MONTH IN REVIEW: SEPTEMBER 2025

It's not always easy to keep track of the world of horror day-to-day. So here's a round up of what's happened last month and a glimpse of what we can expect in the coming weeks...

October is here at last! Sandwiched between the heat of summer (pfff, yeah right) and the madness of Christmas, it’s a month that horror fans are usually quite fond of. The air turns crisp, the nights grow longer, and the trees take on that familiar autumn glow. As we near the end of the month, it’s all pumpkin spice lattes, Jack-o’-lanterns and Trick-or-Treaters and, of course, a steady stream of horror films. But before we dive into what October has in store, let’s rewind and take a look back at September, which turned out to be surprisingly busy.

The month kicked off with Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital, a Philippine meta found-footage horror that landed on Netflix. It’s a strange one - essentially a reboot of 2018’s South Korean hit Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. It’s... okay. The characters can be maddeningly irritating and the dialogue cringe-worthy, but it delivers a few solid scares.

September’s biggest release was The Conjuring franchise’s final chapter, Last Rites. A little drawn out and heavy on the family drama, it’s still elevated by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, who remain endlessly compelling. When it chooses to go full horror, it does so effectively and with box office numbers exceeding $435 million, it's clear this franchise remains a horror juggernaut. Unsurprisingly, there's more from The Conjuring universe in development (more on that later).

Later in the month, Francis Lawrence brought Stephen King’s bleak dystopia The Long Walk to the screen. True to the novel’s grim tone, the film doesn’t shy away from brutality, though it leans more toward coming-of-age drama than relentless horror - think Stand By Me meets Alex Garland’s Civil War. It's a strong film, with standout performances throughout. It didn’t come close to Last Rites financially (less than 10% of its box office), but it's undoubtedly the better film.

Italian religious horror The Holy Boy received its premiere at the Venice Film Festival and yeah, I know, most of us are a little jaded at the idea of Latin incantations and distorted teenage girls but The Holy Boy suffers from none of those excesses thankfully. It’s about a grieving father who moves to a small Italian Town, where he discovers that the locals all worship a teenage boy who can remove people’s emotional turmoil with a hug. Although when he begins to dig beneath the surface of this, he discovers everything’s not quite as rosy as it seems. It’s actually a rather restrained affair, but with a subtly disquieting atmosphere and a final ten minutes that erupts into pure carnage. Worth a watch.

So, who has been excitedly awaiting the follow up to Renny Harlin’s The Strangers: Chapter One, hmmm? Yeah. Pretty much nobody. It was a pointless and totally drab ‘reboot’ of Bryan Bertino’s original but none of that matters because they filmed a sequel and a third film at the same time, so we’re getting a trilogy whether we like it or not! The second film in said trilogy was released last week and…yeah, it’s still pretty bad. Madelaine Petsch does her best, bless her, but this is full of the usual tropes and dumb character decisions. A fraction better than its predecessor but that’s not exactly high praise.

Finally, we got to see Coyotes – starring Justin Long and Kate Bosworth. It’s about a family who get trapped in their home in the Hollywood Hills during a big storm that blows out the power in most of the area. Enter a pack of unnaturally hungry and vicious coyotes, determined to take advantage of the situation. It’s pretty goofy and very watchable. Not great, but daft enough to be an amusing late-night diversion.

October, of course, is the perfect time to revisit horror classics but we’re also getting a strong lineup of new releases. Him (out Oct 3) arrives with some buzz, thanks to Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and a lead role for Marlon Wayans. Reviews are polarising - some scathing, others glowing - so it might be a love-it-or-hate-it entry. The plot follows a young athlete (Tyriq Withers) visiting a remote training facility led by his idol... before things spiral into terror.

On the 10^th we get a couple of intriguing releases. Good Boy hits cinemas and if you’ve seen the trailer, surely there’s no way you’re turning your nose up at it. If you haven’t and you know nothing about it – it’s a film about a dog who moves with his owner to the sticks, but soon discovers there are dark supernatural forces lurking in his new abode. Yep, the dog is the main character. On the same day, Bryan Bertino’s Vicious is released on Paramount+. A young woman (Dakota Fanning) receives a mysterious Box from an unexpected late-night visitor, it comes with a simple instruction: place three things inside: something you need, something you hate, and something you love. What begins as a strange ritual quickly unravels into a waking nightmare. It’s received mixed early reviews but the trailer looks fascinating.

The biggest release of the month though is Black Phone 2, which gets a theatrical release on the 17^th. The original, based on a short story of the same name by Joe Hill was a bit of a hit back in 2021. Ethan Hawke was on top form but although it was full of suspense, it did feel like it held back from every attempting to be truly frightening. The word is that the sequel doubles down on the horror, so fingers crossed the sequel can take things to the next level. On the 23^rd, The Elixir is released on Netflix. It’s an Indonesian zombie flick about an elixir (obviously) that awakens the undead in a village and one dysfunctional family that must try and survive as their hometown collapses. Netflix may not have much to offer in terms of horror films in October but they do at least have a few series to look out for. Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Oct 3) sees Charlie Hunnam take on the role of the notorious killer who inspired Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. True Haunting (Oct 7) is a James Wan-produced docudrama mixing real accounts with scripted horror. And true crime fans can look forward to The Monster of Florence (Oct 22), examining the chilling unsolved case that haunted Tuscany from 1968 to 1985.

Shudder has a couple of releases of note; VHS: Halloween comes out on the 3^rd and is the eighth instalment of the franchise – which is now probably the most successful horror anthology franchise to date. The great thing about these is that even if they are usually a mixed bag, there always parts that are really good. And on Oct 30, Hell House LLC: The Final Chapter premieres. The series has been hit-and-miss, but when it works, it really works. Fingers crossed for a strong finale.

Bring Her Back also gets a DVD release on Oct 27—worth picking up.

September was a busy month on the news front. Here are some things that you may have missed:

• Although he has co-written the screenplay with regular writing partner Rodo Sayagues, Fede Alvarez will not be directing the sequel to Alien: Romulus. He said: ‘I don’t think I was ever going to do the sequel. We always knew right when we finished – this is one of those things where you come in, and you do one, and get out.’

• An untitled The Conjuring TV series is in development for HBO Max, with Nancy Won recently confirmed as the showrunner. The series will continue the story of the cinematic universe established in the films.

• Amazon MGM Studios has hired David F. Sandberg (Until Dawn) to direct a new Amityville movie. Ian Goldberg & Richard Naing (The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Autopsy of Jane Doe) will write the script, which is being described as a reimagining of the original horror classic.

• Lin Shaye has confirmed she will return as psychic Elise Rainier in Insidious 6, which is slated for release on August 21, 2026

• A24 aren’t slowing down in their efforts to buy up the rights to established horror franchises. They’re already doing a Friday 13^th spin off series and are now poised to acquire the film and TV rights to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise after a bidding war, though the deal has not yet been finalised.  

• Grave Encounters is being rebooted! Yep, bit of an odd one. Justin Long will star whilst real life partner Kate Bosworth will produce. Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz, directors of the original will also be involved too. The as yet untitled reboot will ‘modernise the concept into a cinematic experience, heightening the dread, claustrophobia, and psychological terror that made the original a fan favourite.'

• Speaking of remakes, a Sleepaway Camp remake is in development, produced by Kenan Thompson and Johnny Ryan Jr. through their company AFA, with original writer/director Robert Hiltzik attached to helm the project. The project aims to stay true to the original 1983 cult classic while adding "insane new twists" for a modern audience.

• Director Zach Cregger has confirmed that a Weapons prequel is in the works. The film has taken over $250m at the box office so that’s no surprise. Cregger told Fangoria that he already has a story for the film that he’s “pretty excited about”. We won’t spoil anything for those who haven’t seen it, so will just say that the prequel will focus on the antagonist of Weapons – whoever or whatever that is!

• Chinese censors altered a scene in the 2025 horror film Together to digitally change a gay couple into a straight one, sparking backlash and causing the distributor to pull the film from Chinese cinemas.

• Mark Duplass is supporting trans filmmakers by partnering with the Transgender Film Center to launch the Found Footage Feature Fund, a grant providing $25,000 in funding and greenlighting a micro-budget production for a selected trans filmmaker.

Ok, we’ve waffled on here for a while so we’ll just finish up with some trailers worth checking out that were released in September. Anaconda, starring Paul Rudd and Jack Black looks utterly goofy and stupid. But at least Jon Voight’s not in it. If you’re terrified of spiders, don’t check out the trailer for Scurry. Everyone else should do though. What Happened to Dorothy Bell is a creepy looking found footage film that looks like a cross between The Visit and Paranormal Activity. Nia Da Costa’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple looks interesting. Looks like we’re getting more of Jack O’Connell and his tracksuit crew! I mentioned Vicious earlier but do check the trailer out for that too. Actually, I stopped the trailer halfway through as I didn’t want to know too much. I’m a sucker for anyone attempting to merge the horror and western genres so Killing Faith, starring DeWanda Wise and Guy Pearce looks pretty cool. And finally, Delivery Run – a film about a food delivery driver who gets pursued by a crazed snowplow driver in the icy Minnesota wilderness looks like it could be quite good. I’m a big fan of road movie horrors (Duel, Roadkill) so I’ll definitely be looking out for it.

So, that was September - hectic, with a few solid releases, and a promising lead-in to October. I’ll be (foolishly) taking on the 31daysofhorror challenge again - one horror film a day, all culminating in a special cinema screening of the rarely seen uncut version of Halloween (1978) at my local film theatre, complete with spooky cocktails beforehand.

Whatever your Halloween plans, enjoy!