PopHorror Let's Get Scared
It’s a new year, and with a new year comes new horror releases. Keep reading to find out PopHorror’s most anticipated films for 2019.
Rabid – March
Directed by the Twisted Twins Jen and Sylvia Soska. Starring Laura Vandervoort (Smallville TV series), Stephen Huszar (The Flash TV series), Greg Bryk (Saw V 2008)
What happens when you realize that to achieve your dreams you have to live a nightmare? Rose is a quiet, demure, unassuming woman in her looks and actions. Her dream is to become a famous designer in the fashion world, but a terrible accident leaves Rose scarred beyond recognition. She seeks out a radical untested stem cell treatment. The treatment is nothing short of a miracle and wallflower Rose turns into the belle of the ball. It all seems too good to be true. She is now everything she wanted to be. But everything in life comes at a price and this new found perfect life is no exception.
IT: Chapter 2 – September
Directed by Andy Muschietti (IT 2017). Starring Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty 2012), Bill Skarsgård (Castle Rock TV series), James McAvoy (Split 2016)
Twenty-seven years later, the Losers Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back.
Hanukkah – ???
Directed by Eben McGarr (Sick Girl 2007). Starring Charles Fleischer (A Nightmare On Elm Street 1984), Sid Haig (House of 1,000 Corpses 2003), Caroline Williams (Texas Chainsaw Massacre II 1986)
Obediah Lazarus is the son of Judah Lazarus, the original Hanukiller. In 1983, Judah terrorized NY for seven nights and was preparing to sacrifice his eight year old son, Obediah, on the eighth night. Judah was convinced it was God’s will, like Abraham and Isaac, to sacrifice his only son to God. Luckily for Obediah, police tracked Judah down and stopped the sacrifice, but Judah was gunned down in the process. Warped by hatred with no guidance, Obediah Lazarus becomes a religious extremist, intolerant of non-Jews, “bad Jews”, and those he perceives to be enemies of the Jewish faith. He is about to unleash eight nights of horror. A group of Jewish teens are getting ready to party for the holidays, but are in for a Festival of Frights. With the help of a wise Rabbi, they deduce that the murder victims have violated Judaic law and that their only chance at survival is to embrace their faith.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark – August
Directed by André Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe 2016). Screenplay written by Guillermo del Toro (The Shape Of Water 2017). Starring Zoe Margaret Colletti (Annie 2014), Michael Garza (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I 2014), Austin Zajur (Fist Fight 2017)
A group of kids face their fears in order to save their town.
Pet Sematary – April
Directed by Holidays‘ (2016) Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer. Starring Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty 2012), John Lithgow (Dexter TV series), Amy Seimetz (The Girlfriend Experience TV series)
Louis Creed, his wife Rachel and their two children Gage and Ellie move to a rural home where they are welcomed and enlightened about the eerie ‘Pet Sematary’ located near their home. After the tragedy of their cat being killed by a truck, Louis resorts to burying it in the mysterious pet cemetery, which is definitely not as it seems, as it proves to the Creeds that sometimes, dead is better.
Happy Death Day 2U – February
Directed by Christopher Landon (The Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse 2015). Starring Happy Death Day’s (2017) Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard and Ruby Modine
Tree Gelbman discovers that dying over and over was surprisingly easier than the dangers that lie ahead.
Clownado – ???
Directed by Todd Sheets (Bonehill Road 2017). Starring John O’Hara (Ouija Death Trap 2014), Rachel Lagen (Dreaming Purple Neon 2016), Bobby Westrick (Goblin 1993)
Cursed demonic circus clowns set out on a vengeful massacre using tornadoes. A stripper, Elvis impersonator, truck driver, teen runaway, and a dude get caught in the supernatural battle between femme fatale and the boss clown from hell.
US – March
Directed by Jordan Peele (Get Out 2017). Starring Anna Diop (Titans TV series), Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale TV series), Lupita Amondi Nyong’o (Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens 2015)
A mother and father take their kids to their beach house, expecting to enjoy time with friends, but their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some visitors arrive uninvited.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters – May
Directed by Michael Dougherty (Krampus 2015). Starring Stranger Things‘ Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga (The Bates Motel TV series), Bradley Whitford (The West Wing TV series)
The crypto-zoological agency Monarch faces off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah.
3 From Hell – ???
Directed by Rob Zombie (House of 1,000 Corpses/The Devil’s Rejects). Starring House of 1,000 Corpses’ (2003) Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie
Sequel to The Devil’s Rejects.
The Final Wish – January
Directed by Timothy Woodward, Jr. (Gangster Land 2017). Starring Lin Shaye (Insidious franchise), Michael Welch (Z Nation TV series), Melissa Bolona (Acts of Violence 2018)
After the death of his father, Aaron returns home to help his grief-stricken mother and to confront his past. Going through his dad’s belongings, he comes across a mysterious item that is more than it seems.
Purgatory Road – February (DVD/Blu-ray release)
Directed by Mark Savage (Circus of Dread 2012). Starring Gary Cairns (The Night Visitor franchise), Luke Albright (Devil’s Pass 2013), Trista Robinson (Silent Retreat 2016)
Unable to stop a thief from stealing his father’s modest nest egg, young Vincent grows up blaming himself for his parents’ sudden suicide. Becoming a priest (Gary Cairns) who operates a highway-based ministry with his ambivalent brother Michael (Luke Albright), Vincent’s services include offering sage confessional advice to regular sinners while raining death on unrepentant thieves.
Into the world of this antagonistic duo comes Mary-Francis (Trista Robinson), a psychotic, resourceful woman whose first act of “kindness” is to kill a thief whose actions threaten to expose the holy brotherly duo. Filled with gratitude for this act, Vincent invites Mary-Francis into their sacred world and triggers a gruesome chain of deadly events that threaten to dismantle the brothers’ decades-long partnership.
The Curse of La Llorona – April
Directed by Michael Chaves (The Maiden 2016). Starring Linda Cardellini (Scooby Doo franchise), Patricia Velasquez (The Mummy 1999), Raymond Cruz (Breaking Bad TV series)
Ignoring the eerie warning of a troubled mother suspected of child endangerment, a social worker and her own small kids are soon drawn into a frightening supernatural realm.
13: Fanboy – ???
Directed by Deborah Voorhees (Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning 1985). Starring Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th franchise), Thom Mathews (Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives 1986), Corey Feldman (The Goonies 1985)
Former scream queens from the Friday the 13th series are hunted by a real life killer who doesn’t understand that it’s all make believe.
Zombieland: Double Tap – October
Directed by Ruben Fleischer (Venom 2018). Starring Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Games franchise), Jesse Eisenberg (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice 2016), Emma Stone (La La Land 2016)
Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of the snarky makeshift family.
Depraved – ???
Directed by Larry Fessenden (We Are Still Here 2015). Starring Josh Leonard (The Blair Witch Project 1999), David Call (The Sinner TV series), Chloe Levine (The Ranger 2018),
A disillusioned field surgeon suffering from PTSD makes a man out of body parts and brings him to life in a Brooklyn loft.
Kill Dolly Kill/Dolly Deadly 2 – April
Directed by Heidi Moore (Dolly Deadly 2016). Starring Brittany Blanton (Don’t Fuck In the Woods 2016), Troma’s own Lloyd Kaufman, Elissa Dowling (Party Bus to Hell 2017)
BENJI is back. Now living as his alter-ego DOLLY DEADLY, he’s all grown up and ready to kill…AGAIN.
Hexercise – January (DVD/Blu-ray release)
Directed by debut filmmaker Lapses/Matt Cannon. Starring Kelly Kriegshauser (Minerals to Society 2015), Brock Vickers (Dark Forest 2011), Krystle Ann Griffin (Killerz 2015)
HEXERCISE is a Low-budget, music laced/silent short horror comedy set in the 1980’s surrounding a fitness center that is built over a once Satanic Church and the fate that falls onto each of the gym members.
Johnny Z – ???
Directed by Jonathan Straiton (Night of Something Strange 2016). Starring David McMahon (American Guinea Pig: The Song of Solomon 2017), Wayne W. Johnson (Mercury Screams 2018), Ellie Church (Space Babes From Outer Space 2017)
Johnny Z is a horror-action feature film about a half human, half zombie named Johnny who, under the guidance of a martial arts master seeks vengeance on the evil corporation that created him.
The New Mutants – August
Directed by Josh Boone (The Stand TV series). Starring Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch 2015), Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones TV series), Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things TV series)
Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves.
Brightburn – May
Directed by David Yarovesky (Guardians of the Galaxy: Inferno 2017). Starring Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games franchise), David Denman (13 Hours 2016), Mark Gunn (Red State 2011)
What if a child from another world crash-landed on Earth, but instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he proved to be something far more sinister?
The Prodigy – February
Directed by Nicholas McCarthy (Holidays 2016). Starring Taylor Schilling (Orange is the New Black TV series), Brittany Allen (What Keeps You Alive 2018), Colm Feore (The Chronicles of Riddick 2004)
A mother concerned about her young son’s disturbing behavior thinks something supernatural may be affecting him.
That about wraps up PopHorror’s list of most anticipated films of 2019. Did we pick your favorites? Let us know in the comments!
