It’s a whole new decade, but don’t let that fool you. It’s still January, and January is always a rough time for movies and television, because studios and networks typically treat the month like it’s some kind of dumping ground. Fortunately, horror is very frequently the exception to the rule, and the first month of 2020 is chock full of promising scary movies, TV shows and even a VR experience that are tailor made for horror fans!
The first day of January brings the new horror film Ghost Stories to Netflix, an Indian anthology from the makers of Bombay Talkies and Lust Stories. Netflix also bites into “Dracula” on January 4. Meanwhile, in theaters, January 3 brings with it the latest film in the long-running The Grudge series, which transports the viral haunting to the United States, where a series of strangers encounter the angry spirits and take them home with them. The Grudge (2020) is directed by Nicolas Pesce (The Eyes of My Mother) and stars John Cho, Betty Gilpin, Andrea Riseborough, Demian Bichir, Jackie Weaver and Lin Shaye, and takes place in the same continuity as the other American remakes of The Grudge.
January 9 brings with it a new horror film on Shudder, The Marshes, in which a group of biologists in – you guessed it! – a marshland are stalked by a homicidal maniac. Then on January 10 get ready for Underwater, where Kristen Stewart finds herself and a group of scientists – you guessed it! – underwater, when an undersea earthquake unleashes mortal peril. Vincent Cassel and John Gallagher Jr. co-star in a new film by William Eubanks (The Signal).
And on January 12, the Stephen King mini-series The Outsider debuts on HBO, starring Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, and Jason Bateman (who also directed the first two episodes). The series centers around an investigation into a brutal child murder. Additional directors include Karyn Kusama (The Invitation) and Andrew Bernstein (Fear the Walking Dead).
You’ll have to wait a few weeks to get more new horror kicks in January, but the last week is chock full of scares. January 23 brings with it the new Netflix series October Faction, about a family of monster hunters. The series is based on a comic book by Steve Niles and Damien Worm, and is executive produced by Damian Kindler (Sleepy Hollow). Also on January 23, Shudder releases the new TV series The Dead Lands, based on the award-winning New Zealand thriller about warring Maori tribes.
And if you have any interest in VR, January 23 is the day you can finally play The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners. The virtual reality game reportedly features zombie-killing action sequences and some of the narrative branching that gamers have come to expect from the hit franchise.
You might want to mark down January 24 as a big one, with three new horror and horror-adjacent films heading to theaters. Run is Aneesh Chaganty’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed mystery-thrilling Searching, and stars Sarah Paulson and Pat Healy in a story about home schooling gone wrong. The Turning stars Mackenzie Davis, Brooklynn Prince and Finn Wolfhard in a modern retelling of Henry James’s classic ghost story The Turn of the Screw, which previously was adapted into the horror classic The Innocents.
Also opening January 24 is the long-awaited adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s iconic short story Colour Out of Space, about a mysterious alien presence that overtakes a farm. Nicolas Cage and Joely Richardson co-star in the latest film from director Richard Stanley (Hardware). And if that’s not enough for you then there’s also Zombi Child, a new film from Bertrand Bonello about a man who may have been zombified in Haiti.
Or, if you’d prefer to stay home and chill, Netflix debuts the third part of its hit series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on January 24 as well!
But wait! There’s more! January 29 brings to Netflix a new and mysterious reality TV horror series called Omniscient, as well as last year’s horror film Bliss on Shudder. Bliss is the new film from Joe Begos (The Mind’s Eye), about a painter who will do just about anything to get rid of her creative block.
Hitting theaters January 31 is Gretel and Hansel, the latest adaptation of the classic fairy tale. In this new rendition, Sophia Lillis (It: Chapter One) plays the older sister who has to save herself and her brothers from a wicked witch in the woods, played by Alice Krige (Carnival Row). The horror fantasy is the latest film from director Oz Perkins (I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House).
And if you’re looking for something more real, Amazon starts streaming the new mini-series Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer on January 31.
What are YOU most looking forward to in January…?
