From ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ to Zach Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’, here are Dread Central’s Top 10 horror movies still to come in 2026.
2026 horror is not done with us yet. After a stacked first half that delivered festival breakouts, franchise swings, original nightmares, and plenty of box office heat, the year still has a surprisingly loaded back half waiting in the wings. Even beyond the titles that made this list, releases like Rob Savage‘s Other Mommy, Eli Roth‘s Ice Cream Man, and the nasty-looking Pinocchio: Unstrung from the Twisted Childhood Universe are all proving there’s still plenty of juice left in this release year.
That’s what makes ranking the year’s remaining horror slate so tricky. We’re not just looking at the biggest names or safest bets, but the movies with the strongest mix of pedigree, premise, and potential to cut through the noise. From studio tentpoles to auteur-driven festival favorites, here are Dread Central’s Top 10 horror movies still coming in 2026.
10. Fall 2: Deadpoint (Lionsgate)
The original Fall turned a high-rise climb gone wrong into a dizzyingly effective survival thriller, stranding two best friends at the top of a 2,000-foot TV tower. I don’t even like to think about it. Now the sequel, Fall 2: Deadpoint, takes that same vertigo-inducing premise to the side of a mountain. Directed by Jigsaw and Predestination helmers Michael and Peter Spierig, the film follows Jax ( star ), who is overwhelmed by the death of her sister Hunter and connects with Luce (), Hunter’s fearless friend. Hoping to heal, the pair attempt the infamous plank walk of Mount Kwan in Thailand, only for a sudden rockslide to leave them stranded on a fragile plank 3,000 feet in the air.Original writer-director co-wrote the script with Jonathan Frank, with Mann already set to return to direct . , however, arrives
Tarot
Harriet Slater
Arsema Thomas
Fall
Scott Mann
Fall 3
Fall 2: Deadpoint
September 2nd.
9. Colony (Well Go USA)
Yeon Sang-ho returns to undead nightmares with Colony, a new zombie epic that already has Dread Central’s attention in a serious way. In our 4-star review out of its Cannes world premiere, Chad Collins called the film “‘Train to Busan’ on steroids,” adding that it is “a rip-roaring, terrifying zombie epic, and the best undead movie in years.”
The film follows Professor Se-jeong as she is thrust into a living hell when a mutating virus is unleashed during a biotech conference, forcing authorities to seal the facility in an attempt to contain the outbreak. Trapped inside, Se-jeong and a group of survivors must fight to stay alive as the infected undergo horrific transformations and threaten to spread the virus beyond the building. Starring Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan, and Ji Chang-wook,Colony brings together a high-profile cast for an intense, character-driven survival story from the legendary filmmaker behind Train to Busan. Well Go USA will release the film in theaters on August 28, 2026.
8. Victorian Psycho (Bleecker Street)
Based on Virginia Feito’s novel of the same name, Victorian Psycho brings a nasty Gothic edge to the fall horror calendar. Directed by Zachary Wigon, with Feito adapting her own work, the film stars Maika Monroe alongside Ruth Wilson, Thomasin McKenzie, Jason Isaacs, and Jacobi Jupe. Ahead of its theatrical release, the MPA has rated the film “R”, in part, for “strong bloody violence” which tracks with my Cannes reaction. In my 4-star review, I called it “a career-best performance from Maika Monroe,” adding that the “delightfully obscene Victorian Psycho is a nasty, happy little surprise with grotesque kills and a staunch refusal to pull back on the promises of its title.” Victorian Psycho opens in theaters on September 25, 2026.
7. Insidious: Out of the Further (Sony)
The sixth Insidious film is finally upon us. The latest trip into spooky soundstage mayhem brings horror icon Lin Shaye back to the franchise once again, which is reason enough for us to pay for a ticket. This time, Shaye stars alongside Amelia Eve, Sam Spruell, Brandon Perea, and Maisie Richardson-Sellers, with Come Play director Jacob Chase at the helm from a screenplay co-written by Chase and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Orphan).
The official premise follows “a trio of stalkers” who “infiltrate a quiet suburb and force a new family into the astral plane, where they uncover a terrifying truth: the Further is bleeding into the real world.” After seeing the first trailer, Out of the Further looks ready to drag the franchise’s nightmare dimension back into our lives. It astral projects into theaters on August 21, 2026.
6. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (MUBI)
Jane Schoenbrun heads into meta-slasher territory with Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, bringing one of horror’s most exciting modern voices to a genre built on violence, sexuality, and summer-camp trauma. The film stars Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) and genre legend Gillian Anderson (The X Files), with a stacked supporting cast that includes Jasmin Savoy Brown, Amanda Fix, Arthur Conti, Eva Victor, Zach Cherry, Sarah Sherman, Patrick Fischler, Dylan Baker, Quintessa Swindell, Kevin McDonald, and Jack Haven.
Following a rapturous Cannes premiere that earned rave reviews and a lengthy standing ovation, this feels like one of the year’s major genre wild cards. After We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and I Saw the TV Glow, Schoenbrun has more than earned our trust, and the idea of them taking on a meta-slasher setup only makes it more exciting. MUBI opens camp on August 7th 2026.
5. Clayface (WB)
Clayface may technically belong to the DC universe, but producer and ringleader James Gunn has made it clear this is not being positioned as a superhero-horror hybrid. It is a horror film. Directed by James Watkins and written by Mike Flanagan, the project stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, a B-movie actor whose attempt to boost his career leaves him transformed into a monstrous figure made entirely of clay.
Early footage has reportedly leaned hard into disturbing transformation horror, with the film described as being in the vein of The Fly and Death Becomes Her. That makes Clayface one of the strangest studio swings of 2026: a DC movie built around body horror, identity collapse, and the nightmare of watching your own flesh betray you. It hits theaters on October 23, 2026.
4. Evil Dead Burn (New Line)
A new Evil Dead movie is always an event, and Evil Dead Burn sounds ready to start the party. Directed by Sébastien Vaniček (Infested) and produced by Sam Raimi, the new installment stars Dune: Part Two breakout Souheila Yacoub as Alice, a woman mourning the loss of her husband who seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home. Naturally, this being Evil Dead, the family gathering soon becomes a reunion from hell as they are transformed one by one into Deadites.
After the first trailer landed, we sure as hell won’t be putting knives blade-up in the dishwasher ever again.. Vaniček has said he wanted to make “a nasty film, a film that hurts,” and with Deadites described as smart, animalistic, and each equipped with their own fighting style, Evil Dead Burn sounds like it could be one of the year’s most punishing theatrical horror movies when it hits theaters on July 10, 2026.
3. Werwulf (Focus Features)
Robert Eggers’ Werwulf already sounds like one of the year’s most visually stunning genre events: a 13th-century werewolf movie from the filmmaker behind The Witch and Nosferatu. Yes please. I’m ready to eat. Set in medieval England, the film follows a community terrorized by a mysterious creature as folklore begins to manifest into reality. Ralph Ineson reunites with Eggers, starring alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, and Bodhi Rae Breathnach.
Early CinemaCon footage reportedly gave off heavy The Witch vibes, with grimy visuals, a gothic 4:3 presentation, and flashes of dark transformation horror. Eggers has described the film as “the darkest thing I have ever written,” which is saying plenty. Werwulf is scheduled to ravage theaters on December 25, 2026. But will Bjork show up this time? Time will tell.
2. Godzilla Minus Zero (Toho)
After Godzilla Minus One became one of the great genre success stories of the decade, Godzilla Minus Zero arrives with monster-sized expectations. Takashi Yamazaki returns as writer and director after helping bring the franchise its first Academy Award.
The sequel follows Kōichi Shikishima as he tries to rebuild a life with Noriko and Akiko after Godzilla’s first rampage. But peace collapses when Godzilla returns fully regenerated, larger, and more ferocious than before. And this time, New York City better watch the hell out. We also hear there will be multiple giant monsters showing up for a good time…
Godzilla may not be the only threat, with the premise teasing something ancient stirring beneath Aokigahara near Mount Fuji. Returning leads Ryûnosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe are joined by several familiar faces from Minus One, making this one of 2026’s biggest genre outings. It stomps into North American theaters on November 6, 2026.
1. Resident Evil (Sony)
After years of uneven big-screen adaptations, Resident Evil may finally be getting the cinematic reinvention fans have been waiting for. Directed by Barbarian and Weapons mastermind Zach Cregger, the new movie follows Bryan, played by Austin Abrams, a medical courier who finds himself trapped in a relentless, action-packed race for survival as one horrifying night collapses into chaos around him.
The first trailer wastes no time throwing audiences into the nightmare, following Bryan through a snow-covered, nearly abandoned town as a rapidly spreading outbreak turns the night into pure survival-horror panic. The footage teases infected civilians flooding the streets, blood-soaked interiors, overturned vehicles, sewer-dwelling monstrosities, and packs of infected dogs stalking through the dark.
What makes this one feel like the right choice for our #1 spot is the promise of a Resident Evil movie that actually feels dangerous. Cregger appears to be pushing the franchise toward a harder, more grounded, R-rated vision built around tension, isolation, resourcefulness, and brutal momentum rather than glossy franchise spectacle. With Paul Walter Hauser, Kali Reis, Zach Cherry, and Johnno Wilson also starring, Resident Evil could be the studio horror reboot that finally brings Capcom’s iconic survival nightmare back to life when it hits theaters on September 18, 2026.
