Horror Industry News — Sunday, March 15, 2026

Curry Barker’s horror Obsession (acquired by Focus Features after TIFF) premiered at SXSW with Barker saying he trimmed “six or seven” head-smash shots to avoid an NC-17; sources placed Focus’s TIFF acquisition at over $15M and the film remains a high-gore festival buzzer.

Undertone — director/writer Ian Tuason’s A24 supernatural feature starring Nina Kiri — is polarizing critics vs audiences but is already profitable: a reported $500,000 budget and over $4.3M domestic gross so far, and Tuason says he and A24 have a trilogy concept in mind.

Hokum, Damian McCarthy’s haunted-hotel horror starring Adam Scott, screened as a Midnighter at SXSW and is slated for a May 1 release; the film mixes Irish folklore with a claustrophobic hotel setting and a cast including Austin Amelio and David Wilmot.

SXSW review: Russell Goldman’s Sender is a taut psychological horror/psycho-thriller starring Britt Lower and Rhea Seehorn about a woman stalked via anonymous e‑commerce deliveries, notable for sound design, blurred-edge cinematography, and a character-driven unreliable-narrator approach.

Universal’s untitled Mummy sequel from Radio Silence is positioning itself as a direct follow-up to the Brendan Fraser/Rachel Weisz entries by effectively erasing 2008’s Tomb of the Dragon Emperor from continuity; Dave Coggeshall wrote the script and the film is set for May 19, 2028.

Pretty Lethal premiered at SXSW and positions itself as a female-fronted action/horror-adjacent thriller; Vicky Jewson directed, the cast includes Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Iris Apatow, Millicent Simmonds and Uma Thurman, and the film opens theatrically March 25 (Amazon MGM backed festival promotion).

Netflix adds Jigsaw (new Saw film) and multiple Saw franchise titles to its catalogue March 19, 2026, with Jigsaw (horror) joining alongside a wider weekly slate including other titles like Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man arriving March 20.

A positive critical take highlights Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein as a visually sumptuous, emotionally driven horror adaptation anchored by Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi, praising Mia Goth’s performance and the film’s production craft while positioning it as awards‑worthy in technical categories.

Roger Ebert’s SXSW roundup highlights genre titles on the festival slate — including The Peril at Pincer Point, American Dollhouse and Anima — signaling a strong presence of horror and genre programming this year.

Family Movie — a meta horror-comedy co-directed by Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick starring their real family — premiered at SXSW to strong audience laughs but mixed notes on tone and writing; the indie is reportedly still seeking distribution.

Tripwire Interactive released a free seasonal update, Operation: Deep Freeze, for horror-shooter Killing Floor 3 across PC (Steam, Epic), PS5 and Xbox Series, extending ongoing seasonal content tied to the game's narrative pursuit of Dr. Moorcroft.

Polaris Banks’ And Her Body Was Never Found screened at SXSW (review noted by The Hollywood News) — the title and coverage position it as a festival thriller likely engaging true‑crime/genre beats.

Weekly streaming charts show Ready or Not and Predator: Badlands among Hulu’s top film performers for the week, with Ready or Not spending multiple days at #1 and Predator: Badlands repeatedly topping the film chart on several days.

Netflix posted the full trailer for dark thriller Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen — a cabin-set psychological thriller arriving Mar. 26 — which features Jennifer Jason Leigh in a key role.

A retrospective piece argues Sam Raimi’s 1981 indie horror classic The Evil Dead remains a landmark 'splatstick' horror-comedy and the foundation for a long-running franchise across films and TV.

Maika Monroe confirms David Robert Mitchell’s long-gestating It Follows sequel They Follow will finally begin principal photography this summer under NEON after repeated scheduling delays.

Hulu passed on the in-development Buffy: New Sunnydale reboot — Sarah Michelle Gellar announced the cancellation; Chloé Zhao was attached to direct and Nora & Lilla Zuckerman were writers, with Ryan Kiera Armstrong previously cast as the new Slayer.

Jenna Ortega is attached to star in a remake titled Single Female, with Sarah DeLappe (Bodies Bodies Bodies) overseeing the script and Taylor Russell eyed as the other lead; the project updates the 1992 psychological thriller for a new generation.

Dark-fantasy RPG Dread Delusion from Lovely Hellplace launches on consoles March 17 (Nintendo Switch 2, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series) with a new trailer, following its original PC release.