2025 has been a wonderful year forhorrorfans, as there’s been no shortage of fantastic movies to choose from. From sequels such asI Know What You Did Last SummerandFinal Destination Bloodlines, toM3GAN 2.0and28 Years Later, we’ve all been eating good this year, and there’s still plenty to come.Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,The Black Phone 2, Guillermo Del Toro’sFrankenstein, andThe Conjuring: Last Ritesare just a few we have to look forward to, but as mentioned, all those are either sequels or – in the case ofFrankenstein– remakes that put the filmmakers own spin on a familiar favorite.
When it comes to 2025’s slate of original horror movies, the dinner table has been just as full, as we’ve been treated to a plethora of great movies that range from the strange and alarming, to the beautiful and surreal. The results have been spectacular, to say the least, and we’re not the only ones who think so, as four of 2025’s best original horror movies all share one thing in common: They all have reached Certified Fresh status on Rotten Tomatoes, proving that there’s still a lot of room left in a genre filled with endless sequels, remakes, and reimaginings, or whatever you’d like to call them.
Which 2025 Original Horror Movies Have Been Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes?
We’ll start with the obvious one –Sinners, Ryan Coogler’sexcellent tale about twin brotherswho return to their hometown where they are confronted by a supernatural evil. This one exceeded all expectations, taking in a massive $365.9 million at the box office. Critics and fans went absolutely crazy for the vampire flick, which is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a whopping 97% rating.
Next up is the recently releasedWeapons, director Zack Cregger’s phenomenal original story about seventeen children from the same classroom who mysteriously run away on the same night at the same time. Starring the likes of Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong and Amy Madigan as the creepy yet lovable Aunt Gladys, who’s taken the internet by storm,Weaponscashed in at the box office to earn $172.6 million against a budget of just $38 million. Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 94% rating, many critics went so far as to call it “the best horror movie in recent memory.”
Two More Standouts Have Also Been Certified Fresh
The fun doesn’t stop atWeaponsandSinners, as two more of 2025’s best original horror movies have also been Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, includingBring Her Back. Following the success of their first film,Talk to Me, Danny and Michael Philippou unleashed this unsuspecting A24 horror movie in May, which debuted across 2,400 screens and made $32 million at the box office. While it didn’t manage to bring in as much cash as the previous two, it did manage to reach a Certified Fresh rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, and deservedly so. This is perhapsthe most unnerving of the bunch, as the story follows two step-siblings who find themselves orphaned and placed in the middle of an occult ritual by their new foster mother. Seriously, if you haven’t seen this one, trust us, you’re going to want to add it to your watch list.
Finally, we haveTogether– the directorial debut of Michael Shanks that stars real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie. LikeBring Her Backbefore it,Togetherdidn’t exactly make a big splash at the box office when it was released by Neon on a limited number of screens, as it earned just $23.4 million. However, it certainly became a big hit with critics, who propelled it to a Certified Fresh rating of 90%, and deservedly so. While the Philippou brothers gave us the most unhinged horror movie of the year, Shanks delivered the most insane movie about codependency that you’ll ever see.
Honorable mentions go to these other 2025 Certified Fresh original horror movies, including Drew Hancock’sCompanion(93%), Steven Soderbergh’sPresence(88%), and Josh Ruben’s fun slasher,Heart Eyes(78%), which doesn’t get nearly the love it should.
These are all proof positive that the appetite for original horror is a rabid one, and studios would do well to pay attention to what critics and fans are saying about them. Yes, we understand the importance of franchise dollars and what they bring in, but maybe take just a little more of those profits and invest them in some fresh ideas from some budding filmmakers. When done right, we’ve seen what the results could be, and while they may not be as lucrative in some cases, it’s a risk worth taking to discover what might be the next horror classic.
