Happy Memorial Day Weekend! This is before anything, a good time to reflect on the heroism of our Armed Forces, which is the primary reason for the season. More than ever, with certain elements trying to erase our nation’s history and to dumb us collectively down so they can rape and pillage America from the inside out, it’s important to remember the good and the bad, how America has done many awful things in the name of country but also how at our best, we can be capable of true greatness, and at least for this weekend, to recall that there have been people of conscience who stood up to fight when that was what was needed.
Also never a bad time to reiterate that Daily Grindhouse stands against racism, bigotry, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and hate of all kinds. The only people we don’t tolerate here are fascists.
To paraphrase Joe Strummer & Woody Guthrie: This website defenestrates fascists.
On a brighter note: We still have movies! There is a lot of fun stuff coming down the road in 2025 and this summer in particular is full of highlights. So our crew met and mingled to talk over this question:
What movies this summer are you most excited about seeing?
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
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. Not sure what else is coming out.
JON ABRAMS
Well, let me see if I can help with that, my brother. Like everyone else here, I am a huge fan of horror, but not only horror. Zoom out a little and there’s even more to look forward to, particularly in the action genre, starting with one that may just be my most-awaited of the year…
NOBODY 2
August 15th
I love Bob. I loved Bob before I even knew I loved Bob, when he was writing all my favorite stuff on Saturday Night Live in the 1990s. By the time Mr. Show first aired, I was just the right age and mindset for that. I remember staying up just to see new episodes. I watched every movie he directed. LET’S GO TO PRISON? THE BROTHERS SOLOMON? I was there. Thrilled when he popped up on Breaking Bad. Even more thrilled when he got center stage in Better Call Saul. Thrilled maybe most of all when he finally got home in LITTLE WOMEN.
So you might rightly predict that I loved the fuck out of NOBODY. It was my favorite movie of 2021. It was a movie that made an action hero out of Bob, and that was mighty joyous all on its own, but then the later goings of the movie came, and those two actors showed up, and I didn’t expect them to show up, and I would be ecstatic to see them even if I had known, but you drop them in as a surprise, and ohmyfuckinggod.
All of that said, there’s an entirely different reason why this is my most eagerly-awaited of the year, and that’s because NOBODY 2 is directed by Timo Tjahjanto, who may just be my favorite working director at the moment overall, and who unquestionably is one of the finest action directors in the world. I have no doubt this is going to rock the pillars of Heaven.
DANGEROUS ANIMALS
June 6th
It’s rare these days that I plan a trip to the movies in advance, particularly with friends, since I’m an old fuck now and things happen when they happen. But my buddy and I already have plans to see this movie, about a serial killer who captures a surfer and plans to feed her to the sharks circling under the boat. The director is Sean Byrne, who has made just three movies in fifteen years, but one of them was THE LOVED ONES, which means I would be seeing this one even if it didn’t have fucking sharks in it.
FEAR BELOW
May 2nd
But usually for me, sharks alone are enough. I’ll see literally and every any movie with a shark in it. No exaggeration. Check my internet history. This one intrigues me because it’s a period piece! Set in the 1940s. Way less gizmos to use against killer sharks back then. FEAR BELOW is already available, but I haven’t seen it yet, so on my to-do list it goes!
A BREED APART
May 16th
Another movie that is already available but essential to seek out, for me anyway, is this, which is a sort of MOST DANGEROUS GAME update but with ladies, and more specifically, with ladies battling killer dogs. One of them is played by Virginia Gardner (HALLOWEEN, STARFISH), reteamed here with Grace Caroline Currey, her costar from FALL, so this is just something I’m gonna have to do.
DIABLO
June 13th
Scott Adkins versus Mario Zaror. What else do you need to know, exactly?
THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
June 6th
I never look forward to Wes Anderson movies, even though I always end up liking them while I’m watching them, so this time I’m going to get ahead of myself and start the excitement now.
THE RITUAL
June 6th
I’ve written about the Nicolas-Cage-ification of our great movie stars before, and Al Pacino is sort of a unique case because he was Cage-ifying himself even before Cage was really doing much of it. He didn’t even need silly movies to do it for him! He brought it with him into serious movies!
Maybe THE RITUAL is a sober-minded movie about an exorcism with a restrained Al Pacino and a somehow-restrained Dan Stevens, who is one of our most promising Cages-in-training. But maybe it’s another POPE’S EXORCISM (and why are so many of these movies religious-oriented?) and that would be even better!
BAD SHABBOS
June 6th
More religion! Yay! Not usually my thing, religion, but I’ve heard some really good things about this movie, which is about tensions at Shabbos dinner. (That refers to Shabbat, aka the Jewish Sabbath.) Also: Method Man is there!
FINDING FAITH
June 16th
I promise this is the last religion-type movie on my list. Sometimes, more like occasionally, but sometimes I do watch these faith-based movies, because sometimes they have actors I like a lot. Paula Patton, instead of being invited back to MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, is here. And hell, Keith David? Him I’ll see in literally anything. Loretta Devine and Nadine Velasquez are just incredible value added. Will the movie be any good whatsoever? I just cannot see how! But keep the Faith alive. That’s Paula Patton. She is playing Faith. That’s why the movie is called that. If you watch this movie, you will find her.
28 YEARS LATER
June 20th
Anything Danny Boyle, I’m there. Gotta be honest: My favorite Danny Boyle era will always be “Written by John Hodge” Danny Boyle. I dig “Written By Alex Garland” Danny Boyle, especially SUNSHINE, of which this one will be the latest example, but we all have favorite eras of our favorite artists. It’s just personal taste. With Danny Boyle, you can hardly go wrong. Plus this will have Ralph Fiennes getting weird, which always rules. I just hope Naomie Harris will at least do a cameo.
HARLEY FLANAGAN: WIRED FOR CHAOS
June 20th
This documentary is going to be crazy. If you have any idea who Harley Flanagan is, you know that’s a fact. You also might be wondering how that guy could possibly still be alive, which is reasonable. He’s an essential part of the foundation of New York hardcore, which is somewhere between punk and metal. I totally fucking love his work, although I can allow that it’s not for everyone. It is for me, though!
THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS
July 25th
Getting ready to duck here, but this movie strikes me as miscast from top to bottom. I definitely like all of these actors, relax, but I just don’t think any of them are quote-unquote perfect. None of it bothers me, since all these actors are more than talented enough to make the stretch (pun not initially intended, but I’m rolling with it). I maybe accept Ebon Moss-Bachrach easiest out of any of the castings. Blue-eyed Jew from New York, can’t really complain about that. Who would I have cast as Ben Grimm? Hard call. For me, Domenick Lombardozzi. Maybe not a Jew, but Italian. Sometimes that can be pretty much the same thing. I hope this movie is good. Maybe it will be. If they do justice to the Thing, one of my favorite characters, for me that’ll be enough.
WITCHBOARD
August 15th
I had no idea this was coming. This is a remake of WITCHBOARD, from 1986. The matter of remakes and horror movies has been litigated to death and back, on social media and everywhere else, and I’m not about to summon that ancient demon here. I just find two things interesting here: One, people get heated over the idea of remaking horror classics. What about movies that, to be generous, might not exactly be classics? I know, I know, it’s all subjective, and every horror movie is “a classic” to somebody out there. Anyway, two: To justify horror remakes, people go straight to the holy trinity of the ‘80s: THE THING, THE FLY, and THE BLOB. Carpenter and Cronenberg certainly don’t need me to advocate for them any, but who directed THE BLOB? Chuck Russell. And who directed WITCHBOARD 2025? Chuck Russell. Benefit of the doubt: Granted.
HONEY DON’T!
August 22nd
Gotta love that title. Got to. I’m not totally adjusted to this idea of Coen Brothers movies with only one or the other brother involved, but life is change and I’m trying to keep up. And even half the Coen Brothers is way more than most other movies have to say for them.
HIGHEST 2 LOWEST
August 22nd
Denzel Washington with Spike Lee is as good as De Niro with Scorsese. I hope that’s not something we need to argue about. If it has to be an argument, then, let me go out on a limb: Gun to my head, if I could choose only one legendary actor-director pairing? Please don’t make me choose, please, please, I beg you, don’t, but okay it’s Spike and Denzel for me. That’s how exciting it is.
CAUGHT STEALING
August 29th
I read the books (actually the entire series) from which this was adapted. Not entirely bowled over, but obviously I liked them enough to read them all. Slender, quick-moving crime stories. This is also a curious and unusual move for Darren Aronofsky, who hasn’t done a crime film before, unless you count REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, and certainly hasn’t done a potboiler, as they used to call ‘em. I’m curious!
THE TOXIC AVENGER
August 29th
I am in love with the existence of this movie, to the point where I’m getting a little nervous that the reality can never live up to the beautiful, precious way I envision this movie. I am a huge fan of Macon Blair, as a writer, as a director, as an actor. I love Peter Dinklage, as should we all, and I love the idea of him as this character, and this character returning at this moment in time. Look, I’m going to love it no matter what. I just hope it’s Godzilla love and not Ghoulies love. Big, earth-shaking, fire-breathing love, not puny, slimy, cackling, toilet-dwelling love.
See you in the lobby!
- [THE BIG QUESTION] WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FEMALE ENSEMBLE IN MOVIES? - July 22, 2016
- [IN THEATERS NOW] THE BOY (2016) - January 24, 2016
- Cult Movie Mania Releases Lucio Fulci Limited Edition VHS Sets - January 5, 2016
No Comments