Variety Names Abrams, Ackie and Bacon Family Among 2026 Horror Standouts

Variety has revealed its 2026 horror list of the directors and actors shaping the genre, with Austin Abrams, Naomi Ackie and four Bacons among the actor honourees.

The trade publication published the roll on 7 October, naming Abrams as an Actor entry for “Resident Evil” Variety. He broke out in “Weapons” as a junkie who breaks into a house and stumbles on 17 missing children.

In “Resident Evil” he teams up again with “Weapons” director Zach Cregger. Abrams stars as the lead, a medical courier tasked with delivering a mysterious package to a city infested with zombies.

Next he reunites with “Weapons” co-star Josh Brolin. The pair will appear in “Whalefall,” a survival thriller about a scuba diver swallowed whole by a giant sperm whale.

Ackie is listed as an Actor entry for “Clayface.” She will play a scientist and love interest of the titular Batman villain in the upcoming film, billed as a low-budget body horror, meaning horror built around physical transformation.

She is also slated for “They Follow.” That is the sequel to the 2014 film “It Follows,” about a shape-shifting entity that pursues people after sex.

The list gives a joint Actors slot to the Bacon family: Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Sosie Bacon and Travis Bacon. They star together in the indie “Family Movie,” due for release in 2027.

“Family Movie” centres on a family of horror filmmakers caught in a terrifying scenario mid-shoot. It is his first horror feature as director. That credit belongs to Kevin Bacon.

On the directing side, Curry Barker is named as a Director entry for “Obsession.” He will next direct and star in “Anything But Ghosts.” Anna Biller is named as a Director entry for “The Face of Horror.”

The new list follows Variety’s earlier Horror Impact Report from October 2025, which staked out the top figures in genre film and TV and included Ryan Coogler and Lisa Dreyer among those named Variety. It also lands after a strong summer for original horror. Variety described “Obsession” and “Backrooms” as visionary horror films that rocked the box office in 2026 Variety. “Obsession” even grossed more in its third weekend than in its previous two weekends, according to Variety’s June box office coverage Variety.

Not everyone agrees on labels. “Backrooms” director Kane Parsons has said he does not think “Backrooms” is a horror film Variety. That summer pairing was still compared to the industry shift caused by Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider” in the 1970s.