Scream show: The horror movies to watch (and avoid) in 2018

Ready for some spooks? Sure, it might be the month of love, but in 2018, Halloween should be considered a year-long event. There’s a stack of horrifying flicks due to drop throughout the year – enough to keep the bedrocks of hell heated up for a second or two.

However, we here at FD do like to keep you devilish creatures informed, so we’ll warn you now: there are many tricks amid the treats. Read on for the top horror picks that will guarantee those heart cockles remain cold, along with the most overrated movies that are best left alone.

Watch: Unsane

That’s right! Steven Soderbergh is back, baby! Unsane, his first horror film, is the first film to be shot entirely on an iPhone in a timespan of a single week. Mental asylums? Experimental filming techniques? Soderbergh? Count us in – with bells on.

Avoid: Winchester

It’s not like us to follow reviews and ratings (we make those ourselves), but an 11% score on Rotten Tomatoes has to say something about this one. The story also sounds like a weaker version of The Woman in Black, which wasn’t all that impressive in the first place. Not even Helen Mirren can pull this rotten corpse out of the grave.

Watch: A Quiet Place

Emily Blunt (Sicario) stars alongside her real-life husband John Krasinski (The Office), who is also in the director’s chair for this frightening flick. Blunt’s role is one of a sweaty blonde trying to beat off the most uppity spirit in cinematic history. You can’t beat a great hook, and boy does this have one. There’s definite potential for this to rank in as one of the best horror flicks of 2018.

Avoid: Truth or Dare

Don’t let the name fool you – the premise of this film is truly unique and most definitely not like all those other genre flicks that depend on a cast of Kardashian look-alikes and a prescribed level of R-rated horror to sell tickets . . . *

Watch: Hereditary

When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel the cryptic and terrifying secrets about their ancestry in this ominous and profoundly disquieting horror flick from Ari Aster (Munchausen). You know it’s going to be a dark ride when the reviews claim that people were “pissing their pants” and “passing out” during screenings.

Avoid: The House with a Clock in its Walls

We’d typically be on board for Eli Roth (Inglourious Basterds) and his B-movie gore, but considering his last few films have been toilet dwellers, this one’s getting a bit fat nope from us. Did anyone even enjoy The Green Inferno or Knock Knock? Also, who wants to see Jack Black in a horror film? Not us!

Watch: The House That Jack Built

Lars. Von. Trier. Doing. Serial. Killers. And. Murder.

We needn’t say more than that. Though, there’s a good argument to be made for double booking your therapist for the week following its release.

Avoid: The Nun

Father forgive me, for I have sinned . . . Those should be the words of Corin Hardy for bestowing us with yet another spin-off that’s inspired by another spin-off of an already crappy movie. Can we not get some new ideas for once, please?

Watch: Summer of ‘84

This one’s apparently “like Stranger Things but with serial killers”. Who among us isn’t excited by that prospect?!

Avoid: Halloween

Right, we say “avoid”, but let’s face it – we’re all going to check this one out at some point. That’s the crux of the problem with this franchise – they got us hooked from the start and yet every other reboot, remake, rejig, and refuck they throw at us, we continue to lap up like the desperate little horror freaks that we undoubtedly are. Let us remind you, however, that this is the eleventh installment in the series now. That cow might’ve been dry for a long time, but they’re not giving up.

*Editor’s note: Film Daily cannot be held accountable for the terrifying levels of sarcasm presented by its staff writers.