The 13 most anticipated horror movies of 2025

Release date: January 17, 2025

Universal is continuing to reinvent its vault of classic horror monsters with the "Wolf Man" remake.

The first trailer for the film sees Blake (Christopher Abbott) move his family to his childhood home after his father's disappearance.

Once they arrive, the family locks themselves inside the home after Blake gets attacked by a creature outside. He then begins to change into — you guessed it — a werewolf.

It sounds pretty predictable, but director Leigh Whannell managed to weave a haunting level of relevance into "The Invisible Man" back in 2020, so we'll see if he has something special up his sleeve for "Wolf Man."

Release date: January 31, 2025

The trailer for "Companion" is creepy and vague, giving virtually no indication of what the movie is about (other than a promise that it's "a new kind of love story"). That secrecy has certainly piqued interest in it.

On top of the minimal plot details (a tactic that worked incredibly well for "Longlegs" at the box office), the pedigree behind this title is a big draw. It was produced by the filmmakers behind the buzzy 2022 horror hit "Barbarian," including director Zach Cregger, and stars "Yellowjackets" breakout Sophie Thatcher (also known for her horror roles in "The Boogeyman" and "Heretic") and "The Boys" actor Jack Quaid.

Release date: February 21, 2025

After the unexpected success of "Longlegs" at the box office, fans don't have to wait very long for director Osgood Perkins' follow-up. He's re-teaming with again Neon (who snagged the film in a reportedly competitive deal) on "The Monkey," about twin brothers Hal and Bill (Theo James in dual roles) who are terrorized by their father's old toy monkey after finding it in the attic.

As if the excitement over Perkins as a rising horror icon isn't enough, the movie is also an adaptation of a Stephen King story.

Release Date: March 7, 2025

Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler's names alone should be enough to get anyone excited for "Sinners."

Throw in the creepy trailer set in a small, seemingly post-WWII town beset by an evil force, plus Jordan playing a pair of twin brothers next to Hailee Steinfeld and Wunmi Mosaku, and the film easily earns its place on this list.

It's rumored to be a vampire movie, but the footage cleverly hides its fangs if that's the case. "Sinners" seems to be a mystery box of sorts, considering that at the end of the trailer, a DJ and a boom-box can be seen in the crowd — which obviously don't match the rest of the old-timey setting.

Release date: June 20, 2025

As the title might suggest, "28 Years Later" takes place several decades after Danny Boyle's game-changing "28 Days Later," which delivered a pulse-pounding vision of a modern zombie apocalypse.

The haunting first trailer showed a rural community that survived the virus by living on an isolated British island. Two of those survivors are played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and teenage star Alfie Williams.

In October, actor Ralph Fiennes teased that the film follows a young boy in northern England who goes looking for a doctor who can help his dying mother.

Release date: June 27, 2025

Get ready for more viral dances and brutal violence, because everyone's favorite killer robot toy is back in "M3GAN 2.0."

Plot details are scarce, but Allison Williams and Violet McGraw are reprising their roles as Gemma and Cady, the aunt and niece who faced off with the malevolent doll in the first movie.

Presumably, it'll involve M3GAN trying to replace Gemma as Cady's guardian following the violent ending to the first film. Regardless, Amie Donald is also returning to physically play the android, and Jenna Davis is voicing her again.

Release date: July 18, 2025

"I Know What You Did Last Summer" is getting a follow-up nearly 30 years after its release.

The 1997 slasher followed four teens (played by '90s icons Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze Jr.) who are stalked by a hook-wielding killer a year after they seemingly killed a man in a hit-and-run accident.

The not-good sequel released a year later ("I Still Know What You Did Last Summer") took the murder-y action to the Bahamas. It was later followed by the (also not good) direct-to-video "I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer" in 2006, which had nothing to do with the previous two movies. Neither indicated a promising future for the franchise.

The upcoming movie, expected to be a direct follow-up to "I Still Know…," has had an interesting journey. Mike Flanagan was originally set to reboot the first movie, but those plans were eventually canned. After years of languishing in development hell, the fourth film directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson was officially announced.

There are no plot details yet, but original stars Hewitt and Prinze Jr. are both set to reprise their roles. Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers, and Jonah Hauer-King also star, according to Deadline.

Release date: September 5, 2025

The highest-grossing horror movie franchise of all time is back for one final face-off with the forces of darkness.

The franchise, which kicked off in 2013 with the first film directed by James Wan, stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren, famed paranormal investigators. Each film took its inspiration from a real-life case the Warrens were involved in. Its success even spawned multiple other offshoot series within the shared "Conjuring Universe," including the "Annabelle" and "The Nun" movies.

Plot details are scarce, but it's being billed as a finale of sorts, meaning Ed and Lorraine's story is likely to come to an end. Whether that means one or both of them die in the process remains to be seen.

Release date: September 26, 2025

The first of the two "Frankenstein" movies on this list is Maggie Gyllenhaal's "The Bride!" This one isn't a direct adaptation, though — it's a horror musical set in 1930s Chicago and stars Christian Bale as Frankenstein's monster and Jessie Buckley as the bride of Frankenstein's monster.

Yes, that's right: a horror musical.

Penelope Cruz, Jake Gyllenhaal, Annette Bening, Peter Sarsgaard, and John Magaro also star.

Release Date: September 27, 2025

Love them or hate them, it's hard to deny that any new "Saw" movie is an interesting idea purely because it's hard to imagine how someone will be able to top the previous chapter.

"Saw XI" will be directed by Kevin Greutert. Greutert previously helmed the 2023 prequel "Saw X," which followed John Kramer (Tobin Bell) as he tortured a group that cons cancer patients.

Producer Oren Koules told GamesRadar+ that "Saw XI" might be a direct sequel to "Saw X."

"Cecilia is still alive and Tobin and Shawnee are in a foreign country still," he said. "So that, to me, would be the natural place to take at least the next one."

Release Date: October 25, 2025

Scott Derrickson is calling up some scares again with "The Black Phone 2." It's a direct sequel to the 2021 movie, which starred Mason Thames as a young boy who gets kidnapped by The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) and finds that the ghosts of the serial killer's past victims are trying to help him escape.

Hawke's terrifying performance (and that incredibly creepy mask) make the idea of a sequel very tantalizing.

Derrickson and his co-writer, C. Robert Cargill, have yet to reveal what will bring The Grabber back to the big screen, but both Hawke and Thames will reprise their roles.

Release date: December 5, 2025

The "Five Nights at Freddy's" follow-up might be one of Blumhouse's biggest hits of the year, if the success of the first film is any indication.

The first movie, an adaptation of the popular video game franchise of the same name, was a surprise hit at the box office when it was released in 2023. It focused on Mike (Josh Hutcherson), a security guard with a dark past who ends up facing off with animatronics possessed by dead kids (and William Afton, the serial killer who murdered them) at a Chuck E. Cheese-like pizza restaurant.

Hutcherson and Matthew Lillard, who played Afton, are both set to return for the sequel.

Release date: TBD 2025

A Guillermo del Toro horror movie is always something of an event. (See: "Blade II," "Hellboy," "Pan's Labyrinth," and "Crimson Peak," for example.) In 2025, he'll deliver his version of "Frankenstein" for Netflix, featuring a monstrously talented cast.

Most importantly, "Dune" star Oscar Isaac will play Victor Frankenstein opposite "Euphoria" actor Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein's monster.

They're joined by Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth, Ralph Ineson, Lars Mikkelsen, and David Bradley.

Given the director's love of practical effects and creature design, this take on the well-trodden "Frankenstein" could be something truly special.