The 15 Best Horror Movies of 2025 (So Far)

15. Death Of A Unicorn

It starts with a unicorn. Not a magical moment – more like a grotesque, glittery hit-and-run. What follows is a twisted spiral into corporate greed, ecological horror, and surreal body horror that feels one part fairy tale, two parts fever dream. There’s a corporate CEO with a god complex, a secret island, and an increasingly horrifying plan for the unicorn's remains. What makes Death Of A Unicorn so effective is its refusal to stay in one lane – it’s absurd, disturbing, and, somehow, also emotionally resonant. You don’t expect to feel feelings in a movie like this. And yet, there they are. It’s satirical horror that sticks the landing without preaching, and every frame has that odd, A24 glow of “what am I even watching?” in the best way. | © A24

14. Clown in a Cornfield

You think you’ve seen every clown-slasher movie ever made, and then Clown in a Cornfield shows up to prove you wrong. This isn’t just some throwaway B-movie with a creepy mask – it’s a surprisingly sharp, socially aware, and unapologetically brutal horror flick that plays with small-town paranoia and teenage rebellion. The kills are inventive (and occasionally jaw-dropping), the suspense builds steadily, and there’s an underlying sadness that elevates it above standard genre fare. It’s about more than a killer in greasepaint – though, for the record, Frendo the Clown is nightmare fuel. What really lands is the way it mixes high school drama with moral rot in a town that thinks it's still pure. Come for the slasher fun, stay for the bleak commentary. | © Protagonist Pictures / Temple Hill Productions / RLJ

13. The Monkey

There’s something inherently creepy about old toys, and The Monkey runs full-speed into that idea with gleeful menace. Every time the cursed cymbal-clapping monkey makes a noise, someone dies – violently. That premise could be pure schlock, but the movie surprises by going deeper. It’s less about jump scares and more about the long shadow of childhood trauma, sibling bonds, and how evil can follow you home. The tension tightens like a noose with each click of those little brass hands, and the deaths feel like cruel cosmic jokes. If you’re the type who gets nervous around vintage wind-up toys… you might want to leave the lights on for this one. It’s Stephen King weirdness with a dark emotional core. | © Atomic Monster / Black Bear / C2 Motion Picture Group

12. Final Destination: Bloodlines

Just when you thought the franchise had run out of ways to kill people with ceiling fans, falling glass, or kitchen appliances – Bloodlines pulls you back in. And it does it smartly. Instead of rebooting everything, it digs into the lore: where these fatal patterns started, and why fate seems so damn invested in taking people out in the most elaborate ways possible. This is still Final Destination, so yes, the death scenes are the main event – and they absolutely deliver. But what makes this entry sing is how it reintroduces tension and mythology without losing the popcorn fun. It's got a sense of doom, a few nasty surprises, and a finale that’ll make your heart race for all the right (and wrong) reasons. | © New Line Cinema / Practical Pictures / Freshman Year / Fireside Films

11. Marshmallow

At first, it feels like a dreamy throwback: kids at summer camp, ghost stories by the fire, a rumor about something watching from the woods. But Marshmallow isn’t here to play by the rules. It’s a slow-build horror story that gently turns the screws until everything soft and sweet becomes something grotesque. What sets it apart is the tone – it walks a delicate line between melancholy and menace, tapping into that childhood fear that the adults don’t believe you and maybe the dark really is alive. There’s no bloodbath. No killer in a mask. Just a creeping sense that something is terribly wrong in the place where kids are supposed to be safe. And by the time it shows its full hand, you’re already too deep in to look away. | © Hemlock Circle Productions

10. Companion

A weekend getaway at a lakeside mansion spirals into anything but relaxing when a billionaire’s sudden death kicks off a terrifying chain reaction. With every secret unveiled – jealousy, betrayal, buried resentments – the group’s camaraderie erodes, and the house becomes a pressure cooker. It’s part mystery, part body-horror, with just enough surreal tension to keep you guessing. The film nails that claustrophobic vibe – every room, every corridor feels loaded with threat. What sets Companion apart is how it drips dread slowly; by the time the twist hits, you’re already gasping. It’s the kind of movie that lingers after the credits roll, making you question every friendly glance among characters. | © BoulderLight Pictures / New Line Cinema

9. Heart Eyes

Valentine’s Day meets a slasher flick in Heart Eyes, where a masked killer on a romantic rampage mistakes co-workers for a real couple. What could’ve been a standard slasher becomes a fun hybrid of rom‑com banter and throat‑cutting terror. The tension bubbles from the moment they’re first mistaken, and every near miss in deserted parking garages or dim hotel rooms tightens the screws. What works is that underlying irony – love can kill, literally. The film balances laughs, scares, and a twisty reveal, all while riffing on coupledom clichés. And when secrets come out, they pack a surprising emotional punch – this isn’t just about gore, but about connection and trust under fire. | © Divide/Conquer / Spyglass Media Group

8. Dangerous Animals

Picture this: you're stranded on a boat with hungry sharks circling beneath, and your kidnapper is filming every moment like it’s performance art. Dangerous Animals delivers that nightmare scenario in full force – shark-thriller meets serial killer horror. The mood shifts from sun-soaked freedom to claustrophobic terror the moment the cage dive promise turns into a one-way ticket. The real villain isn’t the sharks; it’s the man behind the camera, whose obsession with ritualistic feeding elevates the terror. The suspense comes from not knowing if the ocean or the human will kill first. It’s an unnerving, morally twisted ride that reminds you how close survival and voyeurism can be. | © IFC Films / Shudder

7. Together

Together takes codependency to grotesque new heights – literally: a couple moves to the countryside, encounters a cursed cave, and soon their bodies begin to physically fuse together. It starts as an eerie relationship drama on a knife-edge, then slips into body horror that probes dependency and intimacy in unnerving ways. As their connection becomes literal, so does their terror: they can’t escape each other, but they can’t remain trapped either. The tone is sticky and surreal, balancing gross-out charm with emotional dread. It’s a twisted metaphor for co-dependence you can’t gingerly extract yourself from – and you don’t want to, even when it’s terrifying. | © 30West / Tango Entertainment / Picturestart / 1.21 / Princess Pictures

6. Hallow Road

A late-night motorway call from their panicked daughter sends two parents into a tense, psychological spiral in Hallow Road. The movie plays out mostly in a claustrophobic car, raising goosebumps with every mile as they rush toward uncertainty. At first it’s a race against time; then it becomes a deeper reckoning with mistakes, parenting fears, and family secrets. The eerie silence of the road, punctuated by frantic phone calls and flaring emotions, sets a pressure cooker atmosphere that slowly tightens. Just when you think it might tip into supernatural territory, it pulls back with grounded terror. It’s equal parts family drama and horror, with dread as the fuel. One of those “what if it happened to you” films that sticks with you through the rearview. | © XYZ Films / LNDN. / Two and Two Pictures

5. 28 Years Later

Picking up nearly three decades after the Rage Virus first tore through civilization, this sequel shifts focus from survival to legacy. A young man, raised in isolation on a fortified island, ventures back to the mainland – only to find a world haunted by more than just the infected. Societies have fractured into cults, rogue communities, and scavenger gangs. The real horror isn’t just the viral chaos anymore – it’s what humans have become in its absence. What makes 28 Years Later so compelling isn’t just the eerie visuals or the jump scares (though there are plenty); it’s how the film tackles grief, memory, and how far people will go to rewrite history or preserve it. It’s brutal, introspective, and deeply human. | © Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Releasing

4. Sinners

At a juke joint in 1930s Mississippi, the music is hot, the drinks are flowing – and something hungry waits in the dark. Sinners blends Southern Gothic with vampire lore, but don’t expect coffins and capes. This is bloodsucking horror rooted in racial tension, cultural ownership, and survival. The supernatural unfolds slowly, creeping in between dance numbers and whispered warnings, until the film erupts in a crescendo of violence and revelation. Beneath the genre stylings lies a story about exploitation and resilience – who gets to thrive, and who gets drained. It’s moody, stylish, and emotionally devastating in the best way. | © Warner Bros. Pictures / Proximity Media

3. Bring Her Back

What starts as a quiet drama about two step-siblings trying to adjust to life in a new foster home becomes something far more disturbing. There’s a creeping unease in the way the house seems to breathe, the way their new mother hovers just a little too close, says things that sound almost like spells. Bring Her Back thrives on atmosphere – it’s a slow unraveling of safety, memory, and trust. As reality bends and the rituals begin, the film morphs into a surreal, grief-drenched nightmare. It’s about belonging, manipulation, and the deep, unspoken cost of trying to be loved by someone dangerous. | © A24 / Causeway Films / South Australian Film Corporation

2. The Ugly Stepsister

This is no bedtime fairy tale. Instead, it’s a surgical nightmare in heels. The Ugly Stepsister twists the Cinderella myth into a grotesque body horror tale about obsession, jealousy, and identity. When one stepsister becomes fixated on her more glamorous sibling, the transformation begins – literally. What follows is a parade of increasingly disturbing beauty rituals: injections, grafts, slicing, sculpting. It’s gruesome, yes, but also wickedly funny and bitingly smart about our culture’s fixation on appearance. What makes it shine is how it never loses its humanity beneath the blood – it’s ultimately a story about someone trying to carve out a version of themselves the world might finally love. | © Mer Film / Lava Films / Zentropa

1. Nosferatu

This isn’t just a remake – it’s a resurrection. Nosferatu draws from the dread of the original silent film but expands it into something deeply modern. The horror isn’t loud or fast; it creeps. A young woman becomes entangled in the orbit of a shadowy figure whose influence infects not just her world, but her very soul. The film builds a kind of gothic hypnosis, where light feels like a threat and silence becomes unbearable. Every frame is soaked in unease. It’s less about the vampire’s bite and more about the emotional rot he leaves behind. The result is a quiet, devastating descent into darkness that redefines what vampire horror can be. | © Element Pictures / Focus Features