Dread Central’s Top 10 Favorite Horror Movies of 2025
Horror in 2025 mutated and grew into an undefeatable Kaiju beast, so vast, ubiquitous, and huge that no matter who you were or where you were … there was no escape. From audacious studio swings to fearless indie nightmares, the year delivered films that challenged, unsettled, and redefined modern horror. Rather than speak with a single voice, we had the Dread Central staff weigh in directly, spotlighting the films that engaged and rattled them the most. These are the best horror movies of 2025, as chosen — and championed — by the people who live and breathe genre every single day.
10 – Together
“When we look back on 2025, we’re going to be thinking about heterofatalism, the declining birth rate, and the loneliness epidemic. And there’s no movie that captures these topics better than Together, a sick little film that illuminates the fears many of us have when it comes to love and relationships: resentment, codependency, or even worse, losing yourself entirely.
I saw this twice in theaters, and each time I was struck by the film’s sense of humor. Even when Alison Brie is about to take a reciprocating saw to her and Dave Franco’s conjoined arm, you can’t help but chuckle. But even that doesn’t mean you can fully put your guard down. This is a film that isn’t afraid to go there.” – Ashliene McMenamy
9 – Presence
“Steven Soderbergh’s Presence was a knockout when I first caught its premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. At the time, I wrote, “Steven Soderbergh’s latest is a remarkable technical achievement that flips the haunted house subgenre on its head.” We are all familiar with the cycle. In that review, I was very clear that while Presence is a horror movie, it’s a very different kind of horror movie. Did that stop Neon from marketing it as the scariest film of 2025? No. Not at all.
Resultantly, audiences everywhere rolled their eyes at a marvel in filmmaking and paranormal POV simply because it wasn’t (and never intended to be) viscerally terrifying. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t linger, however, and Presence haunted me more than anything else this year. Will it make you jump? No, probably not, but the final shot of Lucy Liu in front of a mirror, wailing ceaselessly, dug deeper into my psyche than any literal ghost or monster could.” – Chad Collins
8 – Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle
“If you hadn’t caught on by now, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is for the fans. This isn’t really a film you can watch without knowing the previous years of context (all episodes are available on Crunchyroll), but it is an anime worth catching up on. It’s a more visceral anime than you’d expect, and it never shies away from the bloody reality of joining the Demon Corps.
Still, there’s just something about Tanjiro and his ragtag group of demon hunter friends that draws you into this gorgeously violent world where snow is often soaked crimson with the hot blood of demonic entities. Plus, the series has found massive success both in Japan and around the world. As of the publication of this review, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle has already earned over $33 million at the box office just on opening day and through preview screenings.” – Mary Beth McAndrews
7 – I Know What You Did Last Summer
“Some legendary divas just refuse to stay down forever. The 2025 sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer is a genuinely refreshing, stylish, and totally unexpected resurrection of an underrated ’90s classic, pairing glossy next-gen mayhem with a distinctly vintage slasher flair. It’s the perfect Brat Summer massacre, a red Solo cup brimming with sun‑soaked dread and a killer with an appreciation for theatrics.
Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) whose style might alienate some—especially those expecting a raw, gritty slasher. This movie is camp turned lethal. The heightened aesthetic is part of its charm: designer goods, pastel accents, dramatic lighting, and a wardrobe to die for. A24 and Terrifier bros alike will be pissed by all this, but Robinson leans into the glam anyhow—you just can’t keep a true diva down forever. She’s always gonna be back with a vengeance.” – Josh Korngut
6 – The Monkey
“God, I loved this movie. Oz Perkins has a dark, depraved sense of humor that takes center stage in The Monkey. The film offers wry commentary on the randomness of life and death through a storyline that follows brothers Hal and Bill (Theo James) as they navigate a string of gruesome deaths tied to a children’s toy. I found myself laughing out loud as one cast member after another succumbed to ghastly send-offs. It felt wrong to laugh, but Perkins is so tongue-in-cheek with the proceedings that I have to assume that was his intent. Bravo to him for deftly adapting Stephen King. The author’s work is notoriously difficult to translate for the screen, but Perkins does so with aplomb.” – Tyler Doupe
5 – The Ugly Stepsister
“In an indie horror landscape crowded with no-budget splatter fairytales like Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey and Bambi: The Reckoning, The Ugly Stepsister comes as a jolt of actual craft. Emilie Blichfeldt builds a fantastical alternate 1900s where Elvira, a character usually pushed to the margins, undergoes a barrage of grotesque, historically inspired cosmetic procedures in a desperate bid to impress Prince Charming. Lea Myren sells every deranged beat of this body-horror makeover, and the film’s morbid sense of humor keeps the whole thing razor sharp from tip to toe.
What also elevates The Ugly Stepsister above its peers is the clarity of its extremely gruesome feminist engine. Like Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, it uses gore and transformation to interrogate the violent bargains demanded by beauty culture, and Blichfeldt delivers the critique through a playful, comedic lens. That balance lets the film stay subversive without sinking into the realm of being gross for no reason. It’s pointed and highly ambitious, proving there’s still room to do something innovative with a cursed fairytale retelling.” – Josh Korngut
4 – 28 Years Later
“I was never really convinced 28 Years Later was going to happen until it suddenly did. And then, in its final moments (you know), I’m again unconvinced that this needs to be a new trilogy of films. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised, though those few quibbles notwithstanding, 28 Years Later is a masterpiece. Plain and simple. It’s terrifying, gorgeous, heartfelt, and so deeply tender, so earnest and honest in its human truths, it transcends undead convention and feels like the first of its kind.
Boyle’s kinetic filmmaking is in full force, and Garland’s script is the tightest his writing has been in years. Thematic cores of grief, masculinity, nihilism, onward and onward, yes—28 Years Later has a lot on its mind. Still, it’s the fierce, dynamic filmmaking that impresses most. This is cinema in its purest form, a bona fide blockbuster masterpiece, whether there are Power Rangers or not.” – Chad Collins
3 – The Rule of Jenny Pen
“Jenny Pen is an icon. She is, in the wise words of Wendy Williams, the moment. She’s also just a doll, one wielded by John Lithgow’s Dave Crealy to menace the many residents of a New Zealand elderly care home. Of particular interest is Geoffrey Rush’s Judge Stefan Mortensen, a cantankerous and nasty new arrival whose declining mental state makes it all too easy for Dave, and his puppet, to terrorize him.
At its core, The Rule of Jenny Pen is pulverizing, and all too rare, elderly horror. James Ashcroft, adapting Owen Marshall’s short story of the same name, lets his residents run wild, a scathing indictment of modern elderly care and end-of-life nihilism. Dave and his puppet are obviously, conspicuously monstrous, yet no one really cares. The scariest suggestion is the collective concession that these residents are going to be dead soon anyway, puppet or not. Gotta love that puppet, though.” – Chad Collins
2 – Weapons
“Weapons is a truly surreal viewing experience. But I’d expect nothing less from the twisted mind behind Barbarian. Writer/director Zach Cregger delivers a unique premise that’s vaguely reminiscent of the surreal, small-town antics of Twin Peaks. The setup sees a mass exodus of elementary school students, all from the same classroom, inexplicably vanishing from their homes without a trace. The picture features great characters, the most memorable of which is easily Amy Madigan as Aunt Gladys. She is one we’ll be talking about for years to come. But I won’t say any more than that, because the less you know about Weapons going in, the better.” – Tyler Doupe
1 – Sinners
“Ryan Coogler has crafted not just the standout film of the year, but arguably one of the greatest of all time, guided by his seemingly uncrackable creative instincts. He directs with a confidence reminiscent of Tarantino, yet also devoid of ego. In Coogler’s hands, spectacle never outshines substance, and story, seemingly, remains his absolute priority.
In a two-year span where Wicked has dominated the attention market for its reestablishment of Old Hollywood magic, it’s Sinners who actually delivered us the impossible, forgotten craft of actual old school blockbuster movie-making. This is a perfect film: authentic and startlingly real. It’s a musically miraculous and emotionally inventive tale of community that peaks with its inter-dimensional ancestor dance sequence, which shatters the fifth wall between story, screen, and soul. Ultimately, this is cinema fulfilling its best and most profound potential.” – Josh Korngut
Categorized: Best of 2025 Editorials News
