The Best and Worst Horror Movies of 2025
What a shift horror made in 2025, leaning much more heavily into horror/comedy than genuine horror. It made for playful, fun viewing.
2024 was a fairly divisive year for horror movies, so I could easily identify the movies with merit. Presentation and talent varied. In 2025, however, horror producers really stepped up their game. Most of the movies I saw were at least a little good. That said, few left a lasting impression on me.
We’ll be looking at the horror movies of 2025 in four groups:
But first, some notes. (If you don’t care about the notes, you can just jump ahead to the listicle.)
Note 1: I didn’t watch ALL the horror movies that came out this year (there is only so much time! And I am a versatile human with varied interests and drives!), so if you read this listicle like, WHAT ABOUT XYZ?! I didn’t watch it. Sorry.
That said, here’s a list of the movies that I wanted to see but didn’t get around to:
- Anaconda
- Ash (directed by Flying Lotus?? Hell yeah.)
- Bambi: The Reckoning
- Dangerous Animals
- Dust Bunny
- Frankenstein
- Hell House, LLC: Lineage
- Primate
- Screamboat
- Silent Night, Deadly Night
- The Astronaut
- The Ugly Stepsister
- Vicious
Note 2: I know many of the movies on this list are horror adjacent. I reviewed this list of horror movies released in 2025, so the genre-grumblers can take it up with Wikipedia, tbh. (However, I saw that The Housemaid made Wiki’s list, and I disagreed with it being called “horror” enough to not include it here, although I did enjoy it very much. [It was this year’s Gone Girl for sure, pardon the cliche.] And although I originally included The Woman in Cabin 10 on my first-draft list in my “2025 Wrapped” blog post, I chose to remove it here.)
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Alright, seriously, without further ado, here’s a personal, definitive ranking of the 30 horror movies I saw in 2025.
The 3 Worst Horror Movies of 2025
#30 – House of Eden
It’s a shame that this movie had such a wide release.
I was drawn to this because I love CallMeKris and CelinaSpookyBoo on TikTok. The creators of Talk to Me got their start in comedy, and they made a sick af horror movie. There’s a thin line between horror and comedy (that’s where Tim Robbinson lives, that thin line), so I wanted to see what Kris and Celina and their camera man could do.
And they sure did make a horror movie. They did that.
But it was riddled with cliches, and it actually, really, gave me motion sickness. I had to close my eyes and squeeze my temples to will myself into being well enough to watch the rest of it.
Also (and look, I’m neither a prude, nor am I begging to see a naked lady in my movies, BUT), it made me kind of mad that Kris got to be tastefully silhouetted-in-darkness nude while the lady playing Lilith stood completely exposed. It felt classist and ageist and disrespectful. Like, Kris was allowed to be modest, but the person she employed does not have that right.
#29 – M3GAN 2.0
I actually liked the first movie. It was campy and fun, and my nibling absolutely loved it. It became great fodder for drag performances, a reasonable next step in the feature’s cultural evolution.
When my boyfriend and I saw the trailer for M3GAN 2.0 in theaters, Christopher said at a normal, non-theater volume, “Who is this for?!” and I agree, with both the take and the volume of the take. It was warranted.
As the trailer suggested, the film and its actual execution were just a cringe-fest. There’s an art to camp. It’s over the top, and you could argue that there’s no such thing as too much over-the-top, but there is such a thing, apparently, as mid-over-the-top? This could have been a good movie. I’m serious; this is not a secret burn. This movie was incredibly self-aware. It knew what worked well in the previous movie, what made it go viral, and what made it campy, and it found a way to reinsert those things in this sequel.
And still…it was bad. It was so bad, I couldn’t even laugh at it. There was dancing. There were quips. There was fighting. And there was a moral at the end of the movie, which had no business being there. “Raise AI into an adult before letting it go out in the world, and then it can be good, but as of right now, it’s not its fault that it’s evil.” And that’s a fair assessment…but not from this movie.
#28 – The Conjuring: Last Rites
I took myself to see this movie alone because no one would go see it with me, and I should have called in a raincheck on that Me Date too.
When I left the theater, I texted my boyfriend and just said, “This was exhausting.”
Lorraine’s daughter has the sight, and Lorraine, the whole movie, is like, “Just say this nursery rhyme, and it’ll make the evil people go away,” until that doesn’t work, and then Lorraine is like, “I guess you have to look at the bad things.” OK? Like?
But this is Ed and Lorraine Warren’s LAST CASE!!!!!!!!!
OK????
It’s just cliche after cliche, nothing new, and in fact, it’s worse, because they make it a family drama too, where the daughter is dating an ex-cop, and Warren has, like, heart failure or something and needs to change his diet, but won’t.
So, joke’s on me for going to see this. It’s crazy how hit-or-miss The Conjuring universe is. Annabelle is a good series. The Nun was terrible, but I liked The Nun 2. And I’m sure there are other movies in this franchise, but what are they? Are they important?
Meh Horror Movies of 2025
#27 – Clown in a Cornfield
I tried reading the book first, and I got about 40ish pages into the book before I put it down. It was fine, but I knew the movie was coming out soon, and the writing had me thinking it would be better as a movie. I know some people adamantly believe that the book is always better than its film adaptation, but I’m not one of them. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, for example, is a much better movie than book. Game of Thrones is better than the books. Why not Clown in a Cornfield?
The issue with CIAC is the writing, not the acting. That adorable side character from Ginny & Georgia, Katie Douglas, was the main character, and she was a highlight. The motif of her not knowing how to drive stick shift was a hoot.
Not-Elon-Musk Kevin Durand was also in this, and he did what he could with what he was given. What he was given was silly. The twist is silly. This movie was neither scary nor funny. It was just a movie. Hence, “meh.”
#26 – The Woman in the Yard
I wanted to like this movie. I had wanted to see this really badly and convinced my boyfriend, before we were official, to watch it together.
There is just a woman kind of hauntingly in the yard?
And the mom is mean to her kids?
And the ending of the movie kind of defeats the central conflict, in my opinion.
#25 – Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
Although I did see the first FNAF (which was bad–like, downright, with no redeeming qualities), the FNAF sequel was silly and more fun to watch. But “better than bad” isn’t great. It’s just meh.
Why is the main character mad at Beck from You at the end of the movie?
Why is there human possession in this? When the animatronics are kind of the whole brand?
Why didn’t the main character grab the mask to dissuade the animatronics from chasing him further into the office? When he knew it had worked before? And there was a whole scene about that?
I’ll say this, though: I’m not a huge FNAF fan, but if you’re a FNAF fan, you’ll probably like this movie at least a little more than I did.
#24 – The Strangers: Chapter 2
Chapter 2 was absolutely better than Chapter 1, which I dragged in my listicle from last year. But what did I just say? Is “better than bad” good? Nope.
The wild hog attack in this movie went crazy, though. It went harder than the bear attack in The Revenant, to be honest.
But yeah, the rest of it…maybe I would feel OK with it if it weren’t part of The Strangers franchise? It might have been interesting if this was the first movie in the new trilogy. In Chapter 2, there were at least some scenes from Dollface’s childhood.
#23 – Shelby Oaks
The marketing was better than the movie, but the movie was fine. As the largest crowd-funded horror movie ever made, to date, this is a feat. And it’s worth at least one watch. Why not? But it wasn’t particularly special.
#22 – Locked
Bill Skarsgard, my second husband, and Anthony Hopkins are in a movie together. It is not the best. But it is a movie with good actors in it. It’s like the movie Phone Booth (2002) with Colin Farrell, except set in a car and less exciting. But it did have a solid beginning, middle, and end, with character development and everything, which places it above the films that preceded it here.
#21 – Death of a Unicorn
Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd? What’s not to like? Not much to love either, unfortunately. It was an interesting idea, and the execution was OK.
#20 – I Know What You Did Last Summer
I know! I’m also surprised that this movie is so high on the list. It’s a rehash of the OG movie, but it brought back many of the franchise’s favorite characters, and for a horror fan, I felt like what Star Wars fans must have felt when they watched Episode 7 in theaters.
This movie is also surprisingly quotable. Sometimes my boyfriend and I will randomly say, “She WANTS you to choke her.”
#19 – Black Phone 2
I’m so glad they gave Madeleine McGraw more screentime. What a talent!
Black Phone 2 was fun, but it was silly. It didn’t make sense. It was over the top, sometimes in a way that worked but other times not.
Why was the daughter of the Latino camp owner, in Colorado, a cowgirl? Why did she have a southern accent? Why was she the only one with a southern accent? They didn’t even try to give the dad an accent to match her?
The dad, who beat McGraw’s character in the first movie for talking about her psychic abilities, is just like, OK with this now? He believes in the supernatural? Has no trouble believing it?
The Grabber, played by Ethan Hawke, removes his jaw toward the end of the movie. Why? To be scary? Remove one of your victim’s jaws. Have some self-respect, my man.
Hawke ice-skating menacingly, though, surprisingly worked. It teetered on the uncanny line long enough for me to both laugh and shiver. Movies are an art, and art is subjective.
#18 – Opus
I wanted to like this much more than I did. It had so much potential. John Malcovich! Ayo Edebiri! (I’ve never seen a full episode of The Bear because all the yelling stresses me out, but I LOVED her in Bottoms. What a treasure.)
But this movie is a kind of mystery with an unsatisfying reveal. When things started to go down at the film’s climax, it felt somehow both too soon and much too late in the movie. Worst of all, it’s not memorable. It doesn’t stay with you. This movie is just a thing that happened.
#17 – 28 Years Later
I finally saw 28 Days Later a few months ago, several months after I saw 28 Years Later. Days was a good movie.
Years was something completely separate, not only with zombies that are, like, genre-d for some reason, but it also utilized strangely stylistic cinematography and editing. I forgave the weird flashes of filtered scenes during the movie because I thought it was a callback to a much-older film, but no. They just, like, did that? OK?
But the character development got me invested in the plot. It was good enough to make me excited about The Bone Temple. But, as a horror fan, my willingness to see a horror movie is no testimony for that movie’s talent.
Decent Horror Movies of 2025
#16 – Wolf Man
I know–this is higher on the list than 28 Years Later? Really? I do think the connection between a movie’s marketing and its payoff make a big difference in my viewing experience. While 28 Years Later had the hype, it didn’t leave me satisfied.
Wolf Man, on the other hand, really surprised me. I normally do not care about werewolves at all, but I love Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott, and I thought they did such a great job playing off of one another. Their conflicts seemed real and present. I loved the metaphor of intergenerational family trauma and domestic violence in this movie, the metaphor of Wolf Man as toxic masculinity.
The werewolf design was also kind of scary! Abbott as a werewolf actually looked creepy and not like a furry, like other practical-effect werewolves do.
#15 – It Feeds
An in-home therapist has a Lorraine Warren-level gift of sight, and she uses it to guide her patients. Until a young girl comes in with a problem bigger than her gift can carry. The therapist’s do-gooder daughter sticks her nose into the situation and endangers herself, so the therapist has to go save her ass. It was like if American Horror Story: Murder House and Insidious had a woman-power baby. A surprisingly fun ride.
Also, the main actress is Alice Cullen from the Twilight franchise! That’s what a fairy woman looks like with long hair like that!
#14 – Predator: Killer of Killers
I’m a big fan of adult animation, especially when supernatural or sci/fi elements are involved. In animation, you don’t have to worry about making things look “real.” They just have to look like the surrounding imagery, and then they feel more real to us. (Not to give J.K. Rowling any ideas for making more money, but I have often said, for example, that the Harry Potter movies should have been animated.)
Because the story was so episodic, Killer of Killers could have been a miniseries, but it still works as a feature film. In fact, it makes each scene purposeful and action-packed. The characters have little screentime, individually, which doesn’t create much breathing room for character development, but you get enough to feel satisfied by the movie’s end.
#13 – Good Boy
What a good boy! I saw this barely-over-an-hour film in theaters, and after the credits, the director/main (human) character explains how he got Indy, which is the dog’s actual name, to “act” in the scenes. Indy is his dog! He used a lot of treats! And he explained how a camera angle and sound design can convey fear in a dog who is otherwise just chillin’.
Some scenes were hard to watch because I was so worried about the dog’s well-being. (Spoiler for those who are interested: The dog is fine in the end. The trauma in the movie is not of the Marley & Me variety.)
#12 – Keeper
This is an Osgood Perkins movie, who directed Longlegs, which won a spot in my top 5 horror movies of 2024, and The Monkey, which earned a spot in the top 5 horror movies of 2025 (spoiler alert!). Keeper was pretty good. It’s got some real’ good stuff. Namely, Tatiana Maslany, the award-winning actress from Orphan Black, still got it.
Visually, this movie was creepy. The mystery compelled me from start to near-finish. Eventually, things get spelled out, leaving almost no question unanswered, and trying to figure out just what the fuck is going on until that explicit reveal is a fun ride.
The ending, however, feels like a sudden and unwarranted shift in character motivation. I get it…but say more. I just wanted a liiiiittle bit more.
#11 – Until Dawn
This was a fun movie. And that’s all it needed to be. The characters aren’t particularly memorable, but watching Until Dawn felt like walking through a well-produced haunted house. And I do believe that was the point.
I started playing the video game for the first time a few nights ago, and although I already liked the movie as a stand-alone piece, I now love the way the movie adapted the video game. The changes they made were smart.
#10 – Weapons
It’s my girl Julia Garner again!
While the concept of this movie was fun and the visuals were spooky, I just don’t care why the kids left their houses at exactly 2:17 at night. Sorry. I just don’t. I don’t care why there is a gun in the sky in Josh Brolin’s dream. I get what they’re trying to do–in the same way Hereditary left its audience to investigate the symbols carved on the walls of Toni Collette’s house. The exact time and the gun in the dream were just too abstract, while the symbols in Hereditary were clearly tied to the witchcraft and supernatural mystery of the plot.
Ultimately, the movie isn’t higher on the list because it wanted to be deeper than it was.
But I did love Gladys the evil witch who met a hilarious end. I will see the prequel when it comes out.
#9 – Companion
Companion was both funny and heartfelt. I’m obsessed with Jack Quaid, and I think Sopher Thatcher is adorable and should be in everything. I enjoyed the “twist,” revealed in the first third of the movie and hinted at in the trailers. This movie kept surprising me from there. Overall, it was just fun, and I see a lot of rewatch value here.
#8 – Bring Her Back
I would definitely watch this unsettling movie again. Similar to Weapons, Bring Her Back has a specific visual brand. I can still see some of the scenes when I close my eyes, particularly those involving pica with sharp objects.
Unlike Weapons, this movie left parts of the story unexplained in a way that felt intentional, like there might actually be an answer if I dug more deeply into the story. The circle used in the rituals. The origins of the video tape. The antagonist’s descent into delusion after an off-screen, pre-plot tragedy.
This movie isn’t higher on the list, ultimately, because it didn’t unsettle me enough. This was no The VVitch, for example.
#7 – Final Destination: Bloodlines
This movie was so fun. Not every horror movie needs to be heady or dread-inducing to be good.
The MRI magnet scene still haunts me.
#6 – Heart Eyes
For being one of the first horror movies to be released in 2025, not many of its successors outshined it. Casting Mason Gooding as a main character is so smart, after his recent appearance in the Scream franchise, especially since Heart Eyes is basically Scream but funnier. (No shade to Scream. It’s still the queen of horror.) The heart throb of horror, Devin Sawa, made a surprise appearance as a cop.
The romance between the two main characters is super cute. This movie made me jump and also go, Aww!
I might rewatch this tonight, actually.
#5 – The Monkey
The Monkey is a campy Final Destination. Also, Theo James is both hot and funny? His physical comedy made me guffaw at several points. Death riding a white horse is a central motif. Like? What’s bad?
#4 – Sinners
I loved Sinners. The first half of the movie is just a period piece, and you know what? It was a good period piece. I had fun planning a speakeasy party with Michael B. Jordan and Michael B. Jordan for an hour. It was great seeing Hailee Steinfeld, both a talented singer and actress, and Wunmi Mosaku from Lovecraft Country.
Given the movie’s overwhelming box-office success, I should explain why Sinners isn’t in my top 3:
That scene in the speakeasy where things aren’t scary yet and they’re just jamming, and there’s this monologue about how music transcends time, and then these nonplayable characters from different time periods mosey onto the dancefloor for a swift bop before they’re never seen again…
There are people who loved this scene because it had, like, a message or whatever, or maybe just because they had never seen anything like it in a movie before.
I didn’t love this. It could absolutely have been cut without any impact on the plot. The movie already so good. It just didn’t need this.
I realize I’m in the minority here, and I’ll take that L.
Also, at the end, like…why didn’t they just be vampires? I realize this is the central conflict, but to be honest, the writers didn’t make becoming a vampire seem bad at all.
The characters who get turned are still themselves and love who they love; they just want blood now. And they get to live forever and wear amazing sweaters that I googled after the movie ended. Idk. They should have just accepted their fate and become vampires. Sorry.
The 3 BEST Horror Movies of 2025
#3 – Together
I would be remiss if I didn’t address the controversy surrounding this movie. Dave Franco and Allison Brie were sued for stealing the movie’s concept as well as some specific scenes from another artist, whose screenplay was called “Better Half.”
But–and I’m sorry to sound calloused here–I didn’t watch that movie. I didn’t read that screenplay. I saw this movie. And I loved it.
It had a consistent dreamlike quality, with body-horror-rich absurdities. This happens in the first five minutes of the movie (almost no exaggeration): The girlfriend (Brie) proposes to her boyfriend (Franco) in front of all their friends by pretending she is opening a box with a ring in it, and the way her fingers are curled and splayed made it look like she is pantomiming opening a clam, maybe. So, her boyfriend’s like, “Is this a joke?” And it’s not. Horrifying! And hilarious!
And that’s the tone for the rest of the movie, but multiplied by 5 every 10 or so minutes.
I suspect that, upon rewatching, this movie actually will get funnier because the horror will have lost its sting. I intend to watch this until it is strictly a comedy.
#2 – Predator: Badlands
See my comments about Final Destination: Bloodlines. This movie was just fun. At no point was I bored. The alien main character has an actual arc, and although this particular arc has been done before, they explored it in a way that was on brand, funny, and heartwarming. The worldbuilding is rich.
There’s redemption. There’s glory. There’s friendship.
I almost saw it a second time in theaters, which I haven’t done in years. Go watch it at once.
#1 – The Long Walk
See my comment about movie expectations under Wolf Man: I expected to like The Long Walk just OK. The metaphor is a bit on the nose. But it was the perfect vehicle to call out capitalism: You have to keep going in the hopes of something better, knowing that, if you slip up or slow down, it could mean the end for you.
Each young man signs up for the contest, but was that action a true choice, given their circumstances? What other choices did they have?
I was also incredibly moved by the characters’ care for each other. Competitors started off as villains, and of course, the narrative later portrayed them as fellow victims before the end of the film.
“America, the Beautiful” played as the camera zoomed in on a fresh corpse, the fireworks reflecting in the kid’s open, dead eyes.
I cried. I actually cried twice.
Swift tone change from me: I was jarred by how much poop is in this movie, but that’s Stephen King for you. He’s willing to explore subjects that other people are not, and that’s why he’s the King of Horror.
That’s it! Thanks for playing. Given that my favorite movies of the year weren’t horror movies at all, I also just finished “Beyond Genre: The 4 Best Movies of 2025,” so now you can read that too.