7 Upcoming and Recent Films Poised to Be the Next ‘Backrooms’ or ‘Obsession’

Horror is having its wildest year in decades, and it’s not the franchises leading the charge. It’s YouTubers, indie darlings, and scrappy storytellers with small budgets and enormous creative swings who are pulling audiences out of their homes and into theaters. The rules of the game are being rewritten in real time, and the results are impossible to ignore.

‘Backrooms’ became A24’s highest-grossing domestic release ever, crossing $100 million in just six days. Meanwhile, ‘Obsession,’ Curry Barker’s breakout debut, continued pulling off the nearly impossible, adding an estimated $26.4 million in its third domestic weekend, a roughly 10 percent increase over weekend two. Between these two phenomenon films, one question is dominating the horror conversation: what comes next?

The Low-Budget Horror Films Already Making Waves

‘Iron Lung’ (2026) arrived first and set the tone for the entire year. Directed, written, and self-financed by YouTuber Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach, the film is based on the indie horror video game of the same name and follows a convict who is forced to pilot a submarine through an ocean of blood on a desolate moon after an apocalyptic event known as the “Quiet Rapture.” The Tomatometer score for ‘Iron Lung’ sits at 59% from critics, while the audience Popcornmeter stands at a high 89%.

Released on January 30, ‘Iron Lung’ debuted with an $18 million opening weekend and went on to earn more than ten times its reported $3 million budget within just ten days. It proved that the creator economy pipeline into Hollywood is not a fluke. It is a fully functioning lane, and it is only getting wider.

The Evil Dead Franchise Goes Back to Basics With ‘Evil Dead Burn’

‘Evil Dead Burn’ is directed by Sébastien Vaniček and produced by franchise creator Sam Raimi, and is set for release in the United States on July 10, 2026. Series creator Sam Raimi selected Vaniček as director after being impressed with his work on ‘Infested,’ with Vaniček stating his intention was to create a visceral, sensory experience that punches the audience in the gut.

‘Evil Dead Burn’ features an ensemble cast including Souheila Yacoub as Alice, Tandi Wright as Susan, Hunter Doohan as Joseph, and Luciane Buchanan as Thya. The film follows a woman who seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home after the loss of her husband, and as the family members are transformed one by one into Deadites, the gathering becomes a family reunion from hell. With ‘Evil Dead Rise’ having already revived interest in the franchise, expectations are genuinely high for this next chapter.

A24’s ‘Goblin’ Is the Wild Card Nobody Saw Coming

A24 has acquired a hot script titled ‘The Goblin,’ with David Mikalson attached to direct, and the project is being described in Hollywood circles as a “Ted meets E.T.” raunchy practical creature comedy. The goblin itself is reportedly being brought to life as a practical puppet rather than through CGI, and the project generated significant industry buzz after Mikalson’s proof-of-concept work sparked a bidding frenzy that landed the film at A24.

Following the massive success of ‘Obsession,’ Inde Navarrette has become one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood, and multiple sources have confirmed she is being eyed for a role in ‘Goblin,’ alongside Skyler Gisondo, with Kenneth Branagh set to voice the film’s title creature. Whether the role comes together or not, the fact that A24 is developing something this genuinely weird is reason enough to keep a close eye on it.

Curry Barker’s ‘Anything But Ghosts’ Expands the ‘Obsession’ Universe

The director of ‘Obsession’ is not slowing down. Barker has revealed that ‘Anything But Ghosts’ is about two con artist ghost hunters who deceive lonely clients with elaborate tricks, until they run into a very real and very dangerous dark entity. The film is written by Barker and his longtime creative partner Cooper Tomlinson, and both also star as the ghost hunters, with Aaron Paul, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Violet McGraw rounding out the cast.

Barker has described the film as being very different in tone from ‘Obsession,’ noting that the concept lends itself to comedy because it is literally about two ghost hunter con artists. Barker has confirmed that ‘Anything But Ghosts’ is set in the same fictional universe as ‘Obsession,’ giving fans of the first film a deeper connection to the story. For a director who just made lightning strike once, the opportunity to see what he does with a slightly bigger sandbox is genuinely exciting.

Eli Roth Returns With ‘Ice Cream Man,’ His Most Unhinged Film Yet

Eli Roth directed, produced, and stars in ‘Ice Cream Man,’ which follows an idyllic summer town that descends into madness after an ice cream man serves kids sweet treats with horrifying results. The film opens in theaters nationwide on August 7, 2026. Roth is looking to slaughter any sense of good taste with the film, delivering a blood-soaked exploitation horror in which children are turned into ravenous murderers with one thing on their minds.

The unrated horror film will be released in theaters via The Horror Section and Iconic Releasing. The fact that this film arrives unrated in an era when even the most extreme horror films tend to court an R says everything about what Roth is going for. Fans of the director’s most gleefully transgressive work should prepare accordingly.

Jane Schoenbrun’s ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ Is the Arthouse Wild Card

‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ is written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun, produced by Plan B Entertainment and distributed by Mubi, and is set for a US theatrical release on August 7, 2026, after premiering at Cannes. The film follows a queer filmmaker, played by Hannah Einbinder, attempting to resurrect a fading horror franchise from a bygone era, determined to enlist its original final girl, played by Gillian Anderson, in a last attempt at revival. As the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to dissolve, the filmmaker and her star spiral into a psychosexual frenzy.

The film trails Kris as she makes her way to frosty Canada to meet the infamous Billy Presley, who starred in the first film of what would become the hugely popular ‘Camp Miasma’ series, a franchise that years of endless merch and spinoffs pushed toward the sad death of the overmilked IP. Schoenbrun’s previous film ‘I Saw the TV Glow’ proved she operates on a completely different frequency than most filmmakers working today. This one looks even more ambitious.

The Creator-to-Cinema Pipeline Is Only Getting Stronger

Jason Blum, who produced both ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession,’ has called YouTube a new place to look for the next generation of groundbreaking talent, and the data backs him up entirely.

Looking further ahead, Blumhouse-Atomic Monster has ‘Insidious: Out of the Further’ and paranormal thriller ‘Other Mommy’ still to come in 2026, with sequels to ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Paranormal Activity’ slated for 2027.

The slate is genuinely stacked, and for horror fans the summer and fall of 2026 look like a golden stretch.

Between Schoenbrun’s arthouse slasher experiment, Barker’s comedic ghost-hunter follow-up, Roth’s deliberately unhinged ice cream nightmare, and the slow-burn promise of A24’s practical-creature comedy, the genre is operating without a ceiling right now. Which of these films do you think has the best shot at pulling off the same kind of lightning-in-a-bottle run that ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ just pulled off?