The Horror Returns - THR - Ep. #502: The Best And Worst Of 2025

Episode Date: January 9, 2026

It's our annual best and worst of the year show. Thanks for listening! The Horror Returns Website: https://thehorrorreturns.com THR Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehorrorreturns/ Join THR Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1056143707851246 THR X: https://twitter.com/horror_returns?s=21&t=XKcrrOBZ7mzjwJY0ZJWrGA THR Instagram: https://instagram.com/thehorrorreturns?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= THR Threads: https://www.threads.net/@thehorrorreturns?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== THR YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@thehorrorreturnspodcast3277 THR Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thehorrorreturns THR TeePublic: https://www.teepublic.com/user/the-horror-returns SK8ER Nez Podcast Network: https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-p3n57-c4166 E Society Spotify For Podcasters: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/esoc Music By: Steve Carleton Of The Geekz

Regings victims, for those of you who delight and dread, who fantasize about fear, who glorify gore, welcome. You have found the place where the horror returns. Listeners beware. This podcast contains major plot spoilers. and the foulest of language. Join us in celebrating the old and the new, the best, and the worst in horror. All right, welcome back everyone to the horror returns.

I'm Lance. This is Brian. This is Philip. And this is our annual, I don't know, it's probably my favorite show of the year. I don't know about you guys. This is best and worst of the year that was 2020. 25. So you guys ready for this?

I think so. I don't know. I haven't watched as much stuff as I should have this year. A lot of shit going on. It's not always quantity, Philip. Sometimes it's quality. Am I right? That's true. You put one in my top 10 yesterday. Nice. All right. Well, we'll get to that. So we are going to skip pretty much everything. not even doing cool of the week this time. But as always, we do have a podcast spotlight that we always like to share the word of our fellow podcasters out there. And this week is no different. And the podcast spotlight this week shines on Grind Ben. I love the name,

Grind Ben. Grind Ben podcast. And as you would expect, it's Grind Ben. And as you would expect, it's grind house and exploitation films. Join your host, Mike and Bobby. Bobby, the boy, ain't right. As they delve into the world of grind house and exploitation films from the 1970s, 1980s, and beyond. The movies they discuss range from the funny to the downright bizarre,

but they are always fascinating and often forgotten gems. So check it out, guys, Grind Ben Podcast. And on that note, I am going to turn the show entirely over to Brian because this is our annual best and worst show. So take it away, Brian. All right.

We're going to start out with a new category this year, which is 2025's best villain. I will throw mine to you, Lance, because you said you had your locked in already. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Not necessarily my favorite film, but easily most iconic and best villain.

of 2025 is going to be the lovable aunt gladys from weapons yeah i i think that's where i'm at too i got to give a little bit of props to uh i like lex leuthor this year and i thought they did a great job with galactus uh and then you got to go pennywise welcome to dairy oh good point yeah Let's just not go Darth Vader this year, right? Yeah. But I think I got to give it to Gladys. Nice. All right.

We're going to make it a ham trick, Brian? No, because I'm leaning towards someone else, but one that wasn't mentioned that I really enjoyed this year was Joseph from the Creek tapes. Oh, okay. Good one. The second season got really weird, and he's definitely not the guy you want to be alone with, ever. Man, I zoned out watching that one.

I got to finish it. Yeah. But I'm going to have to go with Pennywise. I gotcha. It was the return to Penny Wise. I don't care what anybody says, because there has been a little bit of hate out there for him not being in the entire series.

I thought they brought him in at the right point. Yeah. They built it up nice. And when he showed up, Bill Scarsgaard absolutely killed it. Yeah. You don't want too much. on your cake. It ruins it. Yeah. I mean, Pedro

summed it up. He said, a perfect show. I can't disagree. Yeah, it was really well done. Very balanced and I agree with Brian like you know, holding off to actually show the character that we know from the movies until about halfway through the season, I think,

was brilliant. So I can't argue, man. But I did love Aunt Gladys, man, because we knew she was weird and creepy, right? We just didn't know how fucked up she was until, you know, right, a third of the way through the movie. Yeah. I don't know.

I think she's just very unique. But, yeah, I mean, both are great contender. Different villain, for sure. We didn't get an art. Look, we didn't get an art movie this year. We didn't get a Friday movie. So, eh, you know. Had a Freddie movie in like 15 years.

Well, we did have the black phone, too. Yeah, I was going to say, the black phone guy. yeah but i i mean i considered him right really how much was he in the movie yeah very true very true beat down by some kids all right we are going to our next category and it is best series of 2025 Phil i'm going to throw it to you first

all right best series um i'm going to give a little bit of props to a non-horror series that I really loved this year, and it was the second season of Tires with... Oh, I forgot about that. I meant to start that one. Okay. Fun one. Shane Gillis.

It's a fun one. But I got to give it to Welcome to Derry. I mean, it's sort of an easy winner here, man. It should sweep it. Good show. Good show. And quality horror. I like it.

Except for that. bike seemed through the yeah that episode was not great you know what though for what it was it was kind of fun because to me it felt like those cheesy early 90s like when they were just getting the CGI down

it felt like you were riding it felt like you were riding through the haunted hotel in Disney World a little bit yeah a little bit it reminded me of oh what is that one back to the future sure.

I guess I could see. Yeah, I guess I can see all that. There was a specific movie I'm thinking of that it reminded me of. Let me think. I'll think of it before the end of the show. For some reason, I thought it had like Dan Aykroyd in it or something, but who knows?

With ghosts, probably. Nothing but trouble, maybe. Nothing but trouble. I had a little bit of a nothing but trouble vibe for some reason for me. With the not perfect special effects, but funny. I don't know. Yeah, I got you.

All right, Lance. That's serious. It welcomed a dairy. It welcome to dairy. Yeah, we're going to have to go with the hat trick here. It welcomed a dairy. It was Alien Earth. Oh, that's a good one too.

I forgot to mention that one. I thought that was really locked in because honestly, I didn't expect welcome to Derry to be as good as it was. Yeah. So mine was Alien Earth, which I can't remember the lead actress, the one that was Wendy. She did a fantastic job. I thought the xenomorph looked great, especially for television. Especially for direct sunlight.

I don't know why they did that. Yeah. For whatever reason. Yeah, I know. It looks like a guy in a rubber suit. No, I also loved Alien Earth. I really wanted to say pluribus, because I always liked to, you know, kind of go outside what you would expect in this category every year. Like I think last year I picked the one that was about the Greek mythology that never saw a second season.

Nobody really, really got it. But Jeff Goldblum was amazing at a Zeus. Oh, yeah. But yeah, it welcomed Derry. I mean, come on. You can't. Like, again, Pedro said it's a perfect show. it's very hard to argue that.

Alien Earth gets a lot of credit. I don't know if they stuck the landing though. Any other shows you guys want to mention I'm stuck out with you. I'm halfway through Stranger Things season five right now. I'm enjoying it. The least favorite

of my seasons. Yeah? Yeah, it started out up here at the beginning of the season. Not that it was horrible, but I agree with Phil. If I had to rank the seasons,

it'd be at the low end. Like, by the last episode, I was like, is this over yet? Oh, no. And I think the, I think the problem was, that show was just too damn big of a phenomenon.

Yeah. That they were ever going to stick the landing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, there was an article that I was skimmy through the, I don't know, like, on the Atlantic or something, and it said, Netflix has a Stranger Things problem, and I think I know what they meant. I didn't read the article, but like, they probably mean, like, what are they going to do now, right?

Well, nothing. It's over. But there is a spinoff coming, correct? Yeah, there's an animated and then a spinoff where it's going to be new characters, new story, new mythology. which I don't know how that's going to work because the do for duffers are leaving getting that paramount money so. Yeah, right. We'll see.

All right. Bottom of the year. The worst of the worst. The absolute shit of 2025. Lance, give us your bottom 10. Okay. Are we round robbing,

round robin or you just want me to go 10 to 1 10 or 1 give you what I got okay so I do have one dishonorable mention okay for me it wasn't really a horrible year I mean like truthfully probably like numbers 8 through 10 normally wouldn't have even been on there and there was a couple I thought about putting on there

but to me they were more just like boring than anything else that I don't think that necessarily qualifies. But, all right. I think I ran into that same problem, Lance. I think I got a couple on my bottom 10 where any other year probably wouldn't have made it,

but they just made it because I was bored as hell watching it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yep. I can see that. All right. Well, my dishonorable mention, not really horror, to quote Naz,

it's not horror. Thriller or whatever, but it was bad enough. that I thought I'd throw it on the list here, at least as a dishonorable mention, the woman in Cabin 10 on Netflix. Did you guys check this one out? I kind of wanted to watch it, but it looks...

Yeah. I think I heard Matt Wood talk about it. Okay. It definitely... Go ahead, Craig. I was going to say, definitely by his review of it, I was like, I'll just find something else to watch.

Yeah. Yes. In my opinion, it suffered from it was not nearly as clever as it thought it was. That makes sense. That's what it looks like. Oh, it's like it tries to be like a psychological thriller. It tries to be a psychological thriller. It tries to be kind of, it almost kind of tries to be like a knives out type thing, right? Where you've got a cast of characters, like they try to make it a who done it. But they just don't pull it off. And they try to have these big twists that are so stupid and so far out there.

Like, there's no way you could have seen them coming, because you can tell it was one of those twists they just kind of rode into it. Like, after they just had a bunch of characters show up, and said, what can we do to make it look like we thought we knew what we were doing from the beginning so that everybody thinks we were super clever? And I can see through the veneer, man. Not a good one. Not a good one.

So not recommended. Sounds like you guys haven't seen it, so you're lucky. All right, number 10. And again, more meh than really bad. Little movie that I like to call the Wolf Man. Just not what I was expecting. I didn't think it was going to be awesome, but at least with that cast and all. And what's the actresses name, Brian, from Ozark?

Julia Garner. Yeah, Julia Garner, she's really good, and she's got a lot of range. She'll play like a complete bitch character. She'll play a real mean character. She'll play a really good character. And she pulls it all off, but this one, I just didn't care. I didn't care at all. She's kind of been in some stinkers, man.

She's been in a few stink bombs, for sure. And this is one of them for me. So number 10, the Wolfman. Oh, yeah, not really any good creature effects or anything like that for me. number nine was a weird little movie that I think it was on Amazon Prime. Have you guys heard of it? It's called Holland. With Nicole Kidman? Yeah, Nicole Kidman.

I've seen the trailer and I passed on it. Yeah, I was going to say, it sounds familiar, but I haven't watched it. Okay, yeah, it's another one of those that it wants you to think it's super clever, but it's really not. just boring, you know, and doesn't really go anywhere. So, yeah, Holland number nine, number eight.

Yeah, like a little Amish or something. Yeah, like a little Amish village. Yeah. Oh, that one. What is going on in this trailer? It looks weird. Oh, that one. Yes, indeed. Okay.

So, yeah, number nine is Holland. number eight vicious you guys remember vicious or have we already forgotten it I forgotten it until I was trying to make my list and I came across it

and I was like yeah that came out last year she's been what that is Dakota Fanning gets that box oh yeah three things something what was it again

something you need something you want to get rid of something you yeah she's been in some stinker that's going to have to go on my list somewhere she needs to think about maybe finding a new agent or something

yeah probably a good idea what a generic name dude like I didn't until you guys said Dakota Fanning I had completely forgotten I'd watch that movie and that tells you nothing about the movie

vicious could be anything yeah very true yeah very true. Yeah, yeah, kind of bland. Number seven, I almost didn't want to put this one on here, because it's no waveform or fashion horror. On that, we can all agree, right? But we had to watch it for the podcast, and I ended up loving the original, a lot more than I remembered loving it. And we saw it just last week. Brian, do you know what movie I'm talking about? Anaconda. Oh, no. I know. I didn't, didn't get a chance to watch it, but all I've heard from anybody is how much it sucks.

I'm like, damn it, dude. What are you doing, Ball Rudd? One thing, one thing I will say, Brian, the more I thought about it, there was one joke that kind of hit for me. Because y'all've heard of people say they're California sober. Yeah. Like the California, like they smoke weed, right? But they don't drink or whatever. So there's this joke in there, Philip, where the guy says,

I thought you were sober. He says, yeah, man, I'm Buffalo sober. He says, I only do beer and wine. And every once in a while a shot or two. I thought that was kind of funny. Kind of clever, right? Bill's my name. Thank you. Thank you for reminding me of that movie,

because I totally forgot I'm making some alterations to my list. I know. I'm going to need you guys to go first in these. Oh, man. So, number seven, Anaconda. Okay. six. It almost feels like,

y'all remember when they had those, like, the movie, not another teen movie. And then they had that one called, what was it called? Like, don't get in trouble while drinking your juice in the hood or, help me out here. Don't be a minister to South Central

while drinking your juice in the hood. Yes, yes. Okay, so this is like those, but it's called That Exorcist movie. okay and it's a little movie called the ritual pretty bad stuff man pretty bad stuff although I'll admit it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be going in

with Dan Stevens not doing an accent and Al Pacino doing an accent Dan Stevens playing it straight yeah that's right what was what was that I can't remember if I watched it or not did you I know it's hard to tell because they're all the same literally. He was doing

yogurt from space balls. It's all about the moichendise, right? This demons got a big ass. Okay. Well, let's move on, man.

So, yeah, number six is the ritual. Number five, 825 Forest Road. Oh, God, Lance, you were knocking this out of the park because I forgot a lot of these. I don't even know what that is. It's from the people that did the Hell House LLC movies.

Oh, gotcha. Great. Yeah, I skipped that one. There was a lot of movies this year where I was like, you know what? I'm not going to put myself through that. Well, Brian and I did. And what was the scariest scene?

It was a mannequin that is behind the girl. And you see the hand slightly move or something. I don't even think you've seen it move. I think it's a scary. think it just cut back to it and the hand was in a different position. You were supposed to be like, oh, my God. You didn't even see it move, Philip? Those hell of house dudes like their mannequins, don't they?

I guess, I guess, man. Boy, this was bad. Now we're starting to get into Stinkville. All right, now for number four, I'm going to use another movie named after an address. Even worse, House on Eden. Another shutter original. Have you got seen this one? Yes, this is made by YouTubers.

That should probably stick to just making YouTube videos. Unless they're going to make something like Deadstream, which was phenomenal. Deadstream, Shelby Oaks was decent. Shelby Oaks was good. I forgot about that one. That's going on my honorable mentions. But House of Eden is definitely not on that list. Mm-hmm.

House of Eden. So basically, Philip, you've got a dude and two chicks that are like, I guess like they're, they do a podcast, right, Brian, where they go on location of haunted sites? Correct. It's like a paranormal podcast. Yeah. Honestly, I don't remember. Oh, okay. I was hoping you could help me remember because all I remember is. I know the Redhead. I've seen her YouTube video. She's actually pretty funny and entertaining. Well, she wasn't in this.

No. She wasn't. Oh, wait a minute. I think I saw this. Oh, did you? I think I did it. I think I completely forgot about it. Because the story's so, like,

not there. And then when something happens, by the time something happens, you're like completely checked out. Did she, like, escape a room in the very beginning of the movie or something? Something like that. Okay. Okay.

All I wrote. I don't remember. All I remember is they, okay, they got lost out in the woods. Okay, right? So it's called House on Eden, right? So you think, okay, like Eden Street, like in a neighborhood, right? Like Elm Street or whatever. And so I'm like, okay, it's going to be a haunted house inside a neighborhood,

like in a cul-de-sac or something. No, they go fucking miles and miles and miles of nothing but woods, and then they come upon a house all by itself in the middle of nowhere. I don't know how to describe it better than that. So like half the movie is them getting stuck in the woods, like trying to be a bad Blair Witch project. And then the second half of the movie is basically, like they're inside the house,

but like the chick passes out at one point and one of them leaves and come. I couldn't tell you. It's just not good. Just not good at all. So, all right. So we go from 825. Forest Road, turn the corner, and end up at House of Eden.

And then we go to number three. We're getting into the golden baddies, guys. Number three, the infamous War of the Worlds. Ooh, that's your number three. That's my one. War of the Worlds. All right, I think that'll be talked about more. I had to watch that one just because I needed a bad list.

Yes, same here. I don't know what was worse the fact that it was as bad as it was or the fact that my sister-in-law that was staying with us, Witt was over and she actually said huh, that was pretty good. It has an oddly it has an

entertainment value to it. It really does have us so bad it's good. You have to admit, right? That's why it's only number three for me. Because technically it's probably the worst film, right? In every way for a fashion. It should automatically be on all.

three of our list at number one. But it has the entertainment value to it just from the acting to the effects to the story or lack thereof

a story to the Amazon product placement all over the place. Right. Yes. Amazon product placement everywhere. And he got Ice Cube, right?

Yeah. So my number three, Nez is War of the Worlds of Best Movies of 2025. You with us here? What? I'm sorry, dude. My wrong list. We're on the worst right now.

Oh. All right, we got Nez here. I got two more to cover Nez on my list. So number two is Night Carnage. Have you seen that one, Kevin? I have not. Night Carnage is a shitty rom-com disguised

as a horror movie, all filmed in somebody's garage. And that's all you need to know. It's terrible. I watch a lot of shit and I don't even know what this one is. It's out there. It's about a vampire that falls in love with a werewolf and it's terrible. Does this have like a really bad poster?

Yes. A.I. Yes, with characters that aren't even in the movie. Okay. I think I knew what you're talking about. Oh, but number one. worst movie. Although it was one of the funnest theater experiences, Brian, as I've said.

And you tried to catch me on this when you said, well, how could you say it was that bad if you had fun at the theater? That's because everyone in there was in on the joke. We were laughing our asses off at the remake of I Know What You Did Last Summer. My Worst Film of 2025. Terrible. It will be talked about more tonight, I think. We'll see.

We'll see. I'm gonna go with mine next Phil I'll give you a chance to work out yours Yeah because mine will probably change Number 10 for me Was him Ooh That's actually another list

I forgot the director's name Forgot their director's name But stop trying to be like Jordan Field And do your own thing Okay I mean I guess You know I didn't see that much Jordan Peel in it, but okay.

Oh, I saw the director kind of sitting back and thinking, what would Jordan do? Well, let me ask him since he's a producer on it. Who does? Maybe Peel directed, huh? I didn't appreciate the complete tonal change in the finale because it didn't match with nothing that was going on in the beginning of the movie. Yeah, I get it. One upside, I will say, I thought Marlon was good in it. Very good.

Because he's been doing a lot of serious roles lately, and I like that he's kind of working out his serious acting shops. But, yeah, I didn't care for him. I definitely get it. Number nine, we brought up this group, Hell House LLC lineage. Oh, yes. Also not good. It's time to let it go. And I don't know if they're going to let it go

because spoilers, it ended on a cliffhanger. Of course. That I audibly, when it ended, I audibly said, fuck you to the TV screen. What are you doing? I guaranteed another movie.

Right. Number eight for me was an A24 film. great cast okay wacky story I was kind of looking forward to this but it just fell flat death of a unicorn

oh I can understand that being on your list yeah for me it was just more boring right like I expected more I thought I was going to love it I thought man this movie has me written all over it but disappointing is a word that comes to mind

yeah and I think watching Jenna Ortega and it made me not want to watch season two of Wednesday. Yeah. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Okay, let's see. Number seven was a movie Lance already brought up and it was Dan Stevens and Al Pacino the ritual. A movie that was supposed to be the inspiration for the exorcist. but couldn't do that story

justice and like I said before I have no idea what accent Al Pacino was doing Ned as early they refer to that accent as yogurt from space balls I can see that I'm just paying for something who knows I guess

a beach house a kid he just had yeah that's right I got a new kid you think those things are Number six. Again, thank you, Lance, for reminding me of this movie that I completely forgot

that we watched a couple weeks ago, and that is Anaconda. Oh, but it's definitely not horror, right? No, it is not horror. It is action comedy. Right. With elements of horror. And if anybody still wants to watch the movie,

do not watch the trailer. they spoil a cameo which I still think would have hit different if I didn't know that going into the movie. Yeah, possibly. Yeah, possibly. Oh, J-Lo? No, another cast member.

Now we've had two spoiled. Number five. I'm gonna, I don't believe in guilty pleasures because I'm never guilty about anything I like. And I'm not a fan, but I get entertainment out of the the Pooniverse

Of course And we None of them are on my bottom 10, man So We reviewed Wording Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare We all enjoyed that one

That was a good one Mm-hmm And then they came out with Bambi the Reckoning Okay What not great, right? Not great Yeah The acting was bad

The kills were decent at best and the CGI was horrible on Bambi because he was completely CGIed the whole time. That's right. And they're all British, right? Bambi's an American story, God damn it. Why are they all fucking British?

Ask Matt when he comes on. I still don't get it. I'll ask him, but I don't think he'll be able to explain it, but you never know. It's a British movie. Number four, I had to go all the way back to 31 days this year, and it is Halloween, the movie that I checked out because the poster said it was a mix of terrifier in the purge. That's right.

I didn't get around to see in this one, man. It is nothing like that. It is not the purge. It's not terrifier. The main character of this clown cult that was supposedly going out murdering people was doing the Jared Leto Joker impersonation. So don't watch that one.

With the tats and everything, man? Yeah. Number two, complete disappointment. Number three, the reason why it makes my top three is because I enjoyed the previous three, Fear Street Prom Queen. Ooh, good one. The Fair Street Trilogies were fun.

They had good, they were good, had good quality to own. This prom queen looked like they put zero money, zero effort into making it. The kills were horrible. That's a shame. Just, just compared to the previous three, it felt cheap. Yeah. So that's my number three. Number two, you were right, Lance, made my list.

I know what you did last summer What did you think of it, man? Great plot twist, right? Very, very clever dialogue and all that, right? Oh, God. They're trying to erase what happened. They're trying to forget what, oh, God, get the fuck out of here.

Bad. The shoehorned in, what are you waiting for, huh? Right. And then she says it. With no emphasis at all. Then she says it 20 seconds later. I know. So that's my number two.

Number one, I have to go with Wolfman. Because I was looking forward to this one. Of what Lee Wynnell did with the Invisible Man. Sure. I thought he was going to give us something fresh. Yeah, I expected a lot more out of Wolfman. There was elements that were good in the movie. Like what the Wolfman sees and hears.

I like those visuals. but that's not the wolf man that's not sure even close to what he should even look like he looked like somebody that had an infection and was dying from sickness not someone turning into a wolf like the fly or something right rabies man yeah so number one is a wolf man for me all right Phil you still need to wait

uh well nez do you want to jump in on your bottom? This was no random order. These are just ones that I just thought were garbage. Okay. Popeye, the Slayer Man. Slayer man. I don't know if that's the one Lance watch or the one

I watched. There's like five of them. I saw two Popeye movies. There was more than this one? Yeah, there's like three or four other ones. Oh, well this is the one I watched. I didn't like this one. It was a Practical effects were okay, but that was just... Okay.

Okay, man, next. Nas, was this... I'm confused, too, on him. Was this the one that had olive oil in it, and she was a junkie, a heroin junkie? Oh, dude, I don't fucking remember. I saw this a long time ago. Okay. All right.

Plus, I was hella green, so... Yeah, I got you. Who was the other one I watched? I'm just trying to remember. I'll tell you my Oh yeah Fear Street prom queen Those first two were good

And And did you run out of ideas Yeah I didn't care for it I kept hearing Good things about the bayou And Oh god

I forgot about that one Yeah It was I mean I Hey you guys If you guys If you passed

to make it sound good, we'll do it. But I'm just saying, but this one was, I didn't care for it. I mean, the acting was all right. I mean, they had their jobs. They did what they were supposed to do, but it just didn't pay out in the end. So I was like, eh, next. That's on Hulu.

I might check it out. Yeah. Yeah, the ritual to Al Pacino. Yeah. You're better than that, man. I mean, yeah, you just had a kid. And I don't know why. You're like 90 years old.

he's a legend don't get me wrong he's done a lot a lot of good movies that I love but you don't need that that check that bad I mean but I don't know

from what I hear he's a super nice guy he's approachable but I'm just like nah I mean well who knows maybe he just didn't want to be at home but yeah

I don't know what he was doing with this movie um what was that one scream boat the Mickey one Yeah

Who The Winnie the Pooh ones Yeah They're all right But Why are these People doing these movies I don't make

Whatever you want to make But I'm not No I'm good Rights are free I guess I mean If we had money to waste

I'm sure we can make one But Yeah Screenboat what was that other one? Oh, Wolfman. Oh, yeah. There you go.

It had the potential for something good until we actually saw what it was. And then I was like, oh, this is this trash, terrible. Yeah, I still love that scene where they're in the dark and they're looking around to see where he is. And then when it sees from his point of view and his vision, and his vision, they're like, he's like up close to her face looking at her. Right?

Yeah, I mean. Give me more of that. She did it. Sure. She did good. I don't know which movie she did first. This are weapons, but yeah, she came. She brought me back with that one.

But, oh, I don't know how many that is, but the last one I can think of. Oh, no, no, no. I don't know if it was considered horror, but they, do throw in the horror Toxic Avenger. Okay. Yeah. Disappointing, huh?

I wanted so much from this movie. I mean, I did. I did too, man. I love the original Toxic Avenger in this one. I mean, shout out to everyone that did it, especially the actor that played Toxie in the suit.

That was cool. Peter Dinklis did what he did, but, and that kid from the room. Oh, Jacob, Trump play. Yeah. That's right. He just wanted to dance and I was for it.

Right. Wee sauce, I just sat in a theater like, man. I was so excited for it. I got my foam fist from Comic Con and I was just disappointed with that one. That's why I returned to

Silent Hill has me a little worried because they're also doing the same thing from the studio that brought you terror fire. Sure. Yeah, that's not a ongoing endorsement. And

Return, or toxic Avenger, and then there was another one. They, oh, silent night, deadly night. They all threw on the, from the studio that brought you terrified. Right.

I think my last one that I didn't think it was a horror movie at all, but they kept saying, oh, it's one of the greatest horror movies of the year. Him. Right. I mean, I wanted so much in this, too. I mean, everybody did their job. I liked what was going on.

But when it just got to the end, it was like, eh, all right, whatever. Go play football. The end got stupid. It had some good stuff there. It was like some really good parts, and they just mashed it all together. Did he go play football?

I don't know. I don't even understand the ending. I think he broke his brother. Could he go play football? I don't think so, but who knows, man? He's way out in the middle of nowhere. Anything could happen wherever they were. I mean, I like...

That lead actor is on two movies on a majority of our list. That's right. I know what she did last summer. Oh, yeah. Although he was the best part of that... Yes, he was the best part of that movie in all favorites. Get you a new agent. Yeah, but I mean

I mean, shout out to the guys that made it and everybody acted in it. Marlon Wayne was the All-Star as well as his, I don't know if that was this crazy wife or girlfriend or whatever. I liked her. She looks completely different. She was the

Adam Sandler's love interest in Uncut Jims. Yeah, his side chick. It took me a minute. I was like, who is? Because she looked all weird and crazy in it. I was like, who is this? I had to look her up and went, oh, okay, but I liked her. Probably, I liked her the best.

I mean, she did a good job. She was creepy and everything, but I don't know what exactly what they were trying to do here. I mean, I don't have time to sit there and try to figure it out. I was like, just visually, I thought it was awesome. Visual, I mean, just what they presented. But I was just like, eh. I don't know, but, oh, hey, dude, I'll get right back on. I got my wife calling me.

All right. All right, man. Okay. Yeah, I'll go along with him. Good ingredients, bad dish. Okay. That's good way to put it. Yeah.

Yeah. I am, let's see. I've got a couple of them. I've got a couple of them that are not horror, but we'll just hit them along the way. Sure. Sure list. I'm just going to run through them 10 through 1.

Number 10 is death of a unicorn because it was disappointing. Yep. Nine is conjuring last rites. Oh, yeah. That's a disappointing. Could have been dishonorable mention. Yeah. Eight, Strangers Chapter 2.

I forgot that I watched it. Eh, okay. All right. Let's see, Tron Ares is number seven. I haven't seen it yet. I'm going to watch that tonight because it's on Disney Plus now. That's right. That was quick.

That was quick. let's see my number what am I on six Jurassic Park whatever it is rebirth yeah I forgot about that one

Jurassic Park after birth okay I'm gonna go with Wolfman for number five okay not a lot of love for Wolfman here yeah man it's on every list so far disappointing disappointing

okay number four is Megan 2.0 I forgot about that one. That was hell of good. I got to redo my list. That was hella bad. I got to redo my list. Okay. I was kind of surprised it hadn't come up yet.

That one was just below war. That would be number three pushing War of the Worlds down to four for me. I encourage that out of my mind. Apparently I had two. Wow, what a fumble, man. Yeah, and War the Worlds to Mine. I forgot about that. another one my number three is going to be borderlands

okay I forgot about that one too yeah I didn't see that one number two is I know what you did last summer and number one is water worlds there you go border all right border what was it border what borderlands borderlands yeah was that the one with James Curtis and Kevin Hart

Kevin Hart is it that bad Jack Black and 15 other stars. Was it the same Jack Black? Oh, he's a voice only. They just put all the money in the actors. Yeah, how's it? Sure.

None in the script. I still, I would like to ask Eli Roth what happened because I don't think that's the movie he made. Because when they were trying to, when they were trying to do reshoots, he just said, fuck it, do it yourself. Oh, that's interesting. He just needs to make Thanksgiving, too.

That's what I'm waiting for. Second helping, huh? Yeah. All right, we are on to our top 10 of the year. And, Nez, I'm going to throw it to you. Hold on, I've got to pull up my list. I'm just doing strictly horror movies because I'm saving all our other ones for East Society.

Speaking to them, go listen to our best TV series or TV of 2025. That just dropped. And all of you to listen to Brian and I's bonus episodes, the one we did last year and the one we just did a couple days ago, oh, you guys rule, thanks. All right. Although at the 21-minute mark, you get a fucking ad.

I can't figure that out, Niz. I don't know, man. Yeah, if you guys... If you guys heard that ad, at least it was... I had to go back and listen to it. It was for a horror book, so I guess they get...

All right, but I don't... I don't know. If you guys are going to sneak those in, you better pay us. Did you listen to that on Apple? Yeah. I noticed, like, when I go to, like, see what the geeks put out, they'll slip in, like, between their episodes,

oh, you want... We recommend this episode. and it'll be from a different show. Sneaky, sneaky, huh? They must not do that to us, but I don't know. But anyway, I might start. Okay. Starting from the bottom, number 10.

I just recently watched this. It's a movie with the King of Staten Island. Oh, I know. The Home. You're talking about the Home. Pete Davidson. Pete Davidson. home.

It was cool. I liked what was going on. They kind of ripped off some other movies, but I liked it, and the ending paid out for me. I wasn't expecting. Yeah, it was weird. I wasn't expecting that ending,

but I was all in once it started happening. So the home, yeah, that one, I just watched that one. That one just creeped in at the last second. And then there was one on shutter called Ash for my number nine. Oh, yeah. With Jesse from Breaking Bad. It was a sci-fi, I guess, horror movie.

But I liked what was going on. It was kind of a trip. He probably had to be tripping on something. What's his name was wasted in the movie? Eco, U-Ways? Yeah, man, he was just there. He was just there for a check. Ass kicker in your movie and he kicks no ass.

More talky-talkie. Yeah, he was just there. I mean, I liked what was going on. Maybe he really paid attention. I ended up watching it. Twice. Oh, and then number seven would be clown in the cornfield. I like that movie. That was fun. It was goofy. I wasn't expecting what happened in it. Those you that haven't seen it, but once it started going on, I was figuring out what was happening.

I was like, okay, I'm cool. It was just a good gore, gory, violent film, so I'm there for it. next one is the monkey I thought that one was that was elegant I watched that a few times because it just made me laugh on what was going on in that one then I am going to go

to what one to what is the number five I think yeah the witchboard the remake that was on Pedro's worst of last nass. That movie was

hella good. I love that movie. I liked it too. I had fun with it. I didn't think. I had fun with it. I just said, you know what?

Let me just watch it and see what, what happens. And I was, I was intrigued by the whole thing. And I liked it. I thought it was good. I was like,

okay, I didn't, I seriously sat there, ready to hate it. It was just me. And I think one other person, no, no, or is this when the, when the couple was in there doing,

who knows what? I, I think so I think it was that movie but anyway I think it was I remember you're talking about that yeah

so that's one two three four four was that five all right so my number four will be until dawn I like that movie yeah

that movie that movie was hell of good I loved it my best of list is a lot harder than the worst of list true true

All right. The next one is Five Nights of Freddy's Two. Oh, come on, dude. Get out of here, Nass. I love that movie. It was awesome. Then I am going to go to

number three, Sinners. I thought that was an awesome movie. I don't need to go on to it. Everyone's seen it at all. Number two is weapons. I thought that movie was hell of good. I loved it.

That movie was fucking... Nice. Amazing. If you guys got to see it in IMAX, man, you saw all the glory that was weapons on that big-ass screen. And my number one, which I loved and watched it a few times because I was like, wait, what's happening here? And shout out to the little actor that played Little Boy in it. And this is Bring Her Back. That movie.

That movie was amazing. I loved everything that went on that. And brutal, right? Yeah, it's into that Talk to Me universe is what they're saying. so that movie was amazing as well if you guys haven't seen that one but yeah those are my favorite horror movies this year and i'm gonna defend friday five nights of freddies too i don't care what anyone says if you guys listen our episode i was the only one that liked it so yeah that's all right man you do i think i gave it a nine i thought you gave it a ten but okay no i had it was a couple things i didn't i was like uh it was

It was good, but now, I was afraid of shoes, awesome. As you said, you only had a problem with, like, the part with the water ride, the depth of the water. Like, you were swimming and going underwater, and it was like a little waist-eye ride. I just saw a video of some mom, I guess, the... Stand up.

Something, or the Small World ride at Disneyland. Yes, that's right. I guess it broke down and they were sitting there forever, and some mom just got tired of waiting and stepped out of the boat. It didn't even go to her knee. I believe it. The water probably went to her shin. And I was like, why was my Fentz and Freddy's was like neck deep?

Oh, I don't know. But I love that movie. I thought it was awesome. I watched it twice. But yeah, that's my list. All right, Lance. Oh, man. All right.

So I've got some honorable mentions. I'm going to start with a movie that Nez already mentioned. Screamboat. I fucking loved it, Nez. I love scream boat. I got every single one of the Disney Easter eggs, and I thought that it was very clever, the way they did the princesses there at the beginning.

I thought it was hilarious the way they put it on the Staten Island Fairy. You had like homeless bums sleeping on it and shit like that, and then the size of the rats. And I like the four. perspective of what they did with with our man art the clown where I thought he was going to be like regular size and he was a teeny tiny little mouse I got a big kick out of screenboat um ugly step sister uh it's a foreign movie have y'all heard of this one that's pretty good yeah very very good movie i'm watching it right now um yeah um super trippy and um has a lot to say so i enjoyed that one um another one on my honorable mention the little tiny independent movie that could,

just because two great performances, and that's the rule of Jenny Penn, really enjoyed this one. Elderly abuse. Elderly abuse, and both actors totally knocked it out of the park. And then my other final honorable mention is Heart Eyes, the Valentine's movie. I really enjoyed that one.

Oh, that was trash. What? Well, then you're going to love my number 10, Ness, you ready for my number 10? I saw hard eyes in the theater. Me and my son left, dude, that was garbage. Then I watched it again once it started streaming on something

and I was like, I would have rather had it just been a love story and I probably would have enjoyed it more. I understand. That was my opinion. Be quiet. Not you guys. The guys outside.

Here's my, all right, we're going to go into my top 10, Naz, starting with number 10. This was on your bottom. This was on Pedro's bottom. I think this was on Brian's bottom. Phillips said it wasn't great either. But something about him, I really dug it. I thought Marlon Wayans,

Barlowayans performance alone would get me to buy a ticket to see it. But I just loved the weirdness of it. Did they pay off at the end with a weirdness? Hell no. It was a silly ending. But I really enjoyed it, man. I like the visuals, and we like what we like. So number 10 for me was him.

number nine a movie i didn't think i was going to really care for at all and i love the twists in it and that would be uh bone lake you guys remember bone lake oh i remember bonnake yeah really enjoyed it man facebook oh that one well for me it was worth it because i because i really enjoyed bone lake All right, my number eight Until Dawn and it seems like they're actually making some pretty good movies

based on video games these days. So for me, the best part about until, I did like the concept of it. You know, like the clock ticking down and you just like a video game, right? You die, but you get reborn again. But to me, what got until dawn

was the special effects. We're fucking fun. Nominal. Love the exploding people that drank the bad water. Number seven, another one with some twists in it. Wish I had not seen the trailer. Companion. I really got to kick out of companion. I enjoyed that one. And then the little side story with the gay dudes. That was hilarious. What's his name from what we do in the shadows? Yes, Germo. Okay. All right. Number six, my big surprise this year, because I did not think it was going to be as good as it was, and that would be Final Destination Bloodlines. Enjoyed the kills, love the opening sequence with the tall tower and the glass floor on it and all that good stuff. And then, of course, Pedro talked about it to the MRI machine or whatever it was. That was a great scene. so I enjoyed Final Destination

Bloodlines. Number five. Rest in peace, Candy Man. Rest in peace Candy Man. Yes, and he got his part in there. Number five for me was weapons. Enjoyed the three different perspectives. To me, it was nowhere near as good as the first film that they did.

What was it? Barbarian. But it was good. It was good. I enjoyed weapons. Okay, number four, really dug Keeper. This was the same dude that did The Monkey, right? Same director. Wasn't this the Perkins movie?

Yeah. Yeah, so I love Keeper. I loved a lot of the things that it had to say. I love the way they used the term Keeper in all the different contexts. Very interesting, and I thought that the twist on that one paid off. Number three,

begonia. I take back everything I ever said about Yorthos Vandinos or whatever. his name is this Greek director that I hate so much. I finally, he finally hit the sweet spot for me on this one. You didn't like what was that weird things or whatever that one was called? I hated it. Poor things did not like it at all.

Didn't like killing it was awesome. What are you talking about? Did not like the lobster at all. I didn't like that. But yeah, Bagonia. Oh my God, the performances from the two guys. and really the performance from the actress as well. The story had a great payoff at the end.

I don't want to say anything because there's lots of twist and turns. Fat Damon's getting an upgrade on his name. He's now Jesse Plymouth. Yes. Jesse Plymins was really good. Don't be surprised if he's up for an Oscar for this one. But somebody else, I think, may talk about this one tonight. So let's save some more talk.

Number two, for me, bring her back. totally brutal love the storyline and number one the champion 10 out of 10 my first 10 out of 10 since mother and that would be sinners had everything had everything literally had a had a great seat even there at the end or he had all the guns hidden in the chest I love that I thought that was a perfect way to end it

after credits is a must watch on that one I agree everything's a must watch on that one. But really my favorite part of Centers was the two big musical numbers. I thought they were amazing. You guys know I love musicals when they're well done, and I thought it was perfect. And soundtrack was phenomenal.

And I love a good road trip movie, and they're getting the band back together. So Center is number one for me. All right, I'm going to my top 10. I'm going to start with my number 10. Together. I thought the chemistry between actual real life a married couple of Dave Franco and Alison Brie really showed off camera and I liked the all the body horror that was going on in the movie.

I didn't watch that one. I meant to check it out. It's a good one, Phil. It's a good one. It's on Hulu now. Number nine, Lance already talked about this one until dawn. I never played the video game, so I didn't have any expectations on what I wanted to see in it. came out just being pleasantly surprised with what I got.

I thought the effects were great. And it did still, I know there's people that are fans of the game that kind of didn't like the movie, but it felt like a video game to me. You're right, Lance, with the resetting of the clock. A little bit. Huh? Oh, sorry. Just me you're done.

I'm going to be, I'm going to just, the aircraft were pushing. Sorry. No worries. All right. Number eight. video game. All right. Number eight,

heart eyes. I thought this was a super fun movie. I don't care what Ned says. Super fun slasher movie. Everybody was good in it. Number seven, final destination bloodlines. Way better than it should have been. It progressed the story.

It brought a new fresh take to the franchise. And we got to say our final. goodbyes to Tony Todd in it. So that's my number seven. Number six, the monkey, Oz Perkins, put out something that I didn't think he had in him

completely different from anything he's made and I enjoyed it for that reason. Number five, this one slipped down, but it still made my top top ten and it's weapons. Yeah, I think... Okay. I think what really hurt it for me

was the runtime. It just, Some segments ran a little too long, but I still think it's a great movie. It's not as good as Barbarian, but... Yeah. I agree with you on everything, man. Number four, bring her back. The Phillip brothers are two for two for me. Sally Hawkins, to me, was also an all-star in that movie.

She was the foster mom. Mm-hmm. I thought she was fantastic in it. number three companion awesome movie sophie thatcher is she's starting to be one of my favorite actresses because i'm liking almost everything i've seen her in the heretic the boogeyman she's putting out some good stuff right there number number two this movie is not horror we go.

Anaconda? No. The Long Walk. Oh, yes. I love this movie. I did like it. It counts for horror. Right, Naz?

Can it count for horror? Not even. It's an awesome movie. I love it, but I wasn't a horror movie. Okay. We get it. I thought the acting was fantastic.

David Johnson, who we've seen him as what was his name an alien Romulus, the synthetic Andy. Andy. Oh, is that who that was? Yeah, he was fantastic. Philip Seymour Hoff and son was the

lead character. He was awesome. Okay, all right. We got to get a different look at we got to have a villainous take on Mark Hamill playing a character like that. The Colonel? And just the movie had me rooting for so many people even though the rules strictly said only one can make it so you knew only one can make it

but it just had me rooting for so many different people i like i like the little asian guy oh the karate kid yeah and yeah and the first kid that dies is that kid from jojo rabbit oh yeah really so yeah i didn't realize it was him the long all-star cast that we didn't even know it okay And number one, of course, you guys already know, is sinners. I think I also gave it a 10 out of 10. You're right, Lance, it had everything. The acting, the story, the cinematography, the music, everything. And as Nez would agree, it's a horror movie.

Am I right, Nez? The end was. Centers is a horror movie, right? straight up or I wouldn't say straight or but the end was bottom line let's listen to the natives I'm tired of tell you guys

definitely got vampires all right Phil all right a lot of the same stuff in a little bit of different order I'm going to give a shout out to Shelby Oaks

you reminded me of that one Brian that was a good one the monkey companion and the gorge kind of forgot about that. That was a good one. Yeah.

I thought about putting that out. That one came out last January. Yeah. It's probably why I forgot about it. So my number 10 is going to be the long walk. Number nine is the ugly step sister. Great movie. Nice.

Yeah. I don't know if you guys seen it. Definitely worth a watch. I like that weird movie. I liked it was a take coming from the stepsister, not Cinderella. Yeah. Yep. I love the little plastic.

surgery they did and the nose things you have to wear keep her nose in place. It's kind of hilarious. Number eight is dangerous animals. Ah, okay. Great look. Yeah.

Number seven is 28 years later. That one didn't get mentioned. I don't know about that for me. But we'll see. You know, I mean, we'll see. Well, let's see how the other movies are. It was fun. I think it was fun.

Hopefully it goes somewhere. Number six is good boy. That's the dog boy. Okay. Yeah. That's a good one. Shout out to Indy the Dog. Yeah.

Indy the Dog. That one. Great movie. But on a performance better than most people. Yeah. Number five, I don't know if it counts is horror. Predator Badlands was so much fun. I loved it.

It counts. I still hate the Predator. design and I still think it was lazy but I love the movie it was a lot of fun yeah you can overlook a lot when the story's good right uh number four is bring her back okay uh number three is sinners number two is weapons and my number one that i just watched today was begonia i loved it yeah it is awesome huh right up my alley All right, let's talk about it some more. I was like, man, I hope they really go there with the engines.

I didn't finish it. Don't, don't spoil it. No spoilers, no spoilers, but they didn't disappoint. Yeah, they didn't disappoint. They did exactly what I was hoping that they would do. Yeah, great performances, man. Yeah. Okay.

All right, is that it, Brian? That's it. That's 2025. Cool. So that's our list, folks. looking forward to 2026. Anybody got anything they're really looking forward to

in the new year? Naz, you get anything that you're super excited about? That's coming this year? Yeah. The Mandalorian and Grogu. A lot of people are talking about that one. Yep. And that's in the theater, right?

Yep. What about you? What else, Nas? I'm sorry. I'm trying to think of it. Go ahead. Brian, got anything on the top of your mind or Phil? I don't know. Top of my head now.

Okay. I'm curious to see what neon comes out with and A-24 because they seem to be the two dueling kind of like elevated horror distributors right now. So I'm very excited to see

if that, you know, if that competition continues. So without sighting. I think we got a neon movie next. What's that? Was it Primate a neon movie? No shit. Oh yeah.

I couldn't be wrong. Primate has some potential for me. So we'll see. Anything else guys that they are really looking forward to? Well, there's a new Exorcist movie coming out, huh? I don't think he'll get to that. You don't think so? That guy's got too much on his.

played. Street Fighter? Mortal Kombat. I'm actually looking forward to Street Fighter more than Mortal Kombat. That trailer was ridiculous. I just want I just want Mortal Kombat. We didn't even get it the last one. The tournament didn't even start.

Oh, the Bone Temple, we're going back to 28 days later. That's right. That's right. Terrifier. Oh, is there another terror fire? Yeah. the, I'm doing the air quotes, the final one. Looking forward to the, I'm sure. Friday the 13th show.

The peacock quote. Oh, the TV show. I saw a poster for that. Looks very retro, the poster I saw. Can't think anything else. We weren't prepared for this. Hopefully we'll get a good surprise like Night Swam or Him, right, Brian? Yeah.

Oh. Okay. Ready? Night swim. Yeah. Oh, ready and out here I come. Yes, yes. All right.

Oh, that, we'll talk about the trailer next week, but the new Zazi Beats movie, They Will Kill You. Looks super fun. Okay. What's that one that's coming up next month about the chick on the island with a guy that was her boss that was such a douchebag? Oh, send help. That looks pretty good. Yeah.

Sam Remy. That looks pretty good. Yes. All right. The Odyssey? That's going to be cool with Matt Damon. Like Homer's Odyssey? Yeah, Matt Damon plays a business.

The new Christopher Nolan movie. It's like Matt Damon, John Bernthal, Tom Holland. What? Zendaya, Anne Hathaway. How have I not heard of this? Jesse, Jesse Clemens, Robert Pattinson. I was just meant to say, could you imagine if Jesse

Plymins and Matt Damon were both in it in the same scene? Oh, I know. He has to be like his, uh, his, his, his, tore up, cracked out Evil Twin or something. You know that movie's already sold out the IMAX showings. Really?

Yeah. It's going to be awesome. When's it coming out? I guess they built like, I think like June or July. But I think they built like new cameras, new IMAX cameras for the movie. Oh, so it's like specifically for IMAX.

So this is going to be like the, the, oh, Damn blue people movies. Avatar. Avatar. Yeah. The one you don't like, Philip.

No, you brought it up, Phil. You were wrong. Avatar 3 crossed a billion dollars. Ah, no. I gave them, I threw him 20 bucks, Philip. They're going to keep making them. I threw 20 bucks at them, dude.

I went to see him in 3D with the granddaughter. Yeah. Was it any good? I enjoyed it. It's long as fuck. You're better than the last one? because the last one was elegant. I liked it, man.

I loved the 3D effects on them. Yeah. This one's different. It's not water. It's fire. Oh, wow. Right. All right.

Moving on. Thanks for listening to another episode of the horror returns. You know where to find us next week. As Brian mentioned, primate, right? And also 1995's Congo. So, Nez, until the horror returns again.

I don't know, but we got frightful reflections coming. So get ready. for that and go see hawks and good night