This summer proves Hollywood is out of ideas – but horror movies might just give something worth watching
Offbeat horror films are providing
a welcome respite from endless reboots
by: Graeme Virtue
18 Jul 2025
I Know What You Did Last Summer. Image: Sony Pictures
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We can all agree that summer movie season is not the optimal launchpad for experimental cinema. But when the 2025 blockbuster line-up includes a Superman, another Jurassic World, yet another Fantastic Four, the return of The Smurfs, a Naked Gun revival and even a Freakier Friday, you could be forgiven for thinking that there really are no original ideas left in Hollywood.
As if to underline that sense of deja viewing, this week sees the release of I Know What You Did Last Summer, a sequel-slash-reboot of the 1997 horror about a group of attractive youngsters who find themselves on a killer’s hitlist after colluding to cover up a hit-and-run.
That first movie had a good hook (wielded by the fisherman-coded bogeyman) but wasn’t exactly a timeless classic. Until recently I would have struggled to conjure up much enthusiasm for a new version at all.
But this is the year that horror has, appropriately enough, snuck up and ambushed me. I was bowled over by Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s sweaty, barnstorming tale of supernatural evil lurking in the racially divided Mississippi Delta of the 1930s.
The notably oblique marketing made Sinners feel all the more surprising in the cinema, and subsequent word-of-mouth surely helped its success. No other film in recent memory has sparked so much theorising in my various movie-minded WhatsApp groups.
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Despite being a sequel, the recent 28 Years Later also opted to go for a vibes-focused promotional campaign, perhaps because executives were nervous that the hardened horror crowd might not turn out for a zombie movie where the lead character is a nervy 12-year-old boy.
But director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland managed to create a scary fable about UK national identity, albeit one punctuated with bloody viscera and shocking moments. It was another palpable group chat hit.
One of the biggest horror surprises of 2025, and the main reason I am willing to give I Know What You Did Last Summer a chance, was the terrific Final Destination: Bloodlines. This was the sixth film in a fitful franchise stretching back to 2000: the gimmick is if you cheat Death he will set up an elaborate chain of seemingly innocuous minor mishaps that culminate in a horrible lethal accident.
The breezy Bloodlines is a marvellously crafted roller coaster that lightly touches on the lore that came before but also gleefully subverts expectations. (It helps that when every object is conspiring to kill you, simply cutting to a wobbly table lamp becomes an image filled with dread and dark wit.)
If the new I Know What You Did Last Summer has just half the wit or mischief of Bloodlines, it could be a fun time. But I’m even more excited about a looming cluster of offbeat horror movies that are cannily playing their cards close to their chest, Sinners-style. They all seem like smart counter-programming in a summer of overexposed blockbusters.
Bring Her Back (out 1 August) stars the great Sally Hawkins as a scarily overprotective mum a million miles away from her Paddington role. It’s the second film from young Aussie writer-directors the Philippou brothers, whose debut Talk to Me was a nerve-jangling update to teens-messing-with-ouija board tropes. They seem to be exploring similarly disturbing territory with Bring Her Back, exploring freaky-deaky resurrection themes.
The mysterious Weapons (out 8 August) is another follow-up to an impressive debut. Writer-director Zach Cregger’s 2022 Airbnb nightmare Barbarian freaked out audiences with its hopscotching tone and Weapons looks similarly hard to pin down as distraught teacher Julia Garner copes with the mysterious nocturnal disappearance of her entire class.
Have they just run away as a prank or is something more sinister at work? After an unsettling opening act, Barbarian took a wild turn into something even more wigged out so it will be interesting to see if Cregger has a similar rug-pull in mind.
The deeply strange body horror The Substance made it all the way to the Oscars and Together (out 15 August) seems to be exploring similarly gloopy territory, as real-life husband-and-wife Alison Brie and Dave Franco play a long-term couple whose codependency affects them physically as well as emotionally. The nightmarish trailer will likely be a turn-off for some but I am prepared to watch through my fingers if necessary.
In other words: I know what I’ll be watching this summer.
I Know What You Did Last Summer is in cinemas now.
