We take a look at 10 of the best gore-soaked, spine-chilling horror movies coming your way in 2025…
Calling all gore-hounds! The year 2025 is shaping up to be an unforgettable one for spine-tingling chills and edge-of-your-seat thrills. From sequels to iconic franchises to fresh takes by visionary directors, there’s something for everyone in this year’s slate of horror movies. We’ve already taken a look at the Top 10 Most Anticipated Must-See Movies of 2025 but here are the Top 10 Best Horror Movies Coming Out in 2025, with all the gory details on release dates, directors, and star-studded casts.
1. FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2 – DECEMBER 5, 2025
Directed by Emma Tammi
The wildly successful horror game franchise, and book series, continues its cinematic journey with Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, directed by Emma Tammi, who helmed the first film in 2023. This sequel promises to dive even deeper into the lore of the eerie animatronics that haunt Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The film is expected to up the stakes by focusing on Mike Schmidt, a former security guard, who returns to fend off animatronic nightmares at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, and the movie promises to take a deeper look into the mysterious backstory of the franchise.
Emma Tammi, known for her indie horror hit The Wind from 2018, brings her knack for atmospheric dread to the series. Fans of the first film will be delighted to see the return of its beloved cast, including Josh Hutcherson and Matthew Lillard. With its December release date, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is perfectly timed to close out the year with a scream.
2. PRESENCE – JANUARY 24, 2025
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh, known for films like Contagion and Traffic, is making his first foray into horror with Presence. The plot of the movie follows a woman who travels to a remote cabin, is stalked by a ghost, and after her boyfriend arrives she begins to exhibit irrational behaviour as the line between sanity and possession blurs. Soderbergh’s signature style, combining psychological tension with sharp visuals, is sure to elevate this thriller.
Starring a great ensemble cast, including Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan, Presence has already generated buzz for its fresh take on psychological horror. Soderberg brings his usual visionary tricks as the film sticks to a single location, a family’s haunted home, and the main character is the handheld camera’s ghostly point-of-view. Presence is already in cinemas, and it’s set to kick off 2025 as one of the year’s most cerebral and terrifying films.
3. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER – JULY 18, 2025
Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
I seems like forever since Jennifer Love Hewitt battled a hook-wielding maniac in 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer, and to be fair, it was released almost 30 years ago. Fear thee not however, gore-hounds, as Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, the creative force behind 2022’s Do Revenge, breathes new life into the popular slasher franchise with her take on the movie. Plot details aren’t 100% confirmed yet but IMDb’s synopsis claims that it continues the story of a group of friends wo are once again terrorized by a stalker who knows about a gruesome incident from their past.
Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Madelyn Cline and Freddy Prinze Jr., this highly anticipated sequel could be a return to form for the series. Robinson’s ability to blend drama and dark comedy ensures this installment will be a fresh take on the slasher genre. With its July release, this film is bound to reignite interest in the franchise for a whole new generation of horror fans.
4. SAW XI – SEPTEMBER 26, 2025
Directed by Kevin Greutert
The Saw movies got off to a terrific start with the classic first entry, and since then it’s been fun, but with diminishing returns when it comes to quality. However, Kevin Greutert, a longtime contributor to the Saw series, returns to direct Saw XI, following the relative success of Saw X in 2023. The movie’s plot isn’t yet known but the confirmed return of Tobin Bell as John Kramer could open up several possibilities for the film’s setting.
The return of Kramer will be a huge plus for Saw fans and, at the time of writing this article, no other cast members have been confirmed. It’s likely that Costas Mandylor’s Mark Hoffman, who was one of Kramer’s apprentices, may return. You can’t rule out an appearance by franchise veteran Shawnee Smith as Amanda, either. The Saw franchise seems to be as ever living as Kramer himself, and expect the traps to be more sinister than ever in this one.
5. THE BLACK PHONE 2 – OCTOBER 17, 2025
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Following the breakout success of The Black Phone, Scott Derrickson returns to direct the chilling sequel, The Black Phone 2. The original film, based on Joe Hill’s short story, chilled audiences with its blend of supernatural horror and heart-pounding suspense. Plot details have not been confirmed, but this sequel should expand on the sinister world introduced in the first film.
With Ethan Hawke reprising his haunting role as The Grabber and Mason Thames returning as Finney, fans can expect more psychological terror and eerie twists. Derrickson, known for Sinister and Doctor Strange, clearly has a knack for blending supernatural horror with emotional depth so this sequel should be a hell of a ride. Released just in time for Halloween, The Black Phone 2 is set to be one of the year’s most anticipated horror hits.
6. FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES – MAY 16, 2025
Directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein
The iconic franchise returns with Final Destination: Bloodlines, directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, who are best known for their work on the Sci-Fi thriller Freaks. According to entertainment industry scooper Daniel Richtman, the plot will follow 18-year-old Stefani, likely to be played by Brec Bassinger, who’s been having horrific nightmares about dying in a tower accident in the 1960s, discovers that her dream is actually a premonition that happened to her grandmother, Esther, who thwarted death fifty years ago but is now running out of time.
The late, great Tony Todd was filming Bloodlines before his untimely death in 2024, and it’s expected that he still has a considerable part in the movie. The cast also features the aforementioned Brec Bassinger, Richard Harmon, and Rya Kihlstedt, and if it can match the inventive death scenes from previous installments, Bloodlines could be a gore-splattered fun-time at the movies.
7. THE MONKEY – FEBRUARY 21, 2025
Directed by Osgood Perkins
The master of horror himself, Stephen King recently teased that Osgood Perkins’ follow up to the amazing Longlegs from 2024, The Monkey, is bat**** insane. Based upon King’s short story, the film focuses on twin brothers Bill and Hal who after finding their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths start. The siblings decide to throw the toy away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years. Perkins’ proved he could handle horror with the atmospheric style and slow-burn tension of Longlegs, so he looks like a perfect choice for adapting King’s eerie tale.
Starring the excellent Theo James, Lord of the Rings legend Elijah Wood, plus Perkins himself, The Monkey is set to deliver a haunting mix of psychological and supernatural horror. Fans of Stephen King adaptations will appreciate Perkins’ dedication to preserving the story’s unsettling tone, and if he can recapture the atmosphere and dread in Longlegs, and add some gruesome kills, the movie could be another home run for the talented director. Released in February, it’s one of the year’s early horror highlights.
8. M3GAN 2.0 – JUNE 27, 2025
Directed by Gerard Johnstone
Killer AI movies are all the rage now, partly thanks to the horror sensation, M3gan, which returns in 2025 with M3gan 2.0, directed once again by Gerard Johnstone. While the first movie didn’t have a post-credits scene where M3gan re-emerged to tease a sequel, the fact that the sinister AI robot transferred her processing system to Gemma’s virtual home assistant, Elsie, meant that a sequel was always going to happen. The first movie was a timely, and hilariously macabre tale of AI gone wrong, and it’s intriguing to see where the sequel goes in terms of plot.
Allison Williams and Violet McGraw reprise their roles as Gemma and her niece Cady, plus one half of the hilarious Flight of the Conchords, Jermaine Clement, joins the cast for the sequel. Johnstone’s experience with balancing humor and horror, which he also showcased in Housebound, guarantees another crowd-pleasing hit. Scheduled for a summer release, Megan 2.0 is set to dominate the box office while sending AI powered shivers down your spine.
9. 28 YEARS LATER – JUNE 20, 2025
Directed by Danny Boyle
Two decades after the release of 28 Days Later, Danny Boyle returns to direct the highly anticipated sequel, 28 Years Later. The film’s official synopsis from IMDb hints at what we can expect from the film.
A group of survivors of the rage virus lives on a small island. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors.
The movie is one of our Top 10 Most Anticipated Must-See Movies of 2025, and the trailer, which you can enjoy below, teases what looks like a tense and chilling installment in Boyle’s already iconic franchise. Casting rumours centered on whether or not Cillian Murphy will make an appearance, and while he isn’t officially in the first 28 Years Later film that doesn’t mean he won’t appear in the planned sequels. Also, while it’s also been confirmed that the gaunt looking zombie from the trailer isn’t Murphy, that doesn’t mean to say it’s not his character in zombie form. Intriguing…
10. FRANKENSTEIN – TBD
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro, the visionary director behind Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, reimagines one of the most influential stories to shape his career thus far; Mary Shelley’s classic tale, Frankenstein. Taking on the beloved Mary Shelley novel, Del Toro’s version of the story follows Dr. Pretorius as he goes to track down Frankenstein’s monster and continue the experiments that were started by Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The film’s release date is yet to be announced, but Del Toro has confirmed that the movie will be released on Netflix, and will also have a theatrical release.
Frankenstein boasts an excellent cast with Mia Goth, Oscar Isaac, Ralph Ineson, Christoph Waltz, and Charles Dance all onboard the gothic tale. Del Toro’s dedication to intricate storytelling and stunning visuals ensures this adaptation will be both haunting and beautiful. His movies demand to be seen on the big screen, so the promise of a theatrical debut, before it hits streaming, is very exciting. As one of the most awaited horror movies of 2025, Frankenstein promises to be a masterpiece of modern horror.
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