10 Upcoming Horror Movies That Aren't What You Think

The rest of 2025 is shaping up to deliver a ton of exciting and intriguing horror films, and 2026 is also busily building an enviable slate of genre offerings.

While most horror movies will pretty much be exactly what you think they are - and there's certainly nothing wrong with that - every so often, one comes along that defies categorisation.

Sometimes, a horror movie is presented to audiences, primarily through marketing and early buzz, in a way that's perhaps not quite an accurate representation of what the film really is, for better or worse. And that's absolutely true of the following ten upcoming horror movies, each of which you might think you have totally pegged, but unless you've been keeping your ear really close to the ground, you probably don't.

From horror movies with a secret subgenre twist to a "remake" that actually isn't, a found footage sequel that's quietly ditching the format, and everything else between, these films are all doing something different than the expected.

It'll certainly be interesting to see how audiences react to these revelations once each movie comes out, but if you want to set expectations correctly it's worth knowing this info ahead of time...

Though it was confirmed in the weeks leading up to the release of 28 Years Later that the series' original star, Cillian Murphy, wouldn't be appearing in it, we've known for a while that Murphy will have a role in next year's follow-up, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.

While that would likely be enough to get many butts in seats for the film, during a recent interview, franchise director Danny Boyle revealed that Murphy's Jim only appears briefly at the very end of the next movie.

That is to say, fans shouldn't expect to see Jim playing a major part in The Bone Temple, which is a refreshingly honest declaration from Boyle that nevertheless likely left Sony executives flipping furniture somewhere.

But there is another angle to Boyle's confession, that Murphy's brief appearance will apparently tee up a proper starring role in a planned follow-up to The Bone Temple. That said, the sequel will only get made if The Bone Temple performs well at the box office.

So if you want a true sequel to 28 Days Later, where Murphy is back in the lead role with Boyle directing, buy a ticket to the next one.