32. Pet Sematary (4/5)
The latest title to get a remake during our current Stephen King movie renaissance, Pet Sematary looks poised to be exactly the creepy pet-and-kid fest fans are expecting. The story of Dr. Creed, who moves his wife and two kids to a rural location with a dark past, has always been about grief as much as fear, making the right cast essential. This time around, the central couple will be played by Jason Clarke and Amy Seimetz, with John Lithgow taking on the role of a mysterious neighbor. With these talented leads and Suspiria and The Terror writer David Kajganich penning the script, Pet Sematary is an adaptation worth getting excited about. – Val
31. Happy Death Day 2U (2/13)
“It’s Monday the 18th Again!!!” Writer/director Christopher Landon returns to the world we all once dismissed/promoted as the Groundhog Day of slasher films. The first film was a PG-13 surprise delight that delivered on its gimmick and then some, and the thrill of the sequel’s trailer is witnessing Jessica Rothe return to her endless nightmare of murder. Death hex, bring it. Happy Death Day 2U appears to expand the mythology of its concept incorporating others into the rerun curse, and we’re incredibly excited to see how Landon can improve on the formula. – Brad Gullickson
30. Wounds (TBA)
Babek Anvari‘s Under the Shadow (2016) was one hell of a horror debut as it introduced viewers to a new mythology paired with some truly intense scares, and it’s enough to make his follow-up a must-see film regardless of its content. Happily, it’s also an exciting prospect because of its content as Anvari has roped both Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson into his English-language debut. It’s a story about a man who finds a cell phone setting off a chain of events swirling with elements both mysterious and horrific. The pair are joined by Zazie Beetz making for a compelling threesome of performers in very capable hands. – Rob
29. Piercing (2/1)
I have a confession to make: I had the opportunity multiple times to see Piercing at festivals in 2018. I chose not to. Not because of apathy, but rather the director’s first film, Eyes of My Mother, was so bleak that I couldn’t muster excitement for another tortuous journey into the mind of Nicolas Pesce no matter how revelatory his work is. But all it took was about 90 seconds, or the length of the features trailer, to change my mind. An acerbic neo giallo with a cast featuring Mia Wasikowska and Christopher Abbott, the film looks equally more light-hearted than his previous work while still not pulling any of his terribly unnerving punches. Don’t be surprised if you find Pesce’s sophomore feature on our 2019 year-end lists. – Jacob
28. Dragged Across Concrete (TBA)
Writer/director S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99) is the king of gritty underground films in the 21st century. Only four years into his career, he’s back with his third feature. Early reviews suggest that, despite the name, it’s the least bone-crushingly violent of his films. Returning collaborators Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Carpenter have proven they are a perfect match for Zahler’s style. We’ll have to see about that Mel Gibson guy though. – Luke
27. Ip Man 4 (TBA)
The epic Ip Man trilogy is about to become a quadrilogy — not a real word, I know — and I couldn’t be more thrilled. The pairing of director Wilson Yip and star Donnie Yen has already gifted action fans with five absolute gems (SPL, Flash Point, and the Ip Man trilogy), and there’s no reason to suspect this won’t be number six (sorry Dragon Tiger Gate). This time around the master travels to the United States to open a school and is forced to push back against pricks who don’t know who they’re messing with. Donnie Yen kicking ass will never not be anticipated, and did I mention it co-stars the great Scott Adkins? – Rob
26. Hellboy (4/12)
This movie is exciting for a couple of reasons. The first: it’s a Hellboy movie. Any flick based on Dark Horse Comics’ favorite cigar-chomping demon is always going to be a breath of fresh air in the cinematic landscape, and he’s a superhero like no other. The heart of Hellboy belongs to horror and pulp, and we need more of this in contemporary superhero movies. Second: the film marks the return of director Neil Marshall. After spending the last few years working in television, it’s great to have one of the most consistent and exciting genre directors making movies again. Hellboy is a project that will play to his strengths as he’s fond of monsters, action-packed mayhem, and bloodletting. Given that this reboot promises to go harder than the previous movies, Marshall is the right man for the job. – Kieran
25. The Beach Bum (TBA)
What’s crazier, the fact that the director of Spring Breakers Harmony Korine is directing a spiritual successor releasing this spring break, or that he cast Matthew McConaughey as the lead? After a string of dramatic roles, it is great to see McConaughey return to channeling his inner Dazed & Confused. If The Beach Bum is not on your most anticipated list, it would be a lot cooler if it was. – Carl
24. First Cow (TBA)
One of the best female filmmakers currently breathing, Kelly Reichardt (Certain Women, Meek’s Cutoff) will grace us with more of her work this year. She belongs in the same league as Sofia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow. It’s just that her films are so small, so quiet. They aren’t the sort of film that draws the inattentive (i.e. popular) gaze. Details about First Cow are sparse, but we know it’s a period piece set in Oregon and China. But it really doesn’t matter from afar. What matters is that it’s Kelly Reichardt. And it is. – Luke
23. You Are My Friend (10/18)
Tom Hanks looks nothing like Fred Rogers. Tom Hanks is also the only actor who can do Fred Rogers justice. There are some actors whose personalities are virtually indistinguishable from their onscreen personas; there’s an entire generation of moviegoers who could no more picture Tom Hanks playing a villain than they could imagine their own father having a secret life as, say, a professional wrestler. And if the thought of Hanks bringing his wondrous charisma to his performance as the entertainment industry’s most wholesome figure wasn’t enough, there’s also director Marielle Heller‘s promise that this will be less of a traditional biopic and more of an exploration of Rogers’s ability to impact lives. After all these years, we certainly don’t need anyone to tell us how the man made us feel. – Matthew
