Yeah, we’ve all got our favorite horror films we dust off every Halloween. Whether it’s the nostalgic wonderment of The Nightmare Before Christmas or the classic slasher appeal of A Nightmare on Elm Street, we’ve all got our golden classics we return to every fall. But sometimes you want something new to freshen up that watchlist. The good news is that plenty of great new horror films were released this year to check out this Halloween. If you missed them at the theater, get these horror films in for a watch before the demise of the spooky month.

Sinners

Yeah, you’ve probably heard everybody and their grandmother praising this picture since it graced theaters last April, but for good reason. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners still resonates as a historical, musical, and racially driven horror that is far more than an Americana spin on From Dusk Till Dawn. It’s a gripping and gruesome film that is alive with the dark ambitions of the monster and the thirsty ambitions of the greedy and horny. There’s a mesmerizing sense of direction and a fantastic ensemble, ranging from Michael B. Jordan in dual roles to Delroy Lindo making a meal from his eccentric part.

Bring Her Back

Directors Michael Philippou and Danny Philippou once more deliver a disorienting and disturbing horror with Bring Her Back. The film centers around two siblings forced into foster care after the death of their father. What they don’t realize until it’s too late is that their foster parent (Sally Hawkins) wants these kids for a dark ritual. Loaded with nightmarish visuals and violence, this film went to dark and shocking places I didn’t expect.

Final Destination Bloodlines

What an absolute delight that there’s another Final Destination film, and it’s admirable for far more than the elaborate and vicious gore. Bloodlines features a family struggling to survive the targeting by the Grim Reaper when an older generation survived a premonition. The family is likable enough that I wanted to see them survive, and the twists in who will die next are rather shocking and amusing. I dare say this may be my favorite FD film for its compelling characters, clever deaths, final cameo by Tony Todd, and an absurd cameo by the biggest killer of Final Destination 2: Logs!

Weapons

Zack Cregger has done it again with another subversive, challenging, and wild horror in his latest film, Weapons. When an entire class of children goes missing in the middle of the night, a community struggles to make sense of the local mystery. The story is told from multiple perspectives of adults who crumble with their personal lives amid public tragedy that leaves everybody heated. The big twist of who is behind the missing kids is as nightmarish as it is clever, making for one of the most playful and compelling horror films I’ve seen this year.

Together

Merging body horror and romance, Together follows the troubled marriage of Tim and Millie, which takes a rocky route when moving to the countryside. The two are soon stricken with an odd curse that starts fusing their flesh, making them question how devoted they truly are to each other. It’s definitely not a film for the squeamish, especially those who don’t dig body horror, but if you’re cool with that sub-genre, there’s a surprising tale of romance among all the warping of skin mashing together.

28 Years Later

Color me surprised that Danny Boyle and Alex Garland returned to the 28 horror saga with something fresh for 28 Years Later. Taking place many years after the rage virus sweeps through Europe, a son growing up on an island gets used to going on hunts through the monster-infested wilderness with his dad. He’ll also have to deal with the prospect of his mother dying and get a valuable life lesson from a wise man of mortality played by Ralph Fiennes. While the film still features Garland’s gritty style of depicting what is essentially a zombie outbreak, this picture isn’t afraid to take massive tonal shifts and explore various thematic angles. You’ll never guess how this film ends, either.

The Monkey

Stephen King’s short story about a monkey toy that kills people when activated took a turn for the absurd in Oz Perkins’s adaptation of The Monkey. Through brazen brutality and hilarious editing, the film attempts to find humor in mortality as two brothers struggle to deal with the dark effects of evoking the death-signaling monkey. With tongue firmly in cheek, it was a hoot to watch this horror film proceed so far off the rails with scenes of guts being ripped out via harpoon and insides being destroyed via hundreds of bees.

Heart Eyes

Take a break from Halloween-themed horror for a little Valentine’s Day passion in Heart Eyes. This unorthodox slasher picture features a heart-eyed killer targeting couples, until one cynical romantic pair decided to fight back. Equal parts comedic and romantic, this is a great choice on Halloween for the horror couple who enjoys a good slay together.

Clown in a Cornfield

You’ll get far more than what is promised with a Clown in a Cornfield, and I’m not referring to the fact that there is more than one clown in the field. When a new teenager tries to adjust to her new rural setting, she uncovers a dark history of the town’s targeting of teenagers via clown murders. Although the film gets rather absurd, it’s also a surprisingly biting horror-comedy for how it poses unexpected and darkly comedic kills with crossbows, chainsaws, and pitchforks. This was a damn fun slasher for coming from director Eli Craig, having previously helmed the subversive horror Tucker & Dale vs. Evil.

Predator: Killer of Killers

If sci-fi horror is more of your speed, you’ll be delighted to know that there’s another Predator film to check out this year before Badlands drops in November. Killer of Killers is an animated anthology of stories akin to the previous Predator film Prey, where warriors of different cultures and time periods wage war against the race of aliens that continuously hunt humans. The animation style is brilliantly evocative, and the culmination of all the stories into one big showdown against the aliens was such a satisfying dose of action horror.

Here’s where you can find these films streaming:

• Sinners: HBO Max
• Bring Her Back: HBO Max
• Final Destination Bloodlines: HBO Max
• Weapons: HBO Max
• Together: VOD Only
• 28 Years Later: Netflix
• The Monkey: Hulu/Disney+
• Heart Eyes: Netflix
• Clown in a Cornfield: Shudder
• Predator: Killer of Killers: Hulu/Disney+