NYCC: Blumfest was a Blast

So, I checked out Blumhouse’s big panel at NYCC, a.k.a. Blumfest 2024, to see what new horror movies they had cooking up for next year. Honestly, I was surprised to find a few titles that actually caught my attention.

The big news right off the bat was that Blumhouse is now teamed up with James Wan’s production company, Atomic Monster. Jason Blum said their styles are totally different, which is a good thing! He explained that the collaboration lets them share ideas and resources to make even bigger and better movies. He was so confident that he called the 2025 lineup one of their strongest ever.

First up was Wolf Man, coming out in January. The director, Leigh Whannell, came out and talked about how he’s giving the classic monster a modern twist, kind of like he did with The Invisible Man. He said the film is inspired by things like disease and how it takes someone away from their loved ones. The trailer showed Christopher Abbott turning into a werewolf after getting mauled, and it looked… pretty decent. Whannell insisted on using practical effects for the transformation, which is a great sign. I’m still not 100% sold, but I’m open to it.

They also showed a movie called The Woman In The Yard, directed by Jaume Collett-Serra. The teaser was pretty vague—just a woman in black stalking a family. It had a creepy vibe, but I wasn’t blown away.

A film that did grab me was Drop, a thriller coming out in April. It stars Meghann Fahey as a single mom on a blind date. She starts getting threatening AirDrops that say her kids are being held hostage. The catch? The person is close by, but she can’t say a word. She has to figure out who it is and follow their orders, even if it means doing something awful like killing her date. The trailer was super tense, and with Christopher Landon directing (he’s made some good ones), I’m pretty excited for it.

The biggest news, though, was Mike Flanagan’s Exorcist sequel. After the last one flopped, Jason Blum said they’re taking the franchise in a new direction. They didn’t share much else, but the idea of Mike Flanagan directing an Exorcist movie is enough to get any horror fan pumped.