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)
#15 – DUST BUNNY (THE YETI)
#14 – BUDDY (MONKEY’S MAGIC MERRY GO ROUND)
#13 – INFLUENCERS (PRIMAL DARKNESS)

#13 – INFLUENCERS (2025)

Released on December 12, 2025!
Streaming on Shudder from Jackrabbit Media!
Directed/Written by Kurtis David Harder.
Check out the trailer here!

Picking up close to a year after the first film, Madison (Emily Tennant) is trying to put her life back together after being stranded on an island for a month by the notorious CW (Cassandra Naud), who took over her life and ended up stranded at that very island herself. Once back on the mainland, Maggie sent the authorities try to pick up the enigmatic CW, but she was inexplicably not there. Now a year has past, and no one knows where CW is or if she existed at all, leading some to believe Madison has been lying all this time and was the one who murdered the three people. Vowing to clear her name, Madison sets out to track down CW who has started a new relationship with a French barista named Diane (Lisa Delamar). But as much as CW wants to start a new life with Diane, a leopard cannot change her spots, so to speak, and CW’s past is creeping up to get her.

Right off the bat, if you haven’t seen INFLUENCER, an excellent horror thriller from 2022, you need to see it to follow what’s going on with INFLUENCERS, as this new film basically picks up right where the last one left off. This could be seen as a detriment to INFLUENCERS, as no film should really make you do homework prior to viewing. And while, I do think the film does a decent job of catching up the audience, you’ll benefit from knowing these great characters and what they’ve been through prior to INFLUENCERS by seeing the original. Having seen INFLUENCER twice, I appreciated the nuanced callbacks and character development of both main characters all the more.

INFLENCERS is another wonderful puzzle of a movie, deftly pieced together with a handling of grace and perversity that is comparable to Hitchcock. Told out of chronological order, the story is still easy to follow. Filmmaker Kurtis David Harder has a true gift of telling an unconventional story, peppering in just what you need to know and then leading to a point where you’re on the edge of your seat, before switching to another plot thread. And when those threats come together, what a freaking cool sweater this movie makes. It all culminates into a brutal and bloody meeting between CW, a true chameleon who steals people’s lives and Madison, her victim that she truly underestimated. But the beauty is the intriguing steps in-between.

Cassandra Naud is a powerhouse of an actress. With a distinguishing birthmark and an attitude that can bend steel, she makes CW a true force of nature. In the first film, she was on top of her game and in control pretty much the entire time. But this film goes deeper and allows CW to let down her guard and we see a softer side to her that fleshes out this character all the more. Seeing the development from the first film to the next is fascinating in both Harder’s writing and Naud’s handling of this character that is a true psychopath. There are amazing moments where Naud lets loose and seems to really enjoy the sheer brutality she unleashes and then moments later, you almost feel for her with what happens to her in this movie. She seems to seek some kind of perfect life other than her own and when that is shattered, Naud makes the character more dimensional. This is a star making performance by Naud, who most likely will be a huge star very, very soon.

Emily Tennant’s Madison is another surprise. As with the first film, Madison is portrayed as an easy mark. A little vapid and maybe even dim. She’s savvy to the online world she lives in, but naïve to the real world when CW comes a knockin’. Her story offers an interesting twist on social media and how it can be with you in one minute and against you the next. Through Harder’s smart handling of the material, it offers her such an interesting character arc to follow. She’s seeking validation that CW exists and revenge for what she did to her. This is another strong role that might be overshadowed by Naud, but Tennant is an important part of what makes this movie work so well.

Filmmaker Kurtis David Harder really has put together a movie that can appeal to both men and women—smart men and women, challenging them with a clever script that says big things about our addiction to the online world. But he never forgets to address the baser instincts by filling INFLUENCERS with gorgeous people going to exotic locales and doing extravagant things. The film is full of mystery and suspense, but Harder isn’t afraid to get brutal and gory when he must. I hope we get an INFLUENCER 3 movie, as INFLUENCERS leaves things wide open for another. Until then, don’t miss INFLUENCER and its sequel, INFLUENCERS. It’s one of those movies you want to watch and watch again with someone who hasn’t just to see their reaction.

Worth Noting – PRIMAL DARKNESS (2026)

Released on April 7, 2026!
Streaming from Horror Dadz Productions on Found TV and Tubi!
Directed/Written by Dillon Brown.
Check out the trailer here!

Cole (writer/director Dillon Brown) is filming the second season of his YouTube hunting channel, “Primal Instinct” when he suddenly goes missing while filming a segment in the middle of Nevada. Only his camera and the footage inside of it were found.

Are the actors successfully acting like they aren’t acting?
Filmmaker Dillon Brown seems comfortable and candid in front of the camera. He gives a believable performance with some unexpected nuance as his character Cole is going through a divorce and doesn’t reveal much about it. But the script helps reveal that the reason he is taking these trips and making these videos is that it is some kind of distraction for him. Brown seems believable, as if he isn’t acting or reading from a script. The other two actors in the film, Maxwell Golden and Blake Hyer, feel a little more stiff at times, but do a decent job as a couple who appear on a recording on a phone Cole finds in the desert. They’re fine, but at times, it feels like they are reading required lines. Overall, though, the acting is strong and conducive to making it all feel like these are real people.

Does the footage found seem authentic and untouched by additional production?
Yes, for the most part. Towards the end, there are some sound effects added in that may or may not be diegetic or occurring within the fictional world of the movie. It is basically strange noises that accompany the final attack which do succeed in making things creepier, much more than the usual synth score you see in less authentic feeling found footagers. This is presented as information gathered by a third party, police investigators, who are looking at the two sources of footage (that being Cole’s camera and the couple’s cell phone) to piece together what happened to the missing people. All in all, though, this feels authentic from start to finish, even though it might have cheated a bit by adding sound effects during the climax.

Why don’t they just drop the camera and get the hell out of there?
The couple are filming for research while Cole is getting footage for his YouTube channel. Both valid reasons to keep the cameras rolling. Later, when the shit goes down and we encounter the threat, Cole is wearing a body cam that is left on during the attack.

Are there any found footage cliches like an up-nose BLAIR WITCH confessional or a REC-drag away from the camera?
Nothing BLAIR WITCH-y, but there is a tent scene that’s somewhat reminiscent of WILLOW CREEK’s iconic tent scene. The tent scene in PRIMAL DARKNESS isn’t as long, but it does have some nice suspense and some downright chilling imagery. There isn’t any cliched confessional, but Cole talks to the camera quite a bit since there is no one else to talk to and it is all a part of his show.

Does anything actually happen? Is the lead in too long and the payoff too short?
PRIMAL DARKNESS has a lot going on. The film starts out with a compelling mystery. What happened to Cole and the missing couple? And I am faced with a moral conundrum as I am tempted to say more, but it really doesn’t give a lot of clues as to what the threat is in this film. Something is in the Nevada hills, but the film takes an awful long time before it reveals just what it is. Is it aliens? Is it a skinwalker? A chupalupacabra? A serial killer? Well, given that I also do a series of videos focusing on a certain hairy monster, I feel safe to say that this film turned out to be interesting to me. It’s not exactly Bigfoot, but it’s something close enough for me to include this film in my Toes of Terror ranking. All I will say is that the mystery is parsed out nicely and even in the down moments, I was enrapt with anticipation as to what was going on. The ending does move fast, but it is a satisfying and shocking payoff to the buildup.

Does the film add anything to the subgenre and is it worth watching?
PRIMAL DARKNESS has an unconventional threat and does a fantastic job of leading up to the reveal. It has a compelling cast and while there is a lot of shaky cam in the final act, it is done in a thrilling and suspenseful way. This is a gruesome little film. Because of the location, it reminded me a lot of HORROR IN THE HIGH DESERT, the first one, the good one. For those of you curious about how it stacks up in my Toes of Terror ranking, I’d give PRIMAL DARKNESS Four Feets and a toe. It’s not revolutionary, but does everything right to cause thrills, chills, investment, and authenticity. This low fi found footager makes it all feel real and scary. See PRIMAL DARKNESS. It’s one of the good ones.

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!