by Gill Pringle at CinemaCon, Las Vegas
If the world isn’t already in a constant state of anxiety facing down the existential threat of AI and divisive wars, then Hollywood clearly believes we want even more scares in our lives judging by the unprecedented slate of horror films unveiled at this year’s CinemaCon.
Harking back to the horror glory days of the ‘80s, 2026 is shaping up to be the scariest in recent years offering a slew of horror movies to tease everybody’s tastes – from psychological and creepy to downright gory and blood-curdling.
Leviticus – the debut feature from Australian director Adrian Chiarella – wowed audiences at Neon’s opening night presentation at CinemaCon, the annual gathering of cinema owners held at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas.
From the producers of The Babadook and The Invisible Man, the film follows two Australian teens whose forbidden desire summons a violent entity – part creepy horror tale and part teen romance.
Neon acquired worldwide rights following Leviticus’ Sundance premiere. Starring Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen and Mia Wasikowska, the film focuses on two closeted teenagers haunted by a demonic entity that takes the form of the person they desire most – all set against the backdrop of conversion therapy trauma.
Another Australian, James Wan dominated the CinemaCon slate with film announcements across numerous studios.
At Universal, Wan is producing Other Mommy under his Atomic Monster banner alongside Blumhouse – starring a chilling Jessica Chastain whom we witnessed in demonic action during its debut trailer tease.
Directed by Rob Savage, the Oscar-winning actress will bring some serious scary mother vibes just in time to spook us this Halloween.
Audiences were visibly shocked by its imagery, Chastain playing both an ideal mother and a terrifying doppelgänger.
The trailer shows a young girl being stalked by this monstrous, sinister entity that looks exactly like her mother, referred to as “Other Mommy”.
Over at Paramount, Wan and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster announced the eighth film in their found footage horror franchise, Paranormal Activity. Directed by Ian Tuason, the film is already in production, and set for a March 2027 release.
Meanwhile, over at Sony, Blumhouse-Atomic Monster debuted the first trailer for Insidious: Out of the Further. Once more, co-produced by James Wan, Leigh Whannell and Jason Blum, the film is directed by Jacob Chase.
Starring Amelia Eve, Brandon Perea, and horror icon Lin Shaye, this latest sharp-toothed installment follows a mother who discovers she can bring demons from The Further into the real world.
“I assure you this movie is the most terrifying in the franchise,” promised Sony Pictures president of domestic distribution.
Neon also conjured up big scares with its Hokum trailer reveal.
Starring Parks & Rec’s Adam Scott as author, Ohm Bauman, we see him retreat to a remote rural Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, believing this to be the last place they were truly happy.
But while the Baumans had some dark secrets, the hotel has secrets of its own locked safely inside the restricted Honeymoon Suite, a room long banned and cordoned off to both guests and staff. Why? Because the hotel’s elderly owner is convinced that the room is haunted by an evil witch.
Evoking all the terrifying isolation of The Shining, Hokum is written and directed by Damien Mc Carthy.
A surprising departure from his usual comedic fare, Scott tells us why he was keen to tackle horror: “When I was seven or eight years old, I discovered something about myself, which was that I wasn’t particularly interested in anything except for movies.
“Soon after, I became enamoured with horror like the Friday the 13th movies, Poltergeist and American Werewolf in London, The Thing and The Shining, just to name a few,” says the Severance star.
“And I found out at, surely way too young an age, that getting the shit scared out of me was irresistible. Now the question is, what was it that thrilled me about these films? Not just while sitting there in a movie theatre watching, but long afterwards, and it seems that there’s an intangible third rail that some filmmakers are able to grasp that activates the audience’s imagination, embedding images into the minds of the audience, sometimes to be carried with them for the rest of their lives.
“It’s rare to find a filmmaker that has a grasp on that particular element, and I hadn’t seen it in a while – until I set my eyes on Damien Mc Carthy’s movie Caveat, which was wholly unique. Also, it did scare the shit out.
“So, when Damien’s latest script, Hokum, made its way to me, it was an easy yes. Hokum is a haunted house story rooted in folklore and atmosphere with a tension that it builds and then hits you when you’re least expecting it. There are plenty of stairs, but also that intangible third rail, that only some are gifted enough to grasp,” said Scott before showing a terrifying sizzle reel where the hotel’s manager urges him to go home “while you still resemble your passport picture”.
With every major studio showcasing their horror slate, New Line debuted unfinished footage from Evil Dead Burn – prompting screams of “Oh God” from the audience at the film’s disturbing images of disfigurement. The trailer featured intense gore, including a car headrest impalement and a scene involving the cutlery section of a dishwasher.
Meanwhile, Evil Dead Wrath was confirmed for next year along with The Revenge of La Llorona, Final Destination 7 – plus, Weapons’ Gladys now with her own stand-alone prequel set for a 2028 release.
Paramount also teased Parker Finn’s update of classic 1981 horror drama Possession. The original starred Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani, today updated by the gorgeous coupling of Callum Turner and Margaret Qualley. Meanwhile, Paramount continues its commitment to horror with Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs sequel, Nic Cage once more delivering all the chills.
Counting on Lee Cronin’s The Mummy to wake up the box office this weekend, Warner Bros and DC Studios also teased a terrifying trailer for James Watkins’ Clayface, where we see a bandaged character with red eyes lying in a hospital bed. This is clearly a version of our lead character, played by Welsh actor Tom Rhys Harries, whom we witness in various stages of mutilation, pre- and post- some kind of traumatic event.
Elsewhere, we see the character wearing a melting mask or with a face he can distort like putty.
The DC character Clayface was first introduced in the comics in 1940 as an actor who adopted the identity of a character he played in a horror movie when he turned to crime. There’s been several incarnations since, all with shapeshifting powers that transform their drippy clay body structures; all adversaries of Batman.
Positioned as horror adjacent, The End of Oak Street is a terrifying mystery featuring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as a husband and wife who find themselves thrust into the unknown when a cosmic event transports their suburban neighbourhood to a different dimension.
Produced by J.J. Abrams, the film is directed and written by David Robert Mitchell (It Follows).
Other CinemaCon horror reveals include Aaron Fisher’s Corporate Retreat, about a group of executives on a team-building getaway who face a deadly struggle when their boss becomes violent. Starring Alan Ruck, Odeya Rush and Rosanna Arquette, the filmmakers had fun promoting the bloody film with groups of blood-soaked and bandaged “victims” lurking around the convention distributing red syringe-like pens and promising a “bloody good time”.
Brian M Conley’s Dia De Muertos and Samuel Gonzalez Jr’s Stiletto will also contribute to a thoroughly scary 2026 alongside Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man. Starring Orphan Black’s Ari Millen as the titular character, Ice Cream Man follows an idyllic summer town descending into madness when an ice cream man serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results – all from the horror visionary responsible for the Cabin Fever and Hostel franchises.
Of course, no good marketing opportunity can be denied at CinemaCon, where Eli Roth served up scares and sweet treats at CinemaCONE, an ice cream truck stationed outside of Caesar’s Palace.
Summoning daring guests for brain-freezing treats, killer swag and a photo opp to die for, the truck disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared within a few short hours.
And, finally, for those who wish for a scary Christmas, Robert Eggers will unleash Werwulf – his most terrifying vision yet – on December 25, featuring his Nosferatu collaborators Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Lily-Rose Depp.
