All through October, I’ll be posting reviews of the best of the best films in the horror genre released since October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. As an added bonus, I’ll be doing 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!

The Best in Horror 2025-2026 So Far…

#31 – DOLLY (GATOR FACE)
#30 – THINESTRA (SACCHARINE)
#29 – ONSLAUGHT (BEAST OF WAR)
#28 – READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME (PENNY LANE IS DEAD)
#27 – IN OUR BLOOD (V/H/S/HALLOWEEN)
#26 – SEND HELP (HEEL)
#25 – THE CARPENTER’S SON (THE BOOK OF SIJJIN AND ILLIYYIN)
#24 – OTHER (YOU ARE NOT ME)
#23 – WHO’S WATCHING (MATCH)
#22 – HOPE (TOUCH ME)
#21 – THEY WILL KILL YOU (MEAT KILLS)
#20 – IT ENDS (ANACORETA)

#20 – IT ENDS (2025)

Released on August 21, 2026!
Available On Demand from NEON!
Directed/Written by Alexander Ullom.
Check out the trailer here!

A quartet of twenty-somethings help move one of them to a new apartment in a new city. But when a wrong turn is taken, the group find themselves on a road that never ends. The group attempts to understand why they are not getting hungry, why they aren’t running out of gas, why groups of lunatics attack them from the surrounding woods if they stop for more than 90 seconds, and most importantly, will this road trip to nowhere ever end?

On the surface, yes, IT ENDS is a film about a group of kids driving on a never-ending road for an hour and a half. When I first heard of this film, I was not mesmerized by the concept. In fact, I felt it was another film trying to sell a feature length navel-gazing session not unlike other critical hits that I hated like WE ARE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD’S FAIR, SKINAMARINK, I SAW THE TV GLOW, and other arthouse films who seem to only highlight the filmmakers’ not-ready-for-primetime status. You know the kind of film. Usually featured at your local arthouse theater where everyone sips lattes and talks about how deep the film is when basically all it adds up to self-congratulatory shite from people with absolutely no life experience. So yes, if you choose to write off IT ENDS as that type of film, I won’t stop you, because it is everything you’ve heard it to be.

Then again, instead of writing off IT ENDS, I decided to go in with open eyes and mind, and you know what? This film entertained me quite a bit. The film is about, what else? Life. And yes, life is boring, so I think a lesser director would have simply wasted a lot of scenes establishing the feeling of boredom, because, well, life can be boring at times. Especially when looked at by the young. But I always say, if you want to convey the feeling of boredom, do that—just don’t make a boring movie out of it. And Alexander Ullom has not made a boring movie here.

There are a few reasons for this. The first few are simple. He gets an interesting cast that look and act interesting. The cast is good. They are interesting to look at even while not doing much. On top of that, the things they are saying are interesting as well. The best actor of the bunch probably isn’t going to get the credit he deserves in this film is Mitchell Cole, who plays Tyler, the no nonsense friend who speaks very little, but when he does, every line resonates. He’s the friend the rest left behind when they went to college and his distance from the other three shows in every interaction. Still, he’s there for his friends, showing that he still cares for them despite the distance. was fascinated by this character.

The rest are great too. Phinehas Yoon plays James who feels there has to be a meaning behind their plight of being trapped on this road. He wants to keep plodding forward because that’s just what you do. James has his life planned out, as illustrated by the first conversation we see him have with the group. Everything has a plan to him, so James is going to follow the rules of the plan.

It’s funny that IT ENDS goes against Hollywood modern tropes and doesn’t make Akira Jackson who plays Day the star of the movie. She’s there the bulk of the time, but she isn’t taking lead or bossing everyone around. She’s stubborn and sullen, often looking angry but most of the time, just too much in her head. She doesn’t think there is a meaning to this road. They are just on it and mainly stays on it for the sake of the rest of the group and because there are no better options. She maintains the peace and offers options for the group when times get tense. This doesn’t make her very likable as she has the counter argument all of the time to James who is trying to apply meaning to the whole thing.

Finally, there’s Noah Toth who plays Fisher, the saddest of the four. He’s a follower. He will do whatever the group decides on, specifically Day. He really has less of a personality and is more of a “yes man” to Day, continuing the journey because that’s what the rest of the group is doing.

It’s interesting to see how these four characters interact and much like the way THE BREAKFAST CLUB is not just about some kids in detention, IT ENDS is not about four kids on an infinite road trip. Along the way, both groups find out things about themselves, how they are expected to act in life, and ultimately how they want to buck those systematic restraints and go their own way. The road these kids find themselves on is life—specifically the point in life right at the end of college where one has to decide when to get out of the “training” portion of life and into the real world. And depending on what the four kids in the car belief, that’s when they get off this crazy trip and dive into that unknown void called life. I won’t say anything more because it will ruin the end of IT ENDS, but I found this to be a powerful statement on when and where one decides to grow up. It’s about whether to wallow in self-pity, fearing the dread of making a big decision, and when one is ready to do that.

Despite what people say, there is action. If the kids stop for more than a minute or so, unhinged people come running at them from the woods. We come to understand who these people are and why they do what they do, but that itself supports the metaphor that is prevalent through the film.

And filmmaker Alexander Ullom does make the journey interesting by keeping his camera moving and edits sharp and quick throughout. This kinetic camerawork helps make things less tedious, despite the fact that it is basically the same set of shots from different angles the whole time. Still, it’s a way to lean into the existential dread the kids are having without being boring.

But yeah, you can look at IT ENDS as just a boring movie where four kids drive on a road for the whole movie. Or you might want to look a little deeper and see that it is a smart piece of cinema with some thrilling moments and some wonderful performances by an up and coming cast. I liked it a whole hell of a lot as, even at my elder age, I related to the plight of the much younger cast as I still feel like I am learning, growing, and actively travelling down the road of life. It’s artsy and won’t be for everyone, but I liked it quite a bit.

Worth Noting – ANACORETA (2023)

Released on February 24, 2026!
Streaming on Tubi from Vortex Media!
Directed by Jeremy Schuetze.
Written by Jeremy Schuetze, Matt Visser.
Check out the trailer here!

Two couples go on a weekend visit to their grandfather’s cabin in the woods to film a found footage film. But when it is revealed that Jeremy (Jeremy Schuetze), who is directing the film they are making, has planned out some “scares” to get an authentic reaction from his cast and crew. But after being called out on this reckless behavior, things really do begin to start going wrong with everything culminating to a family grave in the middle of the woods fabled to be haunted by the family who is buried there.

Are the actors successfully acting like they aren’t acting?
For the most part, everyone is acting naturally. The best of the bunch is Antonia Thomas, who plays the girlfriend of the director who is clueless as to what her boyfriend has planned on the trip. All of them play their roles well, saving some of the clunkier acting scenes for scripted scenes Jeremy needs for his movie. There is a layered reality here as the actors are playing themselves in the movie, as well as playing themselves, playing themselves in a movie.

Does the footage found seem authentic and untouched by additional production?
Additional music occurs throughout the film. But since this is sort of a meta-found footage film, it is a bit more feasible, as the “director” in the film might be that type of person who adds music to a found footage film. It’s a mistake, as it hurts the film by making things feel less authentic, but it is there, nevertheless.

Why don’t they just drop the camera and get the hell out of there?
Well, it’s because they are making a found footage movie. Some of the best parts of ANACORETA are the bits where the actors get sick of playing themselves or are taken unaware of what is happening, such as a scene where Antonia doesn’t know Jeremy has hired a sound guy to follow them around in the shadows and she thinks there is someone really stalking them. So even when Jeremy promises that they are no longer making the movie, you don’t know if he is still doing so and being so focused on finishing the movie to be taking the lives of himself and his cast and crew into danger. So, they might be giving the excuse that they need the light from the camera, but in the end, it might also be that Jeremy is still making his movie, even when things get deadly.

Are there any found footage cliches like an up-nose BLAIR WITCH confessional or a REC-drag away from the camera?
No nothing like that. There are maybe one or two too many times when one of the cast members gets frustrated with Jeremy and they need to be alone, so they plop down on a rock and pout until another cast member comes to chat with them. The repetition of this type of scene is necessary to the narrative and illustrates how each cast member begins to lose faith in Jeremy, but still, it gets a little tedious to see this scene so many times.

Does anything actually happen? Is the lead in too long and the payoff too short?
Because of some great acting from the entire cast, even though there is a lot of lead into the action of the film, I was never bored with ANACORETA. The wrap-up, when they do get to the mausoleum in the middle of the woods, does happen quickly, but it does offer a fun and poetic payoff by the end.

Does the film add anything to the subgenre and is it worth watching?
I’m always looking for something new, and the found footage genre is a chock full of films telling the same type of story. While the core story Jeremy originally set out to film was your typical found footager, it turns into something entirely different when the reveal occurs that they were acting the whole time. The cool thing is that despite them saying they are not acting anymore, the film leaves you wondering if they were or weren’t as this type of revelation that what you saw wasn’t real occurs over and over again, making ANACORETA kind of a Dagwood Sandwich of a movie. It reminded me of another layered found footage-style film, DELICATE ARCH, from last year. It’s a movie inside a movie inside a movie that could be real, or then again, it could be inside of another movie. ANACORETA guessing until the very last frame. It fucks with your head, and I enjoy films that try to do something new like this. Fun stuff.

Once again, feel free to agree, disagree, or how about you play along at home and give me your own picks for your favorite horror movies. It’s October, so let’s talk horror. Come back tomorrow for the next level in the Best in Horror Countdown. Be sure to hit all of the pertinent bells and whistles down below and you’ll never miss a post! Happy Halloween, folks!