Summary

• Watching horror movies with friends can add to the experience, especially when enjoying familiar slashers or engaging in post-movie discussions.
• Meta horror movies provide a fresh take on the genre, making them great choices to watch with friends who appreciate horror tropes.
• Entertaining horror movies like Shaun of the Dead or Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil are fun to watch in groups, blending scares with humor for an enjoyable night.

Horror fans might love to get a good scare alone, but sometimes it's better to find horror movies to watch with friends. Those who truly love the genre can say that nothing scares them, but it's definitely a little unnerving to watch a scary movie while home alone — especially at night or with the lights off. The best horror movies to watch with friends are familiar slashers or a fresh story that invites discussion. Sometimes a horror movie is best enjoyed in the company of friends who can laugh at a horror comedy or discuss the meaning and characters afterward.

Horror is a huge cinematic genre with so many subgenres that there can be a lot to discuss. That might mean a B-movie known for an outlandish plot, or it might mean watching a horror film from another country to see how it differs from Hollywood. Those who love horror will also love to watch more meta horror movies with friends to recognize the different tropes of the genre. Modern horror has definitely taken a more meta approach to slashers since the 1990s, but there is still a wealth of horror movies to watch in a group.

25 Talk To Me (2023)

Young Adults Talk To The Dead Through A Severed Arm

• Streaming now on Paramount+

Talk to Me is a movie about a group of friends who get together to drink and party when one of them decides to pull out a severed and embalmed hand. The legend is that if a person holds the hand and says "I let you in," the spirit of a dead person will possess them. They have to break the connection before 90 seconds pass, or the spirit could permanently take over the body. Of course, somebody holds on for too long, and terrible things happen to the friends for the days after that, which ties back to the hand.

The movie was a huge success for A24 and the company is making a sequel.

This is a perfect horror movie to watch with friends as it is about friends getting together and doing things to scare each other. Those gatherings in real life often include scary stories or movies, and this is a great one to watch to get everyone a little nervous during that specific night's party. The movie was a huge success for A24 and the company is making a sequel. The stinger at the end of Talk to Me hints that the sequel might show what is on the other side, where the dead await.

24 Freaky (2020)

A Body-Swapping Slasher Killer Movie

• Streaming now on Peacock

One of the best types of horror movies to watch with friends are those that are funny, or at least have a quirky storyline. Freaky fits that description perfectly. The movie is a play on Freaky Friday, the body swap comedy movie where a mother and daughter magically switch bodies and have to figure out how to navigate life while seeing how the other half lives. In this case, the body swap is between a serial killer named the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn) and a high school teenager named Millie (Kathryn Newton).

The humor is heavy here, as Newton has to take on the mannerisms of Vaughn, while the Butcher continues to kill, and Vaughn has to take on the characteristics of a high school girl, as he has to convince his friends of what happened. A Blumhouse horror movie, Freaky was a huge success, gaining great reviews praising both lead actors' performances. it also won Best Actor in a Horror Movie for Vaughn at the Critics' Choice Super Awards.

23 Tremors (1990)

Giant Monsters Come From Underground To Attack A Small Community

• Rent now on Amazon Prime & Apple TV

Tremors might be the grandfather of horror movies tailor-made to be watched over and over again by friends. The movie has an eclectic cast, with a young Kevin Bacon, the iconic Fred Ward, TV dad Michael Gross (Family Ties), and Reba McEntire in an early movie role. The story is wild, when Earthquake-like tremors lead to a massive attack from a batch of monsters known as Graboids — worm-like creatures with long tongues, and a scream that can paralyze a human adult long enough to consume them.

Tremors was a box office failure, but it found life on home video where it became a huge fan-favorite movie and an eventual cult classic. It was one of the most rented movies of 1990 (via Los Angeles Times) and ended up warranting an entire franchise. The franchise has released a total of seven movies, with the most recent hitting in 2020, although Michael Gross' conspiracy theorist Burt Gummer is the only actor who carried through from this first movie to the most recent release.

22 Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

A Slacker Zombie Comedy

• Rent now on Amazon Prime & Apple TV

One fun thing for friends to do when watching horror movies is to quote along with the actors in the movie. That is never easier than when watching Edgar Wright's quotable zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead. Shaun (Simon Pegg) is a slacker who works at a printer store, hangs out at the pub with his best buddy, and can't figure out why his girlfriend isn't happy in their relationship. However, when zombies attack, Shaun decides he has to save his girlfriend to prove himself.

The movie has so many iconic moments, from Shaun's (Simon Pegg) relationship with his stepdad to his struggles with his girlfriend and his bromance with his best friend Ed (Nick Frost). Anyone who loves Wright's Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy (complete Hot Fuzz and The World's End) will also get plenty of Easter eggs to catch when watching Shaun of the Dead, which makes it a perfect party movie for cinephiles.

21 Evil Dead II (1987)

Sam Raimi Brings Back Evil Dead With A Bigger Budget

Streaming now on Prime Video

Sam Raimi created one of the greatest horror movies of all time with The Evil Dead, and while there are several reasons why the original is the best of the franchise (mostly for film lovers who recognize the practical effects and tricks Raimi used to create that movie), Evil Dead II stands as a horror movie with one of the biggest cult followings. With a higher budget, Raimi basically just remade the first movie in Evil Dead II with a few new story beats and a lot more fascinating practical effects along the way.

The story still sees Bruce Campbell's Ash Williams heading to a cabin in the woods with his girlfriend and some friends, only to have someone unleash the deadites by reading from the Necronomicon and unleashing hell on Earth. Raimi followed up this movie with a more fantasy-based horror tale in Army of Darkness and then produced two more movies in the same universe in 2013 (Evil Dead) and 2023 (Evil Dead Rise). Every one of them are great for group gatherings, but the second movie is still the best.

20 Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)

Alien Clowns Attack Earth

• Stream on Shudder

Some people want to watch horror movies with their friends so that they’ll have someone around when the movies get a little too scary to handle. Others want friends around so they can dissect the movies and discuss what makes them great (or what makes them so bad they’re good). Killer Klowns From Outer Space falls into the latter category.

The movie didn’t get great reviews when it was released in 1988, but it’s become a cult classic. It features a group of alien creatures that look like clowns attempting to invade Earth. Nearly all the effects in the movie are practical, making it unique among modern horror, and the wacky premise gives the movie some fascinating visuals. A sequel has also been stuck in development hell since the movie first hit theaters, but the first one is still there for anyone to watch for a good time.

19 Grabbers (2012)

Bloodsucking Tentacled Aliens Attack Earth

• Stream on AMC+ and Tubi

Grabbers is less of a typical slasher or psychological horror and more like a classic monster flick. It’s an Irish film set on a remote Irish island, allowing the story to truly be immersed in the setting. Horror events are set off when dead whales start washing up on shore. The local alcoholic police officer in charge isn’t all that interested in these events, but his new partner is.

The two have to team up when it becomes apparent that tentacled monsters are responsible and are now attacking the residents. Surprisingly, the way to battle the monsters seems to be getting really drunk since alcohol is toxic to them. That solution creates a hilarious take on a B-movie horror plot as the characters have to keep their wits about them to battle the monsters while they’re drinking as much as they can.

18 Scream (1996)

Wes Craven Reinvents The Slasher Movie

• Stream on Max

If a group of friends are getting together to watch horror movies, it seems impossible to not take a look at Scream. The 1996 movie is what pushed a meta take on horror in the slasher genre as more fans became aware of the tropes the movies used to tell their stories. Scream uses those tropes incredibly effectively. Sidney (Neve Campbell) and her friends are attacked by a killer who becomes known as the Ghostface in the first installment of the franchise.

Each sequel evolves with the conventions of the genre, pointing out how slashers change and influence pop culture.

If horror fans want to really have a meta-fest for the slasher genre, they should stick with Scream and watch its five sequels. Each sequel evolves with the conventions of the genre, pointing out how slashers change and influence pop culture. They make for great discussion starters, with the most recent movie coming out in 2023, although that one was without original star Neve Campbell.

17 House (1977)

A Psychedelic Japanese Horror Art Movie

• Stream on Max

Modern Japanese horror has managed to cross over to American audiences, including movies like The Grudge and The Ring. House, however, is a more classic Japanese horror film with a much more surreal take on the genre. A group of Japanese girls end up in a country house and have to fight off evil spirits. The visuals in the movie are incredibly unique, and it’s got a great combination of nightmare-like horror as well as comedic elements to lighten the tension It’s definitely a fun ride for horror fans who want to expand their horizons outside the typical US movies.

While the movie received mostly negative reviews, it has become a massive cult classic and even warranted a Criterion Collection release after it was finally released wide in 2009 in the United States. Much of the negative reviews are why it has achieved cult status, including intentionally campy special effects, a lack of taking itself seriously, and a psychedelic feel in nature.

16 The Final Girls (2015)

A Nuanced Take On The Final Girl Horror Trope

• Available to rent on AppleTV, Vudu, and Google Play

It’s well known that slasher flicks all have a “final girl” who survives to the end. Some of the most famous final girls in pop culture are those in horror classics like Halloween (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Scream (Neve Campbell). The Final Girls takes that idea of an actress being known for her horror status as a final girl and creates a new meta take on horror.

In the movie, a young woman (Taissa Farmiga) and her friends attend a fan screening of a horror film her mother is known for while she’s still grieving the loss of her mom. The group finds themselves unwittingly sucked into the events of the movie and trying to survive the 1980s horror tropes it involves. It’s both hilarious and heartfelt and a love letter to horror fans that will allow a group of horror-loving fans to discuss all the ways it examines the genre.

15 Don't Look Now (1973)

A Tragic Horror Drama About Loss

• Stream on Kanopy and PlutoTV

Since Hereditary is one of the most popular horror movies of the past few years, many horror fans will recommend that friends watch it together, but Don't Look Now might be a more unique option for fans of the genre. The movie follows the story of Laura and John, who are grieving the loss of their daughter Christine. They meet people in Venice who say that they can help them contact her spirit. When John starts to see someone he thinks is his dead daughter in Venice, he sets out to find her with horrifying results.

There are many movies that inspired Hereditary, including Don't Look Now, and a group of friends could watch both movies for an entertaining and terrifying night in. Both movies are about ghosts, religion, and family. They are also about people who try their best to move on, but find that it is impossible, and both have horrifying endings that are all too real examples of what can happen when someone can't let go.

14 Host (2020)

A Social Media Horror Movie

• Stream on Shudder

Host is also a great pick for a horror movie to watch with friends, and chief among the reasons is that it's not too long of a movie. Horror movies that drag on for too long can have difficulty holding the attention of a group that might do more talking and less watching. The movie is relatable, as it centers on a group staying in touch virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they make the mistake of having an online seance and then the friends start being killed by an evil spirit they released during that game.

There's a lot to discuss with Host, as the main characters talk on Zoom and start realizing that something evil is happening. Because so many people relied on Zoom to work and stay connected in 2020, and in the years since, it's definitely a modern horror movie that will resonate with the audience. It is also one of the many movies in the last few years to rely on an online presence as where the evil starts to spread, something else people can appreciate thanks to social media.

13 [REC] (2007)

A Brilliant Found Footage Horror Movie

• Stream on Prime Video

In the 2007 movie [Rec], a journalist named Ángela learns about something awful happening in an apartment building and goes to cover the story. It turns out that the people living there have been taken over by demons and turned into what seem to be zombies. This is one of many found-footage horror movies that followed the great success of The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. However, while most of the movies in the subgenre fell short, this is the one that actually stood tall with the best of the best.

It's a great take on the found footage subgenre of horror. While some horror fans will find it fun, others will find it genuinely frightening. A group of horror aficionados will definitely have both in the mix, making it a great horror movie to watch with friends. Critics loved the movie, as it sits at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, and fans flocked to it enough to allow the studio to make three sequels, although none of them matched the quality of the original.

12 Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (2011)

A Slasher Horror Comedy Where The Hillbillies Are Innocent

• Stream on Tubi, Hulu, and Peacock

A movie night with friends calls for a story that is pure joy to watch and also includes some funny moments, which is when a fun horror comedy movie is in order. Horror fans and people who prefer comedies will both love this story of how college students believe that Tucker and Dale are going to hurt them, and the duo is clueless about what to do next. This movie is a deconstruction of the slasher genre because the students have obviously seen way too many horror movies for their own good.

It's also best to watch this movie with people not already familiar with Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil. That way, at least some of the group won't know what to expect, making it particularly fun for them, but also a great time for those who already know the story to see their friends' reactions. The fun comes in watching Tucker and Dale stand slack-jawed as the students accidentally kill themselves one by one, and these two lovable country friends have no idea what is going on.

11 The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The Found Footage Movie That Started The Craze