Movies
These 9 New Horror Movies Are Releasing This Week!
The new releases just keep coming here in 2023, and while Scream VI continues to slash up the screen, another NINE brand new horror movies are coming along in its wake this week.
Here’s all the new horror releasing March 14 – March 19, 2023!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
First up, the Elizabeth Banks-directed horror-comedy Cocaine Bear is now available at home beginning today; you can rent the film for $19.99 or Digitally purchase it for $24.99.
From Universal Pictures, Cocaine Bear was released in theaters on February 24, the film gobbling its way to a $51 million domestic haul. Worldwide, the current total is $65 million.
‘Cocaine Bear’ Review – A Raucously Entertaining and Gory Horror-Comedy
The movie is inspired by true events that took place in Kentucky in 1985, and it was written by Jimmy Warden. Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) produced.
“The movie finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500- pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of cocaine and gone on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow … and blood.”
Keri Russell, Ray Liotta, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson and Jesse Tyler Ferguson star in the movie. Brian Duffield (Underwater, Spontaneous) was also on board to produce.
Grabbers director Jon Wright is back with the creature feature Unwelcome (formerly The Little People), first released in theaters last week. Today, it’s available on VOD at home.
The film, described as Gremlins meets Straw Dogs, spins a tale of what happens to people who come in contact with the violent, bloodthirsty goblins known originally in Irish folklore as the fear dearg or “far darrig,” now often referred to worldwide as the “Redcaps.”
Unwelcome, which is directed by Irish-born Jon Wright (Grabbers, Robot Overlords) and based on an original screenplay by Mark Stay, stars Hannah John-Kamen (Red Sonja, Black Mirror, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Ready Player One) and Douglas Booth (Loving Vincent, hit Netflix film The Dirt, Jupiter Ascending, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) as a couple who escape their urban nightmare to the tranquility of rural Ireland only to hear stories of mysterious beings who live in the gnarled, ancient wood at the foot of their new garden. As warned by their new neighbors, in Irish mythology, the Redcaps will come when called to help souls in dire need of rescue, but it’s crucial to remember that there is always a dear price to pay for their aid.
Additional cast members include Golden Globe nominee Colm Meaney (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Get Him to the Greek, Gangs of London), Jamie-Lee O’ Donnell (6 Degrees, Screw, Derry Girls), Chris Walley (The Young Offenders, Bloodlands) and Kristian Nairn (Game of Thrones, The Appearance). The film also has reunited the Grabbers creature team.
A big budget Thai/Chinese co-production, The Lake has been unleashed here in the United States by Epic Pictures Group, now available on Digital platforms beginning today.
The film’s practical monster was designed by artist Jordu Schell (Cloverfield, The Thing, Starship Troopers, The Mist, Feast, Avatar, Men in Black, Planet of the Apes, The Cabin in the Woods, Predators), brought to life using practical life-sized animatronics alongside CGI.
In The Lake, “A gigantic and bloodthirsty monster emerges from a lake after its egg is stolen and unleashes its fury on a town’s inhabitants, leaving a trail of destruction and death in its wake. The town of Bueng Kan, now cut off from the outside world, must mobilize its officials and citizens, as well as a group of scientists that are in town conducting research, to catch this predator before it’s too late.”
Lee Thongkham and Aqing Xu directed the film, written by Lee Thongkham.
Director Lee Thongkham said in a statement, “This movie will bring back the nostalgia of when we first loved the original monster movies with animatronics and puppets. But the most exciting thing about the movie is watching this monster movie with 40% CGI. You will feel the real and spectacular scope and scale from Thai cinema.”
Titled Leio: The Terrible Giant for its release in Thailand, the giant monster movie The Beast Below has also made landfall here in the States, now available on VOD outlets at home.
An English-language remake of Leio: The Terrible Giant is also already in the works.
In the original movie directed by Chalit Krileadmongkon…
“An adventure comedy that follows a once-famous singer who returns to his hometown and takes part in a water field drilling contest, hoping to win a large cash prize. But what they do not realize is that a mysterious beast lurks underground.”
Golf Pichaya Nitipaisalkul, Fang Dhanantorn Neerasingh, Palm Supachai Suwanon, Gena Desouza, and Tap Pongtap Anurat star in Leio, centered on a massive mutant butterfly lizard.
Half Dead Fred, a new indie film-noir/horror movie starring Corin Nemec, Jason London, and scream queen Tiffany Shepis, will be available on Amazon streaming on March 15.
Written and directed by Bron Theron, the film centers on a medium detective (Corin Nemec) who travels to Flint Michigan to solve a murder and find a treasure.
Bron Theron states, “We are thrilled to release through Amazon. It is very exciting to bring Half Dead Fred straight to the homes of horror fans. I can’t wait for audiences to see the huge twist at the end and enjoy a film-noir with plenty of paranormal activity.”
Frank Grillo leads the cast of the cult-based horror movie The Resurrection of Charles Manson, which XYZ Films will release on Digital outlets on Thursday, March 16, 2023.
In the film, “A couple goes to the desert for a romantic weekend and shoot an audition for a role in an upcoming film. Their holiday quickly turns deadly as they are the target of a Cult who carry on the evil beliefs and murderous practices of the Manson Family.
“This Cult believes they can resurrect the ultimate object of their obsession – Charles Manson himself – through a shocking ritual of human sacrifice.”
Katherine Hughes, Josh Plasse, Will Peltz, Sarah Dumont, Vince Hill-Bedford, Tobias Jelinek, and Sydelle Noel also star in the film alongside Frank Grillo and Jaime King.
Remy Grillo directed The Resurrection of Charles Manson.
Brev Moss and Josh Plasse wrote the script.
After scaring up $4 million at the worldwide box office, viral hit Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is returning to movie theaters for one more week beginning this Friday.
Rhys Frake-Waterfield directed the bloody horror movie for Jagged Edge Productions, a twisted take on the classic children’s tale. And yes, a sequel is already on the way.
In this version of the classic story, Christopher Robin is headed off to college and he has abandoned his old friends, which then leads to the duo embracing their inner monsters.
“The days of adventures and merriment have come to an end, as Christopher Robin, now a young man, has left Winnie-The-Pooh and Piglet to fend for themselves. As time passes, feeling angry and abandoned, the two become feral.
“After getting a taste for blood, Winnie-The-Pooh and Piglet set off to find a new source of food. It’s not long before their bloody rampage begins.”
Amber Doig-Thorne, Maria Taylor, and Danielle Scott star in the horror movie, which is possible thanks to the original story slipping into the public domain. What a time to be alive!
The true story of the Boston Strangler comes to Hulu this Friday with a new feature film produced by Ridley Scott for 20th Century Studios. Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon star.
Matt Ruskin (“Crown Heights”) wrote and directed the serial killer thriller, which also stars David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad, Dune), Chris Cooper, and Alessandro Nivola.
The film follows Loretta McLaughlin (Knightley), a reporter for the Record-American newspaper, who becomes the first journalist to connect the Boston Strangler murders.
As the mysterious killer claims more and more victims, Loretta attempts to continue her investigation alongside colleague and confidante Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), yet the duo finds themselves stymied by the rampant sexism of the era.
Nevertheless, McLaughlin and Cole bravely pursue the story at great personal risk, putting their own lives on the line in their quest to uncover the truth.
The next Shudder original horror movie is director Alex Herron‘s Leave, and it’ll begin exclusively streaming on the all-horror streaming service this Friday, March 17, 2023.
Alicia von Rittberg, Herman Tømmeraas, and Stig R. Amdam star.
In the film, “An abandoned infant is found in a cemetery in the United States. The child is wrapped in a blanket with satanic symbols. A Wolf’s Cross pendant hangs around her neck. 20 years later: Hunter is obsessed with finding out why she was abandoned and who her biological parents are. A genetic test, the blanket and the Wolf’s Cross lead her to Norway. Hunter is closing in on the terrifying truth, but visions of a dark figure warn her: LEAVE!”
Thomas Moldestad wrote the script.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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