A brand new theatrical release puts a unique twist on the classic haunted house movie, Richard Dreyfuss returns to the shark attack sub-genre, and one of the late Tony Todd’s final horror movies gets a posthumous release. And that’s just the beginning of this week’s new arrivals.
Here’s all the new horror that released January 20 – January 24, 2025!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
Horror legend Tony Todd leaves behind a handful of roles in horror movies not yet released, and one of the first of his final roles comes courtesy of Werewolf Game, now available on VOD.
In Werewolf Game, “Twelve strangers are kidnapped and forced to play Werewolf Game, to the death. A thrilling feature film based on the iconic party game.”
Sunstrike Pictures tells BD, “We have a huge influence of John Carpenter and horror manga, to create a uniquely visceral film that is as haunting as it is beautiful. Werewolf Game is a thrilling, disturbing, who-dun-it mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time.”
Tony Todd stars alongside familiar faces including Bai Ling, Robert Picardo, and Lydia Hearst, as well as rising stars Teala Dunn, Tabitha Jane, and Tim Realbuto.
Jackie Payne and Cara Claymore directed the film, written by Payne.
Succumb to Robert Eggers‘ Nosferatu from the comfort of your own sarcophagus on Digital now, with 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD to follow on February 18 via Universal. In addition to the 132-minute theatrical cut, you can sink your fangs into a 136-minute extended cut.
A reimagination of F.W. Murnau‘s 1922 silent horror classic, Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake. Bill Skarsgård stars as Count Orlok with Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, and Willem Dafoe.
One of the film’s many rave reviews came courtesy of Bloody Disgusting’s head critic Meagan Navarro, who declared Nosferatu to be the very best horror movie released last year.
Meagan writes, “There’s not a single facet of Nosferatu that doesn’t impress for the sheer artistry on display. Bill Skarsgård’s unrecognizable transformation as Count Orlok startles, but it’s Lily-Rose Depp’s mesmeric performance as Ellen, the outcast trapped on society’s margins and forced to become both victim and hero, that stuns.”
“Productions on this scale are rare in horror,” Meagan’s 5-star review continues, “and Nosferatu is operatic and dramatic, bold and revolting, with a powerful final shot for the ages.”
A mysterious ship crashes mid-winter in period chiller The Damned from director Thordur Palsson, and the psychological chiller is now available on VOD outlets at home.
The film originally released in theaters on January 3, 2025.
Starring Odessa Young and Joe Cole, The Damned is a tense psychological horror film that follows a 19th-century widow who is tasked with making an impossible choice when a ship sinks off the coast of her isolated fishing outpost during the middle of an especially cruel winter.
With provisions running low, Eva and her close-knit community must choose between rescuing the shipwrecked crew and prioritizing their own survival.
Facing the consequences of their decision and tormented by guilt, the inhabitants wrestle with a mounting sense of dread and begin to believe they are all being punished for their choices.
Siobhan Finneran (Downton Abbey), Rory McCann (Game of Thrones), Turlough Convery (Ready Player One), Lewis Gribben (Black Mirror), Francis Magee (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Mícheál Óg Lane (Calvary), Andrean Sigurgeirsson (The Darkness), Guillermo Uria (The Real Story Of…), and Arnar Máni Iansson Gray also star.
Jamie Hannigan wrote the screenplay based on a story by Thordur Palsson.
The directorial debut of Dread Central’s editor-in-chief Mary Beth McAndrews, Epic Pictures’ genre label DREAD released Bystanders on VOD outlets this past Tuesday.
During the film’s festival run, the title garnered awards from Nightmares Film Festival and HorrorHound Film Festival. At HorrorHound it was nominated for 11 awards — winning seven, including Best Feature, Best Directing, Best Writing, Best Supporting Performance (Garrett Murphy), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Judges Choice.
Bystanders stars Brandi Botkin, Bob Wilcox, Garrett Murphy, Jamie Alvey, Chaney Morrow and Hannah Fierman. Jamie Alvey also served as the film’s writer.
In the film, “Clare and Gray are your typical loving millennial couple navigating a jaded world. Abby is a sweet awkward teen. When Abby attends a party held by her crush, a rich frat boy hotshot named Cody, the bash spins out of control when Cody and the boys decide to drug, rape, and hunt several of the girls in attendance. When Abby’s path intersects with Gray and Clare’s path, they form an unlikely alliance during a night of chaos and bloodshed as the trio fight for their lives against the collegiate creeps.”
“Bystanders has been incredibly close to my heart since I first read Jamie Alvey’s script,” says Mary Beth McAndrews. “As a sexual assault survivor, being able to tell this story in all of its gory glory has been incredibly cathartic and liberating. A film like Bystanders is more important now than ever and I’m thrilled that Dread is helping us share it with the world.”
Grafted 2024 Wei Holds Her Face
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Compared to Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance and the wild works of Takashi Miike by Daniel Kurland in his recent review for Bloody Disgusting, Sasha Rainbow’s feature debut Grafted promises a malicious cosmetic cocktail of body horror with squelching sounds to enhance the horror. Beginning today, it’s now streaming exclusively on Shudder.
The body horror movie stars Joyena Sun, Jess Hong, and Jared Turner. It was written by Mia Maramara, Hweiling Ow, and Lee Murray, as well as Sasha Rainbow.
“Chinese scholarship student Wei travels to New Zealand to study medical research at a prestigious university. Shy, introverted, and hiding a genetic facial birthmark, Wei is shunned by her social butterfly cousin Angela and her glamorous friends. Determined to change her fate, Wei immerses herself in her late father’s research, working on a revolutionary skin grafting procedure that could cure her deformity. As her experiments take a dark turn, she becomes more dangerous and unhinged, willing to eliminate anyone who threatens her secret.”
Daniel Kurland raves in his aforementioned review, “Grafted is a malicious cosmetic cocktail that deserves to be seen and celebrated. Sasha Rainbow creates a moving, universal experience through the desperate characters and vicious premise. Rainbow is definitely someone to look out for and a filmmaker who will hopefully continue to disrupt the status quo through grisly stories that push the audience’s buttons and give the genre a necessary facelift.”
Jaws star Richard Dreyfuss heads back into shark-infested waters in Into the Deep, this time with Halloween star Scout Taylor-Compton in the lead. It’s now available on VOD.
Into the Deep features “modern day pirates on the hunt for sunken drugs who kidnap a boat of tourists and force them to dive into shark infested waters to retrieve the contraband.”
Christian Sesma directs from a script by Chad Law and Josh Ridghway, who co-wrote Sesma’s 2022 action thriller Section 8.
The film stars Callum McGowan, Scout Taylor Compton, and Jon Seda, with Stuart Townsend and Richard Dreyfuss also appearing.
Into the Deep has been rated R for “bloody violence and language.”
A family moves into a suburban house and becomes convinced they’re not alone in Steven Soderbergh’s Presence, a horror film that’s uniquely told from the perspective of the ghost.
NEON released Presence in theaters beginning today, January 24, 2025. In the film, “A family moves into a suburban house and becomes convinced they are not alone. A supernatural force has infiltrated the house, and taken a specific interest in the couple’s daughter.”
Meagan Navarro wrote in her review for Bloody Disgusting, “Soderbergh reunites with writer David Koepp (Stir of Echoes) to give an innovative new spin on the quintessential ghost story. From the opening frame until the end credits, audiences see the thrilling story unfold through chilling narrative twists via an experimentation with form and technique. Using the camera’s gaze as the ghost’s observing eyes isn’t the only trick up Soderbergh and Koepp’s sleeves, ensuring this exciting shakeup of the haunted house keeps you guessing.”
“Presence gives a contemporary, innovative new spin on the haunted house format that bypasses the well-trodden path to instead create scares of a different nature,” Meagan’s review continues. She goes on to rave in her 4-star review, “Combined with Koepp’s twisty script, Presence pulls you in, terrifies you, then leaves your heart on the floor.”
Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Julia Fox, Eddy Maday and West Mulholland star.
Stoner comedy meets undead apocalypse on Christmas in the new indie zombie film Zombie Strain, which blazed onto Digital from Dark Sky Films beginning today, January 24.
Michael Seabolt makes his feature directorial debut with Zombie Strain.
“During the zombie apocalypse, survivors trapped in a sound stage make an astonishing discovery about a potent strain of marijuana. As they struggle to survive, tensions rise and mistakes occur. They begin to question who is more dangerous: the relentless undead outside or the growing mistrust among themselves. In their fight for survival, the true threat may lie within.”
Cameron Vitosh, Chandni Shah, William Mann, India Jasiri, Emily Ashby, Alexander D. Vogt, Jim Belden, and Nicole Buch star. Gregory M. Schroeder wrote the film.
Dark secrets and family tension unfold in The Sand Castle, now streaming on Netflix.
In the mystery thriller, Yasmine (Nadine Labaki) and her husband Nabil (Ziad Bakri) find themselves stranded on an idyllic island with their two children, Adam (Zain Al Rafeea) and Jana (Riman Al Rafeea). Cut off from the outside world and unable to signal for help, their hopes for rescue dwindle with each passing day.
Beneath the surface of their struggle lies a secret that Yasmine and Nabil fight to keep from Jana, their youngest. But as time passes, the cracks in their façade grow deeper. As the family faces mounting tension and countless disappointments, the bonds holding them together are pushed to their breaking point.
Directed by Emmy-nominee Matty Brown, The Sand Castle is described by the streamer as “a gripping exploration of family, fear, and resilience in the face of the unimaginable.”
The Sand Castle is co-written by Matty Brown, Yasmina Kharaja and Hend Fakhroo.
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