Horror fans are always spoiled with an embarrassment of riches as each new year brings new entries to the genre in varying degrees of success. Horror offers a vast spectrum of titles in a way no other genre can, where there is truly something for everyone, whether you barely dabble in scary stories or watch horror obsessively. This year has been no different, delivering original movies like The Ugly Stepsister, Death of a Unicorn, Heart Eyes, Dead Mail, The Shrouds, and Dangerous Animals, continuations including Predator: Killer of Killers, M3GAN 2.0, and the new I Know What You Did Last Summer, as well as reboots and adaptations, such as Wolf Man, Fear Street: Prom Queen, and Until Dawn.
Videos by ComicBook.com
These titles only scratch the surface of the horror movies that fans have experienced this year. Even with plenty of scary movies coming up in the back half of 2025, the following movies are all contenders for the best the genre has to offer this year.
10) Best Wishes to All
Yûta Shimotsu’s feature directorial debut is a surreal J-horror familial tale that quickly evolves into a deeply unsettling exploration of the dark sacrifices made in the pursuit of happiness. Written by Rumi Kakuta from a story by Shimotsu, Best Wishes to All follows a young nursing student (Kotone Furukawa) from Tokyo who visits her grandparents in their seemingly idyllic rural town and is unnerved by their increasingly odd behavior. She eventually uncovers a horrifying, barely concealed secret that her family and seemingly the entire village have been keeping: To maintain their serene and prosperous existence, they extract happiness from another person who is kept in a state of perpetual suffering.
Best Wishes to All shifts between bizarre, horrifying moments and even stranger, comical scenes as our protagonist must decide whether she’s willing to follow in her family’s twisted footsteps to obtain “true” happiness or let them all die. The performances and biting social commentary are the biggest standouts in the creepy film, which has been polarizing for fans and critics alike, but is a highlight of original horror filmmaking this year.
Best Wishes to All is streaming now on Shudder.
9) Clown in a Cornfield
Director Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs Evil) and co-writer Carter Blanchard brought Adam Cesare’s popular YA novel Clown in a Cornfield to life in a well-balanced horror comedy that serves as a reminder that the young adult subgenre does not mean the horror is any less brutal or bloody. In the slasher adaptation, Katie Douglas stars as Quinn, who moves to the small town of Kettle Springs with her father, Dr. Glenn Maybrook (Aaron Abrams). As Quinn quickly becomes friends with a group of teens, the kids find themselves targeted by the town’s mascot Frendo the Clown, who was responsible for killing teenagers decades prior.
Supported by an entertaining ensemble, Douglas shines as Quinn, capturing a fresh take on the new girl and final girl tropes and expertly balancing the humor, horror, and dramatic features of the character. Clown in a Cornfield is fun and twisty as multiple Frendos and their identities (and motives) are revealed. The movie goes hard on the carnage, offering plenty of satisfying kills with varied weaponry as Frendo the Clown is established as a new delightful face in horror.
Clown in a Cornfield is available to buy or rent on Prime Video.
8) Presence
Director Steven Soderbergh and writer David Koepp brought a truly unique vision to the haunted house subgenre with Presence. Shot entirely from the first-person perspective of a ghost, the film offers a voyeuristic and often chilling glimpse into a fractured family as they move into a new home. Rebekah (Lucy Liu) and Chris’ (Chris Sullivan) teen daughter Chloe (Callina Liang) is struggling with the sudden death of her friend and fracturing relationship with her brother, Tyler (Eddy Maday). The movie is a ghostly family drama wrapped up in a mystery as the truth behind recent alleged overdoses takes a darker turn, and the identity of the entity watching over Chloe offers one of the best twists of any movie this year.
The technical execution of the story, told through the ghost’s point of view, is outstanding and effective. The climax of Presence is especially harrowing as the perspective forces audiences into an intimate position with the characters during the movie’s most sinister sequence. The compelling performances, surprising reveals, clues, and distinctive setup make Presence a memorable horror entry and instantly rewatchable.
Presence is available to stream on Hulu.
7) Final Destination Bloodlines
The Final Destination franchise returned after nearly 15 years with a grisly new adventure, thanks to Death’s undying ability to hold a grudge, and is one of the best installments in the movie series. Directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, Final Destination Bloodlines follows Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), who inherits her grandmother’s gift of premonition and goes down a familiar path of attempting to save her loved ones as Death enacts its latest cat-and-mouse game.
Bloodlines is the best Final Destination entry since Final Destination 2, paying homage to the most infamous death sequence in franchise history while implementing a new playground of creative and gruesome kills. The sixth film in the series rides a harmonious balance of humor, family drama, and entertaining death traps. Many of the characters are easy to get invested in, making it all the more brutal when they are violently picked off one by one. The most poignant scene is the late Tony Todd’s final appearance as the legendary William John Bludworth, where he was given the chance to say goodbye to the franchise, his character, and his fans.
Final Destination Bloodlines is available to buy or rent on Prime Video. The other Final Destination movies are available to stream on HBO Max.
6) The Damned
Written by Jamie Hannigan and directed by Thordur Palsson, the folk horror film The Damned had a quiet release in early January. Odessa Young (Assassination Nation) and Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Gangs of London) star in this psychological horror set against the frigid, isolated backdrop of 19th-century Iceland. When the widow Eva (Young) and her crew of fishermen at a remote fishing outpost make a difficult choice following a shipwreck witnessed by the group, they find themselves tormented by guilt and possibly by a vengeful draugr — an undead creature rooted in Nordic folklore.
With an ensemble of intriguing characters, The Damned blurs the line between supernatural horror and madness, utilizing the harsh setting to amplify the sense of dread and isolation. The movie masterfully crafts an unnerving atmosphere as the slow-burning tension and paranoia build to a chilling and ambiguous climax.
The Damned is streaming now on Hulu.
5) Companion
Sophie Thatcher steals the show in Drew Hancock’s darkly funny sci-fi movie Companion, which delves into the unsettling side of artificial intelligence with a playful setup that quickly escalates into a frenzied nightmare. Iris (Thatcher) and her boyfriend Josh (Jack Quaid) meet up with a group of friends on a weekend getaway at a remote cabin. The day after arriving, Iris is forced to defend herself from being assaulted and learns that she’s an android “companion” designed for human interaction and controlled by an app. As Iris desperately fights for her autonomy and her survival, the film transforms into a deadly cat-and-mouse game between Josh and Iris.
Led by Thatcher, Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén, and Rupert Friend all deliver strong performances, expertly navigating Companion’s comedic elements alongside the heavier moments that make the movie entertaining and compelling. The film is an effective exploration of the ethical boundaries of AI, autonomy, toxic masculinity, and genuine love vs control and abuse.
Companion is available to stream on HBO Max.
4) The Monkey
Longlegs filmmaker Osgood Perkins’ take on Stephen King‘s short story The Monkey delivers a horror-comedy that’s all about outrageous, inventive kills and complicated family relationships. When young twin brothers Hal and Bill (played by Christian Convery) discover their absent father’s wind-up toy monkey as kids, they realize, after witnessing several horrifying “accidents,” that the seemingly cursed object is behind the bizarre and gruesome deaths. After most of their family is killed, Hal and Bill attempt to get rid of the monkey by throwing it down a well. Over 20 years later, the estranged adult brothers (both played by Theo James) find themselves once again haunted by a new killing spree when the monkey resurfaces.
The Monkey leans into the absurd and gratuitous, offering a constant stream of shocking and often hilarious freak accidents with over-the-top violence. While the darkly comedic tones of the movie sacrifice some of the horror, The Monkey is a fresh and satisfying ride with characters that help ground the story into a complex tale about family, revenge, and the inevitability of death.
The Monkey is available to buy or rent on Prime Video.
3) 28 Years Later
Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, the minds behind the 2002 infected/zombie horror 28 Days Later starring Cillian Murphy, returned to their dystopian universe this year with the third installment of the franchise. Starring an all-star cast including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, and Alfie Williams, 28 Years Later is set nearly three decades after the Rage virus devastated the UK, which is now under quarantine. The movie follows 12-year-old Spike (Williams) — who has grown up in an isolated community of survivors on a tidal island — as he embarks on a coming-of-age journey that begins with a hunting ritual with his father, Jamie (Taylor-Johnson), and continues with a desperate attempt to save his dying mother, Isla (Comer).
28 Years Later smartly deviates from its predecessors, focusing on the touching mother-son story at the center of the film and setting a different tone for Boyle and Garland’s planned 28 Years trilogy. Beyond exceptional performances and the fascinating evolution of the infected over the years, the movie’s striking cinematography and raw sense of urgency, conveyed through its chaotic editing, are unparalleled. Less about relentless zombie-like action (of which there are a handful of exciting, tense sequences) and more of a philosophical journey through a post-apocalyptic world, 28 Years Later focuses on profoundly human stories with stunning visuals and one hell of a setup for next year’s sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
28 Years Later is now playing in theaters.
2) Bring Her Back
When speaking solely about horror, Bring Her Back, Danny and Michael Philippou’s follow-up to their hit feature directorial debut Talk to Me, is arguably the scariest and most upsetting movie of 2025 so far. The Australian supernatural psychological horror movie follows orphaned step-siblings Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong), who are taken in by foster mother Laura (Sally Hawkins). While dealing with the death of his dad and the trauma of childhood abuse, Andy becomes suspicious of Laura’s erratic behavior and increasingly strange focus on Laura and their mute, disturbing foster brother, Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips).
Bring Her Back is another exploration of grief, but more importantly, of the dark sides of love. Laura is consumed by the death of her daughter and believes her actions — revolving around an occult ritual to resurrect the dead — are just because they are coming from the love of a mother. Once a woman who dedicated her life to caring for children, Laura has turned into a monster capable of committing heinous acts against them. Bring Her Back is unapologetically bleak and full of dread from start to finish. Its lack of lighter moments to help guide audiences through the darkness might make this a tough watch for some, but the movie fills a space in the horror genre that is willing to push boundaries without sacrificing character development and powerful, emotional storytelling. The brutality and gore (largely reliant on stunning practical effects) are not meant for shock value, but to drive home how twisted Laura’s love and grief have become.
Bring Her Back is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
1) Sinners
No one should be surprised that Ryan Coogler’s Southern Gothic film Sinners continues to land at the top of similar lists, and will likely stay at the top for many as the best movie of 2025. Coogler’s masterpiece is set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta and follows twin brothers Smoke and Stack Moore (both played by Michael B. Jordan), World War I veterans and former associates of the Chicago mafia, who have returned home to open up a juke joint with the help of their musically gifted younger cousin, Sammie (Miles Caton). The movie takes its time introducing the key characters of the story in the first act, including the centuries-old Irish vampire Remmick (Jack O’Connell), who turns a night of freedom, music, reunion, sensuality, and joy into a bloody nightmare.
Sinners shows off in every aspect: A fascinating premise, its ridiculously talented cast, gorgeous cinematography, a soul-stirring score, the smart blend of racial history and folklore, and deeply human themes. Coogler’s inventive film is a rich, multi-layered, genre-bending horror musical and an instant vampire classic that packs an emotional punch, designed to evoke a range of emotions from start to finish. Not only is it the best horror movie of 2025 so far, but Sinners is also the perfect film to watch over and over again, remaining as engaging as it was the first time.
Sinners is now streaming on HBO Max.
Did your favorite horror movies of 2025 make the list? Let us know where they rank in your Top 10!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Paramount -
Image Courtesy of Big Finish Productions.
