I don’t see the point in lying to you all after everything I have overshared in these articles. Many of my most anticipated horror movies have already come out and blown me away. Or disappointed me and left me with new trust issues. Don’t get me wrong! I’m still a little hopeful that Return to Silent Hill is really dropping in 2025. I am also going to show up for The Conjuring: Last Rites and get closure. I am even looking forward to the movies listed below and many of the titles our other writers have highlighted this week. However, I also know the horror films that are going to shake me are movies I don’t know about yet. It will be the international films that finally make their way to the States. Or the weird little indie gems I have never heard of in the festivals circuit.
One of the biggest lessons I have learned as a horror nerd is that this is the part of the year when everything shifts. Most of the popular titles that we are obsessed with right now are about to fight it out with the underdogs. Those movies we didn’t know were being filmed in someone’s home yesterday and are about to be fast-tracked to YouTube or elsewhere. That’s the good shit that I am most excited about. Those are the ones that will bodycheck my current favorites of the year. They are going to force me to make some difficult choices when I tell people my top 10 of 2025. I do not know them yet, but I know they will find me when I least expect them and hit me in ways that excite me. In the meantime, here are the five films I suspect I will enjoy along the way.
5. Queens of the Dead – TBA
Drag queens and club kids put their conflicts aside to deal with a zombie outbreak at a drag show in Brooklyn. I am sad I cannot be at Tribeca Film Fest because it means I am missing this movie.I have been waiting forever to see what Tina Romero has cooked up, and my wait continues. However, whenever this flick drops, I will be power-walking to the theater because I want to see the queens and the zombies battle. I’m also geeked because this will be the first time I see a zombie film on the big screen helmed by any of the Romeros. Hopefully, a theater makes it a family affair and double features it with a George A. Romero film. Please and thank you.
4. I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) – July 18
A group with a dark secret is being stalked by a mysterious figure who knows too much. We all know this song. I know I am very vocal about this not being my favorite franchise. However, I am also very vocal about the lack of women who get to helm these reboots, distant sequels, etc. This is why I am very eager to see what director and co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson does with this property. Maybe she was the missing ingredient all along. Or, maybe she will give us another fun slasher and remind us why we had crushes on Freddie Prinze Jr. Either way, I follow Robinson on Twitter, and she seems really cool. The least I can do is find $12 and see what she’s about. So, the first I Know What You Did Last Summer I’ll catch on the big screen is coming up real soon.
3. The Ritual – June 6
Two priests in crisis perform a terrifying exorcism. This is supposedly based on the true story that inspired The Exorcist. I am always trying to be rattled in a theater, so I will sadly see most exorcism movies as soon as I can. However, I am rooting for this one because Al Pacino and Dan Stevens are combining their chaotic energies. I doubt many of us are ready for that, but I do love how close this is coming out to my birthday. Good, bad, or a third thing, this movie feels made with the Geminis in mind. Even if Pacino and Stevens only give 50%, it’s going to be worth the trip to the theater.
2. Him – September 19
A young football player gets invited to train at a team’s compound, where something sinister awaits him. I’m not a sports person, but I know better than to doubt Monkeypaw Productions. Many of my favorite movies and shows from the last few years have come from them. So, I will always bet on Monkeypaw. If they tell me football is in, then I put me in, coach. Do they want me to watch Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers do gym things and yell? Cool! I’m going to take notes and figure out what it all means on my own time. I know very little about this movie, but I expect it to become my new personality. That’s why I refuse to ask questions and then have to do an apology tour later. I will be sat (and silent) the second the theater gives me my ticket.
1. M3GAN 2.0 – June 27
Akela Cooper gave us one of my favorite deadly dolls and homicidal robots with M3GAN. So, I have been awaiting this sequel as if I am somehow personally involved. I have dodged all spoilers and trailers. I even refused to read the synopsis for this list because I am trying to capture every crumb of joy I can this year. However, as a nerd with decades of sci-fi taking up real estate in my brain, I feel there are only a few places for this to go. Luckily, I am here for all of them because I love M3GAN so much. I am also excited to (hopefully) have another example of PG-13 horror done right. That way, I can continue being smug when people act like gateway horror has to be bad. My wallet is open, and waiting to see what Gerard Johnstone has in store for my girl.
I’m rooting for these gems and all the movies I don’t know I am about to fall in love with. I am almost always cheering for the genre because horror is my home. I do not know if these five movies will be great or not. However, I am grateful they are giving me something to look forward to in this year of CHOICES. So, I’m going to hold onto that feeling for as long as each one lets me.
I am a writer, podcaster, and aspiring candlestick maker. I am one-half of the podcast 'Nightmare on FIERCE Street', one-half of the 'Blerdy Massacre' podcast, and one-eleventh of aoas_xx’s 'The ALTER Tapes'. I am also a contributing writer at 'Dread Central', 'Horror Press LLC', and some other cool places. Can usually be found yelling into the Twitter void about intersectional horror.
Sharai’s 5 Most Anticipated Horror Movies of 2025
I don’t see the point in lying to you all after everything I have overshared in these articles. Many of my most anticipated horror movies have already come out and blown me away. Or disappointed me and left me with new trust issues. Don’t get me wrong! I’m still a little hopeful that Return to Silent Hill is really dropping in 2025. I am also going to show up for The Conjuring: Last Rites and get closure. I am even looking forward to the movies listed below and many of the titles our other writers have highlighted this week. However, I also know the horror films that are going to shake me are movies I don’t know about yet. It will be the international films that finally make their way to the States. Or the weird little indie gems I have never heard of in the festivals circuit.
One of the biggest lessons I have learned as a horror nerd is that this is the part of the year when everything shifts. Most of the popular titles that we are obsessed with right now are about to fight it out with the underdogs. Those movies we didn’t know were being filmed in someone’s home yesterday and are about to be fast-tracked to YouTube or elsewhere. That’s the good shit that I am most excited about. Those are the ones that will bodycheck my current favorites of the year. They are going to force me to make some difficult choices when I tell people my top 10 of 2025. I do not know them yet, but I know they will find me when I least expect them and hit me in ways that excite me. In the meantime, here are the five films I suspect I will enjoy along the way.
5. Queens of the Dead – TBA
Drag queens and club kids put their conflicts aside to deal with a zombie outbreak at a drag show in Brooklyn. I am sad I cannot be at Tribeca Film Fest because it means I am missing this movie. I have been waiting forever to see what Tina Romero has cooked up, and my wait continues. However, whenever this flick drops, I will be power-walking to the theater because I want to see the queens and the zombies battle. I’m also geeked because this will be the first time I see a zombie film on the big screen helmed by any of the Romeros. Hopefully, a theater makes it a family affair and double features it with a George A. Romero film. Please and thank you.
4. I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) – July 18
A group with a dark secret is being stalked by a mysterious figure who knows too much. We all know this song. I know I am very vocal about this not being my favorite franchise. However, I am also very vocal about the lack of women who get to helm these reboots, distant sequels, etc. This is why I am very eager to see what director and co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson does with this property. Maybe she was the missing ingredient all along. Or, maybe she will give us another fun slasher and remind us why we had crushes on Freddie Prinze Jr. Either way, I follow Robinson on Twitter, and she seems really cool. The least I can do is find $12 and see what she’s about. So, the first I Know What You Did Last Summer I’ll catch on the big screen is coming up real soon.
3. The Ritual – June 6
Two priests in crisis perform a terrifying exorcism. This is supposedly based on the true story that inspired The Exorcist. I am always trying to be rattled in a theater, so I will sadly see most exorcism movies as soon as I can. However, I am rooting for this one because Al Pacino and Dan Stevens are combining their chaotic energies. I doubt many of us are ready for that, but I do love how close this is coming out to my birthday. Good, bad, or a third thing, this movie feels made with the Geminis in mind. Even if Pacino and Stevens only give 50%, it’s going to be worth the trip to the theater.
2. Him – September 19
A young football player gets invited to train at a team’s compound, where something sinister awaits him. I’m not a sports person, but I know better than to doubt Monkeypaw Productions. Many of my favorite movies and shows from the last few years have come from them. So, I will always bet on Monkeypaw. If they tell me football is in, then I put me in, coach. Do they want me to watch Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers do gym things and yell? Cool! I’m going to take notes and figure out what it all means on my own time. I know very little about this movie, but I expect it to become my new personality. That’s why I refuse to ask questions and then have to do an apology tour later. I will be sat (and silent) the second the theater gives me my ticket.
1. M3GAN 2.0 – June 27
Akela Cooper gave us one of my favorite deadly dolls and homicidal robots with M3GAN. So, I have been awaiting this sequel as if I am somehow personally involved. I have dodged all spoilers and trailers. I even refused to read the synopsis for this list because I am trying to capture every crumb of joy I can this year. However, as a nerd with decades of sci-fi taking up real estate in my brain, I feel there are only a few places for this to go. Luckily, I am here for all of them because I love M3GAN so much. I am also excited to (hopefully) have another example of PG-13 horror done right. That way, I can continue being smug when people act like gateway horror has to be bad. My wallet is open, and waiting to see what Gerard Johnstone has in store for my girl.
I’m rooting for these gems and all the movies I don’t know I am about to fall in love with. I am almost always cheering for the genre because horror is my home. I do not know if these five movies will be great or not. However, I am grateful they are giving me something to look forward to in this year of CHOICES. So, I’m going to hold onto that feeling for as long as each one lets me.
Read more of Sharai’s work here.
Miss Sharai Bohannon
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