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6 horror movies to watch this fall
Traveling mediums, zombie outbreaks and a Jessica Chastain doppelganger highlight the season’s scariest offerings
Unless they are holding back some last-minute surprises, studios have not timed their best horror releases to coincide directly with Halloween this year, They are instead distributing them over the course of pumpkin, sweaters and apple-picking season, AKA autumn. Whether you’re looking for a zombie apocalypse, a ghost story or a blood-soaked slasher, you won’t be disappointed.
‘Never After Dark’
Never After Dark - Official Trailer | Starring Moeka Hoshi | In Theaters September 25 - YouTube
Airi (Moeka Hoshi) is a sought-after traveling medium who specializes in releasing tormented spirits so they can move on to the next plane of existence. She is hired by Teiko (Tae Kimura) to clear a ghost from his sleek countryside hotel while her son, Gunji (Kento Kaku), brings a Dana Scully energy as the supernatural skeptic. The spirit is called The Gaping Mouth Man (Mutsuo Yoshioka), and he is more than the icily competent Airi bargained for. Anchored by Hoshi’s “deeply present, engaged performance,” writer-director Dave Boyle’s film “builds atmosphere and tension to a truly insane final act,” said Brian Tallerico at Roger Ebert. (in theaters now)
‘Resident Evil’
Resident Evil - Official Trailer - Only in cinemas September 18 - YouTube
Even hardcore fans of the 90s-era Capcom game would admit that most of the “Resident Evil” movies have been pretty mid. Now, with “Weapons” and “Barbarian” director Zach Cregger on board, the franchise has been given new life.
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“Resident Evil” follows, often from the first-person vantage point like in the game, disheveled hospital courier Bryan (Austin Abrams) as his late-night organ delivery is waylaid by a viral outbreak that swiftly turns people into tentacled, zombie-like nightmares. Cregger’s “lean, gripping and relentless” film shows “how movies and video games can merge in a way that makes them stronger for sharing their DNA rather than disfiguring them both,” said David Ehrlich at IndieWire. (in theaters now)
Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson headline director Michael Showalter’s adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling— and originally self-published — novel. Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, a down-on-her-luck ghost writer hired to complete a bestselling thriller series for the novelist Verity Crawford (Hathaway) after she is rendered comatose in an accident. But when Lowen starts digging around, she unearths terrifying secrets about Verity and her husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett). It looks like a “thrilling movie that promises a ton of mystery,” said Anthony Nash at ComingSoon.net. (in theaters now)
Rob Savage (“Host”) helms this tale of Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark) an eight-year-old menaced along with her father (Jay Duplass) by a sinister, shapeshifting doppelganger of her mother (Jessica Chastain) whom she calls “Other Mommy.” Based on a novel by Josh Malerman (“Bird Box”), this nutty-looking movie is almost guaranteed to be the commercial horror hit of the fall by virtue of Chastain’s presence. The film’s theme “explores the limits of family and how fragile the bonds built within it can be if parents don’t guarantee their children a safe and stable homelife,” said Ricardo Serrano Denis at The Beat. (in theaters Oct. 9)
‘The Cycle’
The Cycle - Official Teaser Trailer (2026) Deborah Ann Woll - YouTube
Is the latest film from writer-director Jordan Downey (“The Head Hunter”) a creature feature? Psychological horror? Whatever it is, the trailer will make your skin crawl.
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When three bodies are found brutally torn apart in a house, Meg (Deborah Ann Woll) is informed by Ian (Will Hochman), the detective working the case, that one of them is her father, who has been missing for 36 years. After the discovery of the body, Meg finds herself at the “center of a mystery involving an estranged father, a horrifying crime scene and secrets that apparently refused to stay buried,” said Hannah Hunt at Collider. (Oct. 23 on Shudder)
‘Victorian Psycho’
Victorian Psycho | Official Trailer | Bleecker Street - YouTube
The best way to describe “Victorian Psycho” might be “Saltburn” meets “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” Maika Monroe plays Winifred Notty, an unrepentant sociopath who takes a job as a governess for the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Pounds (Jason Isaacs and Ruth Wilson) at their secluded manor and swiftly begins butchering the staff.
Monroe, known for her quietly understated performances in horror classics like “It Follows” and “Watcher,” really lets loose here. A movie that refuses to “take itself or its form too seriously,” it delivers a “nasty, happy little surprise with grotesque kills and a staunch refusal to pull back on the promises of its title,” said Josh Korngut at Dread Central. (in theaters Nov. 13)
David Faris is a professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of "It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics." He's a frequent contributor to Newsweek and Slate, and his work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Republic and The Nation, among others.
