Summer may not typically be viewed as a great month for the horror genre, but if that’s something of a rule than Summer 2019 is most definitely an exception. Hell, we’re only a few days into summer and we’ve already been treated to Orion’s surprisingly fun remake of Child’s Play as well as the latest installment in the Conjuring franchise, Annabelle Comes Home.
Those two evil doll movies are kicking summer off right for horror fans, and the entire month of July will be keeping up that momentum with a slew of other horror releases.
For starters, July kicks off proper with the theatrical release of Ari Aster’s Midsommar, releasing on July 3rd. Midsommar is Aster’s follow-up to last year’s Hereditary, and early reviews strongly suggest that he’s not suffering from any kind of sophomore slump with this one. William Bibbiani reviewed the film for us, writing in his 3/5 skull review:
“You can’t come this close to greatness without trying harder than, frankly, most filmmakers would bother, and the ambition translates into a strange, gorgeous, complicated experience.”
The release of Midsommar is directly followed by the third season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” hitting the streaming service on July 4th. The cast has recently described Season 3 as being “darker” and “scarier” than the previous seasons, and the final trailer seems to promise a larger-scale season as well. It’s now been nearly two years since the arrival of Season 2, and the excitement for the new batch of episodes is off the charts. You can’t go anywhere without being reminded that it’s coming, and Season 3 is sure to be the horror event of the summer.
And don’t forget Stranger Things 3: The Game, also releasing on July 4th!
Just revealed this week, the small screen will also play host to the third season of MTV’s “Scream” TV series in July, which is actually a full-on reboot that’s premiering, oddly enough, on VH1. It’s now titled “Scream: Resurrection,” and it’s bringing back both the classic Ghostface mask and film franchise star Roger Jackson as the voice of Ghostface!
The six-episode television event will debut on Monday, July 8th and run for two hours per night starting at 9 p.m., running through the night of Wednesday, July 10th.
It’s been eight years since the release of Wes Craven’s excellent Scream 4, which means it’s been eight years since we’ve seen that classic Ghostface mask on the screen!
Back on the big screen, High Tension and Hills Have Eyes director Alexandre Aja returns with Crawl, a new alligator horror flick produced by Sam Raimi. In the film, a young woman finds herself trapped in a flooding house during a hurricane and must fight for her life against alligators. Crawl, rated R for “bloody creature violence,” swims into theaters on July 12.
July 12th also marks the VOD release of director Pollyanna McIntosh’s Darlin’, a sequel to Lucky McKee’s Bloody Disgusting Selects film The Woman. Keep that one on your radar!
Jumping ahead to a bit later in the month, the Krites return in Critters Attack!, an all-new film that brings original star Dee Wallace back into the franchise. The first new feature film installment in the franchise in nearly 30 years, the Bobby Miller-directed Critters Attack! hits DVD, Blu-ray and Digital on July 23rd. After Shudder’s series “Critters: A New Binge” left a whole lot to be desired, here’s hoping the new movie does proper justice to a fun franchise.
On the gaming front, Bethesda releases Wolfenstein: Youngblood on July 26th for PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. The spinoff game is set in the 1980s, two decades after the events of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and the main characters are B.J. Blazkowicz’s daughters. The game notably includes an optional cooperative multiplayer mode.
It’s not exactly a horror series but we also want to mention Amazon’s series “The Boys,” an adaptation of the comics by Garth Ennis (“Preacher”) and Darick Robertson. The series from “Preacher” duo Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg arrives on July 26th, set in a world where superheroes embrace the darker side of their massive celebrity and fame. The boys are a group of vigilantes who set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty. The series looks to be an ultra-violent good time.
Which July release are you most excited about? Comment and let us know!
