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)
#12 – KEEPER (THE HOUSE WAS NOT HUNGRY THEN)
#11 – UNDERTONE (MAN FINDS TAPE)
#10 – EXIT 8 (GHOST TRAIN)

#10 – EXIT 8 (aka 8-BAN DEGUCHI, 2026)

Released on April 10, 2026!
Streaming on Shudder from NEON!
Directed by Genki Kawamura.
Written by Kotake Create, Kentaro Hirase, Genki Kawamura.
Check out the trailer here!

While on a subway train on the way home, an unnamed man (Kazunari Ninomiya) gets a call from his girlfriend letting him know she is pregnant and at the hospital. Before he can hear what she was planning on doing with the baby, the man goes into a tunnel and loses the signal. But the man hasn’t been paying attention to his surroundings, and he soon finds himself lost in a loop of never-ending hallways. To escape this maze, the man must pay attention to the subtle differences and inconsistencies in the seemingly identical hallways to find the way to his exit, EXIT 8.

EXIT 8 is an amazing achievement in surreal and macabre filmmaking. The film is very much like the more recent IT ENDS and BACKROOMS, but especially EL INCIDENTE, where a group of people find themselves in a never-ending spiral of repetition where the only escape comes from an inner realization. So, while the concept is not new, the film is something you don’t want to miss, especially if you like that kind of existential dread-filled movie. It seems the trend of being trapped in an existence out of their own control. Maybe this stems from the realization that many aspects of our lives are being manipulated by forces we are only barely aware of. The fact that this concept has been the central theme of quite a few recent films means that something of this sort is in the air and is a powerful subject to frame a film around. EXIT 8 is one of the best of them.

Through some excellent acting from Kazunari Ninomiya as the unnamed lead, we experience this lonely and desperate trek through these tunnels from a personal level. The actor is likable, even though he is established as kind of a twat by the way he treats his girlfriend with her news at first. But like a spider trying to climb the wall of your shower only to hit a wet patch and fall to the bottom, the plot of EXIT 8 functions as the lead attempts to notice differences in the pathways to make it to the next level closer to Exit 8. My investment was concentrated on the man’s plight, as the film is set up like a complicated video game with progressively challenging levels. The structure of EXIT 8 lends itself to that rush of endorphins as we celebrate when the lead gets to the next level and we pound our fists when he slides all the way back down to Exit 1 again when he makes a mistake. It’s the type of addictive storytelling that appeals to the modern mind raised by video games.

EXIT 8 is a horror movie, so expect some macabre imagery. Some are more shocking than others, like the rats with facial features schmelded to their hides. I’m not exactly sure why these rats exist in the story, but they are creepy, nevertheless. But this is a movie that fills you with dread that the lead is never going to get out of this labyrinth alive more than monsters and gore.

The ending of EXIT 8 will frustrate some and feel like it hits the nail on the head to others. It doesn’t outright give you the outcome of the lead’s fate, but there are hints and depending on your outlook on life, it can be taken as either bright or bleak. Being the glass half empty guy that I am, I chose bleak. But I love it that this film leaves it up to you to decide. Others won’t like that kind of freedom of interpretation. But despite all of that, I feel the level of dread and feeling of surreal nightmare is palpable from almost the very beginning of EXIT 8. It’s like the best of the TWILIGHT ZONE episodes that makes you think and interpret the horror yourself without spelling it all out for you. But you feel it’s undeniable power from the very beginning.

Worth Noting – GHOST TRAIN (2024)

Released on February 17, 2026!
Streaming on Tubi from Well Go USA!
Directed by Se-woong Tak.
Written by Jo Ba-Reun.
Check out the trailer here!

A young YouTube influencer Da-kyeong (Joo Hyun-young) runs a channel focused on true horror stories. After hearing about strange occurrences happening at the Gwanglim subway station, she seeks out Station Manager (Jeon Bae-soo) and bribes him to tell her ghost stories with liquor. He begrudgingly complies and tells Da-kyeong a quartet of tales. But as her YouTube channel gets more popular, Da-kyeong needs more stories to maintain her popularity, forcing her to dive deeper into the hauntings, endangering herself in the process.

At the heart of this collection of ghost stories is a moral tale that the YouTube influencer culture is made up of the worst of humanity. I know that might be ironic coming from a guy who posts reviews on YouTube, but I absolutely hate the vanity of YouTube culture. I’m sure if I put my ugly mug on camera and post thumbnails with me frowning or smiling or acting shocked, I might get a few more likes or subscribers, but that’s not why I do this. If my thoughts are appreciated by a small, core group of people, that’s fine by me. Of course, I’d love to have more viewers, so “Like and Subscribe!” But it’s not the reason why I do this. But for Da-kyeong, getting more YouTube famous is her life. It seems she works in some content farm in South Korea that strives on clicks, likes, and follows, so I guess that is the incentive, but above and beyond, Da-kyeong strives to be seen by more people. The reason I’m highlighting this first is because it is an awesome story and the wraparound in anthologies are usually horrible or barely present. So, seeing so much thought put into the glue that holds these stories together not only makes for an interesting story, but it is also going above and beyond what most anthologies do.

The thing about GHOST TRAIN is that this wraparound is the main story and most of the attention is given to Da-kyeong’s descent into vanity as she goes from a nebbish shrew to a done-up vixen as her channel grows in popularity. And while there is another character doing beauty videos who Da-kyeong is jealous of, the more popular she gets, the more like that vapid beauty content maker she becomes. It’s a fun moral story, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg to talk about in GHOST TRAIN.

While each of the four stories are short, or at least go by at a rapid pace, each one has rock solid scares. Story one focuses on a young hipster dude dozing on a subway who notices a young woman banging her head on the glass. Having ridden on Chicago’s multiple train systems, I’ve seen plenty of things, and the way this guy responds is pretty much the way I would. He moves to another train car. But the woman shows up again, resulting in a terrifying chase through the train cars. This was fast paced with some terrifying imagery, BUT the problem is that it is pretty much the same premise as the second story, where a young woman who is concerned about her looks is pursued by a bandaged woman with a cup of acid through the subway. While the first short was effective, this second one was downright bone-rattling as the short does a fantastic job of communicating the sheer terror of this situation. From the slow way the threat is introduced, to the scene of the acid burning the floor as it drips from the mug, to the rampant chase through the subway, this second story was the highlight of the film for me.

The next story is about a homeless man who finds a red coin that buys him a red can from a red soda machine. When the can is opened, it seems like it’s empty, but soon, someone around him disappears into a pile of clothes, leaving more coins behind. The segment goes on to be sort of like a real-life game of Mario Brothers, as the homeless man collects coins to continue to get the clothes and belongings of those he disintegrates. This one stands out simply because the concept alone is so bonkers.

Finally, the vain beauty YouTuber mentioned earlier is the star of the fourth story. She reaches for a dangling handle in a train car and in it is some kind of phlegmy substance. Soon, her hand starts breaking out and in the tradition of CREEPSHOW’s Jordy Verrill, the rash continues to grow no matter what the young woman does. Since this is a beauty YouTuber, the importance of her looks are held above all else, so this hits her exponentially harder and teaches yet another moral lesson about vanity that echoes the one being experienced by our main protagonist Da-kyeong. While predictable, it was fun seeing this shallow person get her come-uppance.

The film concludes with Da-kyeong being lured into the subway to experience firsthand what the hauntings are all about. While it is repetitive, as it basically is a person seeing something weird in the train, then moving to another car, only to have that threat follow—much like the first two tales, because we’ve come to like this lead, it hits a bit harder.

GHOST TRAIN is guilty of repeating the same sort of premise a few times, but it delivers some terrifying chase sequences reflective of the worst nightmares of commuters everywhere. If you’ve even been on a bus, on a train, or even sharing a flight with someone, you’ll identify with the horrors this excellent Korean anthology conveys.

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!