In cinemas, everyone can hear you scream.
We love scary movies here in JOE.
In 2018, we voted Hereditary as our Number One movie of the year, with fellow-scarer A Quiet Place coming in at Number Two. The year before, we had Get Out and Split and Mother! all ranked high.
We love scary movies, and if you love scary movies too, then you’re going to love 2019!
THE PRODIGY
Who Is Involved? Taylor Schilling (Orange Is The New Black), Colm Feore (Chicago) and the director of The Pact.
When Is It Out? 15 March
Why Should We Be Excited? Creepy kids are surefire way to win over horror fans, and this one looks like it has one of the creepiest kids of all time.
Clip via Orion Pictures
THE HOLE IN THE GROUND
Who Is Involved? Seana Kerslake (A Date For Mad Mary), James Cosmo (Braveheart) and up-and-coming new Irish director Lee Cronin.
When Is It Out? 1 March
Why Should We Be Excited? We’ve been going on about this one for a while now, and we continue to stand by the pronouncement that it may very well be the best Irish horror movie ever made.
Clip via WildCard Distribution
US
Who Is Involved? Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o, Golden Globe-winner Elisabeth Moss, and Get Out writer/director Jordan Peele.
When Is It Out? 22 March
Why Should We Be Excited? You mean besides the fact that we’re automatically very excited to see what Peele does next? Well, just look at the demented trailer. What is going on with ALL THOSE RABBITS??
Clip via Universal Pictures
PET SEMATARY
Who Is Involved? Jason Clarke, John Lithgow, and Amy Seimetz (Alien: Covenant, Stranger Things).
When Is It Out? 5 April
Why Should We Be Excited? Another classic King story (the one he thinks is his own scariest) is getting the IT-redo with a great cast and some serious scares. If you make it through the trailer without jumping at the truck, then you’re made of hardier stuff than we were.
Clip via Paramount Pictures
THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA
Who Is Involved? Linda Cardellini (E.R), Patricia Velasquez (The Mummy), and the director has been given The Conjuring 3 gig off the back of this one!
When Is It Out? US release date is 19 April
Why Should We Be Excited? Like we said, the producers at Warner Brothers were so impressed with this that they give the keys to their biggest horror series to the director. So it must be something pretty special.
Clip via Warner Bros. UK
BRIGHTBURN
Who Is Involved? Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect) is the lead, with James Gunn (Guardians Of The Galaxy) on producing duties.
When Is It Out? 24 May
Why Should We Be Excited? The pitch of “What if Michael Myers was basically Superman?” should be enough to have you hooked already.
Clip via Sony Pictures Entertainment
GRUDGE
Who Is Involved? Andrea Riseborough (Black Mirror: Crocodile), John Cho (Searching), Lin Shaye (Insidious), and Jacki Weaver (Bird Box).
When Is It Out? 21 June
Why Should We Be Excited? While the original J-horror Grudge series was pretty great, the first batch of US remakes didn’t hold up too well. Here’s hoping they do better with the story of a haunted house that kills anyone who enters it a bit better this time around.
CHILD’S PLAY
Who Is Involved? Aubrey Plaza (Parks & Rec), Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), and that damned doll!
When Is It Out? US release date is 21 June
Why Should We Be Excited? Well… for movie lovers of a certain age, Child’s Play was an iconic horror movie, before it went the way of Freddy and ultimately became a kind of violent comedy. This new remake looks to put the scares back into the possessed doll tale.
ELI
Who Is Involved? Ciaran Foy (director) with Kelly Reilly, Max Martini, Lily Taylor, and Charlie Shotwell.
When Is It Out? 2019, at some point. We’d like to guess Halloween, but horror is good any time of the year.
Why Should We Be Excited? Irish director Foy made a name for himself with tense thriller Citadel, before landing the gig to make Sinister 2. Here he is working with a great cast, a script from the guys behind underrated chiller The Autopsy Of Jane Doe, and the plot synopsis already has us on board: A boy receiving treatment for his auto-immune disorder discovers that the house he’s living isn’t as safe as he thought.
THE NEW MUTANTS
Who Is Involved? Josh Boone (The Fault In Our Stars) directs Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Alice Braga, and Antonio Banderas.
When Is It Out? 2 August
Why Should We Be Excited? We’ve seen superhero movies disguised as political thrillers (The Winter Soldier) and romantic comedies (Ant-Man & The Wasp) and plenty of other genres, but this is the first time someone has tried to make one into a horror.
Clip via 20th Century Fox
ANNABELLE 3
Who Is Involved? Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga come over from The Conjuring series, with James Wan on producing and writing duties.
When Is It Out? US release date is 3 July
Why Should We Be Excited? The threequel in the Annabelle movies also kind of acts as a threequel for the Conjuring movies too. The horror crossover to end all horror crossovers!
SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK
Who Is Involved? The big name here is Guillermo Del Toro, who is on board for co-writing and co-producing duties.
When Is It Out? US release date is 9 August
Why Should We Be Excited? Again, Del Toro doing horror should be enough to get horror fans excited. Add in the plot of a group of kids forced to face their ultimate fears should bring up some memories of a certain scary clown…
IN THE TALL GRASS
Who Is Involved? Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice) directs Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring, Insidious) based on a short story by Stephen King.
When Is It Out? Late 2019.
Why Should We Be Excited? We went into detail as to why we’re excited about this one here, but let us just say that King’s story was absolutely terrifying, and if they can nail the tone and mood for the movie, then we’re on to something really special.
MIDSOMMAR
Who Is Involved? Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper, Jack Reynor, and the writer/director of Hereditary.
When Is It Out? US release date is 9 August
Why Should We Be Excited? “A young woman reluctantly joins her boyfriend on a summer trip where things quickly go awry.” That is all we know about the follow up to one of the decade’s best horror movies. And it is enough to get us very excited.
IT: CHAPTER TWOÂ
Who Is Involved? Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, and more join Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise.
When Is It Out? 6 September
Why Should We Be Excited? The sequel to the biggest horror movie ever made, with a hugely impressive grown-up cast of the Loser’s Club. We’re in.
ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?
Who Is Involved? The writer of IT and Annabelle, with the director of Disturbia. Main cast has yet to be revealed.
When Is It Out? 11 October
Why Should We Be Excited? A big screen remake of the hit Nickelodeon show that scarred an entire generation of children.
CRAWL
Who Is Involved? Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner), Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan), and director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, Switchblade Romance).
When Is It Out? US release date is 23 August.
Why Should We Be Excited? Again, we went into detail as to why we’re pretty certain this could be the sleeper hit of 2019 (right here), but just to reiterate: it involves alligators attacking a family who are trapped in their home following a Category 5 hurricane! Shut. Up. And. Take. My. Money!
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
