There are a lot more major movies than usual coming out this year because so many big 2020 releases had to be pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Emily Blunt’s next entanglement with the galaxy’s most noise-sensitive aliens was set to hit screens last year, but had to be delayed when lockdowns were initiated across the world.
From a new Conjuring movie featuring a werewolf to a new Texas Chainsaw movie featuring old man Leatherface to an entire trilogy set to drop on Netflix across a window of three months, these are the most exciting horror sequels due to be released in 2021.
Terrifier 2
Before Pennywise returned to screens in 2017’s It, horror audiences were introduced to Art the Clown in the 2013 anthology movie All Hallows’ Eve. He proved to be popular enough to land a starring role in his own movie, Terrifier, in 2016.
This year, Art the Clown is back in a sequel to Terrifier, aptly titled Terrifier 2. It was supposed to be released in October 2020 but got pushed back to 2021.
Jeepers Creepers: Reborn
Timo Vuorensola is set to reboot the Jeepers Creepers franchise this year with Jeepers Creepers: Reborn. The movie is poised to launch a new Jeepers Creepers trilogy separate from Victor Salva’s initial three films.
The new movie will take place at the Horror Hound festival, where horror fanboy Chase and his girlfriend Laine experience creepy visions of the town’s past troubles with “The Creeper.”
Fear Street 2 & 3
Later this year, Netflix is set to release a film adaptation of R.L. Stine’s acclaimed Fear Street trilogy of books. All three movies have been shot, edited, and left on a shelf for a while.
The streamer has acquired the entire Fear Street trilogy for a mid-2021 release. There are no official release dates yet, but the plan is to drop each movie a month apart.
Candyman
Jordan Peele, who singlehandedly revived the “social thriller” with his Oscar-winning directorial debut Get Out, has co-written and co-produced a new Candyman movie that follows on directly from the 1992 original. The movie was supposed to hit theaters last year but got delayed by COVID-19.
This time, Peele isn’t in the director’s chair. Instead, the new Candyman movie is directed by Nia DaCosta, who was recently hired to direct Captain Marvel 2.
Don’t Breathe 2
Fede Álvarez’s Don’t Breathe arrived as a surprise gem back in 2016, flipping the familiar home invasion thriller on its head by making the invaders the protagonists.
Rodo Sayagues has directed and co-written (with Álvarez) a sequel that will bring back Stephen Lang as Norman Nordstrom, aka “The Blind Man.” The sequel is due to be released by Sony on August 13.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Originally scheduled to be released on September 11, 2020, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is one of the many major movie releases that got pushed back by the pandemic. Instead, it will hit theaters on June 4, 2021.
The threequel will take place in the 1980s and producer James Wan has suggested it’ll revolve around werewolves, naming An American Werewolf in London and The Hound of the Baskervilles as influences.
A Quiet Place Part II
John Krasinski successfully shed his image as The Office’s Jim Halpert when he directed, co-wrote, and starred in A Quiet Place back in 2018. With original worldbuilding and family-focused storytelling, A Quiet Place emerged as one of the biggest horror hits in recent memory.
Krasinski has returned to write and direct a sequel, A Quiet Place Part II, which was set to hit theaters right before COVID went worldwide and had to be postponed by more than a year.
Spiral: From The Book Of Saw
After James Wan’s classic original Saw movie, the sequels degenerated into soulless gore-fests, relying on blood and guts for scares as opposed to tension and plot twists.
Hopefully, that’ll turn around with Spiral: From the Book of Saw, a police procedural-focused spin-off starring Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, drawn from an original story thought up by Rock. Rock is the latest comedian to move into horror after Get Out’s Jordan Peele and Halloween’s Danny McBride.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Fede Álvarez is producing a new reboot of the Texas Chainsaw franchise that will follow on directly from Tobe Hooper’s groundbreaking 1974 original, just like David Gordon Green’s Halloween erased all the sequels after John Carpenter’s original masterpiece.
The movie was recently confirmed to be rated R and simply titled Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with Álvarez promising the story will revolve around old man Leatherface, played by Mark Burnham.
Halloween Kills
The sequel to David Gordon Green’s 2018 Halloween reboot, Halloween Kills, was set to release on October 16, 2020, but had to be delayed to October 15, 2021, to accommodate coronavirus.
Picking up where the last movie left off, Halloween Kills will see the town of Haddonfield coming together to vanquish Michael Myers once and for all. Halloween Kills is the first part of a two-part finale, which will culminate in 2022 with Halloween Ends.