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)
#19 – TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA (PLAY DEAD)
#18 – IRON LUNG (THE DEEP DARK)
#17 – LEE CRONIN’S THE MUMMY (SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT)
#16 – BUFFET INFINITY (KETCHUP ON WAFFLES)

#16 – BUFFET INFINITY (2025)

Released on May 8, 2026!
Streaming on Shudder from Yellow Veil Pictures and Peterson Polaris!
Directed by Simon Glassman.
Written by Allison Bench, Simon Glassman, Elisia Snyder.
Check out the trailer here!

Through a series of commercials and public news announcements, BUFFET INFINITY tells the story of a strange portal manifesting behind two competing restaurants and its slow takeover of life as we know it.

I love it when films attempt to tell a story in a new format. And while telling a tale by interlacing mixed media has been done before, BUFFET INFINITY feels like something new, challenging, and refreshing. Reminiscent of the frantic pace of Adult Swim’s late night, mania-inducing shows on ADULT SWIM, specifically Casper Kelly’s TOO MANY COOKS and his YULE LOG films, with a little bit of TIM & ERIC’S AWESOME SHOW, GREAT JOB! and a heaping helping of the short film GREAT CHOICE, where people eventually become aware they are trapped for eternity in a repetitious commercial, is INFINITY BUFFET. The film tells a complete and nihilistic story of the world being taken over by a benevolent force only using commercials to tell the tale.

BUFFET INFINITY starts out innocent enough as an omniscient person with a remote-control flips through channels and winds up watching commercials more than actual shows—an infuriating experience I have had before where I feel I’ve been caught up in my own special hell. But as these commercials and news reports go on, it becomes clear that these commercials, meant to instruct you to buy products and purchase services, are being used as a means of manipulation by those not looking out for your well-being. Slowly the mention of a sinkhole behind the building is worked in at the tail end of some commercials, a sinkhole that is widening as the film goes on. Then reports of missing people start popping up amidst commercials offering new deals on newly processed foods. Strange men in black begin to float in the skies of the small town. Soon, what is being depicted as normal in all these commercials shows a life of servitude, isolation, and devoid of any kind of free choice.

BUFFET INFINITY is a wonderfully clever take on modern marketing and media manipulation, utilizing themes only touched upon in John Carpenter’s classic THEY LIVE, where lives are influenced subtly at first and then altered all at once. This slow descent into a dystopian nightmare never feels like it takes a leap too large. The genius lays in the way the tension and subliminal messaging is amped up ever so slowly over the span of 90-minutes.

It takes a lot of talent to ape the style of so many different types of commercials; from lawyer ads, to restaurant commercials, to drug endorsements, to news reports, but director Simon Glassman and his co-writers Allison Bench and Elisia Snyder are able to replicate the feel of both home-made local commercials and ones seen from bigger ad campaigns. Commercials have been demonized for decades. No one likes to sit through them, and many pay good money not to have to watch them while enjoying their favorite streaming services. Here, the commercials are the bad guy. They are the things you need to look out for, and they will harm you both by instructing you to do something bad to yourself or others and eventually simply doing harm by watching them.

Making the commercials into the threat of the film is simply genius to me and while those who like a more straight-forward story may be put off by this type of story by increments. I don’t mind a movie that makes me think and dig a little through the minutiae to understand the real threat. BUFFET INFINITY is that type of movie.

I can see BUFFET INFINITY becoming a cult classic. One of those films that can be studied in the way it reflects media manipulation in modern society and how it very well could be the end of us. This concept will go over some people’s heads, but this is a thinking man’s horror film. While there are hardly any jump scares or over the top gore, this film terrified me more than most in how it slowly communicates an overwhelming sense of dread—so much so that I had to unplug from everything electronic for a bit after watching it. Not too long, I couldn’t survive without my screens, but still, it made me think at how much these screens we stare at all day affect your lives in significant and horrifying ways. You’ll never look at commercials the same way again after watching BUFFET INFINITY. Highly recommended.

Worth Noting – KETCHUP ON WAFFLES (2025)

Released on April 28, 2026!
Streaming on Tubi from Cranked Up Films!
Directed/Written by John Theissen Jr.
Check out the
trailer here!

A trio of masked teenagers only identified as the color of their masks; Red, White, and Blue, invade a small diner with guns and a video camera.

The film begins with a warning that the following film contains some fucked up shit and they weren’t lying. KETCHUP ON WAFFLES is about as disturbing as they come as a trio of kids take their frustrations out on a diner full of people in violent and extremely disturbing ways. This isn’t Hollywood cleaned-up violence. This is savage and right up in your face with it.

Usually, I steer clear of these extreme horror films as they feel too real and often, makes me wonder if the cast and crew aren’t just getting off on what they are doing a bit too much. There is a perverse nature to KETCHUP ON WAFFLES, but amongst the violence and depravity, I feel director John Theissen Jr. might be saying something. First and foremost, the colors of the flag are represented in the three masks the kids wear. It feels like Theissen is saying this is the youth of America. Look at them. They are impulsive. Violent. Monstrous and selfish. They film everything they do with a video camera and most likely will callously post these heinous acts online. This is what America, with its media obsessed culture and screen babysitters have produced. This is the next generation of America.

These themes are supported in a later monologue where White has a sort of monologue where he says a lot of stuff we’ve seen in other films before, specifically NATURAL BORN KILLERS and the Joker’s motivation from THE DARK KNIGHT, about the media’s influence on the populace, chaos vs order, disruption, and even talks about who should play him in the movie made from these events. It’s a decent monologue, but nothing particularly fresh or new.

Out of all of the actors in KETCHUP ON WAFFLES, Ian O’Boyle who plays White is the true standout. Even with his mask on, he has an intensity and conviction to his words that isn’t really seen in most actors this young. The final monologue O’Boyle gives is a few minutes too long, but it is apparent that the guy has chops. And while this may not be a movie he will want to be known for, O’Boyle does give a memorable performance that elevates the film quite a bit.

But I don’t think I can stress this enough; this movie is bruuuuu-talll. KETCHUP ON WAFFLES is a heinous, offensive, and unapologetically crude movie that is going to be too much for most viewers, but nevertheless, it seems to have something to say, and I can sift through the carnage to appreciate that. Recommended but no joke, steel yourself before you watch this one.

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!