Many people out there might be sad to see Summer come to an end and the weather drop as Fall sets in. For others, however, it is a different story. Horror fans around the world tend to rejoice as we enter the Halloween season and what is typically the busiest time of year for horror movie releases and 2021 looks to be no different. From new additions to classic franchises to insanely unique and quirky new offerings, put out your Jack-o’-lanterns, grab your candy and check out the 13 best horror movies set to be released this Fall.
Horror movies are coming out in October 2021
Bad Candy – September 2021
Bad Candy is written and directed by Scott B. Hansen and Desiree Connell and stars cult favourites Zach Galligan of Gremlins fame and Corey Taylor from the masked heavy metal band Slipknot. As an anthology based film, the movie will tell a number of separate spooky stories based on a Halloween theme in the vein of 2007’s holiday favourite Trick ‘r Treat directed by Michael Dougherty. Bad Candy follows local Halloween stories based on both myths and lessons learned in the community of New Salem. With its annual Psychotronic FM Halloween show, re-enactment radio DJs Chilly Billy (Taylor) and Paul (Galligan) weave the tales of the supernatural of years gone by, and if the trailer is anything to go by, this is certainly not a movie for the faint of heart. In the Corey Taylor narrated trailer, which lasts just under two minutes, our senses are bombarded with an assortment of evil imagery including zombies, blood splattered walls, an evil clown and some sort of horned demon creature that looks to be straight from the deepest depths of hell.
- Bad Candy
- Release date: September 10
- Format: September 10 (VOD), September 28 2021 (Blu-Ray)
Addams Family 2 – October 1, 2021
Following the, somewhat surprising, success of 2019’s Addams Family animated reboot, it was quickly announced that a follow up would be going into development. This time, it looks like they’re going with something a little different. We’re going to be following the whole family on a road trip around the United States. Morticia and Gomez have become distraught that their children are growing up, skipping family dinners and slipping away from them, so they organise the trip in an attempt to bring the family together for one last family vacation. While not the scariest entry on this list, expect lots of pitch black comedy and supernatural hijinks a plenty in this star studded affair featuring the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chlo&ë Grace Moretz, Nick Kroll, Javon Walton, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Bill Hader.
There’s Someone Inside Your House – October 6, 2021
Netflix have certainly upped the chill factor this year with their horror release slate. There’s Someone Inside Your House might not be among the most talked about Netflix releases this year but it certainly seems to be one of the most horrifying. Based on the 2017 Stephanie Perkins novel of the same name, the film follows Makani Young, who has moved from Hawaii to a remote town in Nebraska to live with her grandmother and finish high school. If that’s not stressful enough, students at said high school are, one by one, being stalked and gruesomely murdered. To top it off, the killer is committing these murders whilst wearing ultra realistic masks of the victims. It definitely sounds like a must watch for all the ‘die’ hard slasher fans out there.
Muppets Haunted Mansion – October 8, 2021
Okay, so this isn’t technically a movie, it’s more of a special but I couldn’t leave it off the list because… well, it’s the Muppets! Earlier this year, Disney announced that ‘The Great Gonzo – world famous daredevil artiste’ who ‘has done it all, seen it all, and survived it all’ will be taking on the greatest challenge of his life this Halloween night by spending one very daring night in the most grim grinning place on Earth …The Haunted Mansion. Inspired by the iconic Disney Haunted Mansion theme park attractions, expect a whole plethora of puppet paranoia from all of your favorite muppets as well as a slew of celebrity cameos and three new original songs, ‘Rest In Peace’, ‘Life Hereafter’ and ‘Tie The Knot Tango’.
Lamb – October 8, 2021
This little Icelandic flick looks as if it’s definitely going to sit on the more left field side of the horror spectrum. Being distributed in the US by A24, a company that has never shied away from unique and offbeat horrors, the movie is about a couple who, upon coming across an abandoned baby on their farm, decide to take it home and raise it as their own. The twist? The baby appears to be some sort of mutant human-lamb hybrid creature. Other than that, not much else is known about the plot but it’s sure to be one hell of a ride. This supernatural horror stars Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Sn&ær Gu&ðnason and marks the feature-length directorial debut of Valdimar J&óhannsson, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Sj&ón.
- Lamb
- Release date: October 8, 2021
- Format: In theaters
Halloween Kills – October 15, 2021
What better way to kick this list off than with the latest sequel to the granddaddy of all Halloween horrors. Halloween Kills is a direct sequel to 2018’s box office hit Halloween which itself was a direct sequel to the 1978 classic of the same name. Jamie Lee Curtis will once again be back reprising her role, playing the totally badass protagonist Laurie Strode facing off against notorious masked mad man Michael Myers, one the world’s most iconic villains. Director/co-writer David Gordon Green will again be helming the project which precedes next year’s Halloween Ends, which is reportedly the final installment in this trilogy. Halloween Kills is expected to will pick up immediately after the previous movie left off with Laurie, her daughter Karen and granddaughter Allyson.
- Halloween Kills
- Release date: October 15, 2021
- Format: In theaters, streaming on Peacock the same day.
Antlers – October 29, 2021
Partly due to the many Covid related delays it has gone through and partly due to the nail-biting trailers that have been released so far, the Guillmero del Toro produced Antlers is definitely one of most anticipated horrors of the year. Guilmero de Toro is never one to stick to the beaten path and judging by what we know so far, Antlers promises something absolutely deranged. Based on the short story ‘The Quiet Boy’ written by Nick Antosca, it follows a school teacher and her police officer brother in a small Oregon town where they become convinced one of her students is harboring a man eating supernatural creature. The film stars Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Rory Cochrane, and Amy Madigan and is directed by Scott Cooper (Black Mass (2015) and Hostiles (2017).
- Antlers
- Release date: October 29, 2021
- Format: In theaters
Last Night In Soho – October 29, 2021
Renowned director Edgar Wright is known to have flirted with horror genre frequently throughout his career, most notably with the terrifyingly funny Cornetto trilogy (made up of Shaun Of The Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World’s End (2013)). Last Night in Soho, however, marks Wright’s first foray into pure horror. The time-bending thriller stars Thomasin McKenzie as Eloise Turner, a young woman with a passion for fashion design. Somehow Eloise finds herself inhabiting the body of an iconic club performer named Sadie and is now living back in 1966 London. While as Sadie, she pursues a romantic relationship with a man named Jack, played by Matt Smith. She soon realizes, however, that Sadie’s life in the Swinging Sixties is not as glamorous as it appears to be and both past and present begin to fall apart with horrifying consequences.
Shepherd – November 5, 2021
Shot in ‘one of the most beautiful, remote and less filmed parts of Britain’, there seems to be a certain mystique surrounding the Russel Owens directed Shepherds. The plot centers on a man who, dealing with the grief following the mysterious death of his wife, takes a job as a shepherd in the remote UK countryside. While out there, he encounters a malevolent supernatural force. Soon his rural retreat becomes a heart pounding race to save his sanity and his life. Owens has been quoted as saying that the movie “allows its audience to decide for themselves the motivations behind (and the fate of) its protagonist by not giving its true foundations away,” only adding to the mystique. Bring on November.
- Shepherd
- Release date: November 5, 2021
- Format: In theaters
Ghostbusters Afterlife – November 11, 2021
After the mixed reactions and poor box office performance of the 2015 Ghostbusters reboot, fans of the series have been clamoring for some sort of redemption and it looks like that might be arriving this fall in the shape of the highly anticipated Ghostbusters Afterlife. The film certainly ticks a lot of boxes; it is a sequel to the original films set thirty years after and is directed by Jason Reitman – son of original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman. It even sees Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts reprising their roles from the original films, joining newcomers Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace and Paul Rudd. The plot is reported to revolve around a supernatural phenomena somehow connected to those seen in the original movie. This time round, though, it’s up to the original ghostbuster’s grandkids, along with their family and friends, to solve the mystery of their grandfather’s relocation and use the Ghostbusters’ equipment and, become their successors.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City – November 24, 2021
After an impressive six movie run starring Milla Jovovich, starting from 2002’s Resident Evil and finishing with 2016’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Sony Pictures have now rebooted the video game come horror movie sensation. The zombie survival flick stars Robbie Amell, Kaya Scodelario, Tom Hopper and Neal McDonough and has been directed by Johannes Roberts. The film is reportedly set in the abandoned wasteland of Racoon City. A group of survivors seeking the dark truths and secrets surrounding the town and the ‘Umbrella Corporation’ will have to make it through the night without being eliminated by an unspeakable evil that has been unleashed from below the surface.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – TBA, 2021
The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie is going to be a reboot in the same vein as the 2018 Halloween movie in that it will be rebooted in the form of a direct sequel to original 70’s classic, whilst ignoring the numerous sequels, spin-offs and reboots that have come in between. The movie will be directed by David Blue Garcia from a screenplay by Chris Thomas Devlin from a story that Don’t Breathe’s Fede &Álvarez was involved in. While the exact date has yet to be announced, we do know that it is set to come out this year and fans of the original will be glad to hear that, like the first, it will be R-rated and the monstrous Leatherface will be definitely be rearing his (or his victims’?) ugly head once again.
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Release date: TBA, 2021
- Format: Streaming on Netflix
Jeepers Creepers: Reborn – TBA, 2021
The Jeepers Creepers franchise has become somewhat of a cult sensation amongst horror fans, so it’s hardly surprising that it is amongst the horror franchises making a return this year. Currently in post-production, Jeepers Creepers: Reborn is set to be the beginning of a new trilogy for the franchise and follows a woman named Laine and her boyfriend as they attend a creepy horror attraction event. Laine begins to experience disturbing visions associated with the town’s troubled past and the notorious ‘Creeper’. Naturally, we expect the horror event to descend into blood soaked carnage. Exact information regarding the film’s release is still scarce but we know that it should be released by Screen Media Films later this year.