Horror had a banner year in 2024. Several indie movies became surprise smash hits, from Strange Darling‘s word-of-mouth success story to Longlegs becoming the year’s highest-grossing independent release to The Substance‘s awards recognition. That’s not to mention how late the 2024 release Nosferatu quickly reached a milestone for filmmaker Robert Eggers, as his highest-grossing movie. As the genre continues its reign as one of the most exciting and thought-provoking today, there are, thankfully, many excellent horror movies due out in 2025.
From the latest projects from award-winning and cult-loved directors to the next entry into the Universal Dark Universe to highly anticipated sequels, there are a lot of scary movies and thrillers to look forward to (including some that even scaredy cats can tolerate). Below, find the best horror movies of 2025 that are coming to cinemas soon and later this year. (For recommendations of what to watch right now, check out our list of the best horror movies of 2024.)
‘Presence’
(Image credit: NEON)
Release date: January 24
Starring: Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Lucas Papaelias, West Mulholland, and Eddy Maday
Why it’s worth seeing: There are countless haunted house movies, but Steven Soderbergh is set to flip the genre on its head for his latest. The Oscar-winner, known for his innovative filmmaking tactics like shooting on an iPhone, frames Presence entirely through the POV of a ghost haunting a family who moves into a new house.
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‘Wolf Man’
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)
Release date: January 17
Starring: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, Sam Jaeger, and Ben Prendergast
Why it’s worth seeing: Leigh Whannell has penned several hit horror movies, many of which were directed by blockbuster genre filmmaker James Wan, from the Saw movies to the Insidious series. He became a filmmaker to watch in his own right by directing 2020’s feminist horror movie The Invisible Man, and he’s back helming this film inspired by Universal Pictures’ iconic monster movie The Wolf Man. In the updated version, Christopher Abbott plays a family man who relocates with his wife (Julia Garner) and daughter (Matilda Firth) to his late father’s remote home in Oregon after his death. When a werewolf attacks him, he transforms himself, much to the horror of his family.
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‘Companion’
(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)
Release date: January 31
Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, and Harvey Guillén
Why it’s worth seeing: If you liked the 2022 hit Barbarian, add Companion to your must-see list: It comes from the same production team and twists abound. The thriller, written and directed by up-and-comer Drew Hancock, centers around a twisted love story and a weekend away gone very wrong. The plot has been kept under wraps, but, trust us, don’t look up any spoilers before going into this one.
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‘Heart Eyes’
(Image credit: Screen Gems)
Release date: February 7
Starring: Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Michaela Watkins, Devon Sawa, and Jordana Brewster
Why it’s worth watching: This horror-comedy comes just in time for Valentine’s Day. The genre-bending serial killer movie is about a pair of coworkers who work late on February 14 and are mistaken for a couple by the sadistic, romance-hating Heart Eyes Killer.
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‘The Monkey’
(Image credit: NEON)
Release date: February 21
Starring: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy
Why it’s worth seeing: Did Longlegs give you nightmares but absolutely wow you in 2024? Well, its writer/director Osgood Perkins is already back with another film. An adaptation of genre master Stephen King’s 1980 short story of the same name, Theo James pulls double duty, playing a pair of twins who uncover a creepy toy monkey in their family attic. When deaths start unfolding around them, they have reason to believe the monkey is the cause of it, leading them to hide the toy—and set out to destroy it years later when similar deaths start to occur.
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‘The Woman in the Yard’
Release date: March 28
Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, Okwui Okpokwasili, Russell Hornsby, Peyton Jackson, and Estella Kahiha
Why it’s worth seeing: Little is known about this upcoming film, but with Danielle Deadwyler (Till, The Piano Lesson) leading the cast and Jaume Collet-Serra (The Orphan, Carry-On) directing, it’s bound to be good. Plus, it’s a Blumhouse release and their hits have been among some of our favorite horror movies over the past decade, from Get Out to M3GAN.
‘Drop’
Release date: April 11
Starring: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Jeffery Self, Gabrielle Ryan Spring, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Ed Weeks, Travis Nelson, and Reed Diamond
Why it’s worth seeing: We’ve all had our fair share of bad dates, but few may compare to what happens to Meghann Fahy’s character Violet in this thriller. She stars as a widowed mother who goes on a pleasantly surprising date with a charming man (Brandon Skienar), which quickly turns into a nightmare as she starts to receive texts with a series of commands. Among the requests is an order to kill her date, and if she doesn’t, whoever is on the other end of her texts threatens to harm her and her loved ones. Major yikes!
‘Sinners’
(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)
Release date: April 18
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, and Delroy Lindo
Why it’s worth seeing: Whenever frequent collaborators Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler team up, it’s a must-see. The Black Panther and Creed filmmaker’s latest is an original horror movie about twin brothers (both played by Jordan) who return to their hometown, “only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back,” per the synopsis.
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‘Death of a Unicorn’
Release date: Spring 2025 TBA
Starring: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, and Richard E. Grant
Why it’s worth seeing: The title of this A24 horror-comedy is quite literal—which sounds like the makings of a wonderfully weird feature debut from Alex Scharfman. Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega (a pairing we’re obsessed with!) play a father and daughter who hit a real-life unicorn with their car, much to their surprise. When they bring the creature to the dad’s company retreat, his boss tries to harness its magical properties to dangerous results.
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‘M3GAN 2.0’
Release date: June 27
Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Ivanna Sakhno, Timm Sharp, Aristotle Athari, and Jemaine Clement
Why it’s worth seeing: Consider this our most anticipated horror movie of the year! After the Blumhouse’s horror-comedy movie about a killer AI doll slayed at the box-office in early 2022, a sequel was green lit. Though her tech was deactivated at the end of the original, we know she’s set to make a comeback in the follow-up. Thank goodness.
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ sequel
Release date: July 18
Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr., Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers, Jonah Haur-King, Lola Tung, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Austin Nichols, and Gabbriette
Why it’s worth watching: Could this cast be any more stacked? I Know What You Did Last Summer is the latest ‘90s movie to get rebooted. For the unfamiliar, the original franchise followed a group of teens being stalked by a killer with a hook for a hand after a tragic accident. The new version is said to have a similar premise, but details remain hush-hush. One thing is for certain though: Freddie Prinze Jr., who appeared in the first movies, is coming back.
‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’
Release date: September 5
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ben Hardy, and Mia Tomlinson
Why it’s worth seeing: The Conjuring universe has produced spinoff series like the Annabelle and The Nun movies, making this sequel the franchise’s whopping ninth installment overall The new film focuses on the paranormal investigators who started it all, the Warrens (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson), and acts as a direct sequel to 2021’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. The plot has been kept under wraps, though many of the films in the series have been inspired by the Warrens’ real case files.
‘Saw XI’
Release date: September 26
Starring: Tobin Bell and TBA
Why it’s worth seeing: Jigsaw isn’t done yet. The eleventh Saw movie is finally coming in 2025, though very few details are known about it. In fact, it was about a year into the film’s development that it was confirmed that Tobin Bell, who has played John Kramer (a.k.a. Jigsaw) since the first movie, will reprise his role. Nevertheless, the 82-year-old actor will be back and probably freak us out just the same.
‘The Black Phone 2’
Release date: October 17
Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Ethan Hawke, Jeremy Davies, Miguel Cazarez Mora, Demián Bichir, and Arianna Rivas
Why it’s worth seeing: While the 2021 hit horror movie The Black Phone was based on Joe Hill’s stand-alone novella of the same name, it’s getting the sequel treatment, thanks to the movie’s blockbuster success. The first film was a coming-of-age story about a 13-year-old boy (Mason Thames) abducted by a child predator known as The Grabber (Ethan Hawke), who tries to escape with the help of his past victims’ spirits. It’s yet to be announced what part two will be about, but much of the cast from the first film is reprising their roles—including Ethan Hawke as the masked villain.
‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’
Release date: December 5
Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Elizabeth Lail, and Piper Rubio
Why it’s worth seeing: Get ready to return to the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. A sequel was ordered for the video-game-movie-adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s as soon as it became a surprise box-office smash in 2023. Though no major details have been confirmed, we’d bet security guard Mike (Josh Hutcherson) will try to stop the killer animatronic mascots once and for all.
‘Dead Lover’
(Image credit: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival)
Release date: TBA; Premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Starring: Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Leah Doz, and Lowen Morrow
Why it’s worth seeing: Some of the most exciting horror movies of the year premiere in Sundance’s Midnight slate, and Dead Lover is among them. For actress/filmmaker Grace Glowicki’s sophomore feature, she stars as a gravedigger who meets her dream man—only for him to die unexpectedly shortly after. Doing anything for love, you can bet she’ll channel Dr. Frankenstein in her attempts to bring him back.
‘Didn’t Die’
(Image credit: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival)
Release date: TBA; Premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Starring: Kiran Deol, George Basil, Samrat Chakrabarti, Katie McCuen, and Vishal Vijayakumar
Why it’s worth seeing: Meera Menon’s latest combines two unlikely topics: podcasting and a zombie apocalypse. In a fun, gory turn, the film focuses on a podcaster who “desperately clings to an ever-shrinking audience in the zombie apocalypse.”
‘Opus’
Release date: TBA; Premiering at Sundance Film Festival in January
Starring: Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, and Amber Midthunder
Why it’s worth seeing: We may know Ayo Edebiri for her comedic performances, but we’d bet she’ll wow us in this eerie A24 movie. The Emmy winner plays a writer invited under mysterious circumstances to the compound belonging to a legendary pop star who disappeared decades ago. Of course, nothing is as it seems.
‘Rabbit Trap’
(Image credit: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival)
Release date: TBA; Premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Starring: Dev Patel, Rosy McEwen, and Jade Croot
Why it’s worth seeing: This one’s for fans of folk horror—and creepy kid movies. In Bryn Chainey’s debut feature, a couple (Dev Patel and Rosy McEwen) moves to a home in a desolate, wooded area of Wales. While the musician wife works on her new album, her music “disturbs local ancient folk magic,” inviting a mysterious child (Jade Croot) to their front door. May our crushes on Dev Patel help us brave through the inevitable terrors to come.
‘Together’
(Image credit: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival)
Release date: TBA; Premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Starring: Alison Brie, Dave Franco, and Damon Herriman
Why it’s worth seeing: Married couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco have worked together before, but we can’t wait to see the funny pair flexing their horror muscles. They’ll star opposite one another as a couple whose relationship is on the rocks after moving to the countryside and then find themselves undergoing “an extreme transformation of their love, their lives, and their flesh” after experiencing a “supernatural encounter.” We’re hooked already.
‘Touch Me’
(Image credit: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival)
Release date: TBA; Premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Starring: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jordan Gavaris, Marlene Forte, and Paget Brewster
Why it’s worth seeing: Filmmaker Addison Heimann has described his latest feature Touch Me as “a bisexual alien sex horror comedy.” If that doesn’t already have you intrigued, the synopsis should: “Two codependent best friends become addicted to the heroin-like touch of an alien narcissist who may or may not be trying to take over the world.”
‘Vicious’
Release date: TBA
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Kathryn Hunter, Mary McCormack, Rachel Blanchard, and Devyn Nekoda
Why it’s worth seeing: We’re here for the Dakota Fanning-assiance. She leads this spooky, paranormal movie about “a young woman who, after being left with a strange present from a late-night visitor, must spend the night fighting for her existence as she slips down a disturbing rabbit hole contained inside the gift,” per the synopsis.