Universal Pictures recently dropped two very different, yet quite terrifying trailers for upcoming films.

First, there’s the new slasher The River, due in theaters in January. In that film, what should have been a somber family outing for three siblings planning to release the ashes of their deceased father into the waters of a river turns into an exercise in survival. Jessica Rothe, Jane Levy and Max Mattern play the brother and sisters who find themselves the target of a killer.

In the trailer we see Carla (Rothe) taking a dip in the river when she notices a mysterious figure watching her from the shore. In the blink of an eye, this person is in the water, swimming in her direction. As she tries to make it back to the boat, her concerned sibs Lucy (Levy) and Drew (Mattern) scream at her to hurry. The man in the water closes the distance between them fast as the trailer ends with brief flashes of the horrors that await them.

Dane DiLiegro (Prey) also stars. The River is the feature directorial debut of writer-director Joshua Giuliano. It drew a lot of attention at the Toronto International Film Festival, being compared to last year’s breakout horror film from TIFF, Curry Barker’s Obsession.

Blumhouse/Atomic Monster and Universal have The River slated for a January 15th, 2027 release.

Universal also dropped the trailer for the next film in the Exorcist franchise, The Exorcist: Martyrs, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Scarlett Johansson.

In Martyrs, Johansson stars as NYPD homicide detective Julie Miller, who investigates a murderer called Father Sunday (John Leguizamo), another priest, Father William (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and finds herself in the middle of a new slew of killings that threaten Miller’s 12-year-old son Max (Jacobi Jupe).

Mike Flanagan wrote and directed Martyrs, which stars a slew of actors seen in his other projects, like Carla Gugino, Hamish Linklater, Rahul Kohli, Carl Lumbly, Samantha Sloyan and Kate Siegel, along with Diane Lane, Sasha Calle, Scoot McNairy, Gil Bellows and Laurence Fishburne.

Exorcist: Martyrs is a reboot of a reboot of the 1973 original, as David Gordon Green’s 2023 attempt to re-energize the franchise, The Exorcist: Believer, was considered a financial and critical failure.

Flanagan has brought his unique directing style to several Stephen King tales (Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, the new Carrie series) and delivered several limited series hits for Netflix (The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Fall of the House of Usher).

The Exorcist: Martyrs will be making heads spin in theaters beginning March 12th, 2027.