[THE BIG QUESTION] WHAT MOVIES ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT THIS SUMMER?

BEE DELORES 

Horror is firing on all cylinders this year. SINNERS and FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES have been heating up the box office, while streamers like THE UGLY STEPSISTER have caught quite a bit of buzz. Then, there are films like COMPANION, THE MONKEY, HEART EYES, CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD, and DROP  that have seen varying degrees of success. While not every film can be SINNERS (which has grossed over $300 million globally), there’s something for everyone to consume.

With summer looming, the next few months should offer us some more bangers. When Jon asked me to put together a list of some summer horror movies I’m most excited to see, it was easy to single out five that have me most hyped.

Check out my list below!

5. 28 YEARS LATER

Synopsis: “A group of survivors of the rage virus lives on a small island. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors.”

4. WEAPONS

Synopsis: “When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.”

3. TOGETHER

Synopsis: “Years into their relationship, Tim and Millie find themselves at a crossroads as they move to the country. With tensions already flaring, an encounter with an unnatural force threatens to corrupt their lives, their love, and their flesh.”

2. M3GAN 2.0

(Technically, this no longer sits within the horror genre — it’s straight-up action. But it still has my attention.)

Synopsis: “Two years after M3GAN's rampage, her creator, Gemma, resorts to resurrecting her infamous creation in order to take down Amelia, the military-grade weapon who was built by a defense contractor who stole M3GAN's underlying tech.”

1. BRING HER BACK

(Okay, not technically summer horror, but who cares. Next weekend can’t come quick enough.)

Synopsis: “A brother and sister uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother.”

KATELYN NELSON

If we’re talking “things already released that I haven’t made it to yet,” in addition to things yet to come, there are a few recent lands that I can’t wait to make time for. As soon as it stops raining so hard, I have to unplug everything I own.

That said, let’s all go to the movies:

• SINNERS. Because I don’t live close enough to a movie theater to walk to (yet) I often miss the heavy hitters when they first drop, and have to wait for them to come to streaming to join the party. In this case I feel I’ll be waiting a while, as public demand keeps pulling this rich and complex tale of cultural and literal vampirism back to the big screen. I’m not complaining, though. I love to see original horror winning.

• HEART EYES. I actually did catch HEART EYES the day it dropped on Netflix, but I had so much fun with it that I have to henceforth bring it up in any conversation about this year’s movies. Part rom com, part slasher, I was giggling and kicking my feet the whole way through.

• CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD. I’m a huge Adam Cesare fan, so the news of the Clown in a Cornfield trilogy getting a film adaptation had me standing up to cheer, and the choice to stick with an R rating made it all the better. Having read the books, there was no way this was gonna work without permission to be ultra-violent on screen. So long as we’re not bringing back that weird spate of time where people were dressing as clowns and hiding in the woods again, you’ll catch me in the front row.

• THE RULE OF JENNY PEN. I missed this on the festival circuit but found it had dropped on Shudder recently, and I’ll give anything with a little freak doll a chance. Turns out this is way more genuinely horrific than I anticipated, and therefore another staple in the conversation for the year. Somewhere in the back of my mind I’m still trying to figure if there’s a piece about this in me.

• MICKEY 17. It’s out, but I haven’t caught it yet. I’m not exactly sure of plot details here, but I’ve heard the voice that R Pats has chosen to use, and I’ll do anything for Bong Joon Ho, so that’s all I really need to know.

• COMPANION. If I had known about the plot to this one with any degree of certainty, I would have been so insufferable the entire internet would have been begging me for silence and mercy. As it is, I’m saving this one to watch with a friend in a couple of weeks. Here’s hoping I am not disappointed.

• FRANKENSTEIN and THE BRIDE. I’m automatically sat for anything Guillermo Del Toro touches. Add him to one of my favorite gothic horrors of all time and I’m building the structure to sit in a year in advance. It burns me a bit that Frankenstein will be a Netflix release, but nevertheless I’ll see you at midnight, Oscar Issac. Getting TWO Frankenstein movies in the same year is but icing on the cake.

• THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2. I don’t know exactly when this is coming out, to be honest, and I find the idea of having rebooted THE STRANGERS incredibly odd to this day. But it was such an impactful film for me that I’m automatically there for anything to follow it. Plus, watching PREY AT NIGHT with a group was so fun I figure they must still be a good time.

• HELL HOUSE, LLC: LINEAGE. I’m still disappointed it didn’t stick with the found footage format, but the Hell House movies are so much fun and so cool to watch connect to each other that I hold out hope and goodwill both that this new one will be good, and that somehow I can keep getting films from this franchise in perpetuity.

TAYLOR HUNTSBERGER

My most anticipated summer movie is I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. I absolutely love a slasher, they are my favorite horror subgenre, as well as the original film from 1997. In addition to the anticipation for the comeback for one of the classics, I am one of the very dedicated fans to the firefighter drama 9-1-1 which is, of course, Jennifer Love Hewitt's current acting endeavor so I am equally excited to see one of my comfort tv darlings on the big screen now that I have a more contemporary attachment to her. I always watch the show with two of my best friends so I cannot wait to watch and discuss with them specifically!

BRETT GALLMAN 

As someone who still considers Richard Donner’s SUPERMAN to be the greatest superhero movie ever made, it should come as no surprise that James Gunn’s take on The Man of Steel is my personal centerpiece of the summer. With Zack Snyder's ambitious (but ultimately misguided) vision firmly in the rearview, it looks like Gunn is poised to deliver an unabashedly hopeful, inspiring, Silver Age-era rendition this character deserves — and we as an audience so desperately need. I have no idea how it's going to work, introducing Superman alongside a legion of other superheroes, but I love that Gunn isn't taking the conventional approach. And if anyone has earned my trust, it's the guy who made SLITHER. (And, sure, I suppose the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY trilogy shows that he knows a thing or two about superhero ensembles.)

But also, I'm a horror guy, right? And this summer has plenty of fright fare to offer starting with BRING HER BACK, Danny and Michael Philippou’s follow-up to TALK TO ME. June also brings the much-anticipated 28 YEARS LATER, with both Danny Boyle and Alex Garland returning. Speaking of sequels, I kind of love that M3GAN 2.0 looks less like a horror movie and more like an unhinged riff on TERMINATOR 2. Also, as silly as a legacy sequel to I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER seems, I cannot help but be there for any summertime slashing. Finally, summer ends (yes, on August 8th since this teacher will already be back to school) with WEAPONS, Zach Cregger’s cryptic follow-up to BARBARIAN, one of my favorites of the decade so far. We'll see if this one can live up to those lofty standards, and, who knows, maybe I'll confirm it with an actual review come August.

ADAM BUCHANAN 

BRING HER BACK. Looking forward to that.