The director of one of the best zombie movies of all time is back with a brand new one in theaters this weekend, and this week also brings a new Barney-inspired horror movie from the director of viral hit Too Many Cooks, the at-home debut of the Pinocchio horror movie starring Robert Englund, and the wide theatrical expansion of a critically acclaimed new nightmare from NEON.
Here are the new horror movies that released August 24 – August 30, 2026!
Part of the cinematic universe known as the “Poohniverse,” Pinocchio Unstrung puts a horror movie spin on the classic tale, and the film is now available on Digital at home.
The chilling reimagining of the familiar fable unfolds inside an elite London prep school. Created by Geppetto and influenced by a sinister Cricket, Pinocchio launches a violent crusade to carve himself into a real boy like his brother, one piece at a time…
Richard Brake (Barbarian) stars in Pinocchio Unstrung as the obsessive Geppetto, with horror icon Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street) as the voice of Cricket.
Pinocchio is voiced by Jude Evan Lloyd and brought to life via a practical animatronic created by Todd Masters (“Tales from the Crypt,” Slither). Cameron Bell, Jessica Balmer, Jack Art Gray, and Peter De Souza-Feighoney round out the horror movie’s cast.
Rhys Frake-Waterfield (Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey) writes and directs the British slasher, in addition to producing alongside Scott Jeffrey via their Jagged Edge Productions.
This is fifth entry in the Twisted Childhood Universe, following Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and its sequel, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, and Bambi: The Reckoning.
Nicolas Winding Refn’s Her Private Hell is now available on Digital.
In the film, when a mysterious mist engulfs a futuristic metropolis, unleashing a deadly and elusive entity, a troubled young woman searches for her father. Her quest collides with an American GI on a harrowing odyssey to rescue his daughter from Hell.
Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackets”), Charles Melton (“Riverdale”), Kristine Froseth (How to Blow Up a Pipeline), Havana Rose Liu (No Exit), and Diego Calva (Babylon) star.
The ensemble also includes Dougray Scott (Hitman), Aoi Yamada (Perfect Days), Shioli Kutsuna (Deadpool & Wolverine), and Hidetoshi Nishijima (Shin Ultraman).
Nicolas Winding Refn directs Her Private Hell from a script he co-wrote with Esti Giordani (“Vida”). Pino Donaggio (Carrie, Don’t Look Now) composed the score.
Refn produces under his byNWR Originals banner. Executive producers include Takuma Takasaki, Kimberly Willming, Christina Erritzøe, and Lene Børglum.
Her Private Hell is rated ‘R’ for “some strong/bloody violence, sexual content, and language.”
Aura Entertainment brought director Jesse V. Johnson’s Above & Below to select theaters last month, and the shark attack film is now available on Digital outlets at home.
30 feet below. 10 minutes of oxygen. 1 apex predator.
In shark attack horror movie Above & Below, “Friends embark on a dream vacation of parties and diving, but their trip takes a terrifying turn when criminals attack them at sea.”
This one looks like every other shark movie that’s been released in the last several years, but it’s armed with something that puts it a fin above the competition. Oscar nominated actor Antonio Banderas stars in Above & Below, with the cast also including Christina Ochoa, Laura Marano, Timothy V. Murphy, Louis Mandylor, Jess Liaudin, Ryan Bertroche, Ramiro Alonso, Diego Llinás, Rodrigo Poisón, Mario Tardón, and Donncha Tynan.
Anthony Steven Giordano wrote the screenplay.
German indie horror movie The Behemoth hit Digital this past Tuesday.
In the film from director Kai E. Bogatzki, “What begins as a quiet holiday in a snow-covered mountain village quickly descends into terror when a young couple crosses paths with a blood thirsty religious cult.
“As disappearances mount and the atmosphere grows increasingly oppressive, the couple realizes they are no longer observers–but targets–caught at the center of a horrific ritual that will unleash something far worse than death.”
Beatrice Fletcher and Johnny Vivash star in The Behemoth.
Director Shawn C. Phillips is back with sequel Desert Fiends 2, now available on Digital.
Bounty hunters pursue cannibal mutants while an influencer’s live event draws fans into danger, turning the desert into a gory slasher battleground of monsters, mayhem, and twisted laughs.
The horror-comedy sequel stars Eric Roberts, Vanessa Angel, Robert Carradine, Martin Klebba, Ginger Lynn Allen, Robert Lasardo, James Debello, Douglas Tait, Kansas Bowling, Brett Wagner, Kato Kaelin, Mark Torgl, Carl Solomon, Jack Berner, and Michael B Moynahan.
The first Desert Fiends, also directed by Shawn C. Phillips, was released in 2024.
Director Casper Kelly (Too Many Cooks, V/H/S/Halloween) is back with fresh nightmare fuel, with his latest feature film Buddy now playing in theaters nationwide from Saban Films.
Buddy centers on the titular unicorn mascot — a beloved children’s TV host with a squeaky-clean persona that belies his true nature as a dark and violent force of nature.
Here’s the official synopsis: “Inside the colorful world of It’s Buddy!, a group of children spend their days singing, dancing, and helping Buddy spread happiness. But when one child refuses to play along, Buddy is not pleased and cracks begin to appear in this seemingly perfect world.”
Cristin Milioti stars as Grace, a suburban mother inadvertently drawn into Buddy’s nightmare world, with Delaney Quinn as Freddy, a brave girl who begins to fight back against Buddy when he shows his true self. Keegan-Michael Key voices Buddy. The horror movie’s cast also includes Topher Grace, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt.
Casper Kelly co-wrote the movie with Jamie King (“Jessica Jones”).
Meagan Navarro wrote in her review, “Casper Kelly drops viewers straight into the world of a kids’ show with a high-concept horror comedy that dials up the absurdities of kids’ television programming to a lethal degree. Those on board with an experimental structure and Kelly’s darkly playful sense of humor will find this raucous midnighter highly entertaining.”
South Korean filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan) is back with new outbreak nightmare Colony, and the film is now playing in U.S. theaters from Well Go USA Entertainment.
The South Korean horror movie follows Professor Se-jeong as she is thrust into a terrifying hellscape when a mutating virus is unleashed during a biotech conference, forcing authorities to seal the facility to contain the outbreak. Se-jeong and a group of survivors must fight to stay alive as the infected undergo horrific transformations and threaten to spread the virus.
Colony marks Gianna Jun’s (Blood: The Last Vampire) first feature film since 2015’s Assassination. She stars alongside Koo Kyo-hwan (Peninsula, Escape from Mogadishu).
Ji Chang-wook (“Healer”) and Shin Hyun-been (“Hospital Playlist”) also star.
The viral outbreak horror movie is rated ‘R’ for “bloody violent content and some language.”
Colony is presented by Showbox and produced by Wowpoint and Smilegate.
Serial killer thriller The Whisper Man is now streaming only on Netflix.
Adam Scott, Michelle Monaghan, and Robert De Niro star in The Whisper Man. The Netflix Original feature film is based on Alex North‘s 2019 novel of the same name.
In the film, “When his eight-year-old son is abducted, a widowed crime writer looks to his estranged father, a retired former police detective, for help, only to discover a connection with the decades-old case of a convicted serial killer known as The Whisper Man.”
The stacked cast also includes Michael Keaton, John Carroll Lynch, Hamish Linklater, Owen Teague, Will Brill, and Acston Luca Porto.
James Ashcroft (The Rule of Jenny Pen) directs Netflix’s new horror movie The Whisper Man from a script by Ben Jacoby (The First Omen) and Chase Palmer (IT).
Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot, Michael Disco, and Kassee Whiting produce the thriller for AGBO (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Extraction).
NEON ends the Summer with their existential road trip horror movie It Ends, which opened in NY & LA theaters last weekend. The film’s theatrical release has now expanded nationwide.
Check your local listings to find the nearest location.
It Ends marks the feature debut by writer-director Alexander Ullom.
“Four recent college grads on a night time drive find themselves stuck on a road that sprawls on forever, with seemingly no end in sight. They are occasionally attacked by stragglers and have to find a routine to plan their rest stops, but after a few thousand miles it all feels the same. Still, they keep on driving, only in the belief something better will come eventually.“
Akira Jackson, Phinehas Yoon, Mitchell Cole, and Noah Toth star.
In the Ozploitation tradition, the Australian movie Penny Lane Is Dead is a blood-soaked, ’80s-set horror thriller, and it’s now streaming exclusively on Shudder beginning today.
Set on a hot summer’s night in 1986 Australia, 17-year old Penny Lane is celebrating getting into college with her longtime girlfriends. After Penny’s jealous and troubled cousin decides a cruel prank is in order, what begins as a thoughtless spiked cupcake game spirals into a night of bloodshed and revenge.
Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn, Tahlee Fereday, Alexandra Jensen (Talk to Me), Bailey Spalding, Steve Le Marquand (Vertical Limit), Fletcher Humphrys (“Wolf Creek”), and Ben O’Toole (Hacksaw Ridge) star in Penny Lane Is Dead.
Writer-director Mia’Kate Russell makes her feature debut on the project.
The film is the first outing from Sanctuary Pictures, the production arm of Umbrella Entertainment, who produces alongside Buffalo Media and in association with Cyan Films.
