ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — With Halloween right around the corner, picking the perfect horror movie for your Samhain celebration is of the utmost importance.

Whether you are a horror aficionado who has seen all the classics or a cultural connoisseur who likes to keep up with the latest releases, we have your scary movie trick-or-treating covered. Read on for a list of the tricks.

The 5 worst horror movies of 2025

Dishonorable mentions

• “Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story” – Review
• “Bring Her Back” – Review
• “Bone Lake” – Review
• “Him”
• “I Don’t Understand You”
• “The Long Walk” – Review
• “Opus”

5. “HELL OF A SUMMER” (2023, 88 min., directed by Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard)

The 1980s was a decade chock-full of chopped up camp counselors. From “Friday the 13th” to “Sleepaway Camp,” summer camp slashers were ubiquitous staples of Gen X teenager terror. “Hell of a Summer” is an update of the beloved horror subgenre for Gen Z teens, made by Gen Z teens: the film was written and directed by Billy Bryck and Finn Wolfhard, the latter of whom is most famous as one of the kids on “Stranger Things.”

Unfortunately, while “Hell of a Summer” may have been intended as an homage to the 80s camp slasher, in practice, it forgot to pack the slashing for camp. There are few horror thrills to be found in Bryck and Wolfhard’s movie – most of the kills are left off-screen, for instance – and even fewer jokes that land. It’s a hell of a bummer.

Rating: 1.5/5

“Hell of a Summer” is now streaming on Hulu.

4. “THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2” (2025, 96 min., directed by Renny Harlin)

What made the original “The Strangers” so scary was the randomness of it all. The 2008 home invasion thriller starred Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as a couple terrorized by three masked intruders in the middle of the night. While the premise was familiar, the punchline was distinctive: “The Strangers” were really and truly strangers to the couple. In the film’s most iconic line, the strangers even gave a chilling justification for their break-in: “Because you were home.”

So, when a decade-and-a-half later director Renny Harlin decided to reboot “The Strangers” with a new trilogy of films, it probably should have been a warning sign that Harlin wanted to explore the backstory of his new group of masked killers. It’s antithetical to the point of the original, but also to the title these movies still bear. Harlin’s “Strangers” are hardly strangers when “Chapter 2” features a series of flashbacks exploring their childhood antics.

Even without the faulty rationale behind their conception, these movies are bad. Madelaine Petsch stars as the scream queen of the trilogy, the third installment of which has yet to be slated for release, and spends this one doing exciting horror movie things like camping in the woods, evading wild boars and shrieking at townsfolk. Every plot swing is inexplicable and frustrating, though the boar sequence is at least a little funny in its absurdity.

Rating: 1/5

“The Strangers: Chapter 2” is now playing in theaters.

3. “FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN” (2025, 90 min., directed by Matt Palmer)

“Fear Street: Prom Queen” is a stand-alone follow-up to the trilogy of “Fear Street” movies Netflix released in the summer of 2021 and, like “Hell of a Summer,” is presented as a send up of 80s horror films. Unlike the movies “Prom Queen” is ostensibly a love letter to, however, these characters are weak, the performances are lackluster and the kills are hackneyed.

“Carrie” and “Prom Night” are probably the most obliquely cited, but great flicks like “Zombi 2,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Alice, Sweet Alice” also get a chance to roll in their graves thanks to a few eye roll-worthy name drops. Those latter titles have little bearing on the plot of “Prom Queen” aside from lip service, but they serve a helpful purpose anyway: you’d be better off watching any of them than this obnoxious heap of clichés.

Rating: 1/5

“Fear Street: Prom Queen” is now streaming on Netflix.

2. “UNTIL DAWN” (2025, 103 min., directed by David F. Sandberg)

While I have not played the video game that “Until Dawn” is loosely adapted from, I found enough to be offended by even without first-hand experience with the original story. The movie presents itself as a “Groundhog Day”-esque time loop movie with a horror twist: a group of 20-somethings find themselves trapped in a series of nightmares as they are killed over and over again by a variety of ugly monsters, only avoidable if they can make it… until dawn!

It’s a fun idea. I love time loops and the narrative potential they create for characters to learn from their mistakes, but after a couple of gruesome kills, “Until Dawn” makes the most cowardly choice I’ve ever seen in a horror movie. At the high water mark of the film, it demolishes any goodwill it may have accrued by fast-forwarding through its second act. Rather than allowing the characters to fight through the night in real time, “Until Dawn” chooses to show the audience the events it skipped through a series of videos the characters watch on a smartphone. The best parts of the film are relegated to that camera roll montage, leaving the rest to muddled plotting, bad acting and a lame finale.

If you decide to watch “Until Dawn,” remember that unlike the characters in the film, we can’t rewind the clock. I promise this is 103 minutes you’ll immediately want back.

Rating: 1/5

“Until Dawn” is now streaming on Netflix.

1. “HOUSE ON EDEN” (2025, 77 min., directed by Kris Collins)

One of the worst movies of the year outright is “House on Eden,” a found-footage “horror” flick directed, produced, edited, written by and starring TikTok personalities Kris Collins, Celina Myers and Jason-Christopher Mayer. As it turns out, making 30 second videos is a whole lot easier than crafting a feature length film, which “House on Eden” manages to qualify as at a scant hour and 17 minutes, though its lack of plot, scares or real characters would indicate otherwise.

Like many of its neighbors on this list, the greatest sin “House on Eden” commits is its aggressive commitment to being oppressively boring. Virtually the entire film is about these three friends tromping around the woods – and a house, though later than you might think, given the title – and making annoying small talk. There are far better ways to spend your Halloween than queuing this up. Maybe try a few of Collins’ TikToks, instead.

Rating: .5/5

“House on Eden” is now streaming on AMC+.