With Cinemas preparing to reopen again, there is a backlog of delayed movies from last year that we can finally look forward to watching on the big screen. And the roster doesn’t disappoint. From the follow-up to the critially-acclaimed A Quiet Place starring Emily Blunt to Jordan Peels highly-anticipated Thriller Candyman, the summer lineup looks impressive. Here’s a peek at the upcoming release schedule for summer 2021.

A Quiet Place: Part II

The follow up to the hugely successful 2018 movie follows the deadly events from the post-apocalyptic original. The Abbott Family now find themselves facing the outside world where they must once again try to survive in silence. The family are now thrust into unchartered territory where every sound draws attention. The original movie grossed $340M in worldwide takings and the highly anticipated sequel sees Emily Blunt reprise her role as  Evelyn Abbott.

Release date: 4th June 2021 (UK) | Director: John Krasinski
Cast: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy
Running Time: 1h 37m| Rating: 15

In the Heights

In the Heights is based on the musical stage play, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Mirandaand and centres on Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), a bodega owner in New York City, who has second thought’s about closing up shop and retiring to the Dominican Republic when he inherits his grandmothers fortune. 

Release date: 25th June 2021 (UK) | Director: Jon M. Chu
Cast: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace
Running Time: 2h 00m| Rating: PG-13

The Father

Anthony Hopkins stars as a mischievous and stubborn 80 year old that defiantly rejects any offers of help in his old age, including that from his loving daughter Anne (Olivia Colman). The movie explores the devastating effects of dementia where he begins to doubt himself, his own family and his own reality. 

Release date: 25th June 2021 (UK) | Director: Florian Zeller
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss
Running Time: 1h 37m| Rating: 12A

Black Widow

Marvel Studios returns with this highly anticipated spy thriller from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The plot revolves around Natash Romanoff (Black Widow) who is now a fully-fledged Avenger. However she must now face her dark past and broken relationships that come back to haunt her.

Release date: 9th July 2021 (UK) | Director: Cate Shortland
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour
Running Time: 2h 13m| Rating: PG-13

Fast & Furious 9

Fast & Furious 9 (F9 original title) is directed by Justin Lin and is the sequel to The Fate of the Furious. Following on from previous events, Cypher enlists the help of Jakob, Dom’s younger brother to take revenge on Dom and his team.

Release date: 9th July 2021 (UK) | Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Rooker 
Running Time: 2h 25m| Rating: PG-13

Top Gun: Maverick

Tom Cruise returns after more than 30 years to reprise his role as Maverick in the sequel to the 80’s cult classic original. With decades of service under his belt, and as one of the Navy’s best talent, he has avoided promotion to stop himself being grounded, much to the dismay of his superiors. 

Release date: 23rd July 2021 (UK) | Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller 
Running Time: – | Rating: –

Jungle Cruise

Jungle Cruise is inspired by the popular Disneyland theme park ride of the same name. Starring crowd favourites Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, as they join forces on a research mission aboard a small riverboat.

Release date: 30th July 2021 (UK) | Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Edgar Ramírez
Running Time: – | Rating: –

The Suicide Squad

Supervillian Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) is joined by Peacemaker, Bloodspot and other wacky characters as they join forces with the shady and secret organisation called Task Force X and head to the Island of Corto Maltese with the intent of causing absolute mayhem to their enemies. 

Release date: 6th August 2021 (UK) | Director: James Gunn
Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena
Running Time: – | Rating: –

Free Guy

Ryan Reynolds stars in this hilarious adventure comedy as a bank teller who realises that he is nothing more than a background character in a huge open-world video game. He takes matters into his own hands and becomes the hero in the game.

Release date: 13th August 2021 (UK) | Director: Shawn Levy
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Taika Waititi 
Running Time: – | Rating: –

Candyman

Oscar winner Jordan Peele (Get Out) returns for his contemporary take on the urban legend of Candyman. The film takes place on the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighbourhood where visual artist Anthony McCoy and his partner move into one of the luxury condos in the compound where trouble begins to lurk.

Release date: 13th August 2021 (UK) | Director: Nia DaCosta
Cast: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett
Running Time: – | Rating: R

The Shining (1980)

Thanks to the king of horror, Stephen King, and thanks to Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the book, a masterpiece was made for all to see, be spooked by and, after all, enjoy. Jack Torrance’s family and story, fuelled some conspiracy theories that are still discussed today, and, will without a doubt continue to feed our imaginations. From RedRum written on the walls to the famous blood scene, The Shining will definitely give you a new perspective when it comes to this genre. 

The Omen (1976)

Pets, ghosts and clowns are the main ingredients when creating a horror movie, but in Richard Donner’s movie, The Omen, we encounter something completely different. The perfect father figure begins a journey only to discover that his son is the Antichrist. The Omen must be on your Halloween list either if you already saw it or not. 

Nosferatu(1922)

Surrounded by controversy, Nosferatu is the first film that introduced vampires on the big screen and survived to this day. The silence of the masterpiece only adds an eerie feeling, taking us back in time, enjoying a fuller experience. This classic must be on everyone’s watch list!

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

An American gothic that brings on the screen not only great actors, but the story from which all the vampire films were born. Having Garry Oldman as Count Dracula, Winona Rider as Mina Harker and Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing, the movie is a masterpiece at least, that romanticises the heart of the Count, bringing the terror of the story back to life at the same time. 

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

An eerie film that intrigues the audience despite having a very straight forward plot. Roman Polanski shows us how a perfectly normal couple is teared apart by the devil himself, meticulously hiding in the details, resulting the birth of Satan’s spawn. A story that will not only captivate your attention, but will definitely accelerate your pulse. 

Cover Credit: Thomas Willmott

Ah October. The leaves are turning brown, the air is getting colder, and Halloween is just around the corner. What you have there are all the ingredients for a perfect scary movie night. To help you get in the spooky seasonal mood, we’re here to lend a hand with some suggestions for your next Halloween movie night, with a rundown of 10 picks from Netflix’s horror movie selection.

From old favourites to modern classics, the Netflix catalogue has many ways to make your Halloween movie nights extra frightful. But if you need a little hand picking from all the bobbing apples on offer, perhaps one of our suggestions might fit the chilling bill. 

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

While certainly not the scariest film on this list, it is one of the most fun. A delightfully wickedly unpacking of horror tropes, this plays out a situation horror fans will recognise: group of teens going out to have fun in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, what can go wrong? What follows however is a ride through horror cliche that has a great deal of fun playing with expectation and setting up a mythology based around tropes and staples of what had made up a majority of American horror movies of the last 30 years. It’s funny, inventive, and full of ideas that will make any horror fan chuckle with devilish delight.

Child’s Play (2019)

The Chucky purists may come for me here, but this underrated horror remake from last year is one of few horror remakes that is a vast improvement over its original. Taking the possessed doll of the original and replacing it with an AI driven doll that becomes corrupted, Child’s Play 2019 keeps the nasty edge of the original and drags it to the 21st century. With strong performances across the board, a gleefully bloody approach to violence and some inventive means of making this Chucky essentially a murderous Alexis with arms and legs (and a knife), Child’s Play is the kind of horror remake for those who found it hard to see what all the fuss was about to begin with. 

The Conjuring (2013)

The original in the now bloated Conjuring-universe is still the best and most effective, simply because it treats things quite simply. Inspired by the real life cases of husband and wife demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farminga), James Wan’s film feels comfortably old fashioned, until the frights begin. With haunting imagery and a wicked sense of timing involving the all important horror movie jump scare, The Conjuring remains a textbook example of how you can inject some heart into the scares in a way that makes you even more terrified. 

Crimson Peak (2015)

If you’re in the market for more of a Gothic-tinged experience this Halloween, than Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak will be more than willing to welcome you in. Following Mia Wasikowska as a recently married budding young author, who moves into her new husband’s (Tom Hiddleston) grand old manor home with his sister, a home that sits atop red clay, slowly sinking, and is bursting with secrets. Much more of a gothic romance ghost story than a horror, this is a strange, beautiful, and still occasionally very unsettling film. As it is from the mind of del Toro, it is a marvel of production design, atmosphere and striking monster design. It most certainly fits the ghoulish Halloween bill. 

Halloween (2018) 

Who would have thought that the director of Pineapple Express would be the guy to give the towering figure of Michael Mysers a new lease of life? That is very much the case with this legacy sequel, one that ignores all other sequels that followed John Carpenter’s 1978 original. It picks up with Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie, still traumatised by the events of 40 years ago. Her fears that Michael would one day return are soon founded when the masked killer escapes from prison and heads straight to Haddonfield, his killing ground from all those years ago. With a score co-composed by Carpenter, a wry sense of humour, and a very intense approach to violence, Halloween 2018 does something that many would have thought impossible, it manages to make Michael Myers scary again. 

Hereditary (2018)

Very much already a bona-fide modern horror classic, Ari Aster’s debut feature is an experience that crawls under your skin and refuses to budge for a very long time. While a horror tale about pagen rituals on the surface, this is more affecting as a depiction of a family unravelling after a terrible tragedy. Filled with images that are disturbing, paired with a beautiful approach to visual design and incredible performances (namely Toni Colette), this is a supernatural experience that evokes a feeling that is hard to pin down, making for a chilling experience but one that will prove hard to forget. 

The Invitation (2015)

Who doesn’t love a movie about a dinner party gone wrong!? When Tom Hardy Logan Marshall Green’s Will is invited to a dinner by his ex-wife. With his new girlfriend in tow, he is made to relive the trauma he and his ex-wife experience, as it soon becomes clear that she may have some ulterior motive for inviting him. The Invitation is a hard film to pin down, and becomes increasingly more unpredictable as the tension mounts and madness ensues. It is a slow pot boiler that taps into a sense of distrust that feels oh so real and palpable. It’s as nerve shredding as that sounds, but it’s hard to take your eyes off the thing. 

Misery (1990)

It would be hard to recommend a list of movies for Halloween without including at least one Stephen King movie, and Netflix has one of the strongest on offer. Rob Reiner’s intense adaptation of Misery has quite rightly become an iconic thriller, bringing King’s tale of an author held captive by his biggest fan to life in a highly memorable fashion. We all remember the ankle breaking scene (it’s as body-shudderingly shocking as it has ever been), but is the performances of James Caan and Kathy Bates that make this truly memorable. Bates in particular as crazed super fan Annie Wilkes puts in such a performance for the ages, that it becomes very easy to see why this has endured as an iconic piece of popular culture, and why it’s one of King’s favourite adaptations of his work. 

A Quiet Place (2018)

While we patiently await the release of the delayed sequel, this Halloween season is as good a time as any to remind yourself of the silent terror of John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place. A sci-fi horror with one hell of a concept, A Quiet Place follows a family trying to survive in a future where aliens, who are attracted to sound, stalk what remains of life on Earth. A taut exercise in tension with incredible use of sound design to bring audience anxiety up to fever pitch, A Quiet Place mines its terrifying concept for all it’s worth, constructing one of the most memorable horror experiences of recent years. Play it loud, if you dare. 

Unfriended (2014)

With recent laptop based horror Host getting some great buzz, it is high time to remember one of the earlier found footage movies that set its action on a computer screen. Unfriended manages to stand out from the crowded found footage pack with its inventive use of its desktop landscape, creating a supernatural chiller that has your eyes constantly darting across the frame, wondering just where the next scare is going to come from. There’s only so much you can do from largely static shots of people in their rooms on a Skype group call, but Unfriended gets great mileage out of its cyber poltergeist tale. 

All these films are now available to stream on Netflix at your spooky pleasure.

In the annals of cinema history, the character of Nurse Ratched stands apart in collective memory for her brand of quietly feminine evil. Embodied so brilliantly by Louise Fletcher in the 1975 masterpiece One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nurse Ratched’s calculating reserve has continued to chill audiences for generations.

For this reason, she provides a welcome contrast to the gruesome villains that commonly feature in many of the decade’s iconic horror films. Instead of a chainsaw, Ratched inspires fear through manipulation, creating a dreadful powerplay within the autocratic hospital setting.

With this in mind, it’s no surprise that many fans of classic horror have been counting down with anticipation to the release of Netflix’s new show Ratched. Released internationally just last Friday, the series endeavours to tell an origin story of the cult figure, making her the focus of the narrative in a way she has never been before.  

The show is in touch with traditional horror from the start. Opening with a candlelit room and a dramatic thunderstorm, the result is a quintessentially Gothic atmosphere. Immediately fast-paced, Ratched quickly descends into the gore that fans of Ryan Murphy’s other popular series, American Horror Story, will be quick to recognise.

To contrast its gloomy beginning, the story is then transported to a brightly imagined 1940s California. When the titular character (played by Sarah Paulson) does appear, she is almost unrecognisable from the character we all know and love (to hate).

She’s young, colourful, glamorous, yet also prepared to go to bloody lengths to achieve her aims. Thankfully, Paulson’s performance of the character does not attempt to be an imitation of Fletcher’s, but is instead a completely new interpretation. It would be fair to say that Murphy’s conceptualisation is best enjoyed as a standalone work, without direct comparison to Miloš Forman’s.

Since its release the show has received mixed reviews. Some say it is another Murphy masterpiece, whilst others claim it’s missed its mark. To position yourself within the discussion, all 8 episodes of Ratched are currently available to stream on Netflix!

Greyhound

Inspired by real events, Captain Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks) leads an international convoy of 37 ships on a treacherous mission across The Atlantic to deliver thousands of soldiers and much-needed supplies to Allied forces. Stephen Graham, Rob Morgan, and Elisabeth Shue star alongside Hanks. The Apple Original film was directed by Aaron Schneider and produced by Gary Goetzman.

On The Rocks

Faced with sudden doubts about her marriage, a young New York mother and writer (Rashida Jones) teams up with her larger-than-life playboy father (Bill Murray) to tail her husband (Marlon Wayans) in a bittersweet comedy about relationships, written and directed by Sofia Coppola.

Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso might not know much about British football, but he does know José Mourinho’s phone number somehow. Jason Sudeikis plays Ted Lasso, a small-time college football coach from Kansas hired to coach a professional soccer team in England, despite having no experience coaching soccer.

The Morning Show

The Morning Show stars Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon, Emmy winner Jennifer Aniston. What happens when the people you trust to tell the truth prove themselves to be dishonest? The Morning Show follows the free fall of an early morning newscast in the wake of a scandal, and its struggle to survive in an era when news arrives in the palm of your hand.

Beastie Boys

The story of 3 friends who inspired each other and the world. Watch Beastie Boys Story, a Spike Jonze live documentary. Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz tell you an intimate, personal story of their band and 40 years of friendship in this live documentary experience directed by their longtime friend and collaborator and former hall monitor, Spike Jonze.

The director of The Batman reboot Matt Reeves has unvieled the official logo for the highly-anticipated new movie.

Reeves, 54, shared the new logo and artwork for the upcoming movie starring Robert Pattinson as the dark crusader. Sharing the black & red inspired logo and artwork, Matt enthusiastically wrote in his caption: ‘Excited to share the very first look at our official

TheBatman logo, and some very cool additional #DCFanDome artwork by the amazing @jimlee.’

He then teased fans with: ‘see more of #TheBatman at the #DCFanDome global event in the Hall of Heroes this Saturday, 8/22! #TheBatman #DCFanDome #ForTheFans (sic).’

The movie, scheduled for release in 2021, has seen production halted in March due to the pandemic and the director told Variety that production is slated to resume in September.

Zoe Kravitz will play the role of Catwoman, while Andy Serkis will play Bruce Wayne’s infamous butler Alfred Pennyworth.

Reeves also hinted at the prospect of more reveals at DC FanDome which due to take place on Saturday.

The movie will be produced by DC Films and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and was developed as the eleventh film in the DC Extended Universe.