2025 YEAR IN
REVIEW
Movies I Didn’t Dislike in 2025:
Bark
The Bayou (Gator Creek)
Bloodsuckers and the Grimoire
Bone Face
Borderline
The Calendar Killer
Chain Reactions
Clown in a Cornfield
Movies I Disliked in 2025:
TV Shows I Didn’t Dislike in 2025:
Haunted Hotel (Season One) (Netflix)
Horror’s Greatest (Season Two) (Shudder)
The Institute (Season One) (MGM+)
King of the Hill (Season Fourteen)
The Madness of David Judge
Win or Lose (Disney+)
You (Season Five) (Netflix)
TV Shows I Disliked in 2025:
The Beast in Me (Netflix)
Goosebumps: The Vanishing (Disney+)
Old Time Radio (Screambox)
Severance (Season Two) (Apple+)
TV Shows that were just okay in 2025:
The Creep Tapes (Season Two) (Shudder)
The Eternaut (Season One) (Netflix)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Season Seventeen)
Long Bright River (Peacock)
Serial (Season One) (Screambox)
Squid Game (Season Three) (Netflix)
Stranger Things (Season Five) (Netflix)
Twisted Metal (Season Two) (Peacock)
TV Shows I stopped before finishing in 2025:
Other superlatives:
Good-but-not-as-much-as-the-hype: Beast of War; Bring Her Back; Heart Eyes; Sinners
Not-as-bad-as-they-said: Fear Street: Prom Queen; The Strangers: Chapter 2; Wolf Man
As-bad-as-they-said: War of the Worlds
Better-the-second-time: Clown in a Cornfield
Biggest Disappointment(s): Film-Black Phone 2; Death of a Unicorn; Hell of a Summer; The Monkey; Presence; The Ruse
TV-The Bear (Season Four); Black Mirror (Season Seven); South Park (Season 27/28); Wednesday (Season Two)
Most Overrated: Black Bag; Bone Lake; Dangerous Animals; Queens of the Dead
Most Underrated: Marshmallow; The Severed Sun
Most Unnecessary Sequels/Prequels: Freakier Friday; Hell House LLC: Lineage; I Know What You Did Last Summer; M3GAN 2.0
Worthy Sequels/Prequels: The Jester 2; Jurassic World: Rebirth; V/H/S/Halloween; Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Sequel(s)-better-than-the-predecessor: The Jester 2
Most Unnecessary Remakes/Re-imaginings/Spinoffs: How to Train Your Dragon; Lilo & Stitch; Snow White
Worthy Remakes/Re-imaginings/Spinoffs: R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead; Silent Night, Deadly Night
Okay Remakes/Re-imaginings/Spinoffs: Frankenstein; The Hand that Rocks the Cradle
Best Documentary: Chain Reactions
Most Disappointing Documentary: Art Attack! The Dissection of Terrifier 3
Best Mockbuster: The Jolly Monkey
Worst Mockbuster: Jurassic Reborn
Best Public Domain Film: Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare
Worst Public Domain Film(s): All the Popeye films; Rumpelstiltskin; Screamboat
Best TV Special: Family Guy Halloween Special
Worst TV Special: Disney’s Hulu’s Family Guy’s Hallmark Channel’s Lifetime’s Familiar Holiday Movie
Best Fan Film(s): Leprechaun Revenge; Sweet Revenge
Best Short Film: Howl at the Dead
Most Innovative: Together
Best Twist: The Home
Best Reveal: Bark
Most Bizarre: Best Wishes to All
Worst Performance: John Malkovich (Opus)
Best Comeback(s): Jurassic World (Rebirth); You (Season Five)
Needs a Comeback: The Bear; South Park; Wednesday
Most Anticipated Film(s) in 2026: Evil Dead Burn; Return of the Living Dead (Xmas movie that was supposed to come out last year!); Terrifier 4
Other Film(s) in 2026 I’m curious about: Deep Water; Disclosure Day; Killer Whale; The Plague; Primate; Psycho Killer; Ready or Not 2; Remain; Scream 7; The Strangers: Chapter 3; Super Troopers 3; They Follow (if it comes out); 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple; Violent Night 2; Wolf Creek: Legacy
Most Anticipated TV in 2026: Carrie; King of the Hill (Season 15)
Other TV in 2026 I’m curious about: The ‘Burbs; Crystal Lake (if it actually comes out!); From (Season 4); John Carpenter Presents (if it comes out); Malcolm in the Middle
Movies from 2025 I didn’t get to see (but wanted to) before making this list: Bambi: The Reckoning; Chainsaws Were Singing; Coyotes; Dust Bunny; It Ends; Keeper; Savage Hunt; A Serbian Documentary
Commentary: Hopefully the lists and superlatives will explain it all. There were some goodies and baddies, like every year, and every upcoming year; I put asterisks next to the ones I liked a little better or worse than the rest (of which I liked or disliked enough to also include on the lists), clearly alphabetizing everything. If I had to pick, I’d say Weapons was probably the best film of 2025 (lots of people agreed too, including Rue Morgue J), while Jurassic Reborn and Gnome Sick were probably the worst. [I’ll include a list of all the films and shows I saw and rated in 2025 below since I stopped writing blog reviews back in March (for those unaware), posting occasionally about individual films/shows on social media (Facebook and Instagram particularly), but do still rate all the films/shows I watch (as I’ve been doing for over 20 years now, as well as making best/worst lists at the end of the year)]. I ended up liking a mockbuster (The Jolly Monkey) better than the movie it was mocking (The Monkey), the latter and Abraham’s Boys both being two disappointing adaptations. There were some good adaptations too though, i.e. The Long Walk, The Life of Chuck, Clown in a Cornfield (somehow better the second time), and R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead. As for TV, there were a couple disappointing seasons for shows I like, i.e. The Bear, Wednesday, Black Mirror, and South Park, the latter broken up into two five-episode seasons containing one episode in which they called themselves out when Stan said he liked it better when they were all just hanging out, hating how everything got so political in South Park! I hope the creators were hinting they’re going to revert to the old format in future seasons, because I sure as hell hated how political the show got and missed when it was just kids being bad. (The political shit may have been funny at first, but it got stale quick). The final season of You was much better than the previous season, while the final seasons of The Conners, Squid Game, and Stranger Things were okay, but didn’t exactly go out with a bang. The King of the Hill revival was decent, but felt way too short at just ten episodes, which is why I’m glad they’re making more seasons, one coming out this year, so I can’t label it a comeback just yet. I stopped watching Family Guy after like season four because I didn’t think it was funny anymore, the writing was uninspired, and South Park kinda ruined it after that one manatee episode, but I still watch the holiday specials and ended up liking the Halloween one they did last year; the Christmas special with the really long title was terrible though. Opinions are always subjective, needless to say, and what I always say, and there will always be good and bad films/shows as long as they keep being made. All I can say is that at least there are good ones, even if a little better than just okay, because, unfortunately, there will always be bad ones. Agree or disagree with my choices and tune in next year to find out what I end up thinking of all that 2026 has to offer…2/5/2026
Goosebumps: The Vanishing EH
Missing You OK
The Sand Castle EH/OK
Presence EH/OK
Dark Match OK
Can You Feel the Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story OK
Heart Eyes OK
The Gorge OK/G
The Dead Thing EH/OK
Lone Star Shark EH/OK
The Monkey EH
Cannibal Comedian EH/OK
Uncontained OK
The Jolly Monkey OK
Win or Lose G
The Parenting OK/G
Control Freak EH/OK
St. Patrick’s Day Massacre EH
Art Attack! The Dissection of Terrifier 3 EH/OK
Long Bright River OK
Severance (Season Two) EH
The Bayou (Gator Creek) OK/G
The Rule of Jenny Pen EH
The Calendar Killer OK/G
Holland OK
Wolf Man OK
825 Forest Road EH/OK
Adolescence OK/G
Hell of a Summer EH/OK
Bring Them Down EH
Companion OK
One of Them Days EH/OK
Not Just a Goof OK/G
Black Mirror (Season Seven) EH/OK
Dead Mail OK
Tendaberry OK
North of North (Season One) OK
Project MKHEXE EH
Black Bag EH
You (Season Five) OK/G
The Surfer OK
I Am Your Biggest Fan OK
The Eternaut (Season One) OK
The Ugly Stepsister OK
The Damned EH
Clown in a Cornfield OK/G
Final Destination: Bloodlines OK
Flight Risk OK
Dog Man EH/OK
Fear Street: Prom Queen OK/G
The Surrender EH/OK
Into the Deep EH/OK
Mickey 17 OK/G
Shiver Me Timbers EH
Hook EH
Bogieville OK
The Devil and the Daylong Brothers EH/OK
Dollar $tore Killers EH/OK
The Woman in the Yard EH
My Dead Friend Zoe OK
Snow White EH/OK
The Life of Chuck OK/G
Marshmallow G
Bystanders OK
Wake Up EH/OK
28 Years Later OK
Sugarcane EH
The Bear (Season Four) EH
The Actor OK/G
Great White Waters B/EH
Night of the Zoopocalypse OK
Lizzie Lazarus EH/OK
It Feeds OK/G
Jurassic World: Rebirth OK/G
Jurassic Reborn B
Leprechaun Revenge G
Field of Screams EH
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story OK/G
Drop OK
Squid Game (Season Three) OK
Brick EH/OK
A Desert G
Bone Face OK/G
There’s a Zombie Outside EH
Morgan: Killer Doll EH
The Assessment OK
Please Don’t Feed the Children OK
Happy Gilmore 2 OK
Sinners OK/G
The Trouble with Tessa (Season One) OK
War of the Worlds EH
Until Dawn OK
Locked OK
A Nice Indian Boy OK
Room Six OK/G
Novocaine OK
Dead Talents Society OK/G
King of the Hill (Season 14) OK/G
Sharp Corner OK
Et Tu EH/OK
Sweet Revenge G
Fixed OK
Another Simple Favor OK
Night Always Comes OK/G
KPop Demon Hunters OK
Eenie Meanie EH
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Season 17) OK
Garden of Eden EH/OK
Sneaks EH
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie OK
Borderline OK/G
Twisted Metal (Season Two) OK
The Other OK
The Thursday Murder Club OK
Take From Me OK
Fear Cabin: The Last Weekend of Summer B/EH
Freaky Tales OK/G
Lilo & Stitch OK
Wednesday (Season Two) EH/OK
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare OK/G
Stans OK/G
Sister Midnight OK
Rob1n OK/G
I Don’t Understand You OK/G
Screamboat EH
Stalkers OK
The Long Walk G
Fear Below G
Shark Terror OK
Elio G
Takeout OK
Revival (Season One) EH/OK
Fairest of Them All OK
Saint Clare OK/G
Haunted Hotel (Season One) G
Vampire Clown OK
M3GAN 2.0 (Unrated) EH/OK
Shift OK/G
Serial (Season One) OK
Gator Lake (Lake Jesup: Bonecrusher’s Revenge) EH/OK
Pretty Thing OK/G
McVeigh OK
The Man in My Basement EH
Honey Don’t! OK
Warfare G
Death of a Unicorn OK
Wayward OK
Family Guy Halloween Special G
Match EH
Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project G
Stay EH
The Dogs OK/G
How to Train Your Dragon EH/OK
The Madness of David Judge OK/G
The Woman in Cabin 10 EH/OK
Within the Pines EH/OK
Invader OK
V/H/S/Halloween OK/G
Dangerous Animals OK
Night of the Reaper OK/G
House on Eden OK
I Know What You Did Last Summer EH/OK
Bloat EH
Other OK
R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead OK/G
The Offing EH
Popeye’s Revenge EH
Popeye the Slayer Man EH/OK
Bloodsuckers and the Grimoire OK/G
Eye for an Eye EH/OK
The Jester 2 OK/G
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle OK
Descendent OK
Rumpelstiltskin B
Weapons G
Hell House LLC: Lineage EH
American Clown OK
Monster Island OK
Frankenstein OK
Abraham’s Boys EH
Ash EH/OK
Freakier Friday EH/OK
Dream Eater OK
Mutilator 2 EH/OK
The Priest: Thanksgiving Massacre EH/OK
Killer Rental OK/G
The Institute (Season One) OK/G
Good Boy OK/G
Bring Her Back OK/G
Disney’s Hulu’s Family Guy’s Hallmark Channel’s
Lifetime’s Familiar Holiday Movie EH/OK
A Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas EH
The Ruse EH/OK
Him EH
Cognitive OK
Do You Fear What I Fear? EH/OK
Eddington EH/OK
Highest 2 Lowest EH/OK
Reflection in a Dead Diamond OK
The Lost Bus OK
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery G
Influencers OK
Caught Stealing OK
Together G
Welcome to Derry (Season One) OK
Gnome Sick: 7 Slays Til Mithras B
The Boulet Brothers’ Holiday of Horrors OK
The Conjuring: Last Rites OK
The Creep Tapes (Season Two) OK
Old Time Radio EH
Queens of the Dead EH/OK
Primitive War EH/OK
Chain Reactions G
I Know What You Did Last Christmas EH
Strange Harvest OK
Bugonia EH/OK
The Strangers: Chapter 2 OK
Black Phone 2 OK
Vicious OK
Lifeline EH
Lurker EH/OK
New Fears Eve EH/OK
The Mannequin EH
Stranger Things (Season Five) OK
Brute 1976 EH
Die My Love EH/OK
Best Wishes to All OK
Lookout OK
The Home OK
Opus EH
The Twin EH
Americana OK
One Battle After Another OK
Sew Torn OK/G
Self-Help B
Friendship EH/OK
The Toxic Avenger EH/OK
Eden EH
Helloween B/EH
Bark OK/G
Don’t Log Off OK
Barron’s Cove OK
Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape from Now EH/OK
The Running Man EH/OK
American Sweatshop OK
The Beast in Me EH
The Shrouds B
Bone Lake EH
Beast of War OK
Vampire Zombies…From Space! EH/OK
Plainclothes OK/G
Hag OK
Savage Flowers OK/G
Secret Mall Apartment OK
The Severed Sun G
Shelby Oaks EH
Mother of Flies EH
Spooktacular! OK
Silent Night, Deadly Night G
Rabbit Trap B/EH
Blood Star OK
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You OK
Hurry Up Tomorrow EH
The Carpenter’s Son EH
