Insidious: Out of the Further, the sixth entry in the acclaimed horror franchise created by Leigh Whannell and James Wan, is perhaps the headline horror film currently showing in the UK.
If you’d rather steer well clear and spend your money elsewhere though (who can blame you?), then here are spooky spectacles to catch in the lead up to Halloween.
Leviticus (Release date- September 2)
Up first is Leviticus, a fascinating film already out in the world for Brits to see.
The criticism labelled at a lot of modern horror projects is that they’re all the same and so it is refreshing to see that director Adrian Chiarella could be heading in a different direction.
“Two teenage boys must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most- each other”, reads the tagline, as the film looks to explore the intersectionality of homosexuality with religion, adding in an extra layer of terror.
Resident Evil (September 18)
Fresh off of dominating the world of cinema this time last year with Weapons, Zach Cregger returns to give us his take on a beloved piece of IP.
Resident Evil has solved over 200 million video game copies worldwide and was also adapted into multiple films by Paul WS Anderson, but Cregger revealed that he hasn’t even seen them and would be focused more on the original source material.
Austin Abrams (of Weapons fame) plays the lead in an obviously small cast as he continues to go from strength to strength in his burgeoning career. Plenty of video games turned movies having underwhelmed, Until Dawn from last year comes to mind instantly, yet maybe Cregger can buck the trend.
Hope (September 25)
If you were to ask 10 people who have already seen Hope at the various festivals, what they made of Na Hong-jin’s latest movie, you could well hear back 10 different answers.
A decisive action thriller, it may not quite be a horror but I’m bending the rules for this list based on the South Korea director’s previous releases. The Wailing in particular, a film that is now a decade old, wowed and horrified audiences in equal measure which makes Hope an even more intriguing watch.
Starring Jung Ho-yeon of Squid Game fame, as well as Michael Fassbender and Taylor Russell, this film pits humans against creatures for an unforgettable thrill ride.
Other Mommy (October 9)
Based off of the trailer for Other Mommy alone, there are moments of bog-standard horror that can be found in countless genre films.
Double performances are all the rage at the moment as well and who better to play two sides of the same coin than Jessica Chastain.
Just last month, The Whisper Man explored children’s fascination with imaginary friends and the lack of belief that parents often respond with until it is too late- it will be intriguing to see if this movie can do a better job.
Whalefall (October 16)
We’re back with Austin Abrams and for Whalefall, he reunites with his Weapons co-star Josh Brolin, this time portraying a father and son duo.
A film where the lead character seemingly spends the majority of the runtime inside a whale can very easily go one of two ways- will it be a claustrophobic nightmare or a one-location snoozefest?
For this one, it’s the intrigue more than anything that should put bums in seats with people keen to know how this will unfold.
Victorian Psycho (TBC)
The final film on this list is without an official UK release date at the time of writing, instead being simply slated for Autumn 2026.
Maika Monroe has forged a path as one of the leading scream queens of the 2020s with Watcher and Longlegs, not to mention 2014’s It Follows as well.
Monroe plays the titular Victorian psycho (based off of the trailer and poster anyway) as her arrival at a gothic manor coincides with the disappearance of several staff members, also starring Thomasin McKenzie and Ruth Wilson.
