Last Updated on February 24, 2025 by Angel Melanson
February might be the month of love, but horror is just as effective at making your heart race and your palms sweat. And if you’re in the mood for a not-so-romantic getaway, we’ve got just the ticket.
This month’s horror release schedule includes everything from Indonesian urban legends to British devil babies and maniacal Mexican mice-men. Grab your partner (or whatever chocolate is on sale after Valentine’s Day) and make a date with these six saucy new titles, including one brand-new zombie series.
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Sumala (Indonesia)
Based on a chilling urban legend, director Rizal Mantovani’s Sumala arrived on Netflix on February 6.
Set in Indonesia’s Semarang Regency, Sumala sees Sulastri (Luna Maya) making a pact with the devil in order to have children. She and none-the-wiser husband Soedjiman (Darius Sinathrya) name the resulting twins Kumala and Sumala (both played by Makayla Rose Hilli), with Sumala passing away. Kumala grows to be a kind child, but a disability leaves her vulnerable to the cruelty of those around her. That is, until Sumala returns to the world of the living to punish those who hurt her sister.
Dark Nuns (South Korea)
Looking for a little nunsploitation this February? Your prayers have been answered, because South Korean exorcism movie Dark Nuns has blessed US theaters February 7 following a successful domestic box office run.
Kwon Hyeok-Jae directed the film, which is a spinoff of Jang Jae-hyun’s The Priests. Following different characters than the 2015 original, Dark Nuns explores what happens when two nuns violate the Church’s sacred order and take it upon themselves to perform the ritual of exorcism on a possessed boy—endangering not only their lives but their immortal souls in the process.
Newtopia (South Korea)
If you’re slowly easing your crush into scarier fare, Prime Video’s new series Newtopia may be just what Cupid ordered. The series offers romance, fantasy—and flesh-eating zombie action.
Blackpink’s Jisoo stars opposite Park Jeong-min in Newtopia. They play a couple separated during a zombie outbreak in Seoul who must fight through the undead-infested city if they want a hope of reuniting. Yoon Sung-hyun directed the series and you can catch it on Prime from February 7.
The Baby in the Basket (United Kingdom)
I get hyped for anything set in my home country, so I’m personally looking forward to catching The Baby in the Basket when it gets a digital release on February 17.
Directed by Andy Crane and Nathan Shepka, The Baby in the Basket takes place during World War II at an isolated island monastery in Scotland. One stormy night, a cloaked figure leaves a baby on the nuns’ doorstep, forcing them to care for the child until it’s safe to take it to the mainland. But when unsettling things start to happen, Sister Agnes (Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’s Amber Doig-Thorne) becomes convinced that the child is the spawn of satan.
#Manhole (Japan)
Signing up for SCREAMBOX this month for the streaming debut of Terrifier 3? Then be sure to stick around for #Manhole, a SCREAMBOX exclusive dropping February 25.
Director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s survival horror film stars Yuto Nakajima (one-ninth of the Japanese boy band Hey! Say! JUMP) as Shunsuke Kawamura, a successful real estate agent all set to marry his boss’s daughter. But on the eve of the wedding, drunk from a surprise party thrown by his coworkers, Shunsuke falls down a deep manhole. Fortunately, he has his cell phone with him. Unfortunately, attracting help may be easier said than done…
I Heart Willie (Mexico)
When Disney’s Steamboat Willie entered the public domain last year, it didn’t take long for a horror reimagining to be announced. That movie is Screamboat, starring Terrifier’s David Howard Thornton, which is set to release in April. But director Alejandro G. Alegre’s I Heart Willie has got it beat!
Coming to theaters across North America for one night only on February 26, I Heart Willie is described as a “chilling origin story [that] presents genre fans with a sinister reimagining of one of the most iconic cartoon characters in history, along with one of the most horrifying love stories of the year.” In the film, two YouTubers investigate the legend of a boy born with deformities that make him look like a human-mouse hybrid. Known as Willie (David Vaughn), the abused and isolated boy now harvests the skins of trespassers, using them to craft a bodysuit to (I’m guessing) cover his buff abs. Watch I Heart Willie’s first four minutes and see one of Willie’s grisly kills over at Entertainment Weekly.
Those are our top foreign horror movie picks for February. If your heart desires even more horror (and let’s face it: whose doesn’t?), check out what you might have missed in January—and look forward to the year ahead with our most anticipated horror movies of 2025!
