While 2024 has been a fantastic year for horror, especially original horror, 2025's slate looks equally exciting, although there is more focus on returning franchises and sequels. Expect new entries in popular ones like Final Destination, Saw, The Conjuring, and Insidious.
And that's not even counting newer franchises like M3GAN, Five Nights at Freddy's, and The Black Phone that are also returning next year. In short, 2025 is the year of the sequels. Let's hope they can live up to their predecessors and the success of 2024!
Final Destination
Can you believe there hasn't been a new Final Destination movie since 2011? Thankfully, that long, dire streak is about to end with the release of Final Destination: Bloodlines on May 16, 2025. Final Destination is one of many horror franchises with a simple premise about Death as the main "killer," who comes to collect after people escape from a tragic accident in which they were supposed to die.
Saw
As a franchise, Saw had a great year in 2022 with the success of Saw X, the first film in the entire series to get a positive score on Rotten Tomatoes. Bringing Tobin Bell back as John Kramer was the smartest thing the franchise has done in years and a return to what made the films enjoyable in the first place.
However, the placement of Saw on this list is potentially in jeopardy. While Lionsgate has set a September 26, 2025, date for Saw XI, there have been rumors circulating online about a troubled production. No filming or cast details have officially been announced for the eleventh film yet.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer is coming back on July 18, 2025, with original cast members Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. set to reprise their roles as Julie James and Ray Bronson, respectively. This legacy sequel will pick up after the events of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.
28 Days Later
An iconic and influential post-apocalyptic horror movie, 28 Days Later sparked many copycats over the years, but it'll be great to see the return of original creators Alex Garland and Danny Boyle for the highly-anticipated 28 Years Later, the first in a planned trilogy.
The official trailer for 28 Years Later was so popular online that Sony even rushed the re-release of 28 Days Later for digital since the film has been nearly impossible to find otherwise for years due to a rights issue.
Fear Street
While not the most popular franchise in a traditional, box-office sense, Netflix's Fear Street event in the summer of 2021 is still discussed fondly by those of us who were tuned in each week for the three-event occasion. It was one of Netflix's best programming decisions, several weeks of slasher movies, two of them set in nostalgic slasher eras. Next year, the franchise returns with Fear Street: Prom Queen.
Predator
This sci-fi anthology series is returning in a big way in 2025, with two new movies set to release. After the very well-received Prey, Dan Trachtenberg returns with his next film, Badlands, starring Elle Fanning. Trachtenberg also has a second, more secretive Predator movie in the works that will come out sometime after Badlands.
The Conjuring
Get ready to say goodbye to Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as one of the horror genre's most beloved on-screen couples. Since 2013, Wilson and Farmiga have been playing demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, based on the real-life couple. The Conjuring: Last Rites, releasing on September 5, 2025, will be the last chapter in their story.
Insidious
It's kind of funny to follow up on that note about The Conjuring: Last Rites being the "last" in the franchise when the same thing was said about James Wan's other popular supernatural horror series, Insidious, which was supposed to end with Insidious: The Red Door.
But that was before The Red Door made lots of money at the box office. Now, a new chapter is coming, though Sony hasn't released any details about Thread: An Insidious Tale except that it will be directd by Jeremy Slater, star Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani, and be released on August 29, 2025.
Anaconda
This is perhaps one of the most unexpected returns for 2025, but nonetheless exciting. Jack Black and Paul Rudd star in this new entry into the long-running creature feature series, although expect this version of Anaconda to lean a lot more into the humor. It will be released theatrically on Christmas Day.
V/H/S
The seventh entry into this popular found-footage anthology film series was well-received and one of the buzziest releases this past October, with notable entries from horror filmmakers like Justin Long, Kate Siegel, and Mike Flanagan. Given its success, it came as no surprise that a sequel, titled V/H/S/8, was already scheduled for 2025.