Introduction
2025 was quite the year at the box office for horror films. If Billy Joel or Fallout Boy wanted to add more verses to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” covering all of the horrid stuff that happened in the world in 2025, the song would be longer than Gone With the Wind (1939). But I’m going to focus on movie-related horror. You’re welcome.
Show Me The Money
The Conjuring: The Last Rites grossed nearly $500 million, by far the best performance in the entire franchise (The Nun in 2018 is second with $366 million). And The Conjuring isn’t the only franchise that saw solid returns. Final Destination: Bloodlines, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, 28 Years Later, and Black Phone 2 all made plenty of money to guarantee future sequels, quality be damned in at least one case.
It wasn’t just franchises that were rolling in money, either. Two original films – Sinners and Weapons – came out of nowhere to pull in well over $600 million between the two. On top of their box office returns, both are popping up in top ten movie lists all over the place. Sinners is even getting some Best Picture buzz, though I’d argue Weapons is a much better movie.
A Wide Variety
Setting aside box office, there were plenty more horror movies to choose from, especially if we expand our definition of horror movie to include movies that you might consider more action than horror. No, not Jurassic World: Rebirth. Whether or not you think being chased by mutant dinosaurs is horror, that movie (and entire franchise save for 1993’s Jurassic Park) most definitely does not deserve our attention, unless it’s pure, unadulterated disdain.
Assuming you’ve seen the movies above (or don’t want to), what kind of horror movie do you prefer? Killer robots, perhaps? Companion and M3GAN 2.0 have you covered. Classic horror? Guillermo del Toro made a new Frankenstein film. Campy slashers? Heart Eyes and Clown in a Cornfield spill blood everywhere.
Thrillers that may or may not be psychological thrillers? The Housemaid, Locked, and Bugonia all exist. You can also peruse the annual parade of Blumhouse, A24, Neon, and Shudder lineups to find something that sounds interesting. Be picky with those lineups, though. Neon in particular releases content that will make you feel icky for days.
Return of the King
If none of that sounds appealing to you, might I suggest something from the one person who immediately makes you think of horror? 2025 featured six Stephen King adaptations. Yes, six, and two of them are television series.
I know that sounds like a lot, and you’re right. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend watching the two TV series because Welcome to Derry, a prequel to It (2017), is aggressively mediocre when it isn’t being aggressively gross, and I didn’t know The Institute even existed until ten minutes ago, let alone watch it.
But you should definitely carve out some time to watch the four movies. And you should do it in the following order:
- The Monkey – a crazy film that’s about a possessed organ grinder monkey toy that is the perfect shock opening.
- The Long Walk – a dystopian competition where teenagers walk until only one is left alive. It’ll help calm you down after The Monkey, though “calm down” is a relative term.
- The Running Man – another dystopian competition, but it’s very much an action flick. And it’s not the campy (though entertaining) schlock that was the 80s Arnold Schwarzenegger romp.
- The Life of Chuck – It’s not a horror movie. Surprise! It’s actually a pleasant film, if not a straight-up tear-jerker, to remind you that King is really good at writing characters in general. It’s the kind of happy ending that fits King, and this little movie marathon, to a tee.
As you can see, horror films were everywhere, all year long. And you’ll see it represented throughout these entire rankings. Let’s get to it!
Best of the Best of the Best, Sir!
This might be the toughest top five I’ve chosen of all the years I’ve been reviewing movies. Not because there were a lot of great films, but because there weren’t.
The Running Man
A faithful adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 book (published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman) that is also one of the best non-superhero action flicks in years. I can’t wait to watch this movie several more times and read the book at least one more time.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
So weird and so good. I was already really high on Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, but after their pairing on this film, I’ll watch them in anything.
Thunderbolts*
My wife has been very critical of the recent MCU films and series, and even she thought Thunderbolts* was a good movie. Since she’s also a film major, that’s quite the ringing endorsement.
Weapons
Best movie of the year. Also, the most surprising, out-of-nowhere movie of the year. And it has the most satisfying ending to any film in 2025, if not this millennium.
The Life of Chuck
I heard good things about this one, but the movie blew those compliments out of the water. And if you’re wary of Stephen King stories because you don’t like horror, you can relax this time. It’s the opposite of horror but still feels every bit like King.
Canada, Huh? Almost Made It
If you named any of these next few movies as being in your top movies of the year list, I would just nod at you. The difference between these and my top five is very little.
F1
It was a photo finish, but this film just missed making my top five. I still won’t watch an actual F1 race on purpose, but I’ll watch this movie many more times.
Fantastic Four: First Steps
Third reboot’s a charm. The difference this time was that the filmmakers put more than a token effort into casting, writing, directing, production, and capturing the true essence of the Fantastic Four. That effort is why the 20th Century Fox logo was half-buried in the Void in Deadpool 3.
Companion
I love it when movies can really surprise me. I read the synopsis and watched the opening scene to see if it would pique my interest. I was not prepared at all for the direction the film took, and it was amazing.
Superman
Now that’s how to make a proper Superman film. Marvel will finally have real competition, and all it took was for Warner Brothers to hire a Marvel director (James Gunn) to run the whole franchise. Also, hat tip for the best teaser trailer of the year (the Weapons teaser was an extremely close second).
Black Bag
A spy movie, but a very different one than usual. It’s more of a whodunit than a spy thriller, so I guess it’s also a mystery movie, but a different one than usual. Trust me, it’s worth it.
The Squirmers
These films were good, but are tough to watch for one reason or another. Rewatchability played a big factor in my rankings here. Parts of each of these would be difficult to sit through more than once. So, they get a separate category so you don’t accidentally watch them on date night.
The Luckiest Man in America
It’s an interesting story, but the title character is definitely not someone you’d want to be stuck talking to at any gathering.
The Assessment
Three excellent performances from Elizabeth Olsen, Himesh Patel, and Alicia Vikander highlight this highly intriguing and quite disturbing dystopian story. Vikander goes all in with a character that will give you both the ick and the urge to punch the next kid you see throwing a tantrum.
Surprisingly Decent
It is almost impossible to see a movie without having expectations. Usually, it’s from something you saw in a trailer, actors who are in the film, or what you already know about the director. These are the ones that surprised me…in a good way.
The Long Walk
This film was both a disappointment and, at the same time, better than I expected. I was disappointed that they didn’t stray a bit more from Stephen King’s novel, but I was also pleased at how well it captured much of the source material. I could have easily put this in my disappointments category, but I liked it enough not to.
The Roses
Definitely a better version of The War of the Roses (1989), but also quite a bit different. There is far less hatred and pettiness in this version, which I appreciated. If that’s not what you are looking for, you can always watch The Real Housewives.
The Legend of Ochi
It brought back memories of the quest movies I loved as a kid, particularly the ones featuring actual puppets. And it did it without aiming for the dimmest kids in class.
Sinners
This is getting a lot more praise than Weapons, and I don’t understand why. Sinners is just a much better version of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), but that’s not really saying much. And, yes, both films suffer from the same problem. When the vampires go RAWR, all of the stuff shown before that immediately stops mattering.
The Amateur
A solid spy/revenge thriller that far too few people noticed. And it keeps you guessing until the end. You’re welcome.
Movies for Me
Movies for Me are my guilty pleasures. Whether or not they’re objectively good doesn’t matter. All that matters is they did the thing I wanted them to do – entertain me.
The Gorge
Right off the bat, the movie that makes you want to put your hand on my shoulder and gently ask, “Are you alright? I mean, really, alright?”
Death of a Unicorn
“No, yeah. I’m definitely alright.”
Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning
This movie was messy, forgot a bunch of stuff from the previous entry, and got just plain silly with some of the action scenes. But it – and the franchise as a whole – is just so entertaining. There’s no way this is the finale of the franchise.
Love Hurts
It tickled me that former professional football running back Marshawn Lynch was, kind of, good at acting. Let’s keep moving along.
Novocaine
Speaking of hurt, I’ve finally recovered from experiencing this film in 4DX. I don’t recommend it. The 4DX, that is. The movie was fun.
The Monkey
Bonkers. Utterly bonkers.
Locked
I didn’t know it was possible to make an entire movie take place in a parked SUV, let alone a movie that isn’t total crap.
Heads of State
The only reason this movie worked on any level is because of Idris Elba and John Cena. There was surprisingly good chemistry between them in this otherwise absurd action comedy.
Fountain of Youth
It wants to be National Treasure (2004) unless it wants to be Indiana Jones. Yet it ended up much closer to Tomb Raider (the Alicia Vikander one), unless it was closer to Uncharted (2022). Can you tell I like this genre of movie?
Deep Cover
I swear to you I’m alright.
Movies Not for Me
Flip a coin on these films. These movies were okay. None of them spoke to me in any way, but maybe these films spoke to you.
One Battle After Another
If Hamnet doesn’t become the most overhyped movie heading into the Oscars, this film will win that title. If this movie had landed with me, I would have put it in The Squirmers category. Sean Penn’s Captain Lockjaw is one of the most disturbing characters you will ever experience.
Heart Eyes
I still don’t know what to make of this silly horror flick, so this seemed like the right category for it.
The Accountant 2
A very meh action movie that doubles down on the premise that autism provides practically superhuman computer hacking powers.
Eenie Meanie
It’s sort of good, I think? Samara Weaving was solid, but it’s one of those movies that you forget about an hour after watching it.
Caught Stealing
I prefer my Darren Aronofsky movies weirder than this. This film is decent, but a bit uneven. Zoe Kravitz was given far too little to do, but Austin Butler was pretty good.
Intermission
There are so many TV series that people insist we watch that I sacrifice watching some movies to fit those series in. After seeing the length of this list, it seems I sacrificed a lot more than I thought.
Welcome to Wrexham – Season 4
I’m still amazed that a documentary series about a sport I hated when I was a kid might be my current favorite show to watch. I genuinely tear up more than once during each season, and season four was no different.
Ted Lasso
People recommended this show so much that we finally caved in and subscribed to Apple TV. We binged the entire season, and it was very much worth the subscription cost.
Man on the Inside – Season 2
Like Ted Lasso, this is a feel-good show and a lighthearted break from science fiction and dystopian shows.
Reacher – Season 3
Season three was a great rebound after the very uneven season two. I hope it doesn’t turn into a Star Trek-type thing where only the odd-numbered seasons are the good ones.
The Residence
A goofy little romp set in the White House that might be a Knives Out show unless it’s a Clue series in disguise. If you like a good mystery that doesn’t take itself too seriously, definitely make time for this.
Taylor Swift: The End of an Era
Yeah. I like Taylor Swift. Not as much as my wife likes her, but I have more than several of her song lyrics memorized. I might have also teared up once. Maybe.
Paradise
I had no idea what to expect from this show, but it ended up as one of my favorites of the year. The reveal at the end of the first episode alone makes the entire series worth watching.
Fallout – Season 1
This series definitely falls under my Movies for Me category. It’s pretty silly, very campy, and my eyes were glued to the entire first season. I can’t wait to start season two, but I have to finish writing this thing first.
Alien: Earth
I’m glad they stayed away from all the Engineers nonsense introduced by Prometheus, and I liked the new creatures they added. But this series is a really slow burn. So slow, in fact, that my son grew bored by episode five (of eight) and didn’t finish the rest of the season. I did finish it, but season two is going to have a shorter leash for me.
Wednesday – Season 2
I actually didn’t sacrifice much time for this one. The first episode was quite bad, so we moved on to another series. And let’s all agree that season one wasn’t particularly good either. This franchise is Temu Harry Potter wrapped in Addams Family schlock.
Welcome to Derry
I’m pretty disappointed that this series is nothing more than a prequel to It. But they sure did up the ante on the gore.
Severance – Season 1
Now this is my kind of story. Science fiction. Dystopia. General all-around weirdness. As I said about Fallout, I’ll get to season two after I write a couple thousand more words here.
Only Murders in the Building – Season 5
I’m very impressed with how well this series has maintained the quality and intrigue. It even acknowledged the bizarre subplot of Howard and the doorman robot in the best way possible when Nathan Lane’s Teddy Dimas literally asked if Howard is fucking the robot.
We’re Really Only in it for the Money
Nothing provides studios more inspiration than easy money, and nothing provides studios more fear than expiring IP rights. That’s how we continually get an annual plethora of lackluster, uninspired sequels, remakes, and franchise entries.
How to Train Your Dragon
The original animated movie was solid, and this new film is a shot-for-shot remake, but with CGI. The CGI is fantastic, but there is no other distinguishing factor. Not even the chief, played once again by Gerard Butler.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Avatar almost needs its own category. I struggled between having this here or in the next category. On the one hand, there is no other film that even sniffs the spectacular visual effects James Cameron has crafted for this franchise. He really cares about making something people want to see. On the other hand, the writing leaves a lot to be desired, which further proves he just wants to make something people want to see.
Predator: Badlands
You know a franchise is completely out of ideas when they turn one of the scariest and coolest villains into the hero. This does not bode well for the Alien franchise either, which might already be going in the same direction, given the events in Alien: Earth.
Nobody 2
Nobody is one of those movies that nobody thought would get a sequel. That sequel showed why we all thought that.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
This might be the most boring heist movie ever made. The full heist scene was well-made, featuring no music and almost no sound, in an attempt to really submerge the audience in the heist.
Lilo & Stitch
There are probably fans of the original who have a list of complaints about this remake. I never saw the original, so they’ll have to take those complaints elsewhere. My only complaint is that the remake grossed $1 billion at the box office, which means more uninspired live-action Disney remakes are in my future.
28 Years Later
I don’t get the appeal of this franchise. There’s nothing about these films that makes them stand out against other zombie films.
The Bad Guys 2
I can’t remember a thing about this movie, and I watched it three weeks ago. That’s the epitome of a film that is nothing more than a money grab.
We Decided We Weren’t Just in it for the Money
These movies are no less money grabs than the films you just read about, but they actually tried to provide some solid entertainment for your money. This might be the weakest crop of this type of movie in years, but they’re much better than everything in the previous category.
Zootopia 2
A little redundant in some of the story arcs, but still quite an enjoyable movie. It’s lots of fun for people of all ages. But I still want to know why the fish aren’t sentient.
Tron: Ares
Finally, a Tron movie that non-software developers can understand.
Snow White
I mean, of course, they’re in it for the money. Every Disney live-action remake is preying on nostalgia to pry open your wallet. Yet, I maintain that Snow White is the best of those remakes so far. It combines some new elements with the original elements, and if you can get over the weird-looking CGI dwarves, you’ll see what I mean.
Captain America: Brave New World
I’ll admit that I was wrong about Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). Sometimes, a second viewing will have that effect on people. I’ve only watched Brave New World once, but I’m confident I’m right that it’s a good “reset” movie.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Knives Out flicks are such fun mystery movies, and Wake Up Dead Man continues that streak. I love that Daniel Craig looks like he really enjoys playing detective Benoit Blanc. The same goes for Josh Brolin, who clearly was reveling in his role as a bombastic priest.
This Parachute is a Knapsack!
The second category listed where expectations are key. Lazy screenplays and disappointing films will always exist. And some are the movies that start strong and don’t stick the landing, otherwise known as Shyamalan-ing.
Together
How do you feel about watching a gymnastics routine where the gymnast absolutely faceplants the landing? Alison Brie’s excellent performance is the only reason that landing didn’t include broken bones.
The Housemaid
It’s a glorified Lifetime Channel movie with a poor plot and character development to match. But there is also a bit of Skin-emax thrown in (for both men and women) to distract you from noticing. Syndey Sweeney’s got good “jeans” indeed (as does Brandon Sklenar).
Mickey 17
I was hoping it would be the one good science fiction movie I look for every year, and it very much wasn’t. The premise was interesting, but the execution was very lacking. Considering director Bong Joon Ho also made the ghastly Snowpiercer, I shouldn’t have been surprised that Ho would deliver another sci-fi letdown.
Good Fortune
You would think a film featuring Seth Rogen and Aziz Ansari would be funnier than your average catholic mass. You’d be wrong. You would also think that Keanu Reeves would take this opportunity to remind people that he’s more than just John Wick, but you’d be wrong again. That’s what you get for thinking.
Bugonia
I’m a big fan of director Yorgos Lanthimos because he currently does weird better than anybody currently directing films. I expected this to be stuffed with weird from beginning to end, but it only got that way at the very end.
The Old Guard 2
I don’t really know why I liked The Old Guard (2020), but I might like it a whole lot less now after watching this sequel. I enjoy Charlize Theron kicking ass, and the action scenes were fine. But the movie as a whole was just so utterly joyless.
The Naked Gun
Speaking of being far less funny than it should have been. Apparently, nobody involved with the film gave it a second thought that spoofing yourself when yourself is already a spoof is, almost by definition, not funny. But it was at least funnier than Good Fortune.
TL;DR
At least ‘The Letdowns’ contained some entertainment value. These next films were very boring and not at all entertaining. They lacked any plot beyond the initial premise, or they were movies I quit on in the middle of, or refused to watch. They are the very definition of “two hours of your life you will never get back.”
The Smashing Machine
You’d be hard-pressed to find a movie about a less interesting person than Ultimate Fighter Mark Kerr. Despite a fantastic performance from Emily Blunt, this movie has nothing to offer.
Eephus
I made it about 45 minutes into this tortured metaphor before I had to stop watching or risk Tommy John surgery from angrily hurling objects at the screen. It’s bad enough that the actors played baseball like a constipated toddler. What made it worse was that the movie felt like it was written by people who never played baseball, imagining what they think gets said in a dugout.
A Working Man
I’m so bored during Jason Statham films, even the ones featuring prehistoric sharks. Just like I got so bored with Liam Neeson action flicks, Statham movies are always the same. But at least in Neeson films, Neeson would take some damage during fights. Statham’s fights always play out like every cheat code has been enabled.
Last Breath
An ode to deep-sea gas line repairmen. No seriously.
Die My Love
Not even a hint of a plot in this depressing, confusing movie about a woman who hates what her life has become. The movie doesn’t try to develop her character. Instead, it just shows us bits of her life and not even in any kind of coherent order.
Not the Worst, But You Sure Tried Hard
The challenge with this category is convincing you of the one redeeming quality for each of these films that kept them out of the cellar. Good luck to me, right?
Regretting You
Redeeming quality…redeeming quality…Oh, I know. Mckenna Grace didn’t mail in her performance for a movie that all but begged for mail-ins.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
If you want to make more John Wick movies, then do it. It’s just mean to tease us with Ana de Armas playing the new assassin, only to once again make everything about Wick.
You’re Cordially Invited
This movie is what I started the year with. A movie that wants me to laugh at not one but two ruined weddings. Reese Witherspoon doesn’t completely suck, so…yay?
Drop
I watched three of the seven movies produced by Blumhouse this year, and this was the best. That’s not a compliment. Drop is a dumb, dumb movie. Its premise is so ridiculous that my suspension of disbelief just laughed inside my brain for the entire film. But there’s something I like about Brandon Sklenar, so at least there’s that.
Wicked: For Good
It’s not a terrible movie, and I realize it’s really just the second half of a five-hour movie, the very solid Wicked (2024) being the first half. But unlike that first movie, this film has a really messy plot, zero memorable songs, and goes out of its way to show us Dorothy’s entire journey through Oz without showing us Dorothy’s face. There are better versions of this movie…and worse.
Pooping on the Silver Screen
And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for – the five worst movies of the year. Unlike with my top five, these terrible films were easy to identify.
Materialists
This movie made me want to stab my ears out. The robot actress known as Dakota Johnson continues to be the negative poster child of nepobabies.
A Minecraft Movie
I’m just going to requote my Minecraft-loving son’s reaction after watching the movie – “What the hell was that?”
Hell of a Summer
My son and I tried to give this movie every benefit of the doubt, that it was trying to be a satire of summer camp slasher flicks. By the end, it proved that junior high plays aren’t the worst productions out there.
A House of Dynamite
Want to know the best way to make me hate a movie with my entire soul? Let Zack Snyder direct it. The next best way is to cut to the credits without resolving any of the plot.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
This absolute plopper of a film managed to pull in $220 million at the box office, proving once again why we can’t have nice things. The worst thing about that number is it will fund at least three more sequels, best described as what if chlamydia had diarrhea?
Pooping on the Silver Screen: The Sequel
This is the bonus category for movies that were made as cash grabs, yet were also terrible movies. They are the sequels, prequels, remakes, and franchise entries that keep getting made because you won’t stop watching them.
Jurassic World: Rebirth
Like the Fast and Furious franchise, audiences can’t stop shelling out nearly a billion dollars for every new Jurassic World abomination. The chances are high that the next one will somehow involve a dinosaur in outer space.
Now You See Me, Now You Don’t
The quality of this franchise has disappeared quicker than every magician’s assistant. The magic hasn’t just left this franchise, it’s been sawed in half and not in the fun magic trick kind of way.
M3GAN 2.0
I wasn’t a fan of the first film, and, based on the box office numbers, hardly anybody was a fan of this sequel. And who can blame them? They turned a barely scary murder doll into a very not-scary hero doll fighting a Terminator.
Karate Kid: Legends
This is the least bad of these trashcan sequels. But it’s still much worse than if they had just phoned in another sequel. This one went out of its way to make a mockery of Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
One of the funniest things that happened all year was the reaction my colleague had to a line in my review of this film after seeing it. My review said, “I Know What You Did Last Summer is an obvious choice to resurrect…if the target audience is people who were teenagers in the 1990s who still have bad taste in movies.” His response was “come on now,” but with a smirk that said “you’re not wrong.”
Conclusion
We had a bunch of good movies to distract us from life’s horrors. And not just horror movies. 2026 is sure to feature plenty more horror movies to watch, from originals to sequels to adaptations. And, plenty of non-horror from The Avengers to Supergirl to Dune 3 to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey to a bunch of animated sequels. I’m looking forward to all of them because 2026 is sure to provide more content for “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”
