24 Horror Movies I Loved in 2025

Welcome back to Scare Me! a weekly horror newsletter. Today, I’m reflecting on the incredible horror movies I watched this year—most for the very first time.

Confession: I don’t think I could ever be a critic. I’m too permissive, too patient, too tenderhearted. I don’t like star ratings on principle. Why assign numeric scores to something as personal and subjective as art? Doesn’t capitalism do that enough as it is, with box office numbers and profit margins and the constant devaluing of creative work?

Despite my existential angst, I’m powerless against the siren song of year-end lists. I appreciate what annual best-of lists attempt to do. They’re friendly boulders in the whitewater rush of media abundance, offering space to pause, catch our breath, and gain momentary perspective on everything we devoured throughout the year.

Since I usually focus on horror books, I thought it’d be fun to recap my favorite movies of 2025. I watched around 65 movies this year (so far), and of these, 24 stuck with me. My list is entirely personal: It includes a few new releases, but also delves back into the archives. I tend to watch a lot of international movies, not because I’m a snob, but because reading subtitles keeps me off my phone.

And while I loved all of these movies, I don’t claim they’re the best—they’re just special to me, for reasons I’ll explain below.

If you have recommendations for movies that are similar to the ones on my list, please send them my way! I’m always on the lookout for new movies to fall in love with, and this list should give you a great idea of my taste.

I’d also love to hear about incredible movies you saw this year. What moved you? Scared you? Made you think? Hit reply and let me know!

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January

Nosferatu: Some viewers—including people I THOUGHT were my friends, some of whom may even be reading this very newsletter—said this movie was too long, too slow, or too freaky in its overt sexuality. I loved every minute of it. If Robert Eggers ever releases a five hour director’s cut, I’d watch it immediately. (Note: This came out in 2024, but I didn’t get a chance to see it till January.)

Ichi the Killer: Maybe there’s something wrong with me, or maybe I’ve read too much manga, but I didn’t think this was as violent or gory as people seem to think it is. Its violence felt cartoonish and stylized in a really fun way. If you enjoyed Ryu Murakami’s Coin Locker Babies and Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy, you’d probably like this, too.

Opera: The poster for this movie prominently features the needle contraption Argento’s killer uses to prop our final girl’s eyelids open, forcing her to witness multiple murders—and to be completely honest, it made me nervous! I’m so glad I finally worked up the nerve to watch. Its tense scenes unfold in opulent, beautiful sets: intricate parquet floors carved in geometric slashes of light, shadowy backstage passages, museum-like bedrooms with cavernous ceilings, costume shops cluttered with jewelry and fabric. It’s not my favorite Argento movie—that would be The Bird With the Crystal Plumage—but I still enjoyed it very much.

Lost Highway: David Lynch died on January 15, and this was the first movie Jack and I watched after hearing the news. Its dreamlike narratives are linked by associations that are as delicate as tinsel, as durable as steel. One of my favorites.

Funny Games: I dreaded seeing this movie, and yet I loved The Killing of a Sacred Deer so much that it was inevitable. For every moment that made me squirm (the dog, the final “game”), there were more that thrilled me (the neighbor’s house, the rewind, the little white gloves). I have zero interest in the remake.

February

Inland Empire: Its enigmatic rabbit family makes this movie a perfect companion piece to Caveat. Laura Dern is magnificent.

Phantasm: Is this a good movie? I’m not sure, but I had a lot of fun watching it. Tonally, it veers from goofy B-movie to surreal mania on a dime. The glimpse of the other world, with its endless marching line of figures, has stayed with me all year. I haven’t ventured into the sequels yet. Should I?

March

30 Days of Night: I wrote about this one in an earlier issue, but I’ll endorse this movie again. Tense, suspenseful, and deeply original in its vampire imagery. I’m curious to learn more about the comics and how much they expand the story.

The Blair Witch Project: A major gap in my viewing! Seeing this in my 30s, all I could think was how young the protagonists seemed. I found it hard to watch headstrong, determined Heather gradually lose her confidence as her all-male crew berates and belittles her. The real horror was the humans all along, huh?

April

Horror in the High Desert (1-3): My favorite found footage of the year! These movies are a pitch-perfect riff on true crime media, and the story methodically grows with each new sequel. I’ve been impatiently awaiting the fourth installment.

Footprints on the Moon: I’ve never seen people discuss this one on social media, which makes me think I should post about it. A strange and mesmerizing noir about a woman who wakes up to discover that she can’t remember the past few days of her life, during which her alter ego or doppelgänger apparently replaced her.

May

Sinners: The best new release of the year, hands down.

When Evil Lurks: I would have watched this much sooner if I’d realized it was directed by Demián Rugna, who previously directed Terrified. Like the beloved shell reader in It Follows, Rugna’s movies often feature unique and imaginative technology that implies an alternate world without getting bogged down in tedious world-building. These are the types of little details that make his storytelling truly shine.

June

May: Is May a Frankenstein retelling? I think you could make a persuasive argument that it is.

28 Days Later: A rewatch for me, but the first in many years. I wrote about it here! I thought Weeks was kinda dumb and Years was very good, but neither topped the first movie for me.

Thesis: I’m not sure what director Alejandro Amenábar put in this movie, but it’s had me in a chokehold all year. If you like the psychosexual media themes in Videodrome, but you wish it had an academic setting and a hint of Blue Velvet’s suburban dread, this movie is for you.

July-September

I’m not kidding when I say that Thesis put me in a slump. I hardly watched any movies during these months, and the ones I did see didn’t earn the level of adoration necessary for inclusion on this list. (Sorry, Weapons! I still thought you were very good!)

October

Solaris: I’ve only seen two Tarkovsky movies, and I found Solaris to be more accessible than Stalker. It’s now firmly among my favorite space horror stories, alongside Event Horizon and The Silent Sea.

Thirst: Park Chan-wook’s sexy, transgressive vampire movie caught me by surprise. It’s a biting commentary on gender roles, bathed in buckets of blood and delightfully peculiar imagery. (Sorry for the pun, I couldn’t resist!)

The Haunting of Hill House: Not a movie, but Mike Flanagan created such a masterpiece that I’d be remiss not to include it. A triumph of adaptation, a multifaceted portrait of grief, a meditation on the flawed nature of memory. The rest is confetti.

November

Suspiria (2018): I loved this so much more than I expected to! Beautiful soundtrack by Thom Yorke, stunning costumes and creature designs, intensely atmospheric scenes—it’s going to be in my winter rotation moving forward.

Frankenstein: A leaf? For me? Mia Goth and Jacob Elordi were luminous in this movie. I particularly love to see a bug girl onscreen, and it made me want to rewatch Phenomena.

Pan’s Labyrinth: Another gap that I happily closed this year. I’m fond of movies that take children seriously and honor their heartbreak, and this movie is a prime example of sensitive, compassionate storytelling. The exquisite creature design is the icing on top.

Up Next: A Conversation with Nat Cassidy

I woke up early this morning (Wednesday) and hopped on an 8am PST video call with the one and only Nat Cassidy! Nat wrote some of my favorite horror novels in recent years, particularly Mary: An Awakening of Terror.

We talked about the horror of Shakespeare’s tragedies, strategies for balancing bleakness with hope, and the projects he’s currently editing. I’ll share our conversation in next week’s newsletter.

After that: I’m planning to take the rest of the year off! I’ll still pop into your inbox with a few rerun interviews from the early days, but I’ll use the break to plan for 2026 and chip away at my TBR mountain. I have so many fun ideas and interviews that I want to pursue next year! I’m looking forward to having a little extra time to think and daydream.

Scare Me! is a free weekly horror newsletter published every Thursday morning. It’s written by Michelle Delgado, featuring original illustrations by Sam Pugh. You can find the archive of past issues here. If you were sent this by a friend, subscribe to receive more spooky interviews, essays—and maybe even a ghost story or two.