2025 Horror Movie Reviews

Horror Movie Reviews By Liz Johnson, Sarah Kozlowski, and Lara Sea

'Tis the season for bloody good fun!

There are two types of people: 1) Little scaredy cats who don't like horror movies and 2) Scaredy cats who absolutely love horror movies. Because while all three of us awesome reviewers love slashers, ghosts, and creatures that go bump in the night, you'll still find us squirming in our seats and falling for those jump scares. But that's the fun, isn't it? We had a great year of horror movie watching in 2025. Read our reviews and see what we thought about a few of 'em...

Liz Johnson

2025 Horror Movie Watch Count: 25

Favorite 2025 Horror Movie: Sinners

Favorite Horror Movie Of All Time: The Exorcist

Favorite Horror Genre: Survival, Folk, Psychological

COMPANION

Directed And Written By Drew Hancock

Companion landed differently for me because its horror grows out of something painfully familiar: the quiet expectations placed on women to be easy, agreeable, and endlessly accommodating.

The “twist” that Iris is actually an android created to be the perfect, compliant partner reframes everything. The movie stops being about fear of robots and becomes the fear of male entitlement, which is genuinely much more terrifying.

As Iris becomes self-aware, she learns she wasn’t “loved” so much as programmed; literally built to smile, obey, and prioritize her owner’s comfort. Once she pieces together that her existence is a product designed for male consumption, the film shifts into a violent unraveling. 

The most chilling moment is discovering that Josh didn’t just buy her, he customized her, choosing traits he wanted in an ideal woman. It’s the nightmare version of what society often asks of us: be agreeable, be quiet, be predictable, be perfect. Iris’s rebellion is violent, but it’s the first act that belongs entirely to her.

The ending works well: Iris gets out, but she doesn’t suddenly “become human.” She can’t change her origin, only chooses not to remain defined by it.

TOGETHER

Written And Directed By Michael Shanks (Directorial Debut!) 

Together opens as a story of a couple trying to reset. They move to the countryside, hoping this change will repair what’s fraying in their relationship. From there, the film spirals into an absurd, uncanny horror of codependence made real. 

After a freak accident in a cave, something supernatural begins to fuse the leads, Millie and Tim, physically coupling them in a way that mirrors their emotional entanglement. The horror doesn’t come from a monster or a masked killer. It comes from how love, longing, and shared grief twist into something claustrophobic, confusing, and monstrous. Their bond becomes grotesquely literal: being stuck together, unable to separate. 

As someone who has been living in a long-term relationship, I found the film’s core metaphor deeply affecting. It speaks to the danger of losing yourself in a partnership, the subtle drift from “we’re two people” into “we are one.” When Millie and Tim are forced into a physical and emotional melding, the film makes tangible what so many couples fear: the erosion of individual identity, self‑expression, and independence under the weight of codependence.

What elevates the film is its self-awareness and well-timed comedic relief. Moments of absurdity give the viewer space to breathe, while also underlining how bizarre and surreal their predicament truly is. It’s horror and humor working together to make the story both disturbing and oddly relatable.

THE UGLY STEPSISTER

Written And Directed By Emilie Blichfeldt (Directorial Debut!) 

Norwegian Film

The Ugly Stepsister is a twisted version of a familiar fairytale: a widow remarries, bringing her daughters, including the lead, Elvira, into a grand estate where beauty and status are everything. With their hopes hinging on her catching the eye of the Prince at a ball, Elvira is subjected to a horrifying transformation; brutal cosmetic surgeries, starvation, and even ingesting a tapeworm, all in the name of becoming beautiful and worthy enough. 

The horror isn’t supernatural; it’s excruciatingly real. Elvira’s body becomes the canvas for societal expectations and the ruthless idea that a woman’s worth is measured by her looks. The film doesn’t flinch from the gore. Nose jobs with crude tools, stitched eyelids, self‑harm in the name of weight loss, every physical violation feels like a metaphor for the emotional and psychological toll of chasing an impossible standard. 

The film asks: what happens when a society demands perfection from someone whose only “crime” is being born imperfect? It shows how those demands can warp not just bodies, but identity and self-worth. 

The film isn’t pure bleakness, though. It balances horror with dark comedy, satire, and a subversive twist on the classic tale. By centering the “ugly” stepsister, not the idealized princess, it gives voice to the often ignored, the invisible. And in doing so, it reframes beauty not just as a privilege, but as a brutal burden.

Sarah Kozlowski

2025 Horror Movie Watch Count: 30

Favorite 2025 Horror Movie: The Long Walk

Favorite Horror Movie Of All Time: Sinister

Favorite Horror Genre: Paranormal or Folk

Dream Eater

Directed By Jay Drakulic, Mallory Drumm, Alex Lee Williams

Written By Jay Drakulic, Mallory Drumm, Alex Lee Williams

It won’t let you sleep. Ok, while I did sleep fine after this film, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good scare – Eli Roth didn’t pick this up for nothing! Dream Eater is a micro-budget found-footage film following a filmmaker documenting her boyfriend’s violent parasomnia (paranoid sleepwalking episodes) on doctor’s orders while vacationing at a remote cabin in the woods. As his sleepwalking worsens, they begin to wonder if there is something more at play.

This movie relies pretty heavily on tropes (no spoilers here), and the dialogue, I’ll admit, is lackluster, but the premise overall is pretty chilling. The scenes when the boyfriend is actively in a state of parasomnia get increasingly disturbing, and his sleepwalk mumbling was unnerving.

Clunky delivery, decent scares, and that sleepwalk mumbling will stay with you longer than the dialogue. If this film returns to theaters at some point, I’d recommend seeing it on the big screen for a more haunting viewing experience.

Shelby Oaks

Directed By Chris Stuckmann

Written By Sam Liz and Chris Stuckmann

When I heard Mike Flanagan was executive producer on this project, I was sold on seeing it in theaters. Shot as a traditional feature with elements of found footage, Shelby Oaks follows Mia as she searches for her sister Riley, a paranormal investigator YouTuber who went missing 12 years prior.

Writer & director Chris Stuckmann (who also happens to be one of the most popular movie reviewers on YouTube) leans hard into traditional horror beats that could feel derivative – seeing breath fog when it shouldn’t be cold, cracked glass, the slow turn over the shoulder – but it worked for me. There were moments when I was holding my breath right alongside Mia, completely drawn into the search for something just out of frame.

Not every viewer will have patience for Stuckmann's slow-burn approach, but if you're willing to sit in the dark with Mia and let the dread build, this delivers. Imperfect ending, but the atmosphere alone is worth a second viewing.

The Long Walk

Directed By Francis Lawrence

Written By JT Mollner

I should have kept a tally of how many times I “start-sobbed” (you know the sound) in the theater. The Long Walk isn't horror in the traditional sense – no jump scares, no monsters lurking in shadows. What makes it devastating is watching teenage boys forge genuine friendships while knowing, with absolute certainty, that they will die one by one until only one remains.

Based on Stephen King's 1979 novel (originally published under his Richard Bachman pseudonym), the film follows 50 (100 in the book) boys competing in an annual event called "the Long Walk," a grueling march where they must maintain pace or face immediate execution. It's set in a totalitarian United States following a civil war, where the regime uses this spectacle to inspire "patriotism and work ethic" during economic collapse. While the book was written 45 years ago, it feels like it could be reporting from next year. That proximity is what makes this so hard to shake.

Director Francis Lawrence and his cast, especially Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, understand the assignment completely. The film is beautifully shot and completely unsparing: Lawrence forces you to witness every degrading, brutal moment because looking away would be a mercy this story doesn't allow. The script adds new backstories and completely reimagines King's ending, choices that could have alienated purists but instead deepen the emotional stakes. Every deviation serves the gut-punch.

I've seen it twice already. I cried both times. The horror isn't just what happens to them – it's that we live in a world where this story feels less like dystopian fiction and more like a warning we're choosing to ignore.

Lara Sea

2025 Horror Movie Watch Count: 12 (forgive my low number!!)

Favorite 2025 Horror Movie: 28 Years Later

Favorite Horror Movie: ALIEN

Favorite Horror Genre: Folk or Vacation Gone Wrong

28 Years Later 

Directed By Danny Boyle

Written By Alex Garland

I remember watching 28 Days Later for the first time. I was at the Dollar Theater in Knoxville, TN (simpler times) with my mom sitting beside me. So yeah, that full-frontal male nude scene right at the open was a little…memorable. But I also remember being blown away by this movie. Scary, gritty, intense. And the reveal of this world's true horror–men. 28 Weeks Later was also a solid movie, though I think of it like I do the first two ALIEN movies (ALIEN/28 Days = film vs Aliens/28 Weeks = movie). So then we come to 28 Years Later. Like a zombie/infected/undead, this franchise just keeps coming back around. 

28 Years Later is set, you guessed it, 28 years after the virus spread throughout England (?). (There is some debate here on whether this movie ignored the second movie’s ending which spoiler shows the infection spreading to France and an implied beyond. But it may have just glossed over larger Europe's ability to control the outbreak.) A small village has stayed alive with the help of a high tide that cuts them off from the mainland and through strict rules. We focus on: Spike (young boy) with his father and mother (suffering from an illness). Blah blah blah - you can read the synopsis. 

The third installment of this series is a return to what made the first one so fascinating. Yes, it has terrifying infected (now with more dick and a sex drive), chase sequences that will speed up that heart rate, scenes that will make you squirm and cover your eyes, but, like the first, the core of the story isn’t about all that. It’s about the non-infected people–their ordinary faults and ordinary pains. This one is set up as a coming-of-age tale, and it’s a fantastic one (move aside, boyhood). 

While Spike’s coming-of-age ritual might be a little intense and his journey a tad more dramatic than an average boy’s non-infected world one, he still has to go through the same timeless pain we all do. Dealing with defining your sense of self away from your family, discovering your parents are flawed individuals, realizing death is real and has to be dealt with, and knowing that your childhood is behind you. 

I loved 28 Years Later - it has everything I want in a horror movie: creep factor, thrills, comedy, and heart. (Yes, I cried). Plus, Ralph Fiennes?!? Incredible as always. Could not have been more happy that this franchise just cant seem to die. 

Bring Her Back 

Directed By Danny and Michael Philippou

Written By Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman

Andy (17) and his visually impaired stepsister, Piper, are placed in foster care with Laura after their father dies. Laura is also looking after Oliver, a mute boy around Piper’s age. Right off the bat, Oliver is being a little weirdo and it's known that Laura comes with a tragic past: her young daughter Cathy (named Cathy, really??) drowned. But she is nice, especially to Piper, and things are fine. Until they get creepy. 

The ingredients: A24, children (inherently creepy), living with a stranger, a character who literally cant see danger, bloody/cannibal ritual. These are all solid ingredients that should add up to one heck of an unsettling movie. And the trailer? Sold. But watching it with my horror girlies in the theater - totally underwhelming. This one got good reviews but I think it was one of those times when one critic said it was good and they all copied his/work without caring to do the assignment. 

I just watched the trailer again, and honestly, it’s a better short film than the actual full-length movie. Even in 1 minute and 30 seconds, it manages to effectively build suspense, create eerie tension, sprinkle in the grotesque with the ordinary, and leave you feeling intrigued while anxious. Watching the full movie, though, failed to deliver. The tension wasn’t there. It was flat. Sure, Laura was doing creepy things, but the writers, directors, and cinematographers could not put the pieces together so that the audience felt a compounding sense of dread and impending doom. And I get it, keeping viewers in a state of tension is hard, but if you can't do it, maybe write and direct a children’s show. 

Also, Danny and Michael Philippou were responsible for the horror movie Talk To Me (2022). Which I believe had a lot of the same issues as this movie. So, although a movie’s director will not normally sway me to watch something, when their names pop up again, I’ll probably pay attention and pass. 

Final Destination Bloodlines 

Directed By Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein

Written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor

Final Destination Bloodlines is number six in the Final Destination franchise. Did I see all six? It’s hard to remember, let me check * looks at movie descriptions * well, 3, 4, 5 blur together but I may have missed 4 aka Final Destination, which came out in 2009. (That’s the race car crash one for those of you at home.) Forgive me for not keeping up, I’ve been busy the last 25 years. 

As I said, it’s been 25 years since Final Destination came out. And while I may have dropped off as “a fan,” the first two movies have always stayed close to my heart. I still remember the feeling of watching that plane explode after Alex convinced the soon-to-be death-stalked group to walk back into the airport. Wow. And has anyone looked at a logging truck the same way after 2003? I don't think so. This series has endured for good reason: it’s unique, shocking, funny, and super gross sometimes. So when the Bloodlines trailer dropped, I knew I was in. 

The horror girlies were in too. We headed to the theater, got our snacks, and settled in. 

I haven’t laughed and gasped that much while watching a movie in a long time. Right off the bat, the writers gave us what we came for: insanely over-the-top, graphic, ridiculous carnage. The difference this time is that we then flash forward to that survivor’s granddaughter, Stefani. Stefani eventually discovers that those insane dreams she was having of a Space Needle/Not Space Needle disaster are connected to her estranged Grandmother, Iris. Iris has been in hiding because why?? Death is after her, of course. And so Stefani must then take on the burden of trying to convince her family that Death is after all of them. They don’t believe her until branches start falling off the family tree in rapid succession. 

So while the plot may only be slightly different from the five that came before, this movie knew exactly what it should be. The deaths were crazy. There were false scares followed by maybe one of the most horrific deaths in the franchise. There were hilarious lines. And a very necessary appearance from William Bludworth, played by the late Tony Todd. It simply didn’t shy away from taking all the bits that worked in previous movies and cranking them up a notch. Because if you’re gonna beat a premise to death ;) you might as well take notice of what the people want. All in all, a super fun ride that should be watched with friends.