The biggest costume & Halloween store on the East Coast knows a few things about horror.
Horror continues to know no bounds. I don’t simply mean pushing the envelope towards the most grotesque, stomach-churning images once could conceive (don’t worry, gore-freaks, there’s still a market for that. See Terrifer 3’s recent success). But the actual adaptability and widespread variety of which the genre continues to operate in. The last calendar year brought audiences long-awaited sequels & follow ups to beloved franchises, novel concepts to shake up the formula, highly-anticipated flicks from the latest horror contemporaries making their name known, and passion projects from the most celebrated directors finally coming to fruition. The horror film continues to defy generalization and still remain rooted in the DNA audiences expect, checking boxes while giving you what didn’t know you needed, challenging you, and making you both laugh & jump within a single frame.
This list celebrates all those and more, highlighting what caught our eye and made us squirm in our seats. Let’s get into it.
10. Heart Eyes
Heart Eyes earns its place through sheer likability. As a Valentine’s Day slasher with rom-com tendencies, it understands exactly what it wants to be: brisk, bloody, and charming enough to smooth over its rough edges. The film’s lean runtime works in its favor, keeping the pacing tight and preventing its slasher hook from wearing thin. There’s genuine effort to balance kills with character beats amidst its comedic tone. Though, the balancing act isn’t always 50/50. It skirts at the edges of satire but is nothing like the way something like Scream committed to thirty years ago (it’s arguably become a parody of its former self in recent years) , while still servicing primarily as a horror slasher. Points for charm and novelty. It’s no reinvention or rebirth of this style, but its certainly welcome.
9. Good Boy
Directed by Ben Leonberg, this dog-centered horror flick leans heavily into classic genre discomfort, using the perspective of man’s best friend to explore grief, control, and emotional dependency. The minimalist approach works best in the first half, where the films elements and use of sound design and static shot composition result in a consistent level of creeping tension before it goes from suggested to made clear. Where it falters tends to be in its over-explanation of the narrative later on. Most movies, horror for sure but even plenty outside the genre, have the often inevitable crutch of giving expository dialogue in order to make sense to the audience who is who, what is going on, the stakes, the lore, etc. It can often make or break a horror film in particular because it kills the mystery, taking the fear of something we don’t fully understand into less ambiguous territory. Later films down this list tow the line more gracefully.
Good Boy has a harder time than most given its lead can’t speak (excluding “Bark!”), so it has even more to catch up on. It remains a novel, exciting concept that becomes hindered by its own design.
8. Together
The latest flick from Neon might not have made as big a splash as its previous horror entry Longlegs, or have the critical acclaim and awards savviness to back it up such as Anatomy of a Fall or Anora, but it was hard to deny our eyeballs on this when trailers were hitting our screens. Real life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, playing a couple, where they seem to be inexplicably becoming conjoined by some ethereal force. It teased some cool body horror elements, and even got some noted press of plagiarism from a short film with a similar premise released some years prior. The surprise upon a real watch came in unexpected ways. Rather than visceral shock of body horror elements, the true terror comes in the cringe-inducing moments between these character’s inability to connect, see, and hear one another, as it makes clear from the get-go this relationship might’ve best ended some time ago. And the humorous ways it chooses to illustrate this makes for an enjoyable, watch, albeit one that would’ve benefited from a stronger commitment in either direction to its horror & comedy middle ground.
It has the DNA and earnestness of wanting to be a modern cult classic in the genre; it might not get brought up as the best horror of the decade the way films like Hereditary, It Follows, or Under the Skin do for the previous decade, but it works enough to merit a viewing, and a spot on this list.
Read my full review for Together here.
7. Bring Her Back
Something I heard consistently from those who had seen Danny & Michael Philippou’s latest horror feature was “It was pretty good, but I liked Talk to Me more”. After my own watch, I think it’s safe to say Bring Her Back is definitely a tougher watch.
Horror is no stranger to using trauma as a core narrative theme for its storytelling, and contemporary films in the genre have latched on to this for some inventive hits in recent years. The directing brother duo’s previous film also dealt with trauma as a girl’s relationship with her parents, her mother having died from an overdose and her father becoming distant, being at the center of the nightmare. But where Talk to Me had a youthful exuberance in its cast, marketing, and presentation, such as with the possessed performances, Bring Her Back takes a supernatural concept and makes it about as real life possible as you could. The majority of the cast are still young actors, but they’re not emblematic of the Zoomer generation. Rather, the child and young adult characters are all subjected to incredible amounts of damage to their physical and mental well being. A tragic death of Andy and Piper’s father leaves them in the care of Laura, who is already taking care of a foster child named Oliver. Sally Hawkins is the clear standout, playing an incredibly disturbed woman who turns her grief for her own lost child into an obsession, corrupting these kids to resuscitate her own through demonic forces.
There’s high tension moments and bloody effects abound, but the majority of the terror in this picture is the sheer enduring of this imprisonment by the hands of Laura, as we bear witness to the cruelty these kids go through and attempt to escape from. Despite all the devil stuff, the traumatic elements hit way harder here and are overall not far-fetched from real nightmarish people who are definitely not fit to be parents, making this a watch that may leave you needing some comfort food or a stiff drink afterwards.
6. Presence
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, this atypical ghost film is told through the unique perspective of the unseen entity itself. Clean framing with measured camera movement, and practically an entire absence of a non-diegetic score, give this otherwise docile neighborhood home the sense of a legitimate, realistic haunting, as opposed to something more akin to The Conjuring or Paranormal Activity. The ensemble cast, particularly Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan, grounds the hardship of a family already fraying at the seams before the supernatural element ever asserts itself, very much being seen as an extension of their fracturing.
Prescence is also one of many new horror films in the last few years that ends, to quote T.S. Eliot, not with a bang but a whimper. We all love a big, bloody climax in our horror, with the monster defeated or the killer meeting a gruesomely fitting end (looking at you, 2013 Evil Dead). But films like Presence or 2022’s Skinamarink play the gamble of slow-paced terror that becomes ever-more the risk, as audience’s attention span continues to be handicapped by short form content being consumed ad nauseam by the world. Even less extreme approaches that still follow a cast of characters in the traditional format, rather than an omniscient point of view, like Robert Egger’s The Witch, still test audiences on their capacity & endurance for storytelling that isn’t mile-a-minute designed like Netflix’s productions are. But these are the kinds of horror pictures that deserve a watch, and to be shared and told by others to see, before they become a real dying breed in the industry.
5. Frankenstein
It felt like Hollywood just could not get the classic Mary Shelley story right for so long. So much so that most people regardless of age or generation still think of the classic Boris Karloff look, almost one hundred years old now in its debut film, when talking about the legendary creature. Whereas there’s been countless reinventions and interpretations of Dracula, and even as recently as last year’s Wolf Man and a modern twist on The Invisible Man from 2020, Frankenstein continued to underwhelm in modern adaptations. Kenneth Branagh’s film saw to capitalize on the success of Bram Stoker’s Dracula from Francis Ford Coppola, even mirroring putting the author in the film’s title, but casting Robert De Niro in the part wasn’t enough to replicate the same box office numbers. Van Helsing, an early aughts gothic action flick that actually still holds up today, saw to make Frankenstein’s monster a supporting character in the vampire hunter’s story. It wasn’t a new approach, but it continued to be the case in following years, as the character was sidelined in other character’s adventures or became part of an ensemble effort, from animated films like Hotel Transylvania and Igor to more action leaning horror pictures such as I, Frankenstein and Victor Frankenstein.
Though obviously some of these aren’t going for direct 1:1 adaptation, they all crucially miss the most important element: the relationship between Victor and his creation. Frankenstein is often the given name referred to the monster, but it is not his name alone. Like a father and son, it is shared, and the use of the name should tell both their stories, not one or the other. Like the Corleone family, in another Francis Ford Coppola film, “Godfather” is a moniker passed down from father to son, and the meaning of the word changes its effect on us depending on who it’s being attached to, as does it change the character themself.
Guillermo Del Toro’s dream project finally came to fruition, and also finally does the story true justice. It’s not perfect, nor does it need to be. It’s beautifully shot, and Del Toro’s fascination with creatures is on full display here in a medically horrific way, as anatomical cadavers, limbs, and trial experiments fill the scenes and set like a child’s toy bin emptied out over the living room floor. Jacob Elordi gives real softness and ferocity when called upon for it, showcasing the most well-rounded and fully realized version of Frankenstein’s monster perhaps ever put to film. and while Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) may have fathered this creature, he is a son as well, and the movie smartly shows his own innocence as a boy, where Victor’s relationship with his own father sets up an eventual pattern of distance and disregard with his creation. Together, the result is a dual storyline where the crossroads of father and son meet.
Gothic stories are often done best when there’s real heart to it. Romance, yearning, love, nurture, and the evils and devils that surround and threaten them like a breath to a candle wick. But even an undead heart can stay beating, and make space for forgiveness to accompany its rotting rib cage.
4. The Long Walk
A sort of sleeper hit from last year, The Long Walk wasn’t even the only Stephen King film adaptation in 2025. There was The Monkey, The Running Man, The Life of Chuck, and even a Pennywise prequel series with It: Welcome to Derry. Yet this dystopian nightmare from King’s early career (one of a handful originally published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman) is far and away the most notable among them. It operates in dystopian territory simple enough to understand without much explanation, which the film does the way, ya know, movies should. It shows and illustrates just what this game is and the world these chararcters live in, rather than telling us. Maybe 15 or more minutes into the film, we’ve been introduced to all the main cast, the walk has started, and we see the first player eliminated (re: executed). It’s one of the more visceral and violent moments of the entire picture, with the camera not cutting away at all to show a young kid who lied about his age to sneak into the competition get his face blown off. The characters can only keep walking. Cut to title card. What an opening.
This movie is so well paced, casted, shot, etc. Extremely solid all around. It is essentially a road movie without cars. Given the game involves competing to be the last one walking, we see the young men struggle in all sorts of ways that make their initial confidence (and perhaps the audience picturing themselves in it) look quite foolish. Shoes fall apart, competitors get sick, break bone, anything that makes them stop or slow down (they have to maintain a walking pace no less than 3 mph) and prevents them from winning. It’s not a game of skill but of endurance, made all the more difficult as the characters bond with one another, risking their own life to pick each other up if one stumbles or slows down from lack of food, water, or sleep.
An ensemble cast of relative unknowns makeup the core cast of this picture, with long dialogue scenes and an almost always moving camera following them, as if this were reality TV, and brutal moments in between of competitors facing the elements and each other. But it is mainly led by Cooper Hoffman as Ray Garraty and David Jonnson as Pete McVries. Both have excellent chemistry with one another, completely having us buy into this budding friendship that withstands so much. Jonnson in particular exudes such charisma and selflessness he becomes a main standout, resulting in wavering hopes from the viewer on just who we ultimately want to see come out on top.
The Long Walk might not be the first thing fans think of when King’s horror work is brought up, but this film deserves to have its place in the conversation.
3. Weapons
Zach Cregger’s debut Barbarian really made some waves in 2022, blending a hooky premise with his trademark comedy chops from his days with his comedy group The Whitest Kids U’ Know, and his follow-up cranks it all up in a much tighter piece. This movie also has the distinction of being the best movie theater watch of the year for me, as it was a thrill viewing it with a packed audience, audibly gasping, laughing, and cheering together in collective terror and glee. This was a consistent feeling & experience on two separate viewings in theaters.
There’s nothing inherently inferior to a horror movie being a sequel or having shared ancestry with a pre-existing franchise or IP, as you’ll see from some of the top spots on this list. But in our current age of IP domination, where legacy sequels and adaptations rule or sink the box office, a horror hit being a completely original, an so far standalone, story is equal parts thrilling and reassuring. It’s difficult to talk about the film without spoiling key aspects of the picture and its presentation, but expect non-traditional storytelling, moments of hilarity, actual solid performances from child actors (almost unheard of in the genre), and a supremely cathartic ending payoff. Best viewed with a group for this one.
2. Sinners
It’s impossible to deny the massive splash Ryan Coogler made in 2025. As his first original story, it goes far beyond the picture frame and goes for coloring outside the lines, emblematic of Coogler’s own merit and integrity as a filmmaker, as he was able to negotiate with the film’s distributor Warner Bros. not only for final cut privilege, but ownership of the film once twenty-five years have passed after its release.
With all its crock pot ingredients of it existing as a vampire movie, a historical period piece, a blues musical, a slavery epic, what shines above all its other monikers is a true personal extension of a storyteller’s hand. Currently now the most nominated film ever at the Academy Awards, horror, and its actors & crafters, are finally getting some shine without the sun burning them into ash.
Read my full review of Sinners here.
1. 28 Years Later
Danny Boyle made one of my favorite movies of the year, horror or otherwise. A supremely impactful picture, which I expect is only going to get more shine in the new year, thanks to its sequel in this new trilogy, The Bone Temple, arriving only seven months later. This is an opinion however I seem to be in the minority for. Its box office was successful yet its reviews were quite mixed, some even just outright hating it, whereas the new sequel film is getting better reviews despite a more underwhelming box office return.
One could argue the hype played a large factor into 28 Years, with the audio recording of the poem “Boots” by Rudyard Kipling being such a perfect choice for its trailer that Danny Boyle when into the editing room to use the same audio in the actual movie. And perhaps its uneven response from audiences has in turn resulted in lower numbers coming out to see The Bone Temple. Once again, in our age of digital media, with our ability to stream just about anything at our fingertips (with no shortage of ads interrupting the viewing experience), many people saw the trailer for this movie drop and immediately went to go and rewatch the original films 28 Days Later and its follow up 28 Weeks Later. And perhaps that was where audiences went wrong.
Maybe not wrong, but it certainly resulted in a sort of precedent for what to hope for or expect from this new movie continuing the story almost two decades later. Some who loved the first film for all its grittiness and shaky camera movement seemed utterly repelled by this new film’s cinematography. Those who enjoyed the second film from 2007, of which Danny Boyle only contributed to the opening sequence of (and still remains the most memorable part of the film), could not fathom this story and its characters. It seemed some viewers were expecting more of the same, or maybe just found it too extreme to the point of incoherent, unable to make sense of the images in front of them.
I’m not sure, really. What I do know is that Danny Boyle is a hugely visual director, and a familiarity with his work, hits, misses, and cult favorites, might have prepped me to not be so jarringly effected by his film’s editing choices, its needle drop moments, its updated translation of filming from early digital cameras from the first film to using iPhones on this one; if anything, I expected, like the rage virus mutating and evolving over 28 years, something new and strange. What I did not expect was the humanity in it all. Where these foreign elements may have not landed for some audiences, it only laid the groundwork for me to really open up to this film, and welcome it to its inclusion at this final spot in the list.
Read my full review of 28 Years Later here.
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