There’s nothing better than discovering a good horror movie. The scares are new, the characters expendable and (hopefully) nothing is predictable. If you’re ready to be freaked out, we’ve compiled a list of the very best (often overlooked) horror flicks on Netflix.
Although there are plenty of horror flicks and series on the streaming service — including “Ash Vs. Evil Dead,” all seven of the “American Horror Story” seasons and a plethora of video game inspired features — we wanted to veer slightly off the beaten path and offer up something beyond the traditional.
First and foremost, we think it’s important that you know that Guillermo del Toro’s gothic banger “Crimson Peak” starring Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain is currently available, you’re welcome. Looking for something else? We got you.
Interested in monster movies? Then check out “Sweetheart,” or “The Ritual.” Looking for something out-of-this-world? Hoping for a movie with a bit more… bite try “Night Teeth.” Ready for an adrenaline-pumping ride, then consider zombie feature “#Alive.” Interested in bingeing something totally fresh and new, go with “Squid Game” then.
Or pair “Haunting of Hill House” with “His House” and “I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House” to satisfy all your curiosities about what could go wrong behind closed doors.
If there ever was a time to be distracted by someone else’s unimaginable plight with a ghost or vampire, it’s now.
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'The Guest'
Image Credit: Everett Collection / Everett Collection There are two horror movies starring Dan Stevens on this list because they are both wildly excellent. The first is “The Guest” directed by “Godzilla vs. Kong’s” Adam Wingard. This electric, rock ’em sock em’ movie follows a mysterious stranger David Collins (Stevens) who appears on the doorstep of a widow and her two children. He claims to be their dearly departed father’s close friend, explaining that the duo met while on duty Afghanistan. He always promised to take care of his family if anything happened, so here he is. However Collins method of handling familial problems skews wildly violent, and things only escalate the longer he stays around.
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'Crimson Peak'
Image Credit: ©Universal/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection A Guillermo del Toro classic. Set in the bustling Buffalo, New York in 1887(which is coincidentally where his next movie “Nightmare Alley” is being filmed) this gothic tale follows Mia Wasikowska as she falls in love with a strange man played by Tom Hiddleston. Their instant connection leads to a fast marriage. However, when the young lovers return to Hiddleston’s creepy ancestral home with his sister (played by Jessica Chastain) everything takes a turn for a worst. Plagued by the mysterious haunts of this old house the couples relationship, and Wasikowska’s health, starts to deteriorate. Is it young love gone wrong or something more sinister at play?
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'His House'
Image Credit: Courtesy of Aidan Monaghan/Netflix A refugee couple escapes war in Sudan only to face a new evil in British public housing in promising filmmaker Remi Weekes’ debut. The Variety review describes the performances by Sope Dirisu and Wunmi Mosaku as “beautiful.”
The duo bring, “grounded, emotional sureness to the depiction of a real marriage crumbling under the most surreal of circumstances, the couple arrive at their newly billeted council house with hopeful hearts. And though the ugly home, shown to them with casual brusqueness by their hassled case worker (Matt Smith) is dirty and reeking — the cheap walls pocked with stains and the wiring given to blowing lightbulbs — they try to remain optimistic.”
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'Night Teeth'
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix A pair of vampires (played by Debby Ryan and Blaire Lucy) hire an unsuspecting chauffeur/friend Benny (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) to take the LA club-hopping. As the night rolls on the trio stumble into an all-out ancient vampire war between elite members of the undead society acted by Alfie Allen and Megan Fox.
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‘Squid Game’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix The mega-hit international sensation. Debt-riddled citizens sign up for a mysterious game on a remote island. Once there they most compete against the other contestants in a selection of childhood games for a major cash prize. The catch? Every loser meets a horrific and bloody end. Watch it now or be the only one wondering why everyone is in green tracksuits this Halloween.
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‘Apostle’
Image Credit: Warren Orchard Written and directed by Gareth Evans, the creator behind beloved action flick “The Raid” this exceedingly trippy film takes place in 1905 on a remote island inhabited by a strange cult. Think old timey “Midsommar” but with a bit of a supernatural bent starring Dan Stevens and Michael Sheen. Warning many graphic deaths.
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‘Sweetheart’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute This “Predator” meets “Castaway” flick stars Kiersey Clemons in a survival film with a twist. Here’s the twist: Clemons is stranded on a deserted island inhabited by a fish monster that hunts at night. That’s right it’s a woman versus FISH MONSTER movie. Get to know the director and co-writer J.D. Dillard before he blows up on his next project an untitled “Star Wars” feature.
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‘The Ritual’
Image Credit: TIFF For those who want to see something they’ve never seen before monster-wise, we recommend “The Ritual.” The premise is pretty common, a group of best bros head to the woods to scatter their former pal’s ashes. They get hurt, they take a short cut, they get lost. Camping, always a bad decision.
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'Vampires Vs. The Bronx'
Raise your hand if you’d like to see Method Man, Chris Redd, and The Kid Mero fight vampires. This Netflix original follows a group of kids as they try and rid their neighborhood of gentrifying blood suckers. Co-written and directed by Osmany Rodriguez, this horror comedy enlists local heroes (the aforementioned New York heroes) to fight evil and deliver laughs.
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'The Platform'
Image Credit: Latido Films A skyscraper prison feeds its inmates by placing a buffet on a central elevator, leaving nothing but scraps and garbage for those occupying the bottom floors. As resources fail to trickle down, it’s not long before the jail erupts into a dog-eat-dog war zone. Netflix’s Spanish-language original has garnered enthusiastic reviews since its festival debut last fall, scoring an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and receiving praise for its unpredictable, inventive world-building. Read our review!
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'The Strangers'
Image Credit: ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection The terrifyingly simple premise of “The Strangers” is why it works so well. What is a group of strangers showed up to your house with one intent, to murder everyone inside. Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler star in this bloody home invasion film that doesn’t want to answer any of your questions, which makes it even more horrifying. Plus, if you want more after this viewing the sequel is also available on Netflix.
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'The Perfection'
Image Credit: Photo courtesy of Netflix Charlotte (Allison Williams) returns to her old music school in Boston after dropping out to care for her ill mother. But upon arriving, she soon befriends Lizzie (Logan Browning), a star pupil who replaced her when she had to leave. They embark on a trip though China, but one of the girls is soon met with hallucinations that send her into a panic. The results of that trip will affect both of their lives forever.
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'#Alive'
Image Credit: ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection Korean zombie flick takes place inside one man’s quarantine. While the rest of society is unraveling into an undead mess, Yoo Ah-in remains isolated in his family apartment. But how long can he last while the zombie horde grows just outside his door? How long can he outlast the undead while he runs out of power, water and basic information? And who else is trapped in his massive apartment complex with him?
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‘Dracula’
Image Credit: BBC Not a movie, but an exceptional half of a miniseries from the BBC. In a world of oversaturated vampires, Claes Bang steps out of the horde as an absolutely sensational Dracula. He kills it and the co-lead Dolly Wells brings her own powerful performance as well. If you’re the kind of person who can trade a disastrous finale for a cast absolutely brimming with talent then watch “Dracula,” if only to have steamy dreams about Bang’s fangs.
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'Hush'
In this lean two-hander, a deaf novelist living alone discovers that a knife-wielding psycho is trying to break into her house. It’s great fun to see director Mike Flanagan figuring out how to shift between his scream queen’s restricted perspective and the full reality of her surroundings for maximum effect.
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‘Haunting of Hill House’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix Not a movie, true, but a highly-binegable series from Mike Flanagan (loosely based on the 1958 gothic novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson that would go on to inspire several other movie adaptations). This time-jumping series following one family’s twisted connection to a haunted house is easily the scariest television show to be made in the last decade, fight us! And if you dig that, check out Flanagan’s other flicks (also available on Netflix) ‘Hush’ and ‘Gerald’s Game.’
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‘Cam’
Image Credit: A Hendricks/Divide Conquer An ambitious cam woman accruing a rabid, online following suddenly finds herself locked out of her account by a doppelganger streaming in her place. While the digital technology hook could be a simple gimmick, the film articulates the internet’s attention economy and the dehumanizing harassment sex workers face with rare tact.
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'I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House'
Image Credit: Courtesy of TIFF A live-in nanny is hired to take care of Iris, a retired horror writer who lives with dementia. The nanny soon comes to the realization that the horror novels could be inspired by the haunted happenings that seem to take place in their home, from the sight of a ghostly woman to a strange spot of mold growing on the wall.
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‘It Comes at Night’
Image Credit: Courtesy of A24 “Waves” director Trey Edward Shults’ previous feature is less heavy on scares than a palpable, swelling sense of dread. Double warnings on this movie, the title is deeply misleading. Nothing comes at night other than existential dread and suspicion. There are no creatures, zombies or beasts that can only hunt at night. That might seem like a spoiler, but it’s not and you shouldn’t go in looking for that. This is quarantine horror, so don’t watch unless you’re ready to watch a self isolation go bad.
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'Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight'
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix Teenagers addicted to their electronics are sent to a camp and unplugged from the world in this 2020 film. If that’s not horror enough, the group is forced to work together in hopes of surviving the very real danger waiting in the woods.
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'Unfriended'
Image Credit: ©Universal/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection The first of the computer screen horror movies. This 2014 feature takes place entirely on the social media pages and computer screens of the cast via Skype (this was pre-zoom days). A group of friends chatting online wind up getting harassed by the an unknown online attacker. As the faceless avatar begins spilling all the secrets and revealing photos from each member’s past it becomes apparent that this collection high school teens are covering up something even more sinister and someone is out for revenge. But who, or better yet… what?
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'Before I Wake'
Image Credit: Courtesy of Relativity Jacob Tremblay stars as Cody, a young boy with the power to affect reality through his dreams. His special gift brings joy to the couple fostering him – until his dreams become nightmares.