’s caught the internet’s eye. There’s also this feral, demonic take on Winnie-the-Pooh now that the character has fallen into the public domain and is therefore ripe for new views. As the title (and the horrifying character designs) suggests, follows what happens when Pooh and his best friend Piglet turn into bloodthirsty monsters, stalking Christopher Robin and his friends and killing everyone in sight. How can you pass that up?

Cocaine Bear

Cocaine Bear | Official Trailer [HD]

Release date: February 24 (in theaters)Starring: Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Alden EhrenreichDirector: Elizabeth BanksLet’s be honest: We really don’t know at this point just how much horror will be unleashed in . The film’s first trailer leaned heavily on the comedy inherent in the premise and the performances, so we might just be in for a very funny movie with a few bloody moments. But, come on: It’s a movie called Cocaine Bear, and it’s about a bear who goes crazy and starts slaughtering every human in sight. That’s both scary, and so inherently interesting that we’re going to talk about it as much as possible between now and its release.

Scream VI

Scream VI | Official Teaser Trailer (2023 Movie)

Release date: March 10 (in theaters)Starring: Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Courteney CoxDirector: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler GillettOur foremost postmodern slasher franchise is back for the second straight year, and this time the action is moving to the Big Apple for . The gang that you brought you 2022’s Scream is back in full force both in front of and behind the camera, alongside returning icon Courteney Cox (Neve Campbell declined to return for the first time) and Scream 4 star Hayden Panettiere, picking up the action in New York City, where a new string of Ghostface killings breaks out amid costumed passengers on a subway train, and who knows where else. We’ll be watching to see how this “Ghostface Takes Manhattan” slasher works out for the survivors this time around.

The Pope’s Exorcist

Release date: April 7 (in theaters)Starring: Russell Crowe, Franco Nero, Alex EssoeDirector: Julius AveryFather Gabriele Amorth is arguably the most famous exorcist who’s ever lived, and his life as the Vatican’s official purger of demons has already been committed to film in documentary form. Now, Amorth’s life as the chief exorcist for the Pope himself gets the dramatization treatment in courtesy of Overlord filmmaker Julius Avery and star Russell Crowe. We don’t know yet how fictionalized this story of a man who reportedly performed thousands of exorcisms in his lifetime will get, but if you’re a sucker for possession horror, get ready. It doesn’t get more “based on a true story” than this.

Renfield

Renfield | Official Trailer

Release date: April 14 (in theaters)Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, AwkwafinaDirector: Chris McKayTo get excited about , you really only have to think of four words: Nicolas. Cage. As. Dracula. That’s enough. We could go in without any other details about the movie and still be supremely stoked to see what Cage does with the legendary vampire. But Renfield isn’t just about Cage. It’s also about the comedically gifted Nicholas Hoult in the title role of a vampire’s familiar who wants to do everything possible to get out of a toxic relationship with his master, even though Dracula can call him back with a single word. It’s a great premise, a great cast, and a great first trailer helped to seal the deal.

Evil Dead Rise

Evil Dead Rise – Official Trailer (Green Band)

Release date: April 21Starring: Alyssa Sutherland, Lily Sullivan, Gabrielle EcholsDirector: Lee CroninAfter a 10-year drought in new Evil Dead films, the fifth installment in the beloved horror series arrives in 2023, and it looks like it might be the most extreme version of this story we’ve seen yet. Like the original film, follows a group of unsuspecting people who accidentally summon the monsters known as Deadites using the legendary Necronomicon. But this time the action moves from a cabin to an apartment building, and the Deadite doing the killing is one bad mother. What happens next is bound to one of the year’s most blood-soaked rides.

Insidious: Fear The Dark

Release date: July 7 (in theaters)Starring: Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins, Rose ByrneDirector: Patrick WilsonThe universe will return to the family where things began with its upcoming fifth installment, and this time around longtime horror star Patrick Wilson is stepping up to make his feature directorial debut with this direct sequel to the first two films. Wilson will also once again star as the patriarch of the Lambert family, as he and his wife take their once-possessed son off to college, only to find that old demons might not be done with him yet. It’ll be really interesting to see how Wilson handles the dual role of actor and director this time out, after years of working with some of the best horror filmmakers in the business.

Last Voyage Of The Demeter

Release date: August 11 (in theaters)Starring: Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam CunninghamDirector: André ØvredalRenfield’s not the only film in 2023 getting in on some Dracula spin-off action. There’s also , a period horror piece from the director of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, which tells the story of the crew and passengers of the ship which brought Dracula from Transylvania to London, and the horror which befalls them as they realize something inhuman might be onboard. It’s a great setup for a standalone story, and it’ll be interesting to see how Øvredal and company handle their version of the Count.

Haunted Mansion

Release date: August 11 (in theaters)Starring: Rosario Dawson, LaKeith Stanfield, Owen WilsonDirector: Justin SimienThere’s always room for all-ages horror. It’s how new horror fans are made, after all, and one of this year’s most high-profile horror-ish releases is , an adaptation of the legendary Disney attraction of the same name. The film will follow a single mom as she buys the title mansion at a shockingly affordable price, only to find it’s absolutely packed with ghosts. When she hires a bunch of paranormal experts to help get rid of them, hilarity (hopefully) ensues.

Untitled Exorcist sequel

Release date: October 13Starring: Leslie Odom Jr., Ellen Burstyn, Ann DowdDirector: David Gordon GreenFive years after breathing new life into the Halloween franchise, writer/director David Gordon Green is hoping to do it again with The Exorcist and this legacy sequel to William Friedkin’s 1973 horror classic. We don’t know much about the story yet, but we do know that Ellen Burstyn has agreed to return as Chris MacNeil, and that she’ll be offering guidance to another family who’s fallen victim to possession. The unassailable power of Burstyn alone is enough to get us excited, and while no one was necessarily asking for a legacy sequel to The Exorcist, this just might be a jumpstart that moves the story in exciting new directions.

Saw X

Release date: October 27Starring: Tobin Bell, Michael Beach, Synnøve Macody LundDirector: Kevin GreutertAfter Spiral breathed new life into the Saw franchise in 2021, it seemed like more returns to everyone’s favorite parade of death traps were in the cards. Now, in 2023, Saw will join the illustrious fraternity of horror franchises to reach double digits with this appropriately titled tent installment. We still know nothing about the plot of , but we do know that franchise veteran Kevin Greutert (Saw VI, Saw 3D) will be handling directing duties, and that horror icon Tobin Bell will be back in some form as John Kramer, aka Jigsaw. We’ll find out what Jigsaw and (hopefully) Billy the Puppet are cooking up this coming Halloween season.

The Boogeyman

Release date: TBD 2023 (Hulu)Starring: Madison Hu, Vivien Lyra Blair, Sophie ThatcherDirector: Rob SavageThe rare Stephen King story from the 1970s which hasn’t received a major adaptation yet, will finally make the leap to the screen at some point in 2023 courtesy of A Quiet Place writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who adapted the story alongside Black Swan writer Mark Heyman. Though the original story focused on a man who lost his children to the title force, the film will follow two sisters as they battle the sinister presence after losing their mother. For King completists and newcomers alike, it’ll be well worth checking out.

Cuckoo

Release date: TBD 2023Starring: Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica HenwickDirector: Tilman SingerWe know almost nothing about at this point, and what little we’ve heard about the film hasn’t shed much light. What we do know is that the film will mark the feature film starring debut for Euphoria breakout Hunter Schafer, and that she’s collaborating with writer/director Tilman Singer, who made a big impression on the horror world with Luz back in 2018. It’s not much, but if you know Schafer’s work, and you’ve seen Luz, it’s enough.

The Deliverance

Release date: TBD 2023 (Netflix)Starring: Andra Day, Mo’Nique, Aunjanue EllisDirector: Lee DanielsLee Daniels reunites with his The United States vs. Billie Holiday star Andra Day and Precious star Mo’Nique for The Deliverance, a based-on-a-true-story demonic possession tale. Built on the story of a real-life Indiana family who claimed their home was seriously haunted in the 2010s, Daniels will deliver a fictionalized account of a mother fighting to protect her children from dark forces, and the people she encounters along the way. The seriously stacked roster of talent involved is enough to get us hooked.

Salem’s Lot

Release date: TBD 2023Starring: Lewis Pullman, Mackenzie Leigh, Bill CampDirector: Gary DaubermanAfter twice taking the TV miniseries route to adaptation, Stephen King’s second novel will emerge as a feature film in 2023 thanks to Annabelle Comes Home director Gary Dauberman and an ensemble cast led by Lewis Pullman as a writer who returns to his hometown just as a vampire outbreak begins. The original 1979 miniseries, directed by Tobe Hooper, produced some of the most legendarily terrifying images in any King adaptation. It’ll be very interesting to see how Dauberman and company fill those shoes, and what new terrors await with this version.