August 2023 Horror Preview

August 11, 2023 Stephen Beason

August brings on a new month of frights and fears! Only 82 days until Halloween as of writing (but who’s counting?)

Onto the preview only on Red River Horror!

August 4th

The Meg 2: The Trench:

Directed by Ben Wheatley (FREE FIRE, KILL LIST) – yes, really – Jason Statham returns as Jonas Taylor, a diver with a unique set of skills, who has to help lead an elite group of scientists out of the jaws of the titular monstrous megalodon.

More SHARKNADO than JAWS – What can you say that hasn’t been said? The Meg 2 looks like an absolute disaster… but at least one that’s fully in on its own joke.

The Passenger:

American filmmaker and fashion photographer Carter Smith returns hot off the heels of his indie horror darling SWALLOWED with this psychological chiller about a lackadaisical loser who is thrust into a world of unfamiliar brutality and violence when his co-worker goes on a murderous rampage.

The trailer reminds me a bit of the sort of Jungian exploration we saw in films like FIGHT CLUB or LOST HIGHWAY but I’m curious to see where this goes.

August 11th

The Last Voyage of Demeter:

Perhaps the biggest release of the month, André Øvredal (THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE, SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK) returns to the cinema this August with his adaptation of the infamous “The Captain’s Log” chapter from the original Bram Stoker novel.

Strange and horrifying events befall the ill-fated crew of the Demeter as they make the voyage from Transylvania to London with the monstrous Dracula on board.

I definitely can’t wait to check out this contained thriller when it hits theaters later this month!

August 18th

Bad Things:

Last but not least, Stewart Thorndike’s queer feminist indie horror Bad Things sees the return of genre icon Molly Ringwald – “A group of friends go to a hotel for a weekend getaway and soon discover that women do bad things here.”

Also starring Hari Nef (BARBIE) and Gayle Rankin (THE GREATEST SHOWMAN), Bad Things looks like a fun homage to all of the things that made THE SHINING great. Be sure to check it out when it hits Shudder later this month.