Horror Film Directors 2027: Radio Silence and Lee Cronin

I thought Hokum was terrifying, especially the atmosphere and how they set everything up. I can't wait to see it again!

and we’re not even halfway through the year.

Send Help felt more like a black comedy than horror

i’ve seen the Curry Barker film which was fun but not always super frightening. looking for recommendations on the scariest movies you have seen this year already.

avoid spoilers please!

I know it's getting all the hype right now, but it's gotta be Obsession. And, funny enough, the most horrifying parts that have stuck with me weren't the jumpscares nor violence.

Obsession. I thought it was the most refreshing horror film I’ve seen in a while. Backrooms was entertaining, but I think I went in with high expectations and it fell a little flat for me. Obsession was the exact opposite, I had zero expectations as I saw it opening weekend before there was all the hype yet. It blew me away

So another movie centered on Sidney, with a new cast of characters and maybe another passing of the torch…

I love Sidney, she’s my favorite character but they need to stop bringing her back before they ruin her incredible character arc. The fact that more than 10 people have tried to kill Sidney and still want to kill her is getting ridiculous!

Bring Sam and Tara back instead!

And anything but another movie like Scream 7. I didn’t like that film (though I’m happy that some people did)!

Obsession, but thought Bone Temple was also solid.

Hey all!

Last year I did a 2025 found footage horror list, so I am back with a 2026 one - This one will be updated regularly and if I have missed any, pls do let me know.

The list can be found at with links to the trailers if you so wish to watch them.

So far I have

NORM
Frogman 2: Frogman Returns
Old Wounds
Invoking Scream
Primal Darkness (Released)
Creature of the Pines
Dooba Dooba
Wilderness Tapes: Volume One (Released)
Hunting Matthew Nichols (Released)
Infirmary
The House on Haunted Grounds (Released)
Van Life
Bodycam (Released)
Anacoreta (Released)
Don't Look in the Dark
Night Terror
Looky-Loo Part II
Heritage
Rabisu: Curse of the Demon (Released)
Water Horse
Loner (Released)
The Killing Cell
The Last Footprint
Strawstalker
USB (Released)
VCR (Released)
Tribe
A Possession In Lincoln County
House at the Edge of the Woods (Released)
Content (Released)
402: Rumah Sakit Angker Korea
The Case Study of Walter Briggs
Last Look

Hope that helps a bit.

This is for everyone else reading this thread seeing “Undertone” as the scariest movie of 2026.

I promise you… You will be underwhelmed.

Like last year, I made my predictions about who I think will be on Variety's Actors on Actors (this year a little early). I will have 80% wrong, but it's fun and idc. But you probably know a lot of people how I have missed putting in or which pairing would be the best, so let me know!

Important notice: My list is not sorted by which movie is closer to win Best Picture, but rather which one is more likely to be nominated.

It's hard to predict anything on any category besides just vibes, and I'm not confident at all in my other categories as of now, but I'm pretty confident in this line-up even if it looks to change.

Here are my notes:

- The Odyssey: There is no frontrunner at the moment, but in terms of which movie is the likeliest to get in, and which upcoming movie the industry is the most excited about right now, it's this. But I don't think it's gonna "win" Best Picture. I don't think Nolan will win two times in a row.

- Digger: Iñárritu's last movie wasn't as well received as Birdman or The Revenant and it only got a Cinematography nomination, but with that cast and Warner Bros. releasing a teaser in December, they look really confident that this is gonna be a major awards player. Plus the Academy will be extremely excited to finally give Tom Cruise a competitive Oscar.

- Wild Horse Nine: While the trailer looks pretty good, it doesn't seem to be as that big of a deal as Three Billboards or Banshees were given the tone. In particular I don't feel right now that McDonaugh will get nominated for Director again. However Malkovich and Buscemi look to be acting win contenders given they have huge narratives behind them, so they will push the movie forward.

- Dune: Part Three: This one is complicated because the trailer paints it as a Return of the King-type epic conclusion to the trilogy. If the movie really is that, then it could straight-up win Best Picture. But it could also be like what I've heard Dune Messiah is like and be less audience friendly than the first two, which could turn away voters and critics. Right now I'm leaning more towards the first option the movie's taking though, therefore I have it safely in my 10.

- Project Hail Mary: Reviews are great, but audience reception has been phenomenal. Starting at a 4.4 on Letterboxd should NOT be taken for granted. Obviously the Oscars are not voted by casual audiences, but this great reception does indicate that the movie WILL have massive fans amongst the Academy. Plus, it's opening great at the box office, something that is highly key to blockbusters in Best Picture. While there's a small chance the hype for it dies down by December, this is a pretty easy contender now that we have actually watched it and everyone loves it.

- Fjord: This director has never been nominated before, but he has won a ton of awards at Cannes, which gives a sort of narrative for him. Plus, it's Neon. They are extreme campaigners for their international movies. If this is very well-received, then it can get in.

- Michael: Hear me out. I know the movie could get mixed reviews. I know its production has been very problematic. But it also has one thing going for it: the fans. I'm pretty certain a ton of Academy voters are huge MJ fans and want to celebrate him even if the movie itself is mid. And it's precisely for the fans that are going to show up for this movie that it's gonna do really, really great at the box office. Maybe a billion depending on the WOM. And the Academy loves music biopics, sure they will ignore some like Rocketman or Springsteen, but this is MICHAEL JACKSON we're talking about. THE legacy music star. It's not like I myself am really excited for this movie, but there's clearly gonna be really passionate people for it, translating to the Academy itself. While maybe the controversies surrounding it might put it down, overall this looks to be a big contender that's gonna highly overperform at nominations morning.

- 1949: Apparently retitled to Fatherland according to Wikipedia, Cold War did pretty good and the plot looks very Oscar-baity, and if this is greatly received, I could see it sneaking into Picture, perhaps as the International frontrunner next to Fjord.

- Cry to Heaven: Tom Ford's movies have been nominated before, the cast is fairly stacked, and the book it's based on is very Oscar-baity material. I could see this happening if it gets great reception, but the thing is it doesn't have a distributor yet and there's no official release date--it just started shooting in January, so there's a chance it isn't ready until next year. But we'll see.

- Narnia: Greta Gerwig has gotten all of her movies so far in Best Picture, and while the original Narnia movies weren't awards contenders, the fact that Netflix is distributing this indicates that they'll push this similarly to Frankenstein. I do feel that the apparent deviations this is taking from the source material could turn off some Academy voters who love the books or previous films, but I'll leave that to whenever the first trailer or teaser comes out.

- Death of a Salesman: Focus Features + classic story + Jeffrey Wright and Octavia Spencer. Looks very Academy-friendly to me. I'm just not sure how 'big' the movie will be when it releases.

- Jesse Eisenberg Musical Comedy: The only A24 contender we know of so far, and A Real Pain did pretty good, but a lot of test screening reports from people have said that the movie isn't really an awards player. Obviously test screening reports tend to be wrong, but I'm not feeling the scale of this yet.

- Disclosure Day: The movie will probably be very good, and Steven Spielberg should be an obvious reason as to why this could happen, but the vibe I'm getting from the trailers is that it's gonna be a blockbuster, not an awards player. The one category I'm very confident about though is Score, since John Williams is pretty much a no-brainer for that branch at this point no matter the movie. VFX and Sound could also happen.

- Being Heumann: CODA won Best Picture, but does anyone really talk about that movie at all nowadays? I don't think that Sian Heder's name is that big.

- Sense and Sensibility: Could happen, but the fact that the 1995 film was already successful at the Oscars gives me a feeling that voters might not care as much about this new version.

- The Social Reckoning: I am NOT confident that this will come close to Picture in the slightest. We have learned with Gladiator II and Wicked For Good that the Academy will not care about your sequel unless it's as good or better than the original. And with Fincher and Eisenberg not returning for this, there's no way this movie matches the acclaim of the first. Sure the Academy loves Aaron Sorkin, but that doesn't mean they're gonna give his movies Picture too. Being the Ricardos couldn't do it. I'm only considering this for Adapted Screenplay, but it could even miss that too.

- Jack of Spades: The Tragedy of Macbeth was well-received, but it didn't get into Picture. And after the failure of Joel's brother's previous two movies, does the industry really care about either Coen brother at this point? Maybe this ends up being a masterpiece that revives either of their goodwill, but nothing about this screams that it's gonna be an epic comeback. We don't even know what it's about other that it's apparently a period piece to the 1800s.

- The Entertainment System is Down: We don't know if it's coming out at this year's Cannes or next year, but regardless the alleged 15-minute long uninterrupted take of two kids playing in their iPad already shows that this will turn off a lot of people. But we need a more certain look to be sure of this movie since Triangle of Sadness did better than expected and the Academy will probably like nominating Ostlund again.

2026 has absolutely not been slow.

“haven’t watched a decent horror movie in years”

yeah so this is ragebait

If you haven’t watched a decent movie in years, you need to get watching. So many great horror films each and every year.

Slow? Backrooms, 28 Years Later Bone Temple, Send Help, Hokum, Evil Dead Burn, Iron Lung. And Obsession may be the most consequential horror movie since The Exorcist or Halloween - that it is to say, it may change the industry. At the very least be a marker of what is to come.

This has been a banger year so far.

2026 has had so many horror releases so far….

The great thing about this genre is we only get a handful of studio release date announcements well in advance, otherwise you pretty much get a continuous string of surprises throughout the year. So I’m sure 2027 will be awesome.

Sounds like youre not watching much because the past decade has been one of the best for horror in a long time

First my most hyped will be The Mummy from radio silence.

Then The Heretiks which I’m so excited for!

I will be seeing clown in a cornfield 2! Which is my third.

Others is I’m hoping for are Smile 3.

And other projects that haven’t been announced yet!

I know right now is 2026, but I can’t stop thinking about the slate for 2027. 2026 has been slow.

But I’m just so excited! 🎃

I just joined this group, so if this has already been discussed, apologies. But has anyone looked at the horror movie lineup for 2027? Remakes, sequels, and prequels. Can no one pick up one of the numerous horror books out there and create something? I haven't watched a decent horror movie in years. Idk about anyone else. I just want a good old slasher, monster, or jumpscare.

Just to edit: I'm mostly upset with the 2027 lineup - not the 2026. I haven't seen Obssesion or Backrooms yet, but I plan to once they're out of theaters. Also, I just don't consider movies like Nosferatu to be "horror." There are plenty of movies that have come out that have been amazing, but I, personally, wouldn't categorize them as horror.

I mean, colored me impressed since we got alot of horror films like Obsession and Backrooms and I did see Obsession which was fucking fantastic yet there are so many many many 2026 Horror films I havent seen yet yet its pumping like crazy this year.

I give up 2026 is the Year of the Horror.

Now can Obsession win the Oscar for best Picture now?

I want more movies like this because I loved obsession!

I haven’t seen many movies lately because of work, but I did see evil dead burn and lee cronin’s the mummy. Loved those two!

Also faces of death the cherry on top.