Editorials
Kids, Dogs, and Final Girls: The Most Impressive Horror Breakthrough Performances of 2025
*Keep up with our 2025 end of the year coverage here*
There’s a longstanding rule in horror movies: don’t put kids and pets in danger. Of all who succumb to the genre’s various chills and thrills, the most vulnerable of us are supposed to be safe. But 2025 saw a record number of films and TV series buck this taboo in extreme and brutal stories that left us shaken to the core. Fortunately, a bright young crop of new performers rose to the occasion, previewing an exciting future for horror to come.
Whether running from zombies and serial killers, battling sinister foster mothers, or matching wits with interdimensional monsters, horror’s newest stars stole the spotlight and proved that the genre kids are still alright.
Christian Convery – The Monkey and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein
Horror fans last saw Christian Convery frantically climbing a tree to evade a rampaging beast in the 2023 film Cocaine Bear, but in 2025 we watched the veteran child actor level up with prominent roles in two of the year’s most exciting films. In February, Convery wowed audiences as Hal and Bill, twin brothers tormented by an evil windup toy in Osgood Perkins’ grisly horror comedy The Monkey. Desperate to connect with their long-lost father, the brothers discover that each time they activate the sinister simian, its drumsticks unleash a wave of shocking death.
November would see Convery move to the opposite end of the genre spectrum as a young Victor Frankenstein in Guillermo del Toro’s reimagining of Mary Shelley’s classic novel. Years before attempting to reconstruct a man using the assembled flesh of recovered corpses, Victor is a young medical student tormented by an abusive father who may have caused his mother’s death. Del Toro dramatically builds out the hubristic villain’s early years, reminding us that the famously mad scientist was once a frightened child desperate to reverse this devastating loss. Though different in nearly every way, both stories explore the horror of parental death and the long shadow cast by this unique trauma.
Convery more than met the challenge presented by these wildly different roles, cementing his place as a leader in the new generation of horror stars.
Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, and Jonah Wren Phillips – Bring Her Back
One of the year’s most upsetting movies shocked audiences by threatening already vulnerable children with unthinkable harm. Bring Her Back follows a newly orphaned teen named Andy (Billy Barratt) who struggles to protect his visually impaired half-sister Piper (Sora Wong) in the months leading up to his eighteenth birthday, when he’ll be able to serve as her legal guardian. Their foster mother, Laura (Sally Hawkins), dotes on the girl, going out of her way to meet Piper’s special needs. But she clearly wants Andy out of her house, and Oliver, her other foster child, is strangely silent and disturbed.
Danny and Michael Philippou follow their 2022 hit Talk to Me with this similarly brutal story that steadfastly refuses to pull any punches. Barratt leads the young cast as a traumatized teen overwhelmed with adult responsibility, while Wong is equally endearing as a vulnerable child walking into grave danger. But Phillips steals the show as the strangely sinister yet sympathetic Oliver, who engages in jaw-dropping acts of gruesome self-harm. A heartbreaking ending causes us to question our understanding of caregiving through grief and the power adults hold over young lives.
Hassie Harrison – Dangerous Animals
Every decade, director Sean Byrne returns to horror with a gorgeous yet eviscerating film centered around a complex female character. His 2025 entry, Dangerous Animals, is the gut-churning story of a charismatic serial killer who uses nature as a deadly weapon. Shark expert Bruce Tucker (Jai Courtney) offers cage diving excursions in the waters off Australia’s beautiful Gold Coast. But his true passion lies in using the powerful fish to murder unsuspecting tourists, then artfully capturing their moments of death on his vintage camcorder.
Fortunately, his latest target, Zephyr (Hassie Harrison), is a strong-willed drifter who will stop at nothing to stay alive. Byrne’s harrowing film sees her not only fight back against this sadistic serial killer, but stare down a massive great white shark and bite off her own thumb to escape captivity. We watch her bravely confront a series of unimaginable scenarios and repeatedly find help just out of reach. The oldest actor on this list, Harrison, embodies the spirit of carefree youth mixed with an unflinching determination to survive.
Alfie Williams – 28 Years Later
When the original 28 Days Later first hit theaters in 2002, the franchise’s newest star wasn’t a glint in his parents’ eye. British newcomer Alfie Williams made an impressive feature film debut in 28 Years Later, the long-awaited third installment of Danny Boyle’s genre-defining zombie series.
Decades after the Rage virus had decimated the British Isles, survivors have been indefinitely quarantined and essentially left to fend for themselves. Spike (Williams) has been raised in a primitive village on Lindisfarne, a coastal island protected from the roaming infected by a landbridge only accessible at low tide. The film begins with a coming-of-age trip beyond the heavily fortified gates as Jaime (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) introduces his son to the ravaged UK. But this deadly expedition opens Spike’s eyes to possibilities his father has long since abandoned. Williams carries this emotional film with startling vulnerability, providing a vessel through which we channel our own rage at the vicious reality we’ve inherited.
The first of a planned trilogy, Boyle and writer Alex Garland leave us on a harrowing note as Spike meets another, more dangerous child of the apocalypse. Nia DaCosta’s upcoming sequel teases a rocky road for the young protagonist tasked with finding himself in a shattered world.
Indy – Good Boy
Arguably, the year’s most surprising performance came from one of the best boys in recent memory. Indy, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, stars in Ben Leonberg’s Good Boy, a haunted house story told from the perspective of the family dog.
Recovering from chronic lung disease, Todd, played by Leonberg but voiced by Shane Jensen, has moved to his late grandfather’s abandoned house with only Indy by his side. Determined to protect his human companion, this loveable pet begins to sense that something is not right in the crumbling home. Sinister shadows emerge from the walls, and Todd seems strangely drawn to the basement. Leonberg’s story unfolds in a series of vague yet terrifying interludes viewed exclusively from Indy’s limited perspective. However, this lack of concrete information creates a sense of terrifying helplessness as we watch Indy struggle to communicate the danger he senses.
The astonishingly emotive canine performer manages to pull us into his limited world and an unwavering desire to protect his best friend. Only time will tell if this endearing dog will lead another horror film, but Indy’s surprising star turn will go down in history as one of the genre’s most exciting moments.
Arian S. Cartaya – It: Welcome to Derry
We knew that with Bill Skarsgård onboard, Andy Muschietti’s It: Welcome to Derry would have no problem recreating the terror of Stephen King’s 1986 novel It. But with a story set one generation before his crowd-pleasing 2017 adaptation, would he be able to recapture the magic of the Losers’ Club?
Muschietti’s It succeeds largely thanks to the chemistry of its young cast, who bring some of King’s most popular characters to life. But success can often be a double-edged sword, and the 2017 Losers’ Club left fourteen giant shoes to fill. After a blood-soaked bait and switch in episode 1, It: Welcome to Derry introduces a stellar cast of likeable kids again tasked with battling the shapeshifting monster. Yet amidst this new batch of self-professed “freaks,” one stands out from the crowd.
Arian S. Cartaya won our hearts as Rich, a diminutive charmer willing to sacrifice his life to save his friends. We watch the lovesick tween console and care for his crush in the wake of a grisly eye injury, explain the details of a graveyard ritual, and dazzle an adult crowd with his mad drumming skills. Without spoiling the events of this tear-jerker season, Rich adds emotional depth to a spectacular story willing to kill beloved characters. A shocking reveal in the season finale brings Rich’s story full circle while reframing his place in the long line of Derry’s bravest children.
Nell Fisher and Jake Connelly – Stranger Things
Stranger Things has always been a show about tweens battling larger-than-life monsters. Also referencing the novels of Stephen King, the Netflix juggernaut begins with a group of intrepid kids on bikes squaring off against an otherworldly foe. But nearly ten years after its inaugural season, the original Party is growing up and becoming adult warriors in their own right.
Season 5 sees creators Matt and Ross Duffer inject youth into this sprawling story with a surprising duo of unlikely heroes. We first met the youngest Wheeler sibling as a toddler on her mother’s hip. Now a headstrong tween herself, we watch as Holly (Nell Fisher) is literally pulled into the ongoing battle against Henry/Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). Along the way, she forms an uneasy alliance with a brutish classman known as Dipshit Derek (Jake Connelly), who transforms into a likable protagonist before our eyes. Fisher and Connelly add life to the long-running series, helming some of the season’s most memorable moments. From making a “your mom” joke in Vecna’s face to traversing a series of traumatic memories, Holly and Derek prove that the kids are still alright in Hawkins, Indiana.
It’s been an admittedly stressful year with a seemingly endless stream of real-life terrors reflected in narrative cinema. What’s more, the famously tumultuous film industry has been mired in lucrative streaming wars and an unprecedented number of studio mergers. Fortunately, horror returns to save the day with a new generation of scream queens and kings offering hope for the future of genre filmmaking.
Tales from the Crypt has been influential in keeping EC Comics alive in the public conscience, even after going off the air thirty years ago. That classic horror show pulled from multiple stables within the iconic comic publisher, but it also didn’t adapt everything. Even the ones the producers did pick weren’t always faithfully retold on screen.
So while it might seem like Tales from the Crypt covered plenty of EC Comics’ works, a lot still remains unadapted.
These ten great stories would have made fine additions to the series.
“Bats in My Belfry!” (Tales from the Crypt)
When an actor named Harry began to lose his hearing, a friend put him in contact with a special “doctor”. After receiving the gift of super-hearing—a taxidermist implanted a bat’s auditory system inside of Harry—the protagonist learned about his wife’s affair. On top of that, she and her paramour were planning to kill Harry. Of course, they didn’t realize Harry had transformed into a humanoid vampire bat.
Something Tales from the Crypt didn’t do enough of, on account of whatever reason (budget and time restraints seem most likely), was stories about monsters. But Crypt once had the best contacts in the business, so you can bet that were-bat would have been in good hands.
“The Beast of the Full Moon!” (The Vault of Horror)
Tom and his girlfriend, June, were fearful of the werewolf who’d been on a recent murder spree in their area. Tom already suspected his brother Andrew, who may have been infected after a trip to Corocoa. And when Tom had an encounter with the werewolf, he stabbed the creature’s right paw before it could flee. Later, Tom’s suspicions were all but confirmed when he saw Andrew’s bandaged right hand.
So, Tom laid a trap for the monster—a pit—, and he waited nearby with a gun full of silver bullets. One thing led to another, and Tom ended up in the pit with the werewolf. Luckily, someone above shot and killed the beast. That’s when Tom saw Andrew above ground and June in the pit, the latter dead from her gunshot wound.
While Tales from the Crypt did have lycan episodes, like “Werewolf Concerto” and “The Secret”, there was still room for one more. With the comic having such a small cast, though, it may have been too easy to figure out the culprit. But surely someone on staff could have punched up the original story for television.
“Pipe Down!” (The Haunt of Fear)
Lila hated her older husband, Andrew. After beginning an affair with a handyman named Howard, Lila plotted Andrew’s death. She and Howard got away with Andrew’s murder, but now they couldn’t marry for a year; otherwise, it would look suspicious. In the meantime, Lila purchased a pet monkey that was born on the same day that Andrew died.
When Howard found what looked like evidence of Lila having another lover—he spotted a lit cigar and two half-empty glasses—Howard flew into a rage and murdered his girlfriend. That’s when the cops arrived, saying a phone operator reported the disturbance. However, all she heard on the other end of the phone was an animal’s shriek. Once Howard was arrested, Lila’s monkey went back into the house, picked up a book, and smoked a pipe. Just like Andrew used to do.
This story would have fit in with the wackier episodes of Tales from the Crypt. There are quite a few of those—especially later on as the series moved away from the more macabre material. “Pipe Down!” also spices up the typical adultery-and-murder plots that were so common in EC’s output.
“Swamped” (The Haunt of Fear)
Deep in the Okefenokee Swamp, a cannibalistic hermit fed on those who traveled near his shack built over the water. He fed on visiting hunters and then disposed of their remains beneath his home. Anyone who revolted or came after him only ended up in the quicksand. Finally, though, the hermit suffered the same fate as his victims; he, too, slipped into the muddy graveyard below his crumbling shack. Yet now waiting for him were the hungry souls desperate to get back at their killer.
It’s unclear who the writer was behind “Swamped”, but their work here is intense. The insight and colorful descriptions are unexpected for that mere tale of the cannibal who got his just desserts. That kind of writing, along with Reed Crandall‘s artwork, makes this one of the most engaging stories from EC’s horror run.
“The October Game” (Shock SuspenStories)
Mitch, a deeply resentful and growingly mad father and husband, hosted his young daughter’s Halloween party. Kids and other parents soon all piled into the basement. The night of fun then ended with one last parlor game: Mitch passed around the body parts of a witch (an arm, her heart, and so on). One of the young guests assumed these were really things like chicken innards.
Mitch’s wife, Louise, looked for her daughter among the crowd, wondering if Marion was scared. That’s when Louise realized the girl wasn’t there—or alive. She begged everyone not to turn on the lights in the basement, out of fear of them seeing what Mitch had done to her poor daughter. Unfortunately for Louise, her plea was in vain.
Tales from the Crypt usually refrained from child-endangered stories, and it much rather focused on adult characters. But the show also lacked Halloween entries, apart from Season Six’s “Only Skin Deep“. Perhaps the need for Halloween, as a validation of any eerie goings-on, was unnecessary.
This Ray Bradbury adaptation (originally a short found in Weird Tales) is well deserving of a read. It’s a glowing example of suspense storytelling. The comic also never shows a lick of violence, yet it feels incredibly violent.
“Strictly from Hunger” (The Vault of Horror)
A posse of men stood before a cave, awaiting something horrible inside. One of the men, Doc, explained the uncanny and dangerous creature; he’d seen it before. Doc told everyone about how his patient, Pete, was diagnosed with a malignant, cancerous lump on his arm. There was nothing Doc could do to help him. Pete then sought assistance from an old witch in the mountain. Using magic, she made sure Pete would never die, although his cancer remained intact and unhealed.
Over time, the cancer cells in Pete’s body consumed all his healthy cells. To keep living, Pete turned into a giant blob that ate others’ healthy cells. Back in the present story, the posse fought the emerging creature until it retreated into the cave. The characters all finally blocked the entrance to prevent Pete from ever escaping again.
Obviously, Tales from the Crypt didn’t have the budget to support a story like this one, but imagine if it did. A body horror episode of this degree could have been fantastic, not to mention outright disgusting.
“Marriage Vow” (The Haunt of Fear)
Martin and Eva’s marriage was no longer a happy one. Eva, who’d become controlling and slovenly a few years after their wedding, refused to let Martin out of her sight. “Till death do us part,” she would always say. Eventually, Martin killed Eva; he loosened the wrought iron bars on the balcony where Eva liked to spend time, and she fell to her death. However, Eva didn’t stay dead, as she came back as a zombie intent on honoring the “till death” part of their vows.
EC did more than its fair share of stories like “Marriage Vow”, as did Tales from the Crypt. Spousal murder was pretty common. This comic, though, delivers a strong implication as the zombified wife tells her husband to “come to bed”. That line makes a reader’s imagination run wild.
“Dog Food” (Crime SuspenStories)
A prisoner named Tom swore revenge on the warden, Lester, after a fellow prisoner was tortured and killed under his command. However, to get past Lester’s voracious guard dogs, so that he could enter his house and kill him, Tom started saving meat from his meals. The other prisoners also contributed to his collection.
Tom set off on his journey to Lester’s dog-guarded house, but he ran out of meat before reaching his destination. So, Tom did the next best thing and fed parts of his own body to the dogs.
Once again, Reed Crandall elevated a gruesome, vengeful story with his realistic style. It’s so lurid. At any rate, it was just too graphic for Tales from the Crypt to adapt—and that’s really saying something here.
“Master Race” (Impact)
Carl Reissman was on a subway, remembering his “bloody war years” in Germany. Even after a decade had passed, he remained paranoid. And as he spotted a certain other passenger coming his way, a man in all black, Carl became afraid and started running. His mind flashed back to the events of the Holocaust during this “chase”.
Finally, before Carl fell on the tracks and in the path of an oncoming train, he revealed he wasn’t a prisoner in a concentration camp; he commanded one. The stranger in black said to those onlookers, asking what happened; he didn’t even know the victim. This Carl had simply run from him on the platform.
While Tales from the Crypt did occasionally go beyond what was available in their more horror-centric source material—the war-themed Two-Fisted Tales, for instance—it didn’t ever go near Impact. This short-lived series is considered toned down for EC. Even still, that didn’t make “Master Race” any less shocking. It’s a potent entry that wouldn’t have fit in with the Tales from the Crypt show we now know, but nonetheless, it’s a thought-provoking piece of storytelling.
“Forty Whacks!” (Crime SuspenStories)
A twenty-two-year-old woman named Fanny was frustrated by her parents; they flipped out when she put on makeup. However, when the daughter discovered a mysterious hatchet in her attic, she became possessed by a strange power and did the unthinkable. One after the other, Fanny used that hatchet to kill her parents.
The detective assigned to Fanny’s case was interrupted by his wife and son. The former had an out-there theory: the hatchet belonged to the infamous Lizzie Borden, and it was now capable of causing children to kill their own parents. The detective didn’t buy his wife’s idea, but that was until his entranced son picked up the murder weapon and took a swing at his pop.
Here, EC dipped into historical crime for a ghoulish story that sounds like something out of Friday the 13th: The Series. Maybe it’s a bit in bad taste, but that has never stopped Tales from the Crypt—which is why we love it.
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