May 2026 is going to be a massive month for brand new original horror, and it all begins TODAY with the release of five brand new horror movies in theaters and at home.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Friday, May 1, 2026!
Renny Harlin is back with new horror movie Deep Water, which looks to bring together the action of Die Hard 2 with the shark attack horror of Deep Blue Sea. We bring up those two movies in comparison to Deep Water, because, well, Renny Harlin directed all three of ’em!
Produced by Gene Simmons, Deep Water is now playing in theaters.
Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kinsgley star alongside Molly Wright (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever), Angus Sampson (Insidious), Kelly Gale (Plane), and Li Wenhan from K-Pop group UNIQ.
In Renny Harlin’s Deep Water, “A flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai goes down in the middle of the Pacific. After surviving the crash, the survivors soon discover they’re not alone and they must survive the shark infested waters. The terrified group is forced to work together and overcome their differences if they hope to escape their sinking plane and the frenzy of sharks.”
The screenplay was written by Pete Bridges and Shayne Armstrong & SP Krause.
Renny Harlin said in a recent statement, “Deep Water represents the kind of movie I’ve dreamed of making since I grew up loving the ’70s disaster movies. Spectacular action and unforgettable characters who didn’t leave a dry eye in the movie theater.”
From Damian McCarthy (Caveat, Oddity), Hokum is now playing in theaters.
Adam Scott (“Severance”) stars in Hokum as reclusive novelist Ohm Bauman. When he retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, the staff’s tales of an ancient witch haunting the honeymoon suite take hold of his mind. Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance draw Ohm into a nightmarish confrontation with the darkest corners of his past.
Peter Coonan (“The Alienist: Angel of Darkness”), David Wilmot (“Station Eleven”), Florence Ordesh (“Departure”), Michael Patric (“Frontier”), Will O’Connell (“Game of Thrones”), Brendan Conroy (“Bodkin”), and Austin Amelio (“The Walking Dead”) also star.
Meagan Navarro raves in her review for Bloody Disgusting, “A quaint Irish hotel with a deeply haunted history awaits an American writer in McCarthy’s third outing, continuing his streak for folkloric tales of supernatural karma and spine-tingling terror with a dark sense of humor.”
Dutch folk horror film Heresy is now streaming only on Shudder.
Set in a medieval Dutch village, Heresy follows a young woman who is caught between her faith, fanatic townsfolk, and the dark forces lurking in the woods.
The film marks the feature directorial debut of Didier Konings, a concept artist on the likes of “Stranger Things,” Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. He also has visual effects credits on The Conjuring 2 and Lights Out.
Anneke Sluiters, Len Leo Vincent, Reinout Bussemaker, Léon van Waas, and Nola Elvis Kemper star in Heresy. Marc S. Nollkaemper penned the screenplay.
A surreal and stylized blend of witchcraft, folk horror, body horror, and familial trauma, Salt Along the Tongue is now available on Digital from Yellow Veil Pictures.
Calling the Australian production “a love letter to my mother,” writer-director Parish Malfitano explores his Italian heritage with a haunting tale rooted in the evil eye superstition.
After teenager Mattia’s mother dies unexpectedly, she has no choice but to move in with her aunt Carol, her mother’s identical twin. As Mattia grapples with the loss of her mother and this new way of life, a treacherous family secret begins to come to light. From beyond the grave, Mattia’s mother possesses her daughter — not only trying to protect Mattia from the same fate that befell her, but also to find reconciliation with her twin sister, using food as a gateway.
Citing Volver, Possession, 3 Women, and Don’t Look Now as inspirations, Malfitano’s script was a semi-finalist in Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition.
Dina Panozzo and Laneikka Denne star with Mayu Iwasaki, Maria de Marco, Nicole Toum, Caroline Levien, Olga Olshansky, Helen Vassiliadis, and Liz Lin.
Terror Films Releasing has teamed with filmmakers Josh Funk and Dustin Vaught to release horror-comedy The Fuzzies, centered around puppetry and practical effects.
The Fuzzies is now available on Digital outlets at home.
The film follows a group of friends who reunite at their childhood friend’s eerie estate after her death, where they soon uncover a nightmare: the grotesque puppets from her famous children’s TV show are alive. Blending practical puppetry, stop-motion horror, and dark humor, The Fuzzies explores friendship, fame, and buried monsters.”
Rocío de la Grana (Rose), Baylee Toney (Mary), Dustin Vaught (Mick), and Gordy Cassell (Shirley/Sunny Smiles) star.
Director Josh Funk, who co-wrote and produced with Dustin Vaught, said in a statement, “The Fuzzies is a horror-comedy born from a fascination with the uncanny, specifically the strange power of puppets and stop-motion animation to feel both comforting and deeply unsettling. Drawing inspiration from children’s television of the 1970s and ‘80s, the film explores how bright sets, felt textures, and cheerful characters become disorienting when stripped of their warmth. The Fuzzies embraces the tactile imperfections of handmade filmmaking to tell a story about nostalgia curdling into terror, and the monsters we carry with us from childhood.”
