I’m a horror expert – these are the 7 best films of 2025 so far

2024 was a huge year for horror, but 2025 looks to be bigger and better than ever.

Last year we were captivated by Longlegs’ terrifying marketing campaign, marvelled at the power of indie horror with Late Night With The Devil, and simply shocked by The Substance sweeping awards ceremonies.

Immaculate, Strange Darling, I Saw The TV Glow, and In A Violent Nature all graced top films of the year lists across the world – and that’s just a handful of genre titles that made an impact.

It’s a tough act to follow, but this year, we have already witnessed some of the best horror has to offer, with chilling reboots, long-awaited sequels, and original titles that have had us in a chokehold.

And we’re only halfway through 2025 – there are still tonnes of chilling releases left to sink our teeth into.

As an avid fan of horror – from gateway flicks to extreme gems – it’s been one of the most exciting years of cinema in a while, but it can also become a daunting task trying to wade through the recommendations.

So I have compiled a list of 7 of the best horror films of 2025 you need to make sure you watch before the New Year and a fresh slate of exciting releases arrive. Sweet screams.

Nosferatu

Nosferatu kicked off the 2025 horror calendar in a sumptuous gothic fashion, offering a fresh twist on F. W. Murnau’s iconic vampire flick.

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgard, Lily-Rose Depp, and Willem Dafoe, Robert Eggers’ film follows estate agent Thomas Hutter (Hoult) as he travels to Transylvania to facilitate the sale of a home in his small German village.

He meets with the prospective client, Count Orlok (Skarsgard), but is soon plagued by nightmarish visions and encounters an evil force far beyond his comprehension – and it’s coming for his wife, Ellen (Depp).

With a palpable sense of dread from the first scene, Eggers injects his signature dark and ominous flare into the classic tale, evident from his work on The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman.

Bolstered by incredible performances from its ensemble cast, Nosferatu set the bar mighty high for horror in the next 12 months.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Prime Video, Apple TV Plus, and Rakuten TV

The Ugly Stepsister

If there’s a body horror-shaped hole in your life left by 2024 hit The Substance, The Ugly Stepsister is here to fill that gap.

The feature debut from Emilie Blichfeldt is as thought-provoking as it is stomach-churning, offering a visceral exploration of female beauty standards via a warped retelling of Cinderella.

Elvira (Lea Myren) is obsessed with winning the heart of Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth) and will stop at nothing to do so, even if it means subjecting herself to painful cosmetic procedures closer to medieval torture methods.

When it appears that her beautiful stepsister Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Naess) is about to receive what she believes is fated to her, Elvira resorts to drastic – and gruesome – methods to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Blichfeldt strikes a unique balance of pitch black comedy while remaining sympathetic towards her characters, but have your bucket at the ready, some seriously gross-out scenes in The Ugly Stepsister make The Substance look like a children’s film.

Where to watch: Shudder

Sinners

Ryan Coogler’s genre cinema debut was nothing short of a masterpiece.

Sinners stars Michael B Jordan in the twin roles of Smoke and Stack, offering a performance so captivating it’s easy to forget it is one actor playing both characters.

The action-packed, blood-soaked flick follows the duo as they set up their own blues bar in their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi, enlisting loved ones far and wide to help get the ‘juke joint’ up and running the very day they arrive back in town.

Offering food, drinks, and live music, the party is well and truly popping just a short while after opening, but the night soon devolves into chaos when a group of strangers turns up and attempts to gain entry.

Effortlessly stylish, action-packed, and surprisingly sexy, Sinners is an experience from start to finish that will have you laughing, crying, and dancing along to the impeccable soundtrack.

Where to watch: Available to buy on Prime Video, Apple TV Plus, and Rakuten TV

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Best Wishes to All

Outside of big screen releases, 2025 has gifted us with some truly incredible indie gems.

Yuta Shimotsu’s feature debut Best Wishes To All is one such title, a thoroughly unsettling, atmospheric film reminiscent of the J-horror era.

It follows an unnamed nursing student (Kotone Furukawa) who visits her grandparents (Masashi Arifuku and Yoshiko Inuyama) in their rural Japanese town.

She appears distressed to learn that her parents’ arrival at the home is delayed, leaving her alone with her elderly relatives.

As the visit winds on, the young woman uncovers dark secrets that seem to point to a mysterious presence lurking in the house.

Packed full of surreal and deeply disturbing imagery, Best Wishes To All is a remarkable directorial effort from Shimotsu that cements his name as one to be watched.

It explores what we are willing to ignore in a bid to live a carefree life, and there are few things more terrifying and relatable than that.

Where to watch: Shudder

Dangerous Animals

Would you rather be trapped with a shark or a serial killer? Strangely, a release we had this year asked exactly this.

Directed by The Loved Ones and The Devil’s Candy creator Sean Byrne, Dangerous Animals introduces genre fans to charismatic villain Tucker (Jai Courtney), a serial killer who uses sharks as his weapon of choice.

His latest potential victim is Zephyr (Hassie Harrison), who Tucker kidnaps and imprisons on his boat – but she won’t go down without a fight.

Byrne maintains tension throughout by making the most of the film’s limited location, with much of the cat-and-mouse action taking place on Tucker’s boat.

It’s hard not to be intrigued by his charismatic yet deadly persona, and the strong characterisations that invest the audience in their journey are crucial to help this outlandish concept land.

What’s more, there are buckets of blood and violence aplenty that help Dangerous Animals sit among its sharksploitation and ozsploitation peers comfortably.

Where to watch: Not yet available to stream

28 Years Later

It’s been 18 long years of waiting, but the eagerly anticipated sequel to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later finally arrived in cinemas last month.

28 Years Later is set almost 30 years after the events of the first film (as the title would suggest), in which a group of survivors have found ways to live among the infected.

Spike (Alfie Williams) and his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) venture off the island so the teenager can experience his first kill and learn more about how the world outside of their commune works.

When Spike discovers something on the mainland that turns his world upside down, he ventures there with his sickly mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), in a bid to find a miracle cure for her mystery ailment.

28 Years Later boasts grisly kills, balls-to-the-wall action sequences, hair-raising chase sequences, and surprisingly heartfelt moments that will have audiences in tears.

It is a British horror film through and through, encapsulating everything from the Covid pandemic to nostalgia culture in a way that is sure to be looked back on for generations to come to examine the landscape in which it was released.

What’s more, it offers a strangely hopeful twist to the standard zombie narrative that so often focuses on the evils of humanity, instead shining a light on the goodness of our being, which continues to shine in hardship.

Where to watch: In cinemas now

Bring Her Back

Last, but certainly not least, Danny and Michael Philippou have stunned once more with a crushing exploration of grief which will crawl under your skin and ruminate for days.

After making a name for themselves in genre cinema with the release of Talk To Me in 2023, Bring Her Back cements their status as the most exciting directors in modern horror.

Bring Her Back follows siblings Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong), who are set to be separated in the foster care system following the death of their father.

Andy, desperate to care for his sister, begs for them to be kept together, and they go to live with foster mother Laura (Sally Hawkins) and her adopted son Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips) in their remote home.

But when Laura’s behaviour towards Andy becomes increasingly hostile, he uncovers a terrifying ritual Laura is attempting to recreate.

Like Talk To Me before it, Bring Her Back is a heartbreaking examination of grief from the perspective of teenagers as well as a mother.

Every member of the cast delivers career-defining performances, particularly Paddington star Hawkins, whose devastation in the face of her daughter Cathy’s death leads her to extreme lengths.

It is both sympathetic to its subject matter without scrimping on the scares, featuring some of the most disturbing scenes cinema in 2025 has to offer.

Where to watch: In cinemas from July 26.

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What do you think has been the best horror film of 2025 so far?