As a movie and TV show fan, I can confirm that 2025 has been a banner year for horror. Filmmakers have pushed boundaries, subverted tropes, and delivered terror that is both intelligent and deeply unsettling.
After combing through the screams and praise on Rotten Tomatoes, I present the definitive list of the year’s most terrifying triumphs. Here are the 10 best horror movies of 2025.
1. Late Night with the Devil
- Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
- IMDb: 7.2/10
Plot: Presented as a recently discovered master tape, this found-footage masterpiece documents the live broadcast of a struggling 1970s late-night talk show. On Halloween night, host Jack Delroy, desperate to boost his ratings, invites a parapsychologist and the sole survivor of a satanic cult massacre onto his show. What starts as a sensationalist ratings grab slowly devolves into a terrifying, live-on-air demonic possession, all while the cameras keep rolling.
2. Longlegs
- Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
- IMDb: 7.0/10
Plot: In the 1990s Pacific Northwest, a gifted new FBI agent with a personal connection to the occult is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case. The killer, known only as “Longlegs,” leaves behind cryptic occult clues with his victims’ families. As she delves deeper, the agent uncovers a horrifying conspiracy that blurs the line between her investigation and a dark prophecy she is destined to fulfill.
3. A Quiet Place: Day One
- Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
- IMDb: 6.9/10
Plot: Witness the day the world went silent. Set in the chaotic heart of New York City, this terrifying prequel follows a diverse group of strangers who must navigate the initial moments of the alien invasion. As the sound-hunting creatures descend upon the metropolis, a terminal cancer patient and a law student find themselves unlikely allies, fighting for survival amidst the deafening screams and sudden, deadly silence that follows.
4. I Saw the TV Glow
- Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
- IMDb: 6.5/10
Plot: Two lonely teenagers bond over their shared love for a mysterious, “Buffy”-like TV show called “The Pink Opaque.” Years after the show is abruptly cancelled, their lives have diverged, but the surreal and frightening world of the show begins to bleed into their realities. This psychedelic, unnerving film explores identity, fandom, and the terrifying possibility that the stories we love might be more real than we think.
5. Abigail
- Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
- IMDb: 6.7/10
Plot: A group of would-be criminals kidnaps the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, holding her for a $50 million ransom in an isolated mansion. Their seemingly easy job turns into a bloody fight for survival when they discover their young captive is no ordinary girl, but a ravenous vampire. One by one, the captors become the prey in this wildly entertaining and gory horror-comedy.
6. The First Omen
- Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
- IMDb: 6.7/10
Plot: A young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, but her faith is tested when she uncovers a terrifying conspiracy within the Vatican. She stumbles upon a sinister plot to orchestrate the birth of the Antichrist, forcing her to question everything she believes in as darkness gathers in the holy city. This prequel revitalizes the classic franchise with genuine dread and shocking imagery.
7. Speak No Evil
- Rotten Tomatoes: 83% (based on early reviews)
- IMDb: 6.6/10
Plot: In this intense psychological thriller remake, an American family on vacation in Europe accepts an invitation to spend a weekend at the idyllic country home of a charming Dutch family they just met. What begins as a delightful getaway slowly unravels as a series of misunderstandings and unsettling behaviors escalate into a full-blown nightmare, proving some invitations should be declined.
8. Cuckoo
- Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
- IMDb: 6.0/10
Plot: A grieving 17-year-old girl is forced to move with her father and stepmother to a resort town in the German Alps. Feeling isolated, she soon realizes the idyllic resort, run by the strangely obsessive Mr. König, is not what it seems. She uncovers a horrifying secret about the town’s history and a bizarre biological experiment that threatens her very existence.
9. Immaculate
- Rotten Tomatoes: 70%
- IMDb: 5.9/10
Plot: Cecilia, a devout American nun, is offered a position at a picturesque but remote convent in the Italian countryside. Her warm welcome quickly curdles into horror when she discovers the convent harbors a sinister secret and a miraculous, or perhaps malevolent, immaculate conception. Trapped and terrified, Cecilia realizes her new home is a place where nightmares are born.
10. The Watchers
- Rotten Tomatoes: 31%
- IMDb: 5.8/10
- Editor’s Note: While critically divisive, this film’s high-concept premise and atmospheric dread resonated strongly with audiences, making it a box office success and a topic of intense debate.
Plot: When her car breaks down, a 28-year-old artist finds herself stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. She finds shelter in a concrete bunker with three strangers, who inform her of the terrifying rule: every night, mysterious creatures they call “The Watchers” emerge from the forest to observe them through a one-way glass wall. Trapped and scrutinized, she must uncover the nature of their captors before the forest claims them all.
