2017 is going to be a great horror movie year for brave film junkies.
While last year saw a series of critically-acclaimed horror flicks such as “Don’t Breathe”, “The Eyes Of My Mother”, and “The Witch”, this year boasts a line-up of films that are bound to make your stomach turn. From highly-anticipated mainstream releases to video game/novel-turned-movies, here are 10 upcoming terrifying movies that will surely make your hair raise:
P/S: Don’t watch these alone.
1. Hospital
- Director: Mohd Azaromi Ghozali
- Cast: Fatin Afeefa, Shima Anuar, Nina Iskandar, and Fizz Fairuz
- Release Date: 13th April 2017
Ever wondered what happens in a hospital at night?
Metrowealth Pictures’ “Hospital” centres on Amira (played by Fatin Afeefa), a village girl who goes to the city to look for a job. She starts working as a nurse at a hospital but while there, she gets haunted by disembodied whispers. While looking for answers, she discovers that a mysterious woman (played by Shima Anuar) needs her help.
Judging from the spooky trailer, this local horror flick seems really promising. It has everything we’re afraid of: dark hallways, jump scares, and a pontianak-like ghost.
2. Selfie From Hell
- Director: Erdal Ceylan
- Cast: Alyson Walker, Tony Giroux, and Meelah Adams
- Release Date: 13th April 2017
“Selfie From Hell” started off as a short film for German production student Meelah Adams’ bachelor thesis on the effects of viral videos. Thanks to IndustryWorks Pictures (who also made “American Mary”), Adams and her partner Erdal Ceylan received enough funds to turn it into a feature film.
The viral video, which has been viewed over 19 million times on YouTube, focuses on a woman who sees a creepy figure looming behind her when she takes selfies for her boyfriend. The figure turns out to be a zombie and she eventually gets “eaten” by it. Though it’s only under 2 minutes long, the clip is enough to give you nightmare for days (or weeks).
You can watch the short film here.
3. Get Out
- Director: Jordan Peele
- Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, and Caleb Landry Jones
- Release Date: 20th April 2017
Yes! We finally get see “Get Out” in local cinemas 🙂
Helmed and written by Jordan Peele (of “Key and Peele” fame), the psychological horror film follows a young African-American man named Chris (played by Daniel Kaluuya) and his Caucasian girlfriend Rose (played by Allison Williams). During Chris’ first meeting with Rose’s parents, who are not aware that their daughter is dating a black man, he finds out a truth that he never could have imagined.
The critically acclaimed movie also marks Peele’s directorial debut. Although the filmmaker is known for his comedy skits, he admitted that he actually has a passion for writing horror films. When asked about “Get Out”, he explained, “The movie takes on the task of exploring race in America, something that hasn’t really been done within the genre since ’Night of the Living Dead’ 47 years ago. Its long overdue.”
4. Danur: I Can See Ghost
- Director: Awi Suryadi
- Cast: Prilly Latuconsina, Emilio Fernando Cortizo, Kinaryosih, and Kevin Bzezovski
- Release Date: 4th May 2017
Adapted from Risa Sraswati’s best-selling novel “Gerbang Dialog Danur”, “Danur: I Can See Ghost” is Indonesia’s 2nd film to reach 1 million viewers. The film, which first premiered in Indonesia in March, is also the country’s best-selling horror movie of all time.
Inspired by a true story, the film is about a girl named Risa who often laughs and plays with her “friends” at her grandmother’s house. With the help of a friend, her mother Elly managed to take her away. 9 years later, she returned to the house with her younger sister Riri. Surrounded by mysterious disturbances, Riri suddenly disappears. Risa must save her sister from the evil spirit who plans to bring her to the “other side”.
5. Keep Watching
- Director: Sean Carter
- Cast: Bella Thorne, Jared Abrahamson, Natalie Martinez, Matthew Willig, and Christopher James Baker
- Release Date: 4th May 2017
If you enjoy movies like “The Hunger Games”, “Battle Royale”, and “The Belko Experiment”, then “Keep Watching” might just be the perfect horror flick for you.
Originally titled “Home Invasion”, the story sees 2 deranged serial killers breaking into a home and imprisoning a family. The family is forced to play a terrifying game of “Kill, Or Be Killed” while it gets streamed live to riveted viewers all over the world, who are compelled to “keep watching”. As the night unfolds, the game’s mysterious rules start to become clear.
6. Behind The Walls
- Director: James and Jon Kondelik
- Cast: Vanessa Angel, Hutch Dano, Reggie Lee, Lew Temple, Bailey Spry, and Taylor Autumn Bertman
- Release Date: 29th June 2017
A broken family moves into a long-vacant house in desperate hope to seek new beginnings. However, the house lives, watches, and wants them to stay – forever.
While most haunted house movies place focus on human characters, “Behind The Walls” is told from the perspective of the house itself. Moreover, the movie is twin brothers James and Jon Kondelik’s (from “The Divine Tragedies”) first film under their Dual Visions banner. In speaking about the film, James said, “We aim to put a new spin on a familiar genre, bringing the audience into a new head space.”
7. Escape Room
- Director: Peter Dukes
- Cast: Skeet Ulrich, Sean Young, Christine Donlon, Randy Wayne, Matt McVay, and Ashley Gallegos
- Release Date: 27th July 2017
Peter Dukes’ “Escape Room” is based on a popular physical strategy game. In case you didn’t know, the game, which originated from a video game called “Escape the Room”, requires players to solve a series of puzzles to complete the objectives at hand.
Set in a popular Los Angeles escape room, 4 friends find themselves stuck with a demonically possessed killer who is also the keeper of a box containing an evil demon. In order to escape the room alive, they have less than an hour to solve all the puzzles.
8. Annabelle: Creation
- Director: David F. Sandberg
- Cast: Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Lulu Wilson, Samara Lee, Tayler Buck, Anthony LaPaglia, and Miranda Otto
- Release Date: 10th August 2017
“Annabelle: Creation” aka “Annabelle 2” is a follow-up to John R. Leonetti’s “The Conjuring” spin-off, “Annabelle”, which grossed over USD257 million worldwide on a USD6.5 million budget. The 2014 film was the 14th highest-grossing horror/supernatural film in the US and Canada.
Written by Gary Dauberman, who also wrote the first film, the Annabelle origin story shows a dollmaker and his wife who, 20 years after the tragic death of their little girl, welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home. The dollmaker’s possessed porcelain creation sets her sights on a young girl named Janice.
Besides that, the film is directed by David F. Sandberg, who won “Best Director Award” for 2013’s “Who’s There Film Challenge” with his critically-acclaimed horror short, “Lights Out”.
9. IT
- Director: Andrés Muschietti
- Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Sophia Lillis, and Wyatt Oleff
- Release Date: 7th September 2017
The 1990 “IT” movie is perhaps the main reason why kids from the 80s and the 90s are afraid of clowns.
Based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel of the same name, the remake is set in the town of Derry, Maine. As children begin to disappear, a group of young kids (known as The Losers Club) are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil villain named Pennywise the Dancing Clown, whose history of murder and violence date back for centuries.
Trust us when we say that Bill Skarsgård’s portrayal of the new Pennywise is going to make you stay away from McDonald’s for a while.
10. Insidious: Chapter 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlSWHFsACKw
- Director: Adam Robitel
- Cast: Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Ava Kolker, Hana Hayes, and Casey Lee Harris
- Release Date: 19th October 2017
James Wan (from “The Conjuring”) and Leigh Whannell’s (from “Saw”) “Insidious” has been one of the most successful horror franchises in recent times. So it doesn’t come as a surprise when Universal Pictures announced its 4th movie last year.
Starring Lin Shaye as medium Elise Rainier, “Insidious: Chapter 4” is a prequel that focuses on Elise’s origin story. Following the footsteps of “Insidious: Chapter 3”, the upcoming movie will see how Elise, Tucker, and Specs form their ghost hunting team.
“It’s a fantastic story… You meet my family, my mother, my father—we go back to my hometown, which is in New Mexico. And so that’s where this takes place and her quest to find the bad guy that’s been haunting her… And it’s scary on levels they’re not going to expect,” said Shaye in an interview with Daily Dead.
Don’t forget to check out our other horror-themed lists below:
- Spooky Hollywood Movies That Were Cursed!
- Short Horror Films That Will Totally Creep You Out!
- Twisted and Gory Movies
- The Best Horror Video Games To Play In The Dark
Sources: Rolling Stone Indonesia, IMDb, Dual Visions, The Hollywood Reporter, Coming Soon, Screen Rant, EW, Comic Book.
