The 22 Scariest Horror Movies Streaming on Netflix

For some, spooky season begins around the end of August—at least that’s when Target releases animatronic skeletons and ghost projectors, and soon after, your favorite old retail spaces are taken over by Spirit Halloween outlets. For others, spooky season lasts year-round, perhaps with a short break for spring break. So, ahead of the holidays and beyond, these are some of the creepiest, goriest, and overall best movies Netflix has blessed our creepy little hearts with.

Night Notebooks (2021)

As such, Night Books is technically intended for children and therefore may not deliver the amount of scares that adult horror audiences might hope for. That being said: there are some legitimate scares here that are frankly a little beyond what you’d expect from a children’s film. It’s the old story about children kidnapped by a witch (Krysten Ritter), with the addition that one of the kidnapped, Alex (Winslow Fegley), writes scary stories and has to tell one of them every night that he’s locked in the witch’s apartment in order to stay alive. There are images here that could scare anyone.

Apostle (2018)

If you’re familiar with the savage tower actioner The Raid , you might have some idea of ​​the energy director Gareth Evans brings to the second half of The Apostle , even if the styles are very different. It’s pure folk horror with a nod to The Wicker Man : Dan Stevens ( Downton Abbey , The Host ) plays Thomas Richardson, a now faithless missionary who returns home to discover that his sister has been kidnapped by a religious cult in remote Welsh region. island. What initially resembles a sleepy historical drama turns into a truly savage fest of bloodshed before it even ends.

His house (2020)

As fraught (and condescending) as the term “heightened horror” can become, it’s useful to remember that a film can have deep emotional resonance and social consciousness, all without sacrificing the chills of a haunted house. Here, Bol and Rial (Sope Dirisu and Wunmi Mosaku) and their daughter Nyagak flee war-torn Sudan to find refuge in a quiet English town, only to discover that evil awaits them there.

Gerald’s Game (2017)

“Gerald’s Game ” from Stephen King’s 1992 novel never seemed suitable for film. The story takes place entirely in an isolated cabin in the woods and features a single, immobilized character for most of its pages. Enter director Mike Flanagan, who, in addition to his successful miniseries projects ( The Haunting of Hill House , Midnight Mass , The Midnight Club ), has done the impossible by creating a killer adaptation of King’s less-loved sequel, The Shining, ” Doctor Sleep .” Carla Gugino plays a married woman who is trapped when her husband, played by Bruce Greenwood, dies after handcuffing her to a bed. Delirious, she is forced to face not only her past trauma, but also a hungry dog ​​that constantly sniffs her surroundings.

Creep (2014)

One of the best (perhaps one of the best) movies of recent years is set in the cell of Aaron (Patrick Brice, who also directed) and stars Mark Duplass ( The Morning Show ) as a dying man who hires a videographer to document his last days for his unborn son. The film’s tension is initially built around Aaron’s over-friendliness—there are few better ways to create an atmosphere of unease than by introducing an overly nice character. Soon the guy’s expansiveness turns into unpredictability, which becomes increasingly creepy and creepy.

Platform (2019)

This metaphor may seem a little harsh, but modern life has begun to teach us that even the darkest dystopian science fiction is just around the corner. The titular platform is a large tower, euphemistically called the “Vertical Self-Government Center”, into which food is delivered through a shaft that stops at each floor from top to bottom: those at the top eat their fill; those at the bottom get the leftovers. The Spanish-language thriller is incredibly violent but inventive, and it’s not like real-life capitalism is particularly sophisticated in its deprivations.

Under the Shadow (2016)

In Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War, a woman separated from her husband is forced to protect her child from mysterious supernatural forces as bombs continue to fall. Writer-director Babak Anvari’s Under the Shadow uses jinn (not necessarily good or evil, but potentially dangerous) as a way to talk about the strife and turmoil of war and political conflict, as well as the anxieties of women in repressive societies. The atmospheric film is both a ghost story and a story about women and civilians during the war; each element serves to enhance the other.

Cam (2018)

Director Daniel Goldhaber (the upcoming film How to Blow Up a Pipeline ) teamed with writer Isa Mazzei, who based this Black Mirror-style story in part on her own memoir. Madeline Brewer ( Orange is the New Black ) plays online sex worker Alice Ackerman, aka Lola_Lola, who one night discovers that there is another Lola – a webcam girl identical to Alice in appearance and general vibe, but whose willingness going further puts her at a dead end. ahead of the audience. It’s a horror film that talks a lot about the dehumanization of sex workers, with a great central performance from Brewer.

I’m the beauty who lives in the house (2016)

Girl, yes it is! A lively, frightening and effective gothic horror film starring Ruth Wilson as a live-in nurse who comes to the conclusion that the creaky old house where she works is haunted. This is a film less concerned with immediate shocks and scares than it is with getting under your skin, but the creepiness is definitely maintained here. Director Osgood Perkins achieved similar success with The Black Coat’s Daughter and Gretel and Hansel .

Gluttonous (2017)

Director Robin Aubert does the zombie genre proud, adding a healthy dose of George Romero-style social commentary to his tale of a small Quebec City under siege. Here, zombies have their own society and culture, and the threat they pose is linked to regional history and a variety of cross-cultural issues. Even without that specific context, it’s a smart and effective survival thriller that does what the best zombie movies always do: namely, it reminds us that armies of the undead can’t do much worse to us than we’re willing to do to ourselves. .

Cargo (2017)

With the always welcome Martin Freeman at the helm, it’s, okay, another zombie movie, but it still manages to do things a little differently. Imported from Australia, it changes the rules so that those infected only have about 48 hours of humanity before they turn, meaning everyone has a little time to really consider their fate and maybe even consider how to best use it. time. This is a more melancholy take on the zombie apocalypse, full of chilling atmosphere and genuine fears.

Hunger (2023)

This movie isn’t billed as a horror film, but good luck finding a more harrowing psychological thriller on the streamer. Whether it’s Bear , Menu , or Triangle of Sadness , some of the most powerful dramas on television and film center around cooking or eating food. Restaurant anxiety is now deeply ingrained in the zeitgeist, perhaps reflecting our deep awareness that food is running out, whether we want to admit it or not. Here, Chutimon Chuencharoensukiing plays Ayo, a young woman working at her family’s noodle shop who finds a mentor in dictatorial chef Paul (Nopachai Chaiyanam). It’s worth it, she says, even though the climb exposes her to a world she’s not prepared for.

1922 (2017)

Another Stephen King adaptation (this time from a novella), and another reminder that while they’re not all winners, there’s still plenty of gold to be mined from the King canon. Here, farmer Thomas Jane convinces his son to help him kill his wife and mother, Molly Parker (she wants to sell the family farm and move to the big city), resulting in a compelling example of the one thing leads to another genre. This is a horror film in which the main character plunges deeper and deeper into crime with increasingly savage and terrifying results.

In the Tall Grass (2019)

Okay, another King adaptation (this time from a novella co-written by his son and horror writer Joe Hill): In the Tall Grass … and admittedly, it’s probably the least successful of all the Netflix works adjacent to King. Still! It’s an ambitious and crazy premise (basically a couple of people getting lost in a cornfield with no way out) with solid core acting and a ton of inventive visual flair from director Vincenzo Natali ( Cube ). It’s a little late in reception, but gives enough chills to qualify.

Bird Box (2018)

This high-concept thriller may seem like a mild horror flick in some respects, but the clever premise creates a ton of tension throughout – and there’s no denying the Sandra Bullock film’s influence, it had a pop culture moment when it came out a couple of times. years ago (I paid good money to eat brunch while drag queen Darien Lake walked around in a red puffer jacket and blindfold). The point here is that if you see creatures descend into the world, you will die. So, Bullock and company. forced to navigate by sound alone, and unseen threats are almost certainly scarier than anything Netflix could imagine. The sequel, Bird Box: Barcelona (also a Netflix original), is somewhat less effective, but still entertaining.

Ritual (2017)

What do you do if one of your best friends is killed during a botched liquor store robbery? Obviously, go to Sweden and wander through the forest! The four friends here do just that in this spectacular film that combines get-lost-in-the-woods horror with some truly mythological scares that are in the best traditions of folk horror.

Nanny (2017)

It’s not very original, but that’s the point. In the film, 12-year-old Cole discovers that his hot babysitter (Samara Weaving) is part of a murderous Satanic cult. It’s a bloody, bloody, high-energy comedy from director McG ( Charlie’s Angels ) and the supporting cast really delivers, having fun playing with and against the usual stereotypes. The 2020 sequel, Killer Queen , is more of the same, but is worth a watch if you like it.

Caliber (2018)

It’s more of a thriller than a straight horror film, but there are enough casualties to warrant a title, and the ending is quite difficult (it involves Scottish townspeople, so the folk horror vibe is well deserved). While hunting in the highlands, two gorgeous and disgusting friends accidentally kill a child and then his father. The two men believe they can simply cover up the crime and move on with their lives, which of course they absolutely cannot.

May the Devil Take You (2018)

Indonesia has been a particularly fertile ground for horror film development for a long time (decades, anyway), with Netflix recently hosting several of them. It’s a fairly straightforward story about demonic possession and being very careful what you wish for, featuring a man who sells his soul for wealth and success only to unleash a demonic presence that brings blunt, bloody harm to his loved ones. It may not be the most graphic spectacle in terms of body horror, but it’s there. The 2020 sequel , “May the Devil Take You Too, ” is about as good.

Vicious (2018)

Things go a little overboard in the final act (actually, quite a bit), but Florence Pugh (as Angela) gives a great performance as one half of a rogue team of ghostbusters in the 1980s. In Scotland. As the film progresses, Angela discovers that her mom’s supposed ability to communicate with the dead was not a lie, and that she too has one, making their lives more difficult, especially when the siblings learn more than they should about the house where a group of children were killed.

Fear Street (2021)

Here I am doing three films at once, as each film in the trilogy, adapted from R.L. Stine’s books, shares a common tone, quality and director (Lee Janiak, best known for Honeymoon to Fear Street ). “Street of Fear. Part One: 1994 begins the film by introducing the town of Shadyside, which local kids call “Shithole” and has a dark history of numerous murders, most of which were covered up. A group of teenagers destroy a witch’s grave, sparking the rebirth of a murderous cult. The atmosphere here is a bit reminiscent of Stranger Things , with some real gore and scares (it’s YA, but definitely not kid stuff) as Janiak pays homage to a lot of horror films past. The series continues with Fear Street Part Two: 1978 and concludes with Fear Street Part Three: 1666 .

Perfection (2018)

The brief synopsis, in which Charlotte Willmore (Allison Williams) returns to her prestigious music academy after being away and discovers that another woman (Logan Browning) has taken her place at the head of the class, may make it seem like we’re entering into “Worst case scenario “ territory. Black Swan , but the deliberately disjointed narrative here quickly devolves into wild, claustrophobic body horror. It may not be the first film to take dark thrills and gore from an art form ( Suspiria, anyone?), but it goes as far as any of them, and even surpasses it.