The end-of-year holiday season in 2025 is shaping up to be a terrifyingly good time for horror lovers. From killer animatronics to rogue AI and primal terror, these three standout films promise spine-chilling entertainment:
1. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
Release Date: December 5, 2025
Studio: Universal Pictures / Blumhouse
Picking up one year after the supernatural carnage of the first film, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 returns viewers to the infamous Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Now rebranded as the town’s Halloween-themed festival “Fazfest,” the twisted legacy is very much alive.
Josh Hutcherson reprises his role as Mike, with Elizabeth Lail returning as Officer Vanessa. The story intensifies as Mike’s younger sister Abby secretly revisits the animatronic “friends”—unwittingly reigniting horrors tied to Freddy, Foxy, Bonnie, and Chica. Unveiling dark secrets from Freddy’s past, the sequel aims to expand the eerie universe while delivering more jump scares than ever before.
2. SoulM8te
Release Date: January 9, 2026
Studio: Blumhouse / Atomic Monster
From horror masterminds James Wan and Jason Blum comes SoulM8te, a seductive yet sinister tale of grief, obsession, and AI. Inspired by ’90s erotic thrillers, the film follows a grieving man who buys an AI companion to cope with his wife’s death—only for the android’s emotions to evolve into fatal obsession.
Directed by You Are Not My Mother‘s Kate Dolan and based on a story by Wan and Ingrid Bisu (Malignant), this techno-horror mixes psychological tension with brutal violence. With its haunting blend of love and lethal machine learning, SoulM8te is set to be an early 2026 thriller hit.
3. Primate
Release Date: January 9, 2026
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Set in a luxurious beachside villa in Hawaii, Primate tells the story of Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) and her friends who encounter horror in the form of Ben—a once-gentle chimpanzee that becomes bloodthirsty after a rabid mongoose bite.
Directed with a survival-thriller edge, the film traps the group in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game against a primal predator. Featuring Oscar-winning actor Troy Kotsur as Lucy’s father and Jessica Alexander in a standout role, Primate brings a new twist to creature horror by fusing human emotion with animalistic terror.
Sources: Netizenbuzz