September 1, 2023: These 7 New Horror Movies Released Today
September 1st is the official start of Spooky Season around these parts, and the horror genre is delivering in a big way as we say goodbye to summer over the long three-day weekend.
Seven – yes, SEVEN – brand new horror movies have arrived to keep you company all weekend long. Here’s all the new horror that just released for September 1, 2023.
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
First up, Jennifer Reeder (V/H/S/94, Night’s End, Knives and Skin) is back with Perpetrator, a new horror movie that just debuted on the Shudder streaming service today.
Perpetrator is being described as a “coming-of-age, feminist horror-noir feature.”
In the film, “Jonny Baptiste (Kiah McKirnan) is a reckless teen sent to live with her estranged Aunt Hildie (Alicia Silverstone). On her 18th birthday, she experiences a radical metamorphosis: a family spell that redefines her called Forevering. When several teen girls go missing at her new school, a mythically feral Jonny goes after the Perpetrator.”
The Shudder Original Film, written and directed by Reeder, also stars Christopher Lowell (My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Promising Young Woman), Melanie Liburd (The Idol), Ireon Roach (2021’s Candyman), Casimere Jollette (Tiny Pretty Things), Ilirida Memedovski (The Book of Birdie), Sasha Kuznetsov, and Greta Stolte.
The latest R.L. Stine adaptation, Zombie Town is a tale of teens battling the undead that’s based on a 2012 book written by Stine, and it’s in select theaters starting today.
Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase star in the film, which looks to feature a major role from Aykroyd and likely a minor one from Chase. Watch the official Zombie Town trailer below.
In the film, “Amy (Madi Monroe) and Mike (Marlon Kazadi) uncover a centuries-old secret when they decide to watch an exclusive film reel. Before they know it, their town has been turned to the undead before their eyes. The duo must track down an infamous filmmaker (Dan Akroyd) and navigate a town of hungry zombies to break the curse before it’s too late.”
Peter Lepeniotis directed the film, which was recently filmed in Ontario. Peter Lepeniotis, Michael Samonek, and Michael Schwartz wrote the screenplay for the family-friendly film.
The new genre label Welcome Villain Films burst onto the scene with Malum this year, and they’re back this week with the gory Australian horror movie Beaten to Death.
Beaten to Death is now playing in select theaters.
The film “unfolds after a desperate choice leads a man named Jack down a path that leaves him beaten and bruised as he struggles against man, nature, and his own insanity.”
Sam Curtain directed Beaten to Death, co-written with Benjamin Jung-Clarke. Thomas Roach, David Tracy, Justan Wagner and Nicole Tudor star.
Meagan Navarro wrote in her Panic Fest review, “With Beaten to Death, there’s no question that filmmaker Sam Curtain delivers a discomforting gauntlet of extreme horror.”
“Stranger Things” star Natalia Dyer stars alongside Asa Butterfield in the horror movie All Fun and Games, which releases in selects theaters and on VOD outlets today.
The cast also includes Keith David (They Live, The Thing), Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Pinocchio), Annabeth Gish (“The Fall of the House of Usher”), Laurel Marsden (“Ms. Marvel”), and Kolton Stewart (Lock & Key).
The Russo Brothers’ AGBO presents a terrifying tale about a group of Salem teens who discover a cursed knife that unleashes a demon that forces them to play gruesome, deadly versions of childhood games where there can be no winners, only survivors.
All Fun and Games explores the elements of cruelty inherent in children’s games – Flashlight Tag, Hangman, Hide & Seek – and what happens when the games go too far. When a group of teens find a cursed knife in the woods, they unleash a malevolent demon that will not rest until it’s claimed all of their lives and souls in a terrifying deathmatch.
Ari Costa (second unit on Extraction and Avengers: Endgame) and Eren Celeboglu (The Internet Kills) are the directors of All Fun and Games.
Eren Celeboglu, Ari Costa, and J.J. Braider wrote the screenplay.
Level 33 Entertainment’s new horror film Don’t Look Away, inspired by the hit video game Stay Close, is now playing exclusively in theaters beginning today.
In the film, which carries It Follows vibes, “After a gang of criminals unintentionally unleashes a supernatural force onto the world, a young woman named Frankie is convinced she’s being stalked by a killer mannequin. Frankie soon realizes that her friends are in jeopardy too. She must find the man who holds the key to stopping the killings, but Frankie knows that once you see the mannequin, there may be no end in sight, except for your own.”
Kelly Bastard (Tommy and the King), Michael Mitton, Colm Hill (Okja, 5G: The Reckoning, myPhone), Rene Lai (Bully, At the Ends of the Earth), Abu Bukuly, Michael Bafaro, Brittany Pilgrim, Sophie Thom, Jason Haney, and Vanessa Nostbakken star.
Michael Bafaro (5G: The Reckoning, Wrecker, The Devil’s Ground) directed the film, written by Michael Mitton (Bullet Proof, River Road, Okja) and Michael Bararo.
Full Moon’s Demonic Toys franchise returns on the road to Halloween with Demonic Toys: Jack Attack, a brand new spinoff movie centered on the Demonic Toys character.
Written and directed by William Butler (The Resonator: Miskatonic U, Baby Oopsie), Demonic Toys: Jack Attack is now available on Full Moon Features beginning today.
“The malevolent jack-in-the-box is up to his usual evil tricks as he enters the life of a young, mute orphan girl in this scary, gory horror head-trip, coming soon from Full Moon!”
Taylor Abigail Rice (“Into The Wild Frontier,” Lifesource), Sean Ramey (“Chicago P.D.,” A Place Called Home) and Carson Polish star in the brand new spinoff sequel.
And finally, it’s live-streaming influencers versus a Satanic haunting in screenlife horror-comedy #ChadGetsTheAxe, which Horror Collective released onto VOD outlets today.
Adapted from an award-winning short with the same title, #ChadGetsTheAxe follows four social media influencers as they live stream their trip to Devil’s Manor, former home to a Satanic Cult. Things don’t go well. And as the violence ramps up… so do the views.
Matt Donato reviewed #ChadGetsTheAxe for Bloody Disgusting out of the Unnamed Footage Festival this year, writing: “The attraction of infinite adoration from fanbases is too much for some to ignore, and #chadgetstheaxe is a fun-filled, sneaky-creepy reminder that sometimes internet superstardom isn’t worth the likes or attention.”
Directed by Travis Bible, who co-wrote with Kemerton Hargrove, the film stars Spencer Harrison Levin (Black Jesus), Michael Bonini (New Amsterdam), Taneisha Figueroa (Duck World), Cameron Vitosh (Walker), Brandon Doyle (Murder Made Me Famous), and Shun Hagins (Snitch).
