Furious February: Horror Hits to Watch This February(2026)
February delivers a tightly packed month for horror, where big‑budget reimaginings, franchise finales and intimate psychological pieces all vie for attention. From Luc Besson’s operatic Dracula (2026) to the legacy thrills of Scream 7 (2026) and the creeping dread of smaller‑scale entries like Honey Bunch (2026) and This Is Not a Test (2026), the slate promises something for every kind of fright seeker — grand spectacle, old‑school slasher violence, and slow‑burn emotional terror. Keep your lights dim and your speakers loud; February looks set to haunt for weeks.
Dracula — February 6
Luc Besson’s take on the count leans into operatic spectacle and visual flair. With Caleb Landry Jones as Dracula and supporting turns from Christoph Waltz and Zoë Bleu, this version promises a heavily stylised reimagining rather than a period‑accurate retread. Danny Elfman’s score hints at a gothic, almost baroque tone, and early footage suggests Besson is prioritising kinetic set pieces and striking production design. Expect broad strokes of horror mixed with arthouse impulses — a Dracula for viewers who like their monsters grand and cinematic.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 — February 6
Renny Harlin closes his reboot trilogy with a final confrontation that aims to return the original’s slasher terror to the screen while updating it for modern sensibilities. Madelaine Petsch reprises Maya for the ultimate girl‑versus‑masked‑killers showdown, and the presence of genre veterans like Richard Brake adds weight to the antagonists. The final chapter is being positioned as a high‑tension home‑invasion nightmare with claustrophobic set pieces and a relentless pace designed to satisfy series loyalists.
Whistle — February 6
Director Corin Hardy trades haunted corridors for a cursed artefact in this teen‑centred horror. When high‑schoolers find an Aztec death whistle, the curse they unleash turns ordinary adolescent life into a slow descent of paranoia and violence. With Dafne Keen and Nick Frost in the cast, the film looks to balance visceral scares with character moments, using the whistle’s piercing sound as a central motif. This one will be watched closely for how effectively sound design is used as a weapon.
Cold Storage — February 13
Adapted from the novel by David Koepp and directed by Jonny Campbell, this horror‑comedy traps night‑shift workers in a base when a parasitic fungus breaks containment. With Liam Neeson and Joe Keery leading the cast, the film mixes creature mayhem with darkly comic survival beats. Early reports highlight inventive creature effects and a lean runtime that favours momentum over digression — a crowd‑pleasing genre blend for viewers who enjoy their monster movies with a wink.
Honey Bunch — February 13
Madeleine Sims‑Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli’s follow‑up to Violation heads into uncanny relationship territory. A couple seeking a medical fix for memory loss check into an experimental facility and leave with more fractured trust than before. The film promises tense performances and an unnerving atmosphere rather than outright shocks, drawing its horror from the erosion of identity and intimacy. Expect claustrophobic framing and moral ambiguity that lingers after the credits.
Psycho Killer — February 20
This Satanic slasher sends a Kansas highway patrol officer after a murderer far sadder and more depraved than initial reports suggest. Directed by Gavin Polone and written by Andrew Kevin Walker, the film plays with cultic evil and small‑town dread. James Preston Rogers headlines and is supported by Georgina Campbell and Malcolm McDowell, adding gravitas to what promises to be a brutal, old‑school slasher with contemporary themes about media and mythmaking.
Redux Redux — February 20
The MacManus brothers return with a high‑concept sci‑fi revenge thriller in which a mother repeatedly travels across parallel universes to kill her daughter’s murderer, at the cost of her own humanity. Stylistically ambitious and morally fraught, the film blends genre mechanics with personal tragedy. Performances from Michaela McManus and Jim Cummings anchor the film’s emotional stakes, and viewers should expect a narrative that tests empathy as much as it delivers set‑piece payoffs.
This Is Not a Test — February 20
Adam MacDonald adapts Courtney Summers’ YA novel into a tense, panic‑room‑style story of teens trapped by a sudden zombie outbreak during class. The film trades gore for claustrophobia and emotional realism, relying on character dynamics and escalating moral dilemmas as the students determine who they are when civilisation fractures. Olivia Holt leads a young cast that makes the scenario feel immediate and, at times, heartbreakingly plausible.
Scream 7 — February 27
The franchise returns with Neve Campbell back as Sidney Prescott, this time with Ghostface targeting her daughter, played by Isabel May. With original writer Kevin Williamson directing and Guy Busick co‑writing, the film is explicitly tied to franchise DNA while attempting to interrogate generational trauma and legacy. Returning favourites — including David Arquette and Courteney Cox — mix with newer faces to create the familiar pulse of slasher humour, meta commentary and sudden violence. Expect a film built to play both to longtime fans and a younger audience discovering the series anew.
What are you most excited to see this March? Tell us which title you’re waiting for, or recommend a hidden gem we missed, and leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Hilly Horror
Hilly love of horror knows no bounds. As a massive fan of slasher and ghost films, she has watched all of the Wrong Turn and Paranormal Activity films. Now that’s bravery at a scale we can’t beat.
