All through October, I’ll be posting reviews of the best of the best films in the horror genre released since October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025. As an added bonus, I’ll be adding a secondary review that may be somewhat related to the main review or slightly missed the countdown by inches. Follow along the countdown every day in October. Feel free to agree, disagree, or better yet, give me your own picks for your favorite horror movies of the year. Happy Halloween!

24. DANGEROUS ANIMALS (2025)

Released on June 6, 2025, and streaming on Shudder from IFC Films!
Directed by Sean Byrne.
Written by Nick Lepard.
Check out the trailer here!!

The free-spirited Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) doesn’t want to be tied down with relationships and heads to Australia to live out of her van and surf. But as she preps for an early morning wave-ride, Zephyr is abducted by Tucker (Jai Courtney), a serial killer who runs a “swim with the sharks” boat tour and uses the abundance of sharks in the middle of the ocean to dispose of his victims. Bound with chains in the hull, Zephyr and another abductee Heather (Ella Newton) are up next to fill Tucker’s and the hungry sharks’ appetite for flesh.

While there is a heavy dose of potent shark action in DANGEORUS ANIMALS, it’s not really a shark movie. Shark movies tend to be man vs nature films where nature’s frustration is personified by a giant, man-eating shark (or sharks) that relentlessly pursues the protagonists acting as if it just cut them off in traffic, despite the fact that in nature, sharks really don’t give a shit. They don’t really get mad. And they never fixate on one person or persons once that party starts to fight back.

In DANGEROUS ANIMALS, the sharks are a means to an end for our serial killer, Tucker. They represent the apex predator and that’s what Tucker believes he is. He’s a giant, bulky, and savage man who takes what he wants with confidence and deadly force. Tucker goes out of his way to explain this to his victims, taking pleasure in inciting fear as much as he does watching them get devoured by sharks. He also recognizes that Zephyr has the same qualities that he does. She’s a loner with very few ties to others yet will fight ruthlessly to survive. The film does a respectable job of likening Zephyr with the shark down to a very intense scene where she stares one right in the eye, making a connection with the animal that few could do. I know about this a bit myself as this photo proves I had quite an intense connection with a manatee last time I visited Florida. But how similar Zephyr is to a shark leads to a crucial flaw in the story that I’ll get into a bit later.

DANGEROUS ANIMALS is a brutal movie. It doesn’t shy away from the gore as it shows people being torn to shreds by sharks. At the same time, Jai Courtney adds a vicious physicality to his performance as Tucker, tearing apart anything in his path as well. In many ways, this might be considered a slight version of torture porn, as it does feature a bound person being forced to watch physical devastation and enduring that devastation themselves. But the focus here is on the victim, the serial killer, and the sharks much more than that and there’s less of a spotlight on the torture, so those who are turned off by torture porn films have other things to pay attention to.

While he tried his hand with heroic lead roles in TERMINATOR: GENYSIS, A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD, and DIVERGENT, Jai Courtney is much more convincing and have much more fun with villainous roles as seen in SUICIDE SQUAD and THE TERMINAL LIST. He is absolutely horrifying in DANGEROUS ANIMALS and I hope this film gets him some more meaty villain roles to play. Whether he is battling rowdy prisoners, fascinated by watching the sharks eat people through his VHS video camera, or dancing like a roided up Buffalo Bill and chugging liquor in his boat galley, Courtney is the toxic masculinity at its absolute best. That’s a compliment for those who are in the cheap seats. There is a sort of message here, as Tucker is very much an abusive male, looking to lord his power over bound and weaker women. And Zephyr herself represents the exact type of woman that thrills and terrifies him, herself digging her nails into his psyche confronting him on his mother issues in one scene. But honestly, that type of divisive man vs. woman talk bores me and thankfully, the film doesn’t lean into it too hardly.

Hassie Harrison is believable at Zephyr, who is in every way just as much of a shark as Tucker, despite her small stature. This film is an ordeal for her, and nothing comes easy. The series of events that plays out is maddening as every attempt to escape is thwarted by Courtney. But the strength of her character is that she endures. Harrison’s also quite beautiful, looking like someone took the prettier parts of both Jennifer Lawrence and Shailene Woodley and smooshed them together into a Kate Beckinsale mold, if you can imagine that. This was a physically demanding role, and she did it with ease.

This leads to the ending, which is the only thing I had issue with in DANGEROUS ANIMALS. I’m not going to get into spoilerific specifics here, but the film really drives the point home that Zephyr is even more of a shark than Tucker, even so much that she is able to accomplish the aforementioned, looking into the shark’s eyes scene. But later, the film goes for a more conventional Hollywood ending than committing to the bit that Zephyr is this cold-hearted, loner. Sure, the happier ending might show a bit of growth in the character, but I feel that with the fact that this is such a brutal and vicious film, it would have had a more nihilistic sort of end. I feel that the ending that DANGEROUS ANIMALS goes with is a crowd pleaser, but I feel a darker end would have kept closer to the main themes of the film.

That aside, DANGEROUS ANIMALS is a brutal film. Courtney gives a truly iconic performance as a villain worthy of a sequel or maybe even a prequel. Harrison is a true up and comer. And the shark stuff made my toes curl so hard they almost broke. Not for the squeamish, DANGEROUS ANIMALS may not be as intense as Sean Byrne’s previous films THE LOVELY ONES or THE DEVIL’S CANDY, but it is a devastatingly powerhouse of a horror film that bites hard. That’s also meant as a compliment, by the way.

Worth Noting: THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN (2023)

Released on December 13, 2025, and available On Demand on Amazon Prime from Relativity Media!
Directed by Warren Skeels.
Written by Warren Skeels, Sharon Y. Copy.
Check out the trailer here!!

In the early seventies, a serial killer makes his way across the Florida countryside abducting and killing women. A young and rebellious girl named Annie (played by THE CONJURING 2’s Madison Wolfe) finds herself targeted by the creepy man in the van, though her parents and siblings refuse to believe her.

THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN is perfectly good PG-13 horror. The rating indicates that you won’t be getting any gratuitous nudity or gore, but the film does still have some teeth, which I found to be refreshing. Most of the time, when younger teens are the stars, a horror movie tends to be pretty bland and there is no real sense of danger. But the danger is ever present in this one. First time director Warren Skeels really gives this film an edge, suggesting a lot of violence without showing it and offering up some strong builds of tension. There is a grungy feel to this one. Dare I say it, THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN has a TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE feel to it with its 70’s aesthetic, downhome country vibe, and the gritty, dusty landscape the action takes place in.

THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN also has the benefit of having a compelling protagonist in Madison Wolfe, who was the possessed rascal Janet in THE CONJURING 2. Wolfe is likable and relatable in her role as Annie, the outcast tomboy of her family. She hates to wear dresses yet still dreams of kissing a boy by the time she is sixteen. Wolfe perfectly represents that dichotomy of grasping to the innocence of youth while developing into a young woman with all of the dreams, confusion, and anxiety that goes with it. This movie makes Annie’s story just as compelling as the danger looming in the background in the van and I was surprised how invested I was in her story. Usually in these cases, the day-to-day life of the protagonist is the least interesting, but because the conflict between Annie and her family is done in such an interesting way, that balance is achieved. It helps that more experienced actors like Sean Astin and Ali Larter, who play Annie’s oblivious parents, are there to keep things rolling. This is a testament to both Wolfe as an actor and Skeels as a director in that both make this cliched story of a girl growing up so watchable. It helps that Skeels peppers in various abductions throughout the narrative as we get to know Annie’s domestic plight. These scenes are bloodless, but brutal and scary nevertheless.

THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN is based on actual events, and my main criticism is that the film bounces around in time too often, making the throughway narrative a little muddy. I was able to follow that the other abductions were earlier in the timeline, while the main story is playing out linearly, but still, I could see the way the story bops around in time confusing some viewers. The creepy man in the van, whose face is never revealed, keeps the necklaces of his victims hanging on his rearview mirror. I think the flashbacks would have been less jarring if the creeper touched or held each of these necklaces and then flash back to the abductions and murders.

It isn’t really made clear as to why Annie is the next target of the van creeper. The other abductions were made quickly and on the fly. Most of them being grown women seized up after dates, while leaving bars, or other places where a woman would be walking alone a night. With Annie, the van creeper takes his time, watching Annie from the periphery and making multiple attempts before he leaps in for the kill. This really doesn’t fit the creeper’s M.O. according to the flashbacks and there is no reason given, other than some very convenient coincidences, indicating why Annie is targeted and why he attempts to get her numerous times even after failing to achieve his goal over and over.

Still, I was surprised and entertained throughout THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN. Skeels makes the two developing stories interesting all the way through and despite the plot holes, I never felt as if Annie was impervious to the direst of consequences. The danger felt real. And you don’t often get that in PG-13 horror. In a genre where we get tepid and by the book PG-13 horror from Blumhouse numerous times a year, it’s refreshing to see a film like THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN deliver the story, the acting, the writing, and the scares at such a capable and fun level. I recommend this one for those of all ages who love high suspense and true tension.

The Best in Horror Countdown 2024-2025
#31 – GET AWAY (DARK MATCH)
#30 – PABRIK GULA (#MISSINGCOUPLE)
#29 – YULE LOG 2: BRANCHIN’ OUT (THE LAST VIDEO STORE)
#28 – FREWAKA (THE SURRENDER)
#27 – FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES (V/H/S/BEYOND)
#26 – ALMA AND THE WOLF (CUSTOM)
#25 – LOOKY-LOO (THE CREEP TAPES)
#24 – DANGEROUS ANIMALS (THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN)