We’ve reached the half-way point of the year and if you’re a horror fan you’ll know we’ve been treated to our fair share of sinister stories and frightening films. From the superb Sinners, and the deliciously dark Dangerous Animals, to the awesome Ash and the creeptastic Clown in a Cornfield, the first half of 2025 has done us proud.
Even horror titles which missed the mark (Wolf Man, Love Hurts, The Monkey, Until Dawn, Fear Street: Prom Queen, etc) still brought more attention to the genre. Heck, not everything can be as fun as Final Destination: Bloodlines, but at least they tried.
At present, the brilliant post-apocalyptic horror, 28 Years Later is playing in cinemas, and as the remainder of June plays out, M3GAN returns in M3GAN 2.0. But if you think all of the above is all you’re getting from the horror genre in 2025, then think again!
Want to read what’s in store for the second half of 2025? Of course you do – and that’s where Movie Reviews 2025: Horror on the Horizon comes into play.
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July 2025
If you’re looking for horror in July, you won’t have far to go as the month kicks off with the high-profile monster movie, Jurassic World: Rebirth. Helmed by Monsters (2010) and Godzilla (2014) director, Gareth Edwards, the film promises to bring some nasty-lookin’ dinos, including the monstrous, mutated, and six-armed dinosaur, the Distortus rex!
From here, we slide into slasher territory with I Know What You Did Last Summer. Conceived as a legacy sequel to the previous IKWYDLS movies, this new instalment introduces a cast of fresh faces, while bringing back old hands Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt to reprise their characters, Ray Bronson and Julie James, respectively.
The official premise for I Know What You Did Last Summer is as follows: “When five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident, they cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret rather than face the consequences. A year later, their past comes back to haunt them and they’re forced to confront a horrifying truth: someone knows what they did last summer… and is hell-bent on revenge.
“As one by one the friends are stalked by a killer, they discover this has happened before, and they turn to two survivors of the legendary Southport Massacre of 1997 for help.”
Following on from I Know What You Did Last Summer, the remainder of July includes James DeMonaco’s psychological horror, The Home, and Michael Shanks’ supernatural body horror, Together. The former stars Pete Davidson and John Glover, while the latter is led by real-life couple, Alison Brie and Dave Franco.
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August 2025
Moving into August brings the fantasy comedy, Sketch; the splatter flick, The Toxic Avenger; and the fifth instalment in the Hell House LLC franchise, Hell House LLC: Lineage. Meanwhile, Universal Pictures will be celebrating 50 years of legendary shark horror with a theatrical re-release of Jaws!
The film will pop back into cinemas for a limited time, but expect it to make a sizeable splash. Jaws is a fan-favourite movie, sure to bring in the crowds as the summer blockbuster season draws to a close.
And if that wasn’t enough, August also serves up Weapons. Directed by Barbarian‘s Zach Cregger, the film stars Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, and Benedict Wong, and focuses on a community rocked by the sudden disappearance of a group of children.
The tagline for Weapons reads: “Last night at 2:17 AM, every child from Mrs. Gandy’s class woke up, got out of bed, went downstairs, opened the front door, walked into the dark… and they never came back.”
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September 2025
With September comes the official start of the Spooky Season, which kicks off with The Conjuring: Last Rites. Currently being promoted as the final entry in The Conjuring Universe (yeah, right), the supernatural horror brings back Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren, with The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It director, Michael Chaves once again calling the shots.
From here it’s back to The Strangers movie series for The Strangers – Chapter 2, and onto the football field for sports horror, Him. Plus director Francis Lawrence and writer JT Mollner draw upon a 1979 Stephen King novel for the dystopian horror, The Long Walk.
Released by Lionsgate, The Long Walk follows the story of a group of young men who enter an annual walking contest, where they either walk or die. The film is described as “an intense, chilling, and emotional thriller that challenges audiences to confront a haunting question: how far could you go?”
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October 2025
Into October and the Spooky Season continues as we head towards Halloween. Horror highlights this month include the supernatural picture, Shelby Oaks, and the psychological horror-thriller, Bone Lake.
Meanwhile, one of the most anticipated pictures in October is Black Phone 2, the sequel to 2021’s The Black Phone. Scott Derrickson is back on writer/director duties, while Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, and Ethan Hawke all reprise their roles from the previous film.
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November 2025
Sliding into November and the month begins with the latest entry in the Predator movie series, Predator: Badlands. Dan Trachtenberg (Prey, Predator: Killer of Killers) directs, while the cast is led by Elle Fanning.
Later in the month, filmmaker Osgood Perkins continues his journey through horror (Longlegs, The Monkey), with Keeper, while Guillermo del Toro heads over to Netflix for his adaptation of Frankenstein. This latest take on the iconic Mary Shelley story features a high-profile cast including Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, David Bradley, Charles Dance, and Christoph Waltz.
Describing Frankenstein, Oscar Isaac, said (via Netflix): “This film stands on the shoulders of every creature feature, but it is a dark and sumptuous emotional drama — a character piece sprung from the pages of Mary Shelley’s classic novel.”
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December 2025
And finally, December brings the computer games sequel, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, as well as the festive horror-remake, Silent Night, Deadly Night. And speaking of remakes, sliding into view before the end of the year is the horror-comedy, Anaconda.
Developed as a ‘re-imagining’ of the 1997 movie of the same name, Anaconda promises to bring action and laughs, as well one big-ass, vicious snake. Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Daniela Melchior, Thandiwe Newton, and Steve Zahn are amongst the cast.
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With all of the above, plus one or two horror classics heading back into cinemas around the Halloween season, prepare for a heap of horror for the remainder of 2025. You may not always be scared, but hopefully you’ll be entertained.
And don’t forget, should you wish to keep track of all these films and more, make sure you check in with Movie Reviews 2025 – your indispensable review guide to what’s on the cinema, on streaming, and on disc. New editions of Movie Reviews 2025 are published weekly, so don’t miss out!
Alex
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Thank you for taking the time to read Movie Reviews 2025: Horror on the Horizon on It’s A Stampede!. For more movie-related content, check out the recommended reads below.
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