The Horror Genre has been popping off in the last few years, for better and for worse, with new stories, remakes, adaptations, and sequels coming out of the woodwork almost every week it feels like.
And as someone who works almost every day of the week and doesn’t have a movie theater in their town, I don’t get to see a lot of them till later. Much later. Sometimes, I do get out to see new features. For example, the last two Scream Movies and Heart Eyes were both movies I watched in theaters.
So I have been sitting and learning all about these new horror movies that are coming out having some interest in most of them. However, there are many that I am really excited to see eventually, if I can help it. I have narrowed down this list to five, because let’s be real, I’ll be here all night if I decided to write about all of them.
This list is going to feature some films that have already come out, within the last two/three months. So, you know… No spoilers for this chee!
Sinners
Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” released in theaters April 18th, 2025 and is first on this list because it’s what inspired me to make this list. It’s about identical twins and veterans of WWI (played by Michael B. Jordan) named Smoke and Stack who return to Mississippi after years of working for Al Capone, only to encounter a supernatural evil.
The trailer, much like the one for Abigail, was quick to reveal what that supernatural evil is. Vampires! I am a sucker for a good vampire movie, and I am confident that this movie will live up to my vampire movie standards. I don’t know much about the film outside of the trailers though. I know the cast is featured nicely in the trailers, giving you a good idea of all the faces. There’s a lot of music, dancing, guns, blood, and Hailee Steinfeld featured and that sounds like a great combination to me. When I see it, expect a full review! (And if I can’t see it in theaters, I will be buying it on DVD. TRUST.)
The Monkey
“The Monkey” is the work of director Osgood Perkins, who was also behind the movie “Longlegs” (another movie I have not seen, that will not be appearing on this list as it came out last year and not this year,) which released in theaters back on February 21st, 2025. The trailer to this movie mesmerized me, because the concept seems so fun and campy. The film follows twin brothers Hal and Bill (Played by Christian Conery (young Hal and Bill) and Theo James (older Hal and Bill) who find a mysterious wind-up monkey. According to the trailer, this wind-up monkey is responsible for multiple deaths that surround the twins, both when they are kids and when they’re adults.
The trailer’s music was the first thing that hooked me. Then the slow reveal of the monkey. I haven’t seen the movie myself yet, but everything in me is telling me that I need to find a way to get my paws on it. (Maybe in DvD form! Physical media rocks!) I am most happy with the cast. Theo James was big when I was in high school and thought Divergent was cool, and I loved him in that. I also like seeing Tatiana Maslany, Rohan Campbell, and Elijah Wood on a cast list.
Death of a Unicorn
“Death of a Unicorn” is an A24 film from director Alex Scharfman that released in theaters on March 28th, 2025. It follows a father/daughter duo (played by Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega respectively) who are out for a fun and friendly retreat to visit the dad’s rich boss when they accidentally hit and kill a unicorn with their car. Obviously, the billionaire boss wants to use the dead creature as a way to make money.
This movie seems almost absurd, in the best way possible. The trailer does a good job of selling the “biblically accurate” unicorn creature angle. Yes, I know that it isn’t like biblically accurate. I am just saying, I love when movies dig deep into creature lore. Obviously, the cast is a big plus. Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, and Will Poulter are big plusses for me. I loved Will in the Maze Runner and the Dark Pictures Anthology game “Little Hope.”
Hell of a Summer
“Hell of a Summer” is directed by Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk and released in theaters on April 4th, 2025. It’s about a twenty-four-year-old camp counselor, Jason Hochberg (played by Fred Hechinger) who is feeling out of touch with his younger coworkers. Meanwhile, there is a masked killer lurking around the camp and doing what masked killers do.
I am a bit surprised by how much I want to see this one. I know, I know, it’s a slasher. (It took me way too long to put a slasher on this list.) I love slashers. But this one seems so different to me. This is the first horror trailer I have watched where I wanted to see so much more. It did something I don’t think a lot of trailers do. It only lightly teased the horror elements. No outright spoiled kills. And with Finn and Billy pulling triple duty in this film, as actors/writers/directors, I just feel so drawn to know more about it and to watch it.
Clown in a Cornfield
Clown in a Cornfield is the first book in a trilogy of horror novels written by Adam Cesare, which is being turned into a movie directed by Eli Craig and written by Craig and Carter Blanchard. The film is schedules for release on May 9th, 2025. It follows and girl and her dad who move to a small town that seems to have a lot of tension between the youths of the town, and the adults. Quinn and her newfound friends come to find themselves under attack by the town’s mascot, a clown named Frendo.
I am actually still in the middle of this book, because I have poor time management. But I do intend on seeing this once it releases on Shudder, and I want to write a review where I compare them. So there’s a future post for future me to do. If the movie is anything like the first half of this book though, I do think it will be a good time. The trailer also had some really good stand-out moments, like the rotary phone scene. I do think that this will be a good, if not decent watch. I cannot wait to see it in all of its campy and possibly gory glory.
Five is a relatively small number of movies. Because there are so many others to talk about. But that’s a great reason to wait on some of these other future movies. The “I Know What You Did Last Summer” legacy sequel trailer came out today, and it looks surprisingly good. (But, hey. Um. Where is Brandy? Why is Brandy not in this trailer? She’s in the movie, right? RIGHT?) I’ll talk more about my feelings on that in a future post. (No, seriously, please tell me Brandy’s character Karla Wilson is going to be in this movie in some way, shape, or form!)
Anyway, I am back! That was a refreshing break, but I need to start writing online content again, and writing this post feels sooooo fucking good.
Are there any movies you’re looking forward to in 2025? Horror or otherwise? What do you think about the five movies I chose to talk about?
Scribbles of a Chee 
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