Horror Movies to Watch: March 2025 Picks Include 'Opus' and More

Welcome to Horror Explorer, a curated column showcasing the month’s best movies, series, books and everything else spooky worth checking out. I’m William Earl, the editor of Variety.com and the publication’s resident horror enthusiast. Please drop me a line at [email protected] if there’s something I should check out for next month’s missive.

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Marquee Madness

“The Woman in the Yard” (In theaters Mar. 28 via Universal Pictures) — “Carry-On” director Jaume Collet-Serra heads back to horror with this spooky family drama. When a woman draped in black sits down in a family’s front yard in the middle of the day, she sure seems to be the harbinger of doom. Early footage looks handsome and the mystery sounds compelling enough to keep engaged.

Off the Beaten Path

“The Rule of Jenny Pen” (In theaters Mar. 7 via Shudder) — Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow star in this bizarre and bloody murder mystery set in a retirement home. The duo square off, as Rush plays a sharp judge rendered semi-paralyzed after a stroke and Lithgow plays an off-kilter resident wielding a puppet and an appetite to ruin the lives of others. A small, shocking movie, “Jenny Pen” is a unique addition to this year’s horror roster.

“Opus” (In theaters Mar. 14 via A24) — Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich go head-to-head in this cult thriller. Malkovich plays an elusive pop superstar, who invites Edebiri along with a handful of journalists and influencers to his compound to hear his new album. But once creepy things start happening on the trip, writer-director Mark Anthony Green’s story kicks into overdrive. (Read Variety’s review here.)

Bloodcurdling Books

“The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones (available 3/18 via S&S/Saga Press) — The author of “My Heart Is a Chainsaw” and “I Was a Teenage Slasher” is back with a historical thriller about a vampire in the early 1900s. With a keen eye to historical detail, Jones delivers another strong blend of horror and native culture.

“Splinter Effect” by Andrew Ludington (available 3/18 via Minotaur Books) — A splash of sci-fi pulp, Ludington’s time-travelling jaunt evokes the fun of Indiana Jones adventures. An archeologist travels to ancient Rome to retrieve an important menorah and must battle a competitive treasure hunter as well as scores of historical adversaries who want the artifact for their own. Not horror, but genre fans who need something light will be happy to spend the afternoon on this trip.

Frightening Festivals

South by Southwest 2025 (Mar. 7– Mar. 15) — The annual Austin festival has a robust Midnighter section this year, including a Rosamund Pike thriller called “Hallow Road”; an ambitious parallel universe revenge story “Redux Redux”; and “Good Boy,” a horror movie about a dog that can see ghosts.

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