I Loved The Great Year Horror Had In 2025, But I’m Hoping One Growing Trend Fades Away

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2025 was an exceptional year for horror fans. Looking back, choosing the best horror films of that year will be tough, with major successes like Weapons, Frankenstein, Sinners, Bring Her Back, 28 Years Later, and The Conjuring: Last Rites all in contention. There were plenty of other great movies too, but there’s something important we need to talk about.

I’m a big fan of horror films, and recently, we’ve seen a lot of genuinely scary and memorable movies. However, I’ve noticed a recurring trend that I hope filmmakers will be careful with in future films, starting in 2026 and beyond.

2025 Featured Two Movies With Violent Self-Mutilation Scenes

Of all the horror films I watched this year, two scenes really stuck with me. In Bring Her Back, it’s the incredibly disturbing moment when Andy starts stabbing a butcher knife into the roof of his own mouth.

The episode “Weapons” features a disturbing scene where Aunt Gladys compels Alex’s parents to harm themselves with their forks until he promises to keep her secret. It’s a difficult scene to watch, but that discomfort is intentional. The sheer horror of imagining that happening in real life makes it equally frightening whether it’s fiction or not.

Some Of My Favorite Recent Horror Movies Have Done The Same, But I Worry The Trend Is Being Overused

Horror films have often shown characters harming themselves, but recently, these scenes have become much more graphic and intense. For example, in the movie Talk To Me, a possessed character violently slams his head against a table. Similarly, Hereditary features a scene where Peter breaks his nose while possessed – a film so popular, they even sell Christmas ornaments based on it.

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To be fair, Bring Her Back and Talk To Me share the same fictional universe. It’s possible the similar demonic behavior is a deliberate connection between the two films. However, it feels like horror movies are increasingly relying on graphic self-harm to shock audiences, and I’ve definitely noticed this trend appearing more and more often.

This trope isn’t original to horror, but it feels like it’s been getting more extreme lately. I’m worried we’ll still be seeing it in movies released in 2026, and that it will quickly become predictable and lose its impact. I don’t want to get tired of this new scare tactic so soon.

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2025-12-13 19:08