The 40 Scariest Horror Movies on Netflix Right Now
For some, the spooky season begins around the end of August—when Target releases animatronic skeletons and ghost projectors, and when every available retail space is taken over by the Halloween Spirit. For others, it’s after Labor Day. As for another subset, spooky season lasts all year round. A quick check of the calendar shows that at least one of these criteria has been met, which means it’s time to queue up something with a chilling atmosphere, even if the sun is shining.
Talk to me (2022)
A group of teenagers stumble upon an embalmed hand and realize they can use it to summon spirits, which is a lot of fun, but it probably isn’t. While the film has elements of “high” horror about how grief and trauma are in many ways the real gateways to hell, Talk to Me is also filled with old school thrills and the general insanity that we love to see. You can stream “Talk to Me”here .
Psycho (1960)
What could be scary about sweet Norman Bates, a boy whose best friend is, after all, his mother? Alfred Hitchcock’s film shocked audiences back in 1960 and remains a pinnacle achievement in the slasher genre, with masterful twists and perspective shifts that keep Psycho breathtaking even after decades and endless imitators. Anthony Perkins makes you kind of root for Norman, even after you’ve figured out the film’s climax. You can stream Psycho here .
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Of the many (many, many) Scream imitators that have come out since 1996, I Know What You Did Last Summer was the most effective (it was also written by Kevin Williamson) and has proven to have the most staying power—there haven’t been many original sequels, but there’s quite a bit of anticipation surrounding the new film coming out this summer. Featuring a ’90s supergroup cast of Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr., Last Summer begins with a proper and simple premise: a group of kids accidentally hit someone while driving their car, but as the title suggests, they can’t put the event behind them. You can stream Last Summer here .
Scream VI (2023)
While the future of the venerable franchise looks increasingly rocky (the upcoming sequel lost several cast members, a director, and a lot of goodwill on its way to theaters), Scream returned with a bang in 2022 with the hugely successful sequel/reboot Radio Silence. Scream VI takes the action from the small town of Woodsboro, California for the first time, sending the survivors from our previous film to New York City, without Neve Campbell, who has helmed the film for decades. But don’t worry: Ghostface is as brutal and funny as ever, in a film full of impressive set pieces and with a central mystery that’s as well-crafted as any other film in the series (meaning, for the most part, it makes sense). The big finale is probably the most thoughtful of the series. You can stream Scream VIhere .
Train to Busan (2016)
Before Parasite, Yeon Sang-ho’s film was perhaps the biggest South Korean film to break into the American market, even if some of the subtext is lost in the US (Busan was a refugee refuge during the Korean War). The 2016 film follows Seok Woo, a divorced, workaholic father who begins to feel like he is running out of time to be the father he should be to his daughter Soo An. He has no idea how right he is. The train ride he plans for them as a bonding time turns into something much more desperate when a zombie-infected woman jumps on board before departure. What follows is one of the best horror films of the last decade, as well as a surprisingly moving story about a father and daughter reuniting at the end of the world, and a story that doesn’t shy away from some pretty pointed critiques of modern capitalism. You can stream Train to Busanhere .
Compliance (2012)
There’s no need for zombies, demons or ghosts here: just old people being terrifying without any supernatural help. And this one is based on a true story in which the real McDonald’s is replaced by the fictional ChickVich. Becky (Dream Walker) is working her shift at a fast food restaurant when she is called into the office – it appears that “Officer Daniels” (Pat Healy) is on the phone and that Becky matches the description of a woman wanted by the police in connection with a series of thefts. Manager Sandra (Ann Dowd) first interrogates Becky and then, at the direction of the man on the phone, strip searches the girl. Then things get much worse. You can stream Compliancehere .
Deliverance (2024)
Any cheap movie can be weird, but with big-name talent, a weird movie can really enter the cultural conversation— Deliverance , for example, is helmed by Precious / The Butler director Lee Daniels and stars Andra Day, Glenn Close, Mo’Nique, and Omar Epps. What does discourse have to do with this? Mostly it has to do with the age-old question: “What the hell did I just watch?” Based on a true story (which: of course), Day plays a struggling single mother with a prison past who is raising three kids on her own while paying for cancer treatment for her mom (Glenn Close). It features many of the typical exorcism movie moments, but by the time you get to EGOT nominee Close sprouting fangs and screaming about which body parts she can smell from across the room, it’s clear we’ve been in high camp territory this whole time. You can watch The Deliverancehere .
Under Paris (2024)
After this, you may want to rethink your travel plans to Paris. This is an aggressively funny (and very French) update of Jaws , in which the killer mako shark is on the loose, first in the Seine and then in the famous catacombs. The city is about to host Olympic qualifying competitions, which the mayor, of course, will not cancel, despite the growing number of victims. There’s some talk here about it being an environmental disaster, but mostly it’s just a good time. You can stream “Under Paris”here .
Thanksgiving (2023)
Eli Roth makes his first straight-up horror film since 2013’s The Green Inferno with this funny yet dark satire. When an unruly mob storms Walmart (ahem: “RightMart”) on Black Friday, violence and bloodshed ensues, leaving one of the victims of the incident seeking revenge. Patrick Dempsey stars in this wild and bloody holiday fun. You can stream Thanksgivinghere .
Blood Red Sky (2021)
German widow Nadja flies to New York with her child Elias. She appears to be sick—we and her fellow passengers are supposed to think she has cancer—which makes her an easy target for the terrorist hijackers who board the plane and shoot her out of frustration. Big mistake. The concept of vampires on a plane in action might seem silly, but the film never forgets that we’re sitting there for the bloody blood-sucking action. You can watch Blood Red Skyhere .
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 added twist that one of the kidnapped, Alex (Winslow Fegley), writes scary stories and must tell one of them every night that he’s locked in the witch’s apartment to stay alive. There are images here that could scare anyone. You can stream Nightbookshere .
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
What is it? Do you want more Patrick Wilson in your horror movies? He joins this modern cult classic under the direction of Kurt Russell as Sheriff Franklin Hunt, who is in charge of a posse to rescue a young woman from a group of inbred cannibals in the Old West. The “weird” Western, in which we encounter ghosts, aliens or, in this case, cannibals in the Old West, is a venerable genre in literature, but it is rarely, if ever, done so well on screen. This is old western horror done right. You can stream Bone Tomahawkhere .
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 on a remote Welsh island. What initially resembles a sleepy historical drama turns into a truly savage fest of bloodshed before it even ends. You can stream “The Apostle”here .
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. You can stream “His House”here .
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 The Shining sequel, 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. You can stream Gerald’s gamehere .
Creep (2014)
One of the best (perhaps one of the best) straight-footage films of recent years, it takes place in Aaron’s (Patrick Brice, who also directed) cell and stars Mark Duplass ( The Morning Show ) as a dying man who hires a videographer to document his final 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. You can stream Creephere .
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 extremely violent but inventive, and real-life capitalism cannot be said to be particularly sophisticated in its deprivations. You can stream “The Platform”here .
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. You can stream “Under the Shadow”here .
The Ring (2020)
I love time travel horror films (a tiny but venerable genre that includes films like Time Crimes , Triangle and Happy Death Day ). In this movie, Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) visited her childhood home in 2019 and discovered that the old cordless phone was still working (never a good sign) and connected her to Yeon-sook (Jung Jeong-seo) living in the house in 1999. They bond over their shared experiences, but things soon go horribly wrong when So-yeon tells another young woman about the future and pressures her to make changes. Some events seem best left alone. Smart and suspenseful, with a solid high concept. You can stream The Callhere .
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 cam girl identical to Alice in appearance and general vibe, but whose willingness to go further puts her ahead in terms of viewership. It’s a horror film that talks a lot about the dehumanization of sex workers, with a great central performance from Brewer. You can stream the Camhere .
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 . You can watch the livestream of “I’m That Pretty Thing That Lives in the House”here .
The Sound of Block Island (2020)
Strange events occur on Block Island, the most obvious of which is the huge amount of dead fish that constantly wash up on the shore. No less alarming is the behavior of one of the local fishermen, Tom, who keeps waking up in strange places and generally losing time. His daughter Audrey (Michaela McManus) works for the Environmental Protection Agency and is sent to investigate a massive fish kill; she takes her daughter with her and is reunited with her brother Tom (Chris Sheffield) along the way. Together, they discover that no ordinary environmental disaster is to blame (I guess if it were, it wouldn’t be a horror film), as the film combines family drama and creepy local events, building to a rather frightening climax. You can stream Block Island Soundhere .
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 contemplate their fate and maybe even think about how to best use their time. This is a more melancholy take on the zombie apocalypse, full of chilling atmosphere and genuine fears. Not to be confused with the 2020 sci-fi film of the same name, which is also available on Netflix. You can stream Cargohere .
Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
We heard you like toy movies? (Hello, Barbie !) Hasbro brings you the sequel to the rather unusual 2014 film based on the company’s board game, Let’s Pretend We’re Talking to the Dead. But there’s a shocking twist: this movie is actually good, or certainly better than it has any right to be, which probably has something to do with the involvement of co-writer and director Mike Flanagan ( Doctor Sleep , The Haunting of Hill House , etc.), who treats this movie like an actual movie and not some kind of marketing gimmick. The film takes place in 1967. The film is about a con artist mom who runs a fake mid-sized business out of her home. “Let’s add a Ouija board to the process,” she thinks. “This will be fun.” Spoiler alert: it’s not fun, at least for her family. But it’s a frighteningly good time for all of us. You can stream Origin of Evilhere .
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Director Zack Snyder commits a minor cinematic blasphemy by remaking George Romero’s brutal and pointedly funny 1978 satire; this film doesn’t pretend to be social commentary or consumer criticism, and that’s probably for the best. Instead, we get a sharp, fast-paced and fairly well-acted zombie action movie. It’s a lively and violent activity with little social value, but even still it’s a damn good time. You can watch Dawn of the Deadhere .
There’s Something in the Barn (2023)
A Christmas horror-comedy from Norway that I would say can be watched any time of year when you’re in the mood for holiday dread. An overzealous father drags an American family back to his ancestral family farm in rural Gudbrandsdalen, Norway. No one else is very happy about this until they discover an elf living on the property. At first it seems cool to have a mythical creature in the backyard – until the family begins to ignore three simple rules that should always be followed in the presence of the barn elf. What starts out as a quirky holiday comedy turns into a full-blown gorefest by the final act. You can stream Something in the Barnhere .
Trap (2024)
Cooper (Josh Hartnett) is a pretty cool dad in M. Night Shyamalan’s latest movie, taking his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a Taylor Swift-style concert by a very cool pop star. However, we quickly learn that Cooper is a serial killer being hunted, and that the FBI knows that “The Butcher” will be at the concert, even if they don’t know exactly who it is. This premise makes for some fun thrillers where Cooper has to try to escape a pop concert while somehow making sure his daughter enjoys the show. You can stream Traphere .
Veronica (2017)
Based on a supposedly true story, this Spanish import is filled with creepy atmosphere and old-school chills. It’s the story of a young woman who summons evil demons after an ill-conceived Ouija game. (Seriously: stop messing with this stuff.) When some friends try to conjure up lost loved ones during a solar eclipse, they come into contact with a spirit they weren’t expecting. Because of course they do. It’s not the most original chiller, but the creepy fundamentals are right and there are plenty of serious concerns. You can stream Veronicahere .
Sister Death (2023)
If Veronica was your cup of sangria, you can skip straight to this sequel (it’s actually a prequel to 1939), focusing on Sister Narcisa (Aria Bedmar) after her arrival at a Spanish convent . As a child, she supposedly had a vision of the Virgin Mary, making her both famous and a little notorious in a place that, quite naturally, is rife with creepy events in the style of several other nun-related horror films in recent years. Sister Death kicks the habit, becoming a little scarier and a lot smarter, looking at all the ways religion can turn people into monsters. You can stream “Sister of Death”here .
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 Chuencharoensukying 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. You can stream “Hunger”here .
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 of horror films, in which the protagonist plunges deeper and deeper into crime with increasingly savage and horrifying results. You can stream 1922here .
The Observer (2022)
A simple premise becomes incredibly intense under Chloe Okuno’s direction. An American couple moves to Bucharest, and Julia (Maika Monroe) quickly finds herself isolated: she’s alone for hours while her husband works, and she doesn’t speak English, making it difficult for her to make friends or even communicate. So it’s even scarier than it might be when she starts seeing a man who seems to follow her around and watch her wherever she goes. You can stream Watcherhere .
Bird Box (2018)
This high-concept thriller may seem like mild horror in some ways, but the clever premise creates a ton of tension throughout the film. 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. You can stream Bird Boxhere .
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 authentic mythological scares that are in the best traditions of folk horror. You can stream “The Ritual”here .
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, gory, 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. You can watch The Nannyhere .
Caliber (2018)
It’s more of a thriller than an outright horror film, but there are enough casualties to make it worth calling, 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. You can stream Caliberhere .
May the Devil Take You (2018)
Indonesia has long been a particularly fertile ground for horror film development, with Netflix recently hosting several of them. It’s a fairly straightforward tale of demonic possession and being very careful what you wish for, following a man who sells his soul for wealth and success only to unleash a demonic presence that brings terrible, 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 almost as good. You can watch May the Devil Take Youhere .
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 wasn’t a lie, and that she too has one, complicating their lives, especially when the siblings learn more than they should about the house where a group of children were murdered. You can stream Malevolenthere .
Fear Street Trilogy (2021)
I’m talking about three films at once here because each film in the trilogy, adapted from books by R.L. Stine, 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 an homage to the camp slasher in Fear Street Part Two: 1978 and then an origin that wraps it up in Fear Street Part Three: 1666 . You can watch the film “Fear Street. Part one: 1994″here .
Perfection (2018)
The short synopsis, in which Charlotte Willmore (Allison Williams) returns to her prestigious music academy after being away to find another woman (Logan Browning) has taken her place at the head of the class, could at worst make it feel like we’re entering Black Swan territory – 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. You can watch The Perfectionhere .