Celebrating the Summer of Scares

Tuesday 16 July 2024 by Ash Walker  Features

2024 is proving to be a very good year for horror movies. We’ve already seen some interesting twists on long-in-the-tooth concepts (Abigail, Late Night with the Devil), a clutch of killer spider movies (Sting, Infested) and even a couple of excellent spooky nun films (The First Omen, Immaculate).

The trend looks to continue into the summer, with a whole host of new nightmares about to be unleashed upon the world. So join us as we cringe away from the sunlight, slink into the shadows and celebrate the Summer of Scares.

27th June - A Quiet Place: Day One

Credit: A Quiet Place: Day One | Official Trailer (Paramount Pictures, YouTube)

Kicking things off is the third entry in the quickly-growing A Quiet Place franchise. This one is a prequel to the original movie, detailing the arrival of the aurally-inclined alien monsters, and the chaos that ensues.

The first two films were wonderfully tense post-apocalyptic monster movies, and this new outing looks to be no different - plus it has the added spectacle of classic alien-invasion disaster movies like Independence Day. Stars Lupita Nyong'o (Us) and Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things).

5th July - MaXXXine

Credit: MaXXXine | Official Trailer HD (A24, YouTube)

Next up is MaXXXine, the highly-anticipated final chapter in Ti West’s surprise slasher trilogy, following the critically-acclaimed X and Pearl.

Starring scream queen Mia Goth, this tells the story of Maxine Minx - sole survivor of the farmhouse massacre in X - as she attempts to transition her success as an adult entertainer into legitimate movie stardom. Unfortunately, she’s also being targeted by a mysterious killer.

Luxuriating in its seedy, neon-drenched ‘80s Hollywood setting - and by all accounts not skimping on the gore - this looks to be a real treat for horror fans, as well as a satisfying closer to the X trilogy. A must-see.

12th July - Longlegs

Credit: LONGLEGS | The End Trailer (NEON, YouTube)

Perhaps the buzziest movie of the summer - horror or otherwise - Longlegs has benefitted from a brilliantly cryptic marketing campaign and an air of genuine mystery and dread. Plus rumours of a truly unhinged Nicolas Cage performance that has to be seen to be believed.

Directed by Osgood Perkins (son of horror legend Anthony Perkins), the film follows FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), on the trail of a mysterious occult serial killer. It’s already being called the scariest movie of the year, and has drawn favourable comparisons to all-time classic The Silence of the Lambs.

Catch it in the cinema, if you dare.

12th July - In A Violent Nature

Credit: In a Violent Nature - Official Trailer (IFC Films, YouTube)

This low-budget, experimental indie slasher is essentially Friday the 13th, but from Jason’s perspective. It follows - literally; most of the film is framed like an over-the-shoulder third person video game - a masked killer, who is awakened by a group of heedless teens and subsequently goes on a gruesome killing spree.

Mixing lingering shots of natural beauty with horrific violence, this is a little more thoughtful than your typical teen slasher, and promises to be an interesting - if difficult - watch.

9th August - Trap

Credit: Trap | Official Trailer (Warner Bros. Pictures, YouTube)

Love him or hate him, a new M. Night Shyamalan film is always something to pay attention to.

This time he’s tackling the story of a seemingly ordinary father (Josh Hartnett) attending a pop concert with his teenage daughter, only to discover that the whole thing is an elaborate sting operation to catch a notorious serial killer. The twist? That same father is the killer, and now he must find a way to elude capture and get out of there alive.

Shyamalan has had a pretty good run recently, with the likes of Split and Knock At the Cabin being heralded as returns to form, and this one looks very promising. It’s great to see Josh Harnett back in a leading role, especially when he’s getting to do something so dark and twisted, and Shyamalan has proven time and again that he’s adept at ratcheting up the tension.

Should be a lot of fun.

16th August - Alien: Romulus

Credit: Alien: Romulus | Official Trailer (20th Century Studios, YouTube)

You’d be forgiven for rolling your eyes at the idea of another Alien film. At this point, the franchise is starting to look a bit played out, but incoming director Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) promises to bring something fresh to the table.

Promising to take the series back to its roots, Romulus follows a group of young scavengers who run afoul of the acid-blooded xenomorphs on a derelict space station. Alvarez has proven himself a dab hand at ratcheting tension, lingering scares and stomach-churning gross-out moments, all of which are essential skills for tackling an Alien movie.

This is definitely one to be cautiously excited about.

23rd August - Cuckoo

Credit: CUCKOO - Official Trailer (NEON, YouTube)

Starring buzzy, up-and-coming actor Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) and genre darling Dan Stevens (The Guest, Abigail), Cuckoo looks to be a refreshingly mad slice of schlocky cinema.

Little has been revealed about the actual plot, but the official synopsis describes the story of an American teen who moves with her family to the German Alps, only to begin experiencing strange occurrences. With a heavy emphasis on ‘strange’.

Early indications are that this one will be weird, full of anarchic energy and a lot of fun.

30th August - AfrAId

Credit: AFRAID - Official Trailer (Sony Pictures Entertainment, YouTube)

This new Blumhouse shocker asks a question that has likely crossed all of our minds in the past few years - what if Alexa was evil?

Positioned somewhere between The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and bonkers ‘70s sci-fi horror Demon Seed, AfrAId (see what they did there?) tells the story of an AI assistant/smart home device that becomes self aware and begins to murderously interfere in the lives of an ordinary family.

Another entry in Blumhouse’s burgeoning catalogue of tech-based nightmares - following last year’s surprise hit M3GAN - and a warning to us all about the inevitable robot uprising. Stars John Cho (Searching) and Katherine Waterston (Alien: Covenant).

6th September - Starve Acre

Credit: Starve Acre UK Trailer (BFI, YouTube)

An eerie, intense British folk horror starring Matt Smith (House of the Dragon) and Morfydd Clarke (Saint Maud).

Based on the excellent novel by Andrew Michael Hurley, this tells the story of a married couple grieving the sudden and mysterious death of their young son. While the mother takes comfort in psychics and mediums, the father becomes obsessed with finding the buried remains of a legendary hanging tree in the field behind the house.

But, as always, some things should remain buried.

The film looks to capture the same bleak, earthy atmosphere as the book, and could be a new folk horror classic in the making.

12th September - Speak No Evil

Credit: Speak No Evil | Official Trailer (Universal Pictures, YouTube)

A remake of the 2022 Danish psychological horror, released internationally under the same title, this plays out as a sort of reverse home invasion film, following an American family staying with a British couple that they barely know, and their increasingly desperate attempts to leave.

The original was an unbearably uncomfortable film, which slowly escalated to a harrowing, horribly inevitable conclusion, and all signs point to the remake delivering a similar experience - albeit with a bit more action and a lot more James McAvoy.

Was a remake really necessary, especially given that the original only came out 2 years ago? Probably not, but we’ll find out when this releases in September.

20th September - The Substance

Credit: The Substance Teaser Trailer (Rotten Tomatoes Trailers, YouTube)

Demi Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, the ageing star of a fitness show who, in an effort to recapture her youth, begins administering the mysterious substance of the title. What ensues is a bonkers, riotous satire filled with stomach-churning body horror. 

This film garnered a lot of buzz at the recent Cannes Film Festival, being nominated for the Palme d’Or and taking home an award for Best Screenplay, and its release is hotly anticipated. Also stars Margaret Qualley (Poor Things) and is directed by Coralie Fargeat, who made the brutal 2017 thriller Revenge.

25th December - Nosferatu

Credit: NOSFERATU - Official Teaser Trailer (Focus Features, YouTube)

And finally, something of an honourable mention - summer will be a distant memory by the time this comes out - but a film to be excited about nonetheless. Acclaimed filmmaker Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman) finally brings us his long-gestating re-imagining of the legendary vampire classic.

The original Nosferatu, which is now over 100 years old, was a loose, unofficial adaptation of Dracula, following the sinister Count Orlok as he brings pestilence and death to 19th Century Europe. This remake is still shrouded in mystery - we still haven’t seen any official pictures of  Bill Skarsgård’s new take on the titular monster - but will likely tell a similar story.

With Eggers’s undeniable talent behind the camera and an absolutely stacked cast, including the likes of Skarsgård, Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Willem Dafoe, this one is unmissable for horror fans.

Christmas can’t come soon enough.