Summertime. It’s hot and sometimes unbearably muggy to the max. What’s a horror fiend to do when the sunshine is hot or it’s raining so much outside that you really don’t want to leave the house? Movies! If it’s chilly, grab a light blanket and curl up with some popcorn (by the way, what is it about the words “curl up” that feel so unbelievably comfy?). If it’s scorching outside (or so muggy it feels like you’re breathing water) pop in a movie and crank up the air conditioning (or marshal your army of fans). The Kali Krew brings you 20 Summer Movies to Freeze Your Blood.
April Fool’s Day
Nine college students staying at a friend’s remote island mansion begin to fall victim to an unseen murderer over the April Fool’s Day weekend.
The Beach
Vicenarian Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss. Excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.
The ‘Burbs
An overstressed suburbanite and his fellow neighbors are convinced that the new family on the block are part of a murderous Satanic cult.
Cannibal Holocaust
During a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew.
Children of the Corn
A young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believe everyone over the age of 18 must be killed.
Friday the 13th
A group of camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp which, years before, was the site of a child’s drowning.
Gerald’s Game
While trying to spice up their marriage in their remote lake house, Jessie must fight to survive when her husband dies unexpectedly, leaving her handcuffed to their bed frame.
Godzilla, King of the Monsters
The crypto-zoological agency Monarch faces off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah.
House of Wax
A group of unwitting teens are stranded near a strange wax museum and soon must fight to survive and keep from becoming the next exhibit.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Four young friends bound by a tragic accident are reunited when they find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town.
Independence Day
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind’s best weapon is the will to survive.
Jaws
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community, it’s up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
The Lost Boys
After moving to a new town, two brothers discover that the area is a haven for vampires.
Midsommar
A couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown’s fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.
Piranha 3D
After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area’s new razor-toothed residents.
Stand by Me
After the death of one of his friends, a writer recounts a boyhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy.
The Strangers
A young couple staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Two siblings and three of their friends en route to visit their grandfather’s grave in Texas end up falling victim to a family of cannibalistic psychopaths And must survive the terrors of leatherface and his family.
The Wicker Man
A Police Sergeant is sent to a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl who the townsfolk claim never existed. Stranger still are the rites that take place there.
Wrong Turn
Six people find themselves trapped in the woods of West Virginia, hunted down by “cannibalistic mountain men grossly disfigured through generations of in-breeding.”
Be sure to check out our summer watches and let us know your favorites!
GracieKat was the first co-host of Sci-Fi & Scary, Lilyn’s partner-in-crime, and sub-head of the Kali Krew. She reviews horror books, movies, and games for the site. She also does a weekly Focus on the Frightful feature, and is the site list-maker. She is also in control of the Sci-Fi & Scary podcast which will relaunch soon.
I’ve seen all of these. Some of them I just watched again recently. The Burbs is one of my favorite movies! What fun and such a great cast!
I personally have never seen The Burbs!
It’s one of those weirdly funny movies, lol
I need to rewatch it, i really liked it but just got bumped down on the list, lol