Horror Movie Flops of 2025

Remember, just because a film tanks at the box office doesn't mean it's a bad film (often poor marketing is to blame or 'serious film critics' just not getting genre work)!

Of course, on the other hand, there's also The Toxic Avenger.

HALLOWEEN HORROR: Gretel & Hansel (2020)

In an unsettling, timeless, fairy tale reality, during a period of pestilence, young Gretel (Sophia Lillis) and Hansel (Samuel Leakey) are driven out of their home by their deranged, widowed, mother (Fiona O'Shaughnessy), and told to fend for themselves.

Wandering through the neverending forest, they meet a helpful huntsman, (Charles Babalola), who directs them towards a community of wood workers who will take them in.

However, before they get there, they are distracted by the sweet smell of cake coming from a lovely, isolated, house, where they encounter a kindly old woman (Alice Krige), who offers them food and board.

Soon, they have fallen under the spell of the woman's generosity, even though Gretel - who is gifted with 'second sight' - is initially quite cynical and paranoid.

Gretel's mood seems to change, though, when the woman reveals herself to be a witch and starts teaching Gretel how to master her craft.

Unfortunately for Gretel, Hansel has started to get itchy feet by this point and wants to move on.

Then he disappears.

We all know the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, and Rob Hayes's script captures the mood of this old story perfectly, building on it and tying in Gretel's journey into womanhood and the 'burden' of being a surrogate mother to Hansel.

Tapping into similar vibes as both Hagazussa and, to a lesser degree, The Witch, Gretel & Hansel is a languid, lyrical, art house rural horror yarn that most definitely won't appeal to everyone.

The primary emphasis is on mood and atmosphere, focussing largely, as it does, on just the main three characters (the lovely Jessica De Gouw, from Pennyworth, Arrow, and Underground, does pop up as a different face of the witch on occasion).

Beautifully directed by Oz Perkins, rather than an epic action film, Gretel & Hansel is a small coming-of-age narrative told through the slightly disorientating lens of magic realism.

There's no particular depth, beyond what is obvious, but that's no bad thing when retelling a well-known fairy story in this grounded style.

HALLOWEEN HORROR: Longlegs (2024)

Having demonstrated great intuition shy young FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) - who is possibly psychic - is brought over to a unit investigating a serial killer cold case.

Under the guidance of her new boss, agent Carter (Blair Underwood), she is tasked with unearthing what has been missed in a series of family murders linked only by encrypted notes left at the scene, signed Longlegs.

It doesn't take long for the case to heat up again as Harker cracks the code left by the mysterious Longlegs and begins to piece together how he pulls off the killings, without - seemingly - ever actually being at the scene of the crime.

The deeper Harker digs the more she also unearths her own personal connection to the case.

Written and directed by Osgood Perkins (who gave us the visually memorable Gretel & Hansel), Longlegs oozes creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere, but is let down by the need for a big info dump at the end of the second act to explain what has been going on.

This is alleviated to a degree by the film's strong finish, but the damage to its narrative credibility has been done. 

Yet, there are obvious red flags around certain characters that are never addressed up front (which is super obvious when  you realise the protagonists are all trained FBI agents), even though they - unsurprisingly - prove critical to the resolution of the plot.

Ultimately, the 101-minute movie relies more its ability to get under your skin - and into your head - than it does in telling a solid story.

That said, the central performances are superb: from Maika Monroe's Harker, who is clearly on the spectrum and probably autistic (but I'm no doctor), to a heavily made-up Nic Cage's all too brief appearances as Longlegs himself; this is Cage's chance to play his version of Buffalo Bill.

Alicia Witt plays a key role as Harker's possibly unbalanced Bible-bashing mum and I couldn't help but feel old at the fact that Witt - who I used to crush heavily on when she was in Cybill - is now playing  mum roles.

Although there are strong Silence of The Lambs vibes (young FBI agent tracking elusive serial killer) Longlegs is more X-Files than Silence of The Lambs due to the prevalence of supernatural influences around the killer's supposedly Satanic crimes.

Along the way there's a modicum of gore and one big jump scare at a pivotal moment, but Longlegs - like Silence of The Lambs - is a psychological thriller, rather than a slasher flick.

Once everything falls into place, despite being tied up in an unnecessarily complex web of plot threads, I appreciated the innovative idea at the film's heart. Coupled with the sublime acting and unnerving atmosphere, this made Longlegs a decent, if flawed, horror movie. But, sadly, not the classic it could have been... and I was hoping for. 

The Monkey (2025)

Having been abandoned by their father, twin brothers Hal and Bill Shelburn (both played by Christian Convery) are searching through the junk he left behind and discover a creepy-looking, wind-up, drum-playing toy monkey.

Very quickly the young boys realise that by turning the key, and setting the monkey drumming, random people in their environs start to die in statistically improbable ways.

Unfortunately, one of those people is their mother, Lois (She-Hulk's Tatiana Maslany), which drives the final wedge between the constantly-feuding twins.

Twenty-five years later, the monkey returns to plague Hal's (Theo James of The Time Traveler's Wife) life, but now - even though he has cut himself off from pretty much everyone - he fears this force of evil might harm his own son, Petey (Colin O'Brien).

Petey is being raised by Hal's ex-wife (Project Blue Book's Laura Mennell) and her new husband, self-help guru Ted (Lord of The Rings' Elijah Wood), who is going to adopt Petey and excise Hal from the boy's life completely.

Thus, Hal has a final week to spend with his son before losing him to Ted.

Learning that the aunt who raised him and Bill after their mother's death has also died in a "freak accident", Hal hopes to track down the monkey - and finally destroy it - when he returns to her house, with Petey in tow, to deal with the disposal of the estate.

However, this just sets in motion a series of violent events around Hal that end up in a reunion with his twin (also played by Theo James).

Bill has been driven insane by his involvement with the cursed monkey, and now sees its magical power as a route to a kind of immortality, regardless of the cost to others.

Based on a Stephen King short story, produced by James Wan (of Saw and The Conjuring fame), and written for the screen by director Osgood Perkins (who also wrote and directed Longlegs), The Monkey is a gloriously gory dark comedy and meditation on the randomness - and inevitability - of death.

Except for its drumming, the mysterious monkey is never seen moving (Bill claims it "teleports") which gives this absurdist Grand Guignol a distinct flavouring of the Annabelle movies blended with the Final Destination franchise.

The very definition of weird fiction, there are no easy answers to explain the enigmatic animatronics' origin or abilities, and no pat resolution to Hal's troubles... but that's rather the point. 

Full of mesmerising, bizarre and creative kills, The Monkey clearly aims to challenge its audience whether to laugh out loud or squirm and wretch as it segues from set piece to set piece.

More shocking than scary, this wonderful film is an over-the-top, blood-soaked rollercoaster that doesn't let up for its 97-minute duration.