Culture
Three standout horror movies from 2025
By: Gordon Briggs
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If you are a horror fan, 2025 gave audiences plenty of bizarre and beautiful films.
We had suburban horror with Weapons, rom-com horror films like Companion and Together. We even had the sports horror flick with HIM. However, I want to highlight three standout horror films that worked as family dramas, dark fairy tales, and even a blues musical with vampires.
You all know I love a dark fairy tale. With The Ugly Stepsister, we get a fairy tale bathed in blood. You already know the story. Cinderella, the ball, the slipper, etc. This film unfolds by shifting the point of view from poor Cinderella to her stepsister, an awestruck daydreamer named Elvira. At first, the two new sisters are friends, but then the royal ball is announced. Suddenly, the women compete for both the prince’s hand and their own economic survival. In the post-Wicked world, giving folks a more sympathetic view of a villain isn’t new. However, where this film twists the knife is how it shows the physical torture these people endure in the hope of appearing beautiful. Writer and director Emilie Blichfeldt brings body horror into play, emphasizing tactility to accentuate tearing flesh and the breaking of facial bones for beauty. When the ball finally arrives, all the beauty we see feels disturbing because we’ve experienced the blood and pain it took to get there. Doubtless, some may be turned off by its excessive violence and exaggerated tone, but for fans of fantasy horror, please seek this out. Rating: ★★★½
Yes, there’s blood in this film, there are grotesque images, and bizarre rituals built around children, but for my money, a horror film like this works when it feels like disturbing things are happening to real people. That is one of the reasons I enjoyed Bring Her Back. It lets us get to know its characters, then puts them through Hell. Playing like a modern-day version of Hansel and Gretel, we follow the story of two step-siblings, who, after the death of their father, are sent to live with a foster mom (Sally Hawkins) and her strange child, whose dead-eyed expression graces the movie poster. Circumstances grow eerie when the foster kids start to witness strange supernatural events and terrifying rituals around their secluded home. Even seasoned horror fans may be put off by some viewers. Much of the horror centers around the mouth, and people being bitten, vomiting, and other oral-based bodily trauma that I won’t write about here. What gives the story its impact are the three lead characters. I must complete the two actors who play the foster kids, Bill Barratt and Sora Wong. The two feel like actual siblings, and giving Sora Wong’s character a sense of humor was a smart move. However, the ace in the hole here is Sally Hawkins. The last time I saw her, she was playing the sweet mother in Paddington. Here, she’s just the right mix of sinister and sweet that you feel empathy for her even as she does the unspeakable. Rating: ★ ★ ★1/2
Sinners is one of the year’s best films. A bold, bloody Black bloodsucker movie infused with brotherly love and beautiful blues music. There’s plenty to praise about its story, which feels divided into two halves. The first focuses on two twin brothers, both played effectively by Michael B. Jordan, as they prepare to open a Juke Joint in ’30s Mississippi. A different movie would’ve rushed to get to the vampire slaying, but this film takes the time to establish its sultry southern setting, develop its characters’ desires, and give us the flavor and atmosphere of its world. Then there’s the second half, which could’ve easily ditched its themes of music, redemption, and community in favor of vampire-killing action. Thankfully, Ryan Coogler is smarter than that. Even as vampires are staked and blood is drawn, the movie still emphasizes the importance of Black music, using the blues to underscore many of its sincere emotional notes. There are many memorable moments, but I must single out a remarkable musical number where Coogler visually traces the entire evolution of blues from funk to hip-hop, all in one unbroken shot. Rating: ★★★★