This article is updated frequently as movies leave and enter Netflix. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
You want to see something really scary this October? Netflix subscribers have commonly made horror films the most-watched on the streaming service, and the original filmmaking factory at the company keeps churning out new ones in time for Halloween — or picking them up at film festivals. The truth is that the horror section of Netflix’s movie library is one of its deepest catalogs, which can make separating the quality from the junk harder than in some other sections. That’s why we’re here. These are the best horror films on Netflix right now.
*American Psycho
Year: 2000
Runtime: 1h 41m
Director: Mary Harron
Mary Harron’s adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel was instantly controversial but also instantly iconic. Christian Bale stepped into the role of the serial killer that had caused an uproar in the literary world and redefined the way we see psychopaths in cinema. His performance has been mimicked so many times just in the two decades since this unforgettable film was released.
*Annabelle
Year: 2014
Runtime: 1h 38m
Director: John R. Leonetti
The universe of The Conjuring got its first spin-off in this unpacking of the tale of Annabelle, a doll being held in the haunted objects chamber of Ed and Lorraine Warren in those films. The origin story of the haunted doll stars Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, and Alfre Woodard. It’s not great — the sequels are actually better — but it’s essential to the overall story of this wildly successful horror universe.
Apostle
Year: 2018
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Gareth Evans
Did you know the director of The Raid (and its awesome sequel) has also directed a kick-ass Netflix Original horror movie? Released in 2018, Apostle stars the great Dan Stevens (The Guest) as a man who journeys to a Welsh island in search of his missing sister and finds a community that’s not exactly welcoming. Kind of written off as a riff on The Wicker Man, this is a wicked little movie, elevated greatly by a fantastic performance from Michael Sheen.
The Babadook
Year: 2014
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director: Jennifer Kent
One of the best horror films of the 2010s has not always been widely available for streaming subscribers so take the chance to watch it again while it’s on Netflix. Jennifer Kent’s directorial debut centers on a mother (Essie Davis) who struggles to raise her problem child alone after the death of her husband. Oh, and there’s also a real monster in the boy’s room.
Cam
Year: 2018
Runtime: 1h 35m
Director: Daniel Goldhaber
You haven’t seen a mindbender quite like this one. Madeline Brewer stars as a camgirl who will do whatever it takes to rise the ranks of her online service. As she does so, she discovers that there’s a competitor who has basically taken her place, leading to a Lynchian dissection of how much someone can give of themselves to the internet machine. It’s unforgettably weird.
The Conjuring
Year: 2013
Runtime: 1h 51m
Director: James Wan
One of the biggest horror films of the 2010s introduced the world to Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson & Vera Farmiga), the real investigators of paranormal occurrences, and it launched an entire industry of horror movies. The first film is still the best, anchored by Lili Taylor’s great performance as a woman whose ordinary life was turned upside down by a ghost in her farmhouse in the early ‘70s. Note: Both sequels are on Netflix too.
Creep 1/2
Year: 2014
Runtime: 1h 17m
Director: Patrick Brice
Director Patrick Brice draws something fascinating and malevolent out of Mark Duplass in these very low budget horror indies. Duplass plays a man who places an ad for a videographer — played by Brice himself in the first and Desiree Akhavan in the second — and then basically proves the depth of his insanity. In the first film, he seems like more of an annoying friend until it’s revealed he’s a sociopath, and the superior second film explores just how crazy he is with a better set-up in which to play.
Disappear Completely
Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: Luis Javier Henaine
Disappear Completely one rocks, and you probably haven’t even heard of it. This Mexican horror film is the story of Santiago, a photographer who will do whatever it takes to get the story. After one particularly gross assignment, he’s cursed, leading him to lose each of his five senses, one by one. It’s kind of like Serpent and the Rainbow meets Nightcrawler.
Fear Street
Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 47m
Director: Leigh Janiak
Remember how much this took over the horror world in Summer 2021? Based on the books by R.L. Stine, these three films told the story of a curse that had descended on a small town and unfolded across three films set in different eras — 1994, 1978, and 1666. Fans argued over which one was the best (1994), but it’s best to appreciate these now as one piece of sharply-written horror entertainment. And a couple of the most talented Stranger Things stars (Sadie Sink and Maya Hawke) help too.
Gerald’s Game
Year: 2017
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Mike Flanagan
Before he helmed The Haunting of Hill House, Mike Flanagan co-wrote and directed one of the best Netflix Original horror films in this adaptation of Stephen King’s 1992 novel of the same name. Carla Gugino is phenomenal as a woman who gets handcuffed to her bed by her toxic husband…and then he has a heart attack. As she tries to figure out how she will survive, she accesses the trauma of her past.
His House
Year: 2020
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director: Remi Weekes
What if it’s not houses that are haunted but people? That’s the question at the core of this story of an immigrant couple (a fantastic Wunmi Mosaku and Sope Dirisu) from South Sudan who move to an English town and face enemies both outside of their new home and within it. This is a strikingly original horror flick that has been largely underrated. Don’t miss it.
It Follows
Year: 2015
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Maika Monroe stars in this 2014 indie horror breakthrough hit as a young woman who discovers that her recent sexual activity has cursed her with a supernatural force that will chase her until she passes it along to someone else. Stylish and striking, this felt like nothing else on the American horror market in 2014, really ushering in the era of what is now called “elevated horror.” Whatever you call it, It Follows is still an unforgettable genre flick.
Nowhere
Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 49m
Director: Albert Pinto
More thriller than outright horror, Nowhere is still upsetting enough to qualify for a list like this one. Recently added to Netflix, it’s a Spanish film about a dystopian future with an intense refugee crisis. As women and children are being rounded up into cages, Mia (Anna Castillo) and Nico (Tamar Novas) try to escape, but they get separated and Mia ends up alone in a cargo shipping container adrift in the ocean. Oh, and she happens to be nine months pregnant. This one works largely thanks to Castillo’s committed, thrilling performance.
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Year: 2016
Runtime: 1h 39m
Director: Mike Flanagan
Sequels to mediocre horror films aren’t traditionally any good. Every rule has an exception. The director of Gerald’s Game helmed this fantastic prequel about a couple who have a phony séance business. Their lives are turned upside down when they bring a Ouija board into their act, unknowingly unleashing a spirit that possesses their daughter. Smart and tightly made, it was a sign of things to come from the future Hill House creator.
The Perfection
Year: 2019
Runtime: 1h 30m
Director: Richard Shepard
Girls and Get Out star Allison Williams stars in this twisting and turning tale of a talented young musician who travels to Shanghai where she meets a competitor named Lizzie, played by Logan Browning. A story that keeps shifting and changing ultimately arrives at a shocking conclusion in this Netflix Original that took the festival scene by storm in 2018 and 2019.
The Platform
Year: 2019
Runtime: 1h 34m
Director: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
Sometimes the only thing a fun horror movie needs is a clever concept. This one is undeniably that. This Spanish film takes place in a “Vertical Self-Management Center,” a prison with dozens of floors to house its inmates. For sustenance, a platform descends the center of the tower. People near the top get much more than those at the bottom, which is kind of like a symbol for, well, everything. Unpredictable and tense, this is one of the best Netflix Original horror flicks.
The Pope’s Exorcist
Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Julius Avery
Listen, this is no masterpiece, but there’s something fascinating about seeing an Oscar winner like Russell Crowe commit so completely to a B-movie this ludicrous. Crowe is all-in as the infamous Father Gabriele Amorth, a purported real-life exorcist who tries to save a possessed boy in Spain. This is a defiantly goofy movie, but it’s better than its quick theatrical run would have you believe, and a great fit for the Netflix horror roster of movies you can watch while you do something on your phone.
Thanksgiving
Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 46m
Director: Eli Roth
The famous horror director went full slasher with this adaptation of his trailer from the 2007 film Grindhouse into a full, grisly feature. It starts with a Black Friday sale that becomes a bloodbath, leading to a series of violent murders on the one-year anniversary of the chaos, committed by a man in a John Carver mask. Obviously inspired by grindhouse horror of the ‘70s and ‘80s, it’s a reminder that sometimes horror is better when it’s more fun than “elevated.”
Under the Shadow
Year: 2016
Runtime: 1h 24m
Directors: Babak Anvari
The Iranian-born Anvari wrote and directed this brilliant interplay of horror tropes and commentary on how war and violence can shatter the world more than a ghost could ever consider. A mother and daughter are haunted in 1980s Tehran during the historical War of the Cities. If the falling bombs won’t get them, something more supernatural might.
The Wailing
Year: 2016
Runtime: 2h 36m
Director: Na Hong-jin
Na Hong-jin’s 2016 film is not one you should pick to watch casually for date night. It takes a commitment over 150 minutes, but it’s worth every minute. There’s a cumulative power to this story of a policeman who investigates a strange series of events in a small town and basically discovers ancient evil, an epic tale that rewards your commitment with a final act that’s devastating and unforgettable.
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