Best Horror of July 2026: ‘Evil Dead Burn,’ Nicolas Winding Refn Returns, a Bloodthirsty Pinocchio and More

By William Earl

William Earl

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Welcome to Horror Explorer, a curated column showcasing the month’s best movies, series, books and everything else spooky worth checking out. I’m William Earl, the executive digital director of Variety and the publication’s resident horror enthusiast. Please drop me a line at [email protected] if there’s something I should check out for next month’s missive. 

• Marquee Madness

  Image Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

  Evil Dead Burn (In theaters July 10 via Warner Bros. Pictures) — The stomach-churning franchise returns with another blood-soaked installment, as a family reunion gets grim when everyone starts turning into Deadites. “Infested” director Sébastien Vaniček helms this chapter, and early footage looks appropriately wild and, dare we say, groovy?    Her Private Hell (In theaters July 24 via Neon) — After focusing on television for nearly a decade, Nicolas Winding Refn returns with his first feature since 2016’s “The Neon Demon.” Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Kristine Froseth and Havana Rose Liu star in the futuristic serial killer tale, which received plenty of hate in mixed-negative reviews at its Cannes debut. But is there anything more exciting than a divisive movie from an audacious auteur?