Peep these 20 new scary movies for Halloween, from 'The Nun 2' to 'Exorcist: Believer'
What scares you the most? Demon children? Serial killers? Aliens invading your home? Murderous animatronic animals come to life while you chow down on substandard pizza?
Well, this spooky season at the movies has got it all. Halloween's the time when folks start figuring out their costume situation, bundling up for the incoming chill (and chillers) and getting into the spirit by watching a whole bunch of horror films. There are many options for all manner of fear factor, including high-profile new chapters from "The Conjuring," "Saw" and "The Exorcist" franchises.
So while you weigh going full- or fun-size with your candy bars, here are 20 new movies to prepare for Halloween:
'Blood Flower' (Friday)
The Malaysian horror film centers on a teenage faith healer and exorcist who's haunted by vision of ghosts and spirits from other dimensions. One of them gets too close and begins to make his life hell, and the kid has to utilize all his supernatural mojo to save his loved ones.
Where to watch: Shudder
'El Conde' (Friday)
Director Pablo Larraín follows "Jackie" and "Spencer" with ... a horror comedy. The satire reimagines Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as a 250-year-old vampire (Jaime Vadell) who's tired of the bloodsucking and wants to end it all, though the people around him aren't ready to let go quite yet.
Where to watch: In theaters (and on Netflix Sept. 15)
'My Animal' (Friday)
Here's a different sort of beauty and the beast situation: The horror romance stars Amandla Stenberg as an outcast teenage goalie who falls for the figure skater (Bobbi Salvör Menuez) new to their northern town. A relationship develops between them, which unlocks one's very primal side.
Where to watch: In theaters (and on demand Sept. 15)
'The Nun 2' (Friday)
The ninth installment in the "Conjuring"-verse, this period sequel catches up with heroic Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) as she's called in to help when it appears the demonic Valak (Bonnie Aarons) has returned. This time around, the haunting lady is tearing a bloody swath through Europe and seeking a powerful holy relic.
Where to watch: In theaters
Ranked:All 'The Conjuring' horror movies, including new sequel 'The Nun 2'
'Satanic Hispanics' (Sept. 14)
Just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month comes an anthology of shorts by five different Latino filmmakers. Police raid a house in El Paso, Texas, and find a bunch of dead Latinos and one survivor (Efren Ramirez). During questioning, he tells tales of demons, terrifying creatures, the undead and legends from Latin American folklore.
Where to watch: In theaters
'Elevator Game' (Sept. 15)
Based on the real-life urban legend of the same name, a group of teens set out to debunk the online challenge, which if you ride an elevator in a specific sequence, you invoke a supernatural creature called the 5th Floor Woman. The kids play the game, don't follow the rules and the sinister spirit follows them home.
Where to watch: Shudder
'It Lives Inside' (Sept. 22)
In this South Asian spin on the demonic thriller, Megan Suri plays a high school kid who rejects her Indian culture and family in order to fit in better, yet finds she has to lean into that tradition and heritage for salvation when a mythological spirit attaches itself to her ex-best friend.
Where to watch: In theaters
Fall movie preview:10 must-see films, from 'Killers of the Flower Moon' to 'Saw X' and 'Priscilla'
'No One Will Save You' (Sept. 22)
In this sci-fi psychological thriller, Kaitlyn Dever plays a young woman who's a pariah in her small town and almost never leaves the house. But that sanctuary becomes much less safe when extraterrestrials arrive and she has to fight to survive the night and avoid whatever nefarious plans they have for her.
Where to watch: Hulu
'Deliver Us' (Sept. 29)
A team of priests is tasked by the Vatican to visit a remote convent when a nun (Maria Vera Ratti) claims she's pregnant with twins via immaculate conception. And for good reason: The church fears of an ancient prophecy that a woman will give birth to both the Messiah and the Antichrist.
Where to watch: In theaters and on demand
'Saw X' (Sept. 29)
In a new installment set between the first and second "Saw" films, John Kramer (Tobin Bell), aka "the Jigsaw Killer," goes down to Mexico for a miracle cure for his cancer. It turns out to be a scam, and those shifty con artists become the latest victims of Kramer's signature sadistic torture traps.
Where to watch: In theaters
'The Exorcist: Believer' (Oct. 6)
Fifty years after the original "Exorcist" scared the bejeezus out of everyone, director David Gordon Green's new direct sequel to the 1973 classic returns Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, who's called in to help when two young girls go missing in the woods and return days later with the devil inside them.
Where to watch: In theaters
'Pet Sematary: Bloodlines' (Oct. 6)
Jud Crandall, the wise old neighbor from Stephen King's 1983 novel and the 1989 movie adaptation, gets an origin story with this 1960s-set prequel based on a chapter of the original book. Young Jud (Jackson White) dreams of leaving his rural hometown, yet circumstances instead lead to him confronting a dark family legacy.
Where to watch: Paramount+
'Totally Killer' (Oct. 6)
After 35 years, the infamous “Sweet Sixteen Killer“ returns on Halloween and 17-year-old Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) comes face to face with the maniac. While running for her life, she accidentally time-travels back to 1987 and gets help taking on the villain from an unlikely partner: her then-teen mom (Olivia Holt).
Where to watch: Prime Video
'V/H/S/85' (Oct. 6)
The sixth film in the found-footage anthology series takes the scares back to the mid-1980s with five new tales by various directors, including "The Black Phone" filmmaker Scott Derrickson. The stories run the gamut from youngsters on a lake ski trip gone wrong, early virtual reality leading to something sinister, and a TV crew fighting a natural disaster.
Where to watch: Shudder
'Vindicta' (Oct. 6)
In what is no one's dream first week on the job, a rookie paramedic (Elena Kampouris) becomes the target of a masked, spear-wielding serial killer in the midst of tearing a bloody swath through a paranoid city in the urban thriller, which also features Sean Astin and Jeremy Piven.
Where to watch: In theaters and on demand
'When Evil Lurks' (Oct. 6)
Ezequiel Rodríguez and Demián Salomón star as brothers who discover a mutilated corpse with a demonic infection near their farmhouse that threatens their livestock. Unfortunately, they don't perform the proper rites of exorcism, leading to a supernatural plague breaking out in their rural community.
Where to watch: In theaters (and on Shudder and AMC+ Oct. 27)
'In the Fire' (Oct. 13)
Set in the 1890s, the movie stars Amber Heard as a New York doctor who travels to a remote plantation to help a boy with strange abilities. The special care doesn't go unnoticed, as the local priest ignites a war of science vs. religion when he believes the kid is possessed by the devil and the cause for many of the village's problems.
Where to watch: In theaters and on demand
'Dear David' (Oct. 13)
After responding to online trolls, a comic artist (Augustus Prew) experiences sleep paralysis and chronicles increasingly malevolent occurrences around his apartment via tweets, believing he's haunted by a dead child's ghost. He's encouraged by his boss to continue the freaky thread, even if it means losing his grip on reality.
Where to watch: In theaters and on demand
'Suitable Flesh' (Oct. 27)
In an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Thing on the Doorstep," Heather Graham stars as a psychiatrist harboring an obsession for a young patient with multiple personality disorder that leads to murder, madness and occult weirdness linked to an ancient curse.
Where to watch: In theaters and on demand
'Five Nights at Freddys' (Oct. 27)
Chuck E. Cheese and his furry crew seemed like a pretty shifty lot back in the day. But it's Freddy Fazbear and Co. who give a night-shift security guard (Josh Hutcherson) the willies during his first day on the job in the horror film based on the video game.
Where to watch: In theaters and on Peacock
Ranked:The best horror movies of 2023 so far (from 'The Pope's Exorcist' to 'Talk to Me')
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