The 30 Best Horror Movies on Netflix, Max, and Beyond (2024)

In conscionable a fewer abbreviated weeks, it'll beryllium thing but Hallmark movies and Lindsay Lohan rom-coms, but close present it's spooky play and if you're looking to unbend with a chainsaw-wielding serial killer, a telekinetic teen hellbent connected revenge, oregon a homicidal merman, we’ve got you covered.

Just successful clip for Halloween, we’ve pulled unneurotic a database of dozens of the champion fearfulness movies you tin watercourse close now, from tried-and-true classics that ne'er get aged to much caller scare-fests that you mightiness not cognize exist. The lone determination you person to marque is which 1 to ticker first, and whether you really privation to stock that container of fun-sized candy.

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Suspiria

If you’re not acquainted with the enactment of Dario Argento, hole for your eyes to beryllium dazzled and your encephalon to melt. Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) is an American ballet pupil who hops a level to Germany aft being invited to survey astatine the prestigious Tanz Akademie. From the infinitesimal she arrives, however, Suzy suspects that each is not what it seems. Especially erstwhile her chap students commencement disappearing. Turns retired Suzy was close to beryllium suspicious, arsenic the schoolhouse is much of a beforehand for a coven of almighty witches. While overmuch of the publication is admittedly nonsensical, it doesn’t adjacent matter. With its breathtaking accumulation design, innovative camerawork, and earworm of a taxable opus by Goblin, Suspiria is the benignant of movie that volition ne'er permission your head. (If you find yourself wanting more, Luca Guadagnino's 2018 reimagining of the film, starring Dakota Johnson, volition scratch that itch.)

The Babadook

Ten years ago, Australian writer-director Jennifer Kent turned the fearfulness genre connected its caput with this gem of a “creepy kid” film. Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis) is simply a young widow and parent to six-year-old Sam (Noah Wiseman), who is acting retired successful progressively convulsive ways. Sam blames his behaviour connected The Babadook, a monster helium claims lives successful his pop-up book. Slowly, arsenic weird things proceed to hap astir the house, Amelia starts to judge that her lad mightiness beryllium telling the truth. Now if lone she could get idiosyncratic other to judge her. In the hands of a little talented filmmaker, The Babadook could person been a one-note story. But Kent, Davis, and Wiseman negociate to crook it into a compelling and moving intelligence thriller, wherever the existent villain turns retired to beryllium grief.

Barbarian

Between Uber and Airbnb, the collaborative depletion epoch has led america to regularly enactment our trust—and lives—in the hands of implicit strangers. Zach Cregger’s Barbarian whitethorn person you that specified transactions necessitate overmuch much thought. Tess (Georgina Campbell) rents an Airbnb, lone to observe that it’s been double-booked and there’s already a impermanent staying there. Fortunately for Tess, Keith (Bill Skarsgård)—the existent occupant—seems similar a benignant capable feline who is blessed to spell retired of his mode to assistance accommodate her. Which should person been her archetypal denotation that thing was amiss.

Late Night with the Devil

Siblings Colin and Cameron Cairnes co-wrote, directed, and edited this new(ish) recovered footage flick, wherever a late-night speech amusement big named Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) decides to boost his ratings by hosting an occult-themed occurrence for his Halloween nighttime broadcast. Among the invited guests are a psychic (Fayssal Bazzi), a parapsychologist (Laura Gordon), and a teenage miss (Ingrid Torelli) who is purportedly possessed by a demon. When Jack accidentally unleashes the demon connected his audience, helium realizes that there’s thing “purported” astir it.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Leatherface whitethorn person conscionable turned 50, but he’s inactive got the precocious assemblage spot to plaything astir his beloved chainsaw conscionable arsenic helium did successful the 1970s. There are present 9 films successful the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, but not 1 of them tin clasp a candle—or a chainsaw—to the original. A radical of teens instrumentality a roadworthy travel done Texas, successful portion truthful that siblings Sally (Marilyn Burns) and Franklin (Paul A. Partain) tin sojourn the cemetery wherever their gramps was laid to remainder aft reports of graverobbing successful the area. Then, wouldn’t you cognize it, they tally retired of state connected their mode location … past find themselves contending with a household of cannibals. Hey, it happens. The movie, which is partially based connected the beingness of grave robber Ed Gein, remains arsenic potent contiguous arsenic it did erstwhile it was primitively released.

Halloween

Is it truly Halloween without Halloween? While you person plentifulness of sequels, reimaginings, and reimagined sequels to take from today, there’s a crushed wherefore fearfulness fiends inactive marque a constituent to ticker the original—and utterly perfect—1978 archetypal today. John Carpenter’s communicative of a babysitter (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends being stalked by an escaped slayer acceptable the barroom for each slasher movie that has ever followed, and precise fewer person managed to adjacent travel adjacent to it. If you privation to support the Michael Myers taxable going, determination are present 13 films successful the franchise—including Rob Zombie’s gritty reboot and its sequel (which are some streaming connected Peacock) and David Gordon Green’s caller book-end trilogy, which kicked disconnected with 2018’s Halloween (which you’ll find connected Netflix).

The Exorcist

Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) whitethorn beryllium the precocious 12-year-old girl of a well-respected Hollywood histrion (Ellen Burstyn), but that means thing to Pazuzu, the hellhole demon who comes to inhabit this could-be nepo baby’s tween body. You’ll ne'er privation to devour pea crockery again. After tinkering with Halloween, David Gordon Green took a stab astatine resurrecting The Exorcist with past year’s The Exorcist: Believer, which didn’t fare arsenic good (it’s a “skip” for us, but is streaming connected Amazon Prime Video if you privation to springiness it a watch).

Hereditary

Ari Aster achieved instant icon presumption with Hereditary, his diagnostic directorial debut, which makes a compelling statement against rolling down the windows connected your car—ever. An creator (Toni Collette) and her shrink hubby (Gabriel Byrne) look to beryllium surviving the American Dream with their 2 teenagers, Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro). Until a bid of tragedies crook the family’s beingness upside down and each hellhole breaks loose—seemingly literally.

Carrie

“Creepy” Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is simply a teenage pariah who is brutally mocked by her precocious schoolhouse classmates and doesn’t find overmuch solace astatine location with her wholly unhinged ma (Piper Laurie). Sometimes a girl’s conscionable gotta fto loose, and sometimes that means utilizing telekinesis to pain your bullies down to the ground, on with the precocious schoolhouse gym successful which they’re dancing. Make definite to support watching all the mode to th end!

The Blair Witch Project

Nearly a quarter-century aft Jaws became a masterclass successful doing much with less, Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick did overmuch the aforesaid with this found-footage flick that had galore radical believing the film’s ain backstory: that a radical of movie students got mislaid successful the woods portion attempting to marque a documentary astir the Blair Witch, who supposedly trolls the country adjacent Burkittsville, Maryland, looking for youngsters to murder. That radical believed the story, and that the footage they were watching was so lone aboriginal discovered, is simply a testament to conscionable however effectual the found-footage format tin beryllium erstwhile employed successful conscionable the close way, arsenic good arsenic the filmmakers’ superb selling acumen.

Get Out

In what seemed similar the blink of an eye, Jordan Peele went from being 1 fractional of the hilarious Key & Peele to a modern fearfulness icon. And it each started with Get Out, Peele’s stunning directorial debut, successful which a young mates person gotten superior capable that Rose (Allison Williams) invites caller emotion Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) to permission the metropolis for the suburbs to walk the play with her family. While Chris seems much acrophobic that helium is Black and Rose is not, she assures him it doesn’t substance … until helium realizes that’s benignant of the point. Peele brilliantly blends elements of horror, comedy, and intelligence play with a pulsing commentary connected racism, and won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for his efforts. The movie besides received nods for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Kaluuya—all monolithic achievements for a fearfulness movie. Make it a twofer by pairing Get Out with Peele’s awesome follow-up, 2019’s Us, which is streaming connected Hulu.

The Fly

David Cronenberg’s caput works successful immoderate genuinely demented ways, which is simply a blessing to fearfulness movie fans. Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) is simply a idiosyncratic who is overmuch cooler than helium should be; Ronnie Quaife (Geena Davis) is simply a subject writer tasked with interviewing Brundle but rapidly falling for him. If lone helium hadn’t decided to usage himself arsenic the taxable successful a teleportation experimentation gone horribly wrong, these 2 kids could’ve possibly had something. Instead, Brundle dilatory morphs into a housefly with immoderate beauteous putrid habits and a inclination to randomly suffer assemblage parts.

It Follows

For decades, young women successful fearfulness films who dared to beryllium sexually active—and really bask it (gasp!)—could usually beryllium counted connected to beryllium the killer’s adjacent victim. But successful this astute indie from writer/director David Robert Mitchell, doing the deed is the conduit by which the supernatural tone that’s haunting Jay (Maika Monroe) is capable to determination from 1 big to the next. Which is atrocious news, arsenic she conscionable slept with her caller beau, who conscionable happened to beryllium infected and has present passed it connected to her. While she could conscionable fuck immoderate feline and walk it on, Jay’s a overmuch much analyzable heroine.

The Witch

Puritanism successful and of itself is beauteous creepy. Add successful the bizarre disappearance of a kid and it gets adjacent scarier. Robert Eggers, who went connected to marque The Lighthouse and The Northman, deftly balances what is fundamentally a play piece/supernatural fearfulness movie hybrid astir a household that ends up surviving successful the woods, secluded, aft being banished by their Puritan community. This is erstwhile adjacent creepier things commencement happening, each gathering up to an unforgettable climax (though it’s admittedly a spot of a dilatory burn).

The Shining

Stephen King conscionable whitethorn beryllium the lone idiosyncratic who didn’t emotion Stanley Kubrick’s instrumentality connected The Shining. Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a writer looking for immoderate quietude truthful that helium tin yet decorativeness penning the caller he’s been moving on, agrees to instrumentality a gig hotel-sitting the Overlook, an tremendous resort, portion it’s closed down for the winter, bringing his woman (Shelley Duvall) and young lad (Danny Lloyd) successful tow. For Jack, the Overlook feels similar home, and helium rapidly settles into a enactment routine; his woman and lad aren’t arsenic enthralled, particularly erstwhile they statesman to fishy that malevolent forces didn’t vacate for the wintertime on with the remainder of the guests.

The Strangers

What’s much terrifying than a masked psychopath connected the escaped knocking disconnected victims arsenic revenge for a puerility trauma? How astir a fistful of masked sociopaths connected the escaped knocking disconnected victims astatine random? James (Scott Speedman) and Kristen (Liv Tyler) are a mates who find themselves astatine an unexpected crossroads portion spending the nighttime astatine a secluded abrogation home. (Is determination immoderate different kind?) But they don’t person overmuch clip to wallow successful what the aboriginal of their narration looks like, due to the fact that determination are radical astatine the door. And successful the house. And connected the plaything set. You get the picture. Creepy imagery abounds successful this vastly underrated film, which saw its storyline proceed this twelvemonth with Renny Harlin’s The Strangers: Chapter 1.

Paranormal Activity

For amended oregon worse, The Blair Witch Project kicked disconnected a found-footage movie flood, which has truly yet to extremity (though they’re decidedly successful overmuch shorter proviso these days). For each the mediocre efforts we had to endure through, determination was besides Paranormal Activity, a beyond coagulated effort that was made connected virtually nary budget. Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) are a young mates successful love, looking guardant to spending their lives together. But erstwhile they determination successful together, truthful does the evil tone that’s been trailing Katie for astir of her life. Katie wants to escaped the location of it erstwhile and for all; Micah wants to videotape it (which lone seems to embolden the aggravated spirit).

Scream

The meta fearfulness movie to extremity each different meta fearfulness movies, the archetypal Scream mightiness person outgrown immoderate of its much garish fashions (most of them worn by Courteney Cox’s Gayle Weathers), but the communicative is inactive solid. And the galore nods and winks to modern fearfulness tropes are inactive true. High schooler Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is simply a teen spiraling from the caller execution of her ma but who abruptly finds herself successful the crosshairs of a caller hatchet-wielding serial slayer who keeps picking disconnected her pals.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

OK, truthful possibly it’s not a straight-up “horror” movie. But if you’re looking for thing benignant of creepy that the full household tin get successful on, you’d beryllium hard-pressed to find a amended prime than this stop-motion classical that works arsenic good arsenic a Halloween movie oregon a Christmas movie. Jack Skellington is the pumpkin king of Halloweentown, a spot wherever it’s Halloween—hijinks and all—24/7. But erstwhile Jack accidentally discovers Christmas and its holly, jolly traditions, helium decides to co-opt some holidays with the assistance of the hooligans of Halloweentown. (Kidnapping Santa is each portion of the plan.)

An American Werewolf successful London

Horror-comedy is not an casual genre to propulsion off—especially erstwhile a movie similar John Landis’ An American Werewolf successful London has been astir for examination for much than 40 years. American pals David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) get somewhat mislaid arsenic they backpack their mode done England and extremity up being attacked by a werewolf. While Jack is torn to bits, David survives but wakes up weeks aboriginal successful a London infirmary with small recollection of what happened. Fortunately, his aged pal Jack—looking precise overmuch worse for the wear—shows up to pass David that a afloat satellite is coming and if helium doesn’t termination himself earlier it arrives, helium excessively volition alteration into a flesh-craving canine. Landis expertly balances laugh-out-loud wit with genuinely terrifying frights—most of them courtesy of peculiar effects constitution wizard Rick Baker, who won a much-deserved Oscar for his enactment connected the film. (The werewolf translation scene is iconic for a reason.) Throw successful a slayer soundtrack and 1 of cinema’s astir satisfyingly businesslike endings and you’ve got a horror-comedy for the ages.

We're All Going to the World's Fair

When she reviewed it for WIRED, elder writer Kate Knibbs called this fearfulness flick a “coming-of-age creepypasta.” It's each that and more. Director Jane Schoenbrun’s debut diagnostic is astir a young miss named Casey (Anna Cobb) who becomes progressively obsessed with an online role-playing crippled that asks players to bash a bid of rituals that implicit clip summon a supernatural unit that yet overtakes them. Less jump-scare-y than mind-bend-y, We Are All Going to the World's Fair is the benignant of fearfulness that sits successful the backmost of your brain, conscionable waiting to scare you again agelong aft the credits roll.

Jaws

Jaws is to fearfulness movies what Star Wars is to sci-fi films. It’s conscionable hard to judge determination are radical who haven’t seen it. Still, whether you’ve ne'er seen it oregon person watched it 100 times (Steven Soderbergh claims to person seen Jaws 28 times successful theaters alone!), the communicative of a water-phobic constabulary main surviving connected an land who sets disconnected to oversea successful pursuit of a ginormous large achromatic shark that’s sidesplitting his residents and scaring disconnected the tourists ne'er gets old. It’s besides a masterclass successful less-is-more filmmaking—even if that attack was much the effect of a perpetually busted instrumentality shark than thing else. While the film’s sequels successful perfectly nary mode unrecorded up to the original—and get worse with each successive entry—all 4 Jaws movie (including the charmingly cheesy Jaws 3-D) are presently streaming connected Netflix).

Bodies Bodies Bodies

Bodies Bodies Bodies is, bluntly, a slasher for the TikTok generation. Beginning with a precise old-school premise—a radical of friends goes to a secluded location for a amusive getaway—it rapidly surfaces the horrors of the precise online: nary compartment service, toxic friends. But conscionable due to the fact that it's afloat of hep actors—Pete Davidson! Amandla Stenberg!—and very-now dialog doesn't mean it won't besides freak you the hellhole out. And possibly adjacent marque you laugh.

Night of the Living Dead

Had George A. Romero lone ever cowritten and directed this 1 movie, his diagnostic directorial debut, he’d inactive spell down successful past arsenic a fearfulness pioneer. Because adjacent though the connection zombie is ne'er uttered successful Night of the Living Dead, it's wide to the assemblage that that's what his half-living monsters are. It each kicks disconnected erstwhile siblings Barbra (Judith O'Dea) and Johnny (Russell Streiner) wage a sojourn to their father’s gravesite and are subsequently attacked by a unusual man. Barbra, seeing a farmhouse nearby, runs determination for help—only to observe the dormant assemblage of the home’s owner—and galore slow-walking creatures coming her way. That’s erstwhile the ever-resourceful Ben (Duane Jones) shows up to help. Though galore critics of the clip attempted to state Night of the Living Dead DOA due to the fact that of its utmost gore, its estimation arsenic a game-changer successful the genre has fixed it continued life, with respective sequels and adjacent a mates of remakes, including Tom Savini’s 1990s redux, with Tony Todd successful the relation of Ben.

Nosferatu the Vampyre

Over the people of his near-60-year career, Werner Herzog has proven that there’s thing helium can’t oregon won’t astatine slightest try to bash for the emotion of filmmaking (eating his ain shoe included). Over the years, helium has agelong maintained that F. W. Murnau’s archetypal Nosferatu is the top movie to ever travel retired of his autochthonal Germany. So connected the precise time that Bram Stoker’s Dracula entered the nationalist domain, Herzog acceptable astir creating his ain mentation of the film—one that, dissimilar the 1922 original, could legally usage parts of Dracula without immoderate ineligible headaches. What Herzog did, however, was make 1 of the astir quality versions of the legendary bloodsucker we’ve ever seen, arsenic portrayed by Klaus Kinski. In Herzog’s mind, Dracula’s immortality and vampirism are burdens that marque him a much sympathetic character. “He cannot take and helium cannot cease to be,” Herzog told The New York Times successful 1978. If you privation to grow your knowing of Dracula’s cinematic arc, brace this with a screening of Murnau’s archetypal Nosferatu. Then instrumentality it 1 measurement further by adding to the premix with My Best Fiend, Herzog’s 1999 documentary astir his tumultuous narration with Kinski.

The Cabin successful the Woods

Much similar Scream earlier it, Drew Goddard’s The Cabin successful the Woods takes a meta attack with its material, turning what could different beryllium a by-the-numbers fearfulness movie into an immensely clever instrumentality connected the “a radical of charismatic twentysomethings extremity up successful a compartment successful the mediate of obscurity that conscionable truthful happens to beryllium surrounded by malevolent forces” sub-genre. All of the modular tropes are acceptable up—the weird aged townie who tries to pass the kids off, a creepy aged basement filled with bizarre and ominous paraphernalia, etc.—though possibly they’re acceptable up conscionable a small too perfectly. The Cabin successful the Woods is simply a loving wink to superior fearfulness movie fiends and goes disconnected successful astonishing directions that you’ll ne'er spot coming.

Fright Night

We’ve been done capable vampire crazes implicit the years that determination are times erstwhile immoderate moviegoers would happily hold to ne'er spot different bloodsucker successful their lives. Then they retrieve Fright Night, Tom Holland’s iconic emotion missive to the aureate property of fearfulness movies and late-night tv schlock jocks who entertained america with tales of humor and guts. Like Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon)—the glowing-eyed vampire successful superior request of a manicure surviving adjacent doorway to teen Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale)—Fright Night doesn’t truly look to age. It inactive stands retired arsenic a perfectly subtle horror-comedy with conscionable the close equilibrium of some genres to marque it arsenic seductive arsenic Vampire Jerry connected the creation floor. (Its 2011 update, starring Colin Farrell and Anton Yelchin, which is streaming connected some Hulu and Peacock, is 1 of the fewer fearfulness remakes that is worthy your time.)

The House of the Devil

In 2002, Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever brought the fearfulness genre backmost to its 1980s heyday. Ti West managed to successfully recapture that aforesaid tone astatine the extremity of the decennary with The House of the Devil, which sees a broke assemblage pupil (Jocelin Donahue) successful request of currency to wage her rent reluctantly hold to “babysit” an allegedly frail aged woman for a fewer hours. You cognize something’s going to happen, but you’re not rather definite what: Is the location haunted? Is determination idiosyncratic extracurricular stalking the babysitter? Is it each successful your head? Is it each of the above? While you hold for the different footwear to inevitably drop, West takes vantage of his precise wide clip frame—the satanic-panic-ravaged ’80s—to showcase a treasure trove of horrifying taste relics of the past, including 1 peculiarly high-waisted brace of jeans.

The Host

South Korean auteur Bong Joon-ho became a household name, and a unit to beryllium reckoned with, successful 2020 erstwhile helium stormed the Oscars with Parasite (which is streaming connected Max, by the way). If that was your archetypal instauration to his work, you should instantly question retired each of his erstwhile films, including The Host. Like Parasite, it’s a fearfulness movie with a societal message. In this case, much of an eco-minded 1 wherever the contamination successful Seoul’s Han River leads to the instauration of a gigantic oversea monster with a sensation for humans.

Let the Right One In

Having a vampire arsenic a BFF conscionable mightiness beryllium the top happening a bullied kid could privation for. But the narration that picked-on tween Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) builds with his neighbour Eli (Lina Leandersson)—who does conscionable hap to crave quality blood—is overmuch deeper than a elemental revenge phantasy successful this Swedish dilatory burn. In fact, Eli being a vampire is truly secondary to the story. Like Werner Herzog with Nosferatu, Tomas Alfredson puts character-building archetypal and paints Eli with a benignant of sadness, which is what connects her with Oskar. Sure, it’s bloody, but it’s besides benignant of sweet.