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If you need even more evidence of horror’s continued dominance, no matter the time of year, look to streaming services at the start of every month. Each month brings a plethora of new additions to streaming libraries across all platforms, from Netflix to Tubi. That means an insane selection of all styles and types of horror available at our fingertips. The downside is that it can make choosing the perfect horror movie to watch an overwhelming process.
Sometimes you want to cut right to the chase to find the horror offerings, and Halloween is just around the corner…
If you get stuck scrolling for hours searching for a good watch on Netflix, we’re here to help. Here are the best Netflix horror movies you can stream right now, from contemporary classics to gruesome horror westers to teen chillers and beyond.
American Psycho
Mary Harron’s adaptation of the novel brings the dark humor and bloodletting in equal measure. Wealthy New York investment banker Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is obsessed with materialism and wealth. His favorite pastime is showing off to coworkers while hiding his psychopathic side. Oh yeah, Patrick also loves murder. The eponymous American Psycho uses his highly competitive, yuppie workplace as just one of his favored hunting grounds. In this chilling indictment on shallow consumerism, Bale’s iconic performance is an all-timer.
Apostle
Writer/Director Gareth Evans brings the bone-crunching brutality of The Raid and The Raid 2 to his period folk horror film. The Guest’s Dan Stevens stars as Thomas, a man who travels to a remote island in 1905 to infiltrate the cult that’s kidnapped his sister for ransom. The cult leaders claim that the barren island was made fertile through blood sacrifice, and in his quest, Thomas learns the grim truth behind those sacrifices. The twists and visceral violence make for a gripping, gory final act with torrential bloodletting. Apostle is a slow burn that embraces its mysteries, but the journey is worth taking.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
André Øvredal goes full throttle for the scares in this quiet little chiller that sees a father and son coroner team stumped over the bizarre mysteries contained within the body of an unidentified young woman. Well executed scares, clever twists, and earnest performances by Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch give this supernatural haunter serious heft. While the narrative bides its time unveiling the truth behind Jane Doe’s battered body, it’s heavily steeped in witchcraft. In other words, The Autopsy of Jane Doe presents a new take on the subgenre. More importantly, it’s seriously spooky.
The Babysitter
In The Babysitter, bullied twelve-year-old Cole Johnson (Suitable Flesh‘s Judah Lewis) bonds with his cool babysitter Bee (Samara Weaving), but their fun goes awry when he sneaks out of his room and witnesses a Satanic sacrifice. It turns out that Bee and her bubbly popular-type pals are into Satanism and murder, and they’re willing to kill to keep their secret from getting out. McG’s horror-comedy brings the laughs and charm thanks to a scene-stealing performance from Weaving.
Backcountry
Alex and Jenn quickly find they’re in way over their heads when they decide to leave the city behind and try their hand at camping. But the more Alex insists on bringing Jenn to his favorite spot nestled deep within the wilderness, the more evident it becomes that he’s gotten them lost. Much of Pyewacket director Adam MacDonald’s feature debut plays like an intense survival thriller, with tensions between the pair rising as their supplies dwindle. There may or may not be a predatory man lurking nearby, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the territorial black bear. There are bear attack movies, and then there’s this one, which delivers the most vicious attack sequence of all time. It’s more than worth the wait getting there.
Blood Red Sky
Nadja (Peri Baumeister) and her ten-year-old son, Elias (Carl Anton Koch), board a flight from Germany to New York. She’s very ill and hopes the doctor in New York can cure her illness with an experimental transfusion. Violent terrorists hijack the flight straight away, putting their lives at risk. When a particularly sadistic terrorist causes harm, it unleashes Nadja’s inner monster. A beating heart of familial love pumps through the veins of this intense horror-thriller with a vicious take on vampire lore. High-altitude thrills bring intensity, while character development and pathos instill rooting interest. It makes for a compelling action-horror movie.
Bodies Bodies Bodies
A long history of social deduction games predate the popular paranoia-inducing online game Among Us, from Mafia to Werewolf. Bodies Bodies Bodies presents a variation of the game among a group of privileged friends, one that spirals violently out of control once backstabbing, bad social behavior, and hysteria take root. The A24-produced murder whodunnit offers up scathing critiques of class, privilege, and modern toxic social media behaviors in a pitch-black social satire horror-comedy.
Bone Tomahawk
When unseen attackers swoop in one night and steal horses and a few town residents, the town sheriff (Kurt Russell) sets off with a small search party to rescue them. The journey getting there is filled with injury, harsh conditions, and ruthless raiders. None of it prepares them for the vicious clan they’ll have to battle for their lives and the lives of the townsfolk they’ve come to save. If you thought you’d seen it all, Bone Tomahawk proves otherwise with some seriously creative use of gore and violence. This movie is pure western, right up until the horror barrels into you like a wild west locomotive.
Cam
Alice (Madeline Brewer) works as an online cam girl, and she’s obsessed with her ranking on the cam site. The higher her ranking goes, the more it draws unwanted attention, and Alice soon finds herself replaced on her own show with a doppelganger. Cam uses the horror thriller premise to examine the life of a sex worker; Alice’s career ambition is directly at odds with the shame it brings to her family and how she tries to spare them from it by keeping them in the dark. It only compounds her danger when the doppelganger enters the equation in director Daniel Goldhaber’s engaging thriller.
Child’s Play 2
Look for most of the Child’s Play franchise on Netflix this month, including the stellar sequel Curse of Chucky. Child’s Play 2, directed by John Lafia and written by Don Mancini, picks up two years after the first film’s events. Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) now lives in foster care with a sweet foster mom (An American Werewolf in London‘s Jenny Agutter), a foster dad from hell (Gerrit Graham), and a rebellious foster sister with a heart of gold in Kyle (Christine Elise). Thanks to a cool opening montage resurrection, our fave Good Guy doll is also back to seek revenge on Andy and finish his body-hopping master plan. Excellent effects, an even more vicious Chucky, a killer finale, and a tender sibling bond make this sequel a franchise high point.
The Conjuring 2
Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to North London to help a struggling family deal with one terrifying haunting. James Wan’s sequel dials up the terror and introduces a few memorable ghosts. That includes the scene-stealing demonic nun, Valak. The Conjuring 2 deepens the series’ heart through the Warrens’ romance but also ups the ante on the scares, innovative fear tactics and unforgettable villains. It’s technically a holiday horror movie, but the nods to Christmas are fleeting enough that it’s a worthy watch any time of year.
Disappear Completely
Tabloid photographer Santiago (Harold Torres) will go to great lengths to get the perfect shot, tact and morals be damned. But his professional ambitions and pessimistic outlook get tested when he snaps photos at a particularly grisly new crime scene; Santiago finds himself afflicted with a curse that’s causing him to lose his senses one by one. Director Luis Javier Henaine captures Santiago’s unraveling with a grim atmosphere and inventive camera work that immerses viewers in Santiago’s race against time before he loses everything. It’s a moody, Satanic cautionary tale centered around an unlikable protagonist.
The Fear Street Trilogy
Fear Street Part 1: 1994 – (Pictured) Skull Mask. Cr: Netflix © 2021
Director Leigh Janiak helms a trio of slashers based on R.L. Stine’s popular YA book series, with each entry largely set in different eras. That ultimately means that reactions to each installment will vary based on personal preferences; whether you’re into ’90s nostalgia, bloodier ’70s slasher fare, or a witchy rewind all the way to 1666, it’s all here. With style and a likable cast, it’s no wonder that the Fear Street trilogy was the summer event of 2021.
Gerald’s Game
Jessie (Carla Gugino) winds up handcuffed to a bed and left stranded entirely when her husband Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) dies of a heart attack in an attempt to spice up their marriage. The visceral fight for survival forces Jessie to look within and confront her past, including the harrowing event that took place during a solar eclipse in childhood. Mike Flanagan brings the horror and pathos in spades, building to a gruesome finale. Flanagan fearlessly adapts the Stephen King novel once considered unfilmable, solidifying his reputation as a master of King horror in the process.
Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color
See one of last year’s best movies two ways on Netflix: in color or in the monochrome Minus Color version. Godzilla Minus One marries a WWII drama with an old-fashioned creature feature. The former deals with complex themes of honor and war as the film’s human characters struggle to pick up the pieces of their war torn city. The latter delivers unparalleled kaiju horror and spectacle. There’s no shortage of suspenseful chases or confrontations with a vast, seemingly indestructible threat, all handled in the most cinematic way possible.
His House
His House: Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù as Bol Majur, Wunmi Mosaku as Rial Majur. Cr. Aidan Monaghan/NETFLIX © 2020
Husband-and-wife Sudanese refugees Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) have been through more than most endure in a lifetime. They’ve fled their war-torn village, crossed the ocean, survived a degrading stint in a U.K. detention facility, and finally been granted an opportunity for housing in their new country. The home may be roomy, but they face hostility in and outside its moldy walls. Remi Weekes’s feature debut transforms the refugee experience into a petrifying horror film with expertly crafted scares. For all the existential terror Bol and Rial face in their new lives, the director also keeps a firm grip on the supernatural.
The House
Netflix’s stop-motion animated anthology weaves together three creepy tales tethered to one house. The segments span time and tone, telling of a low-income family, an anxious developer, and a fed-up landlady who all become tied to the same mysterious house. Daughter Mabel (Mia Goth) navigates a mounting house of horrors as her parents lose themselves to newly acquired luxury in the first story. The second sees unwanted pests swarming and waylaying a developer’s plans, while the third segment closes the darkly comedic and unsettling anthology on an uplifting note amid an isolated dystopia. The House occasionally unnerves but always taps into deep-seated dread.
It Follows
After Jay (Maika Monroe) sleeps with her date, he confesses he’s passed on a supernatural affliction through their sexual encounter. One that will relentlessly pursue her until she dies; or if the curse spreads far enough to keep her out of its direct path. The mysterious entity can look like anyone, and only the afflicted can see it. This begins a feature-length chase steeped in paranoia; Jay can’t stop running for any lengthy period, and danger lurks everywhere. With no respite from potential death, It Follows maintains a near-perfect level of suspense. Will the upcoming sequel, They Follow, offer the same level of tension and terror?
May the Devil Take You
From Timo Tjahjanto, the director behind the gory “Safe Haven” segment in V/H/S/2, comes another gore-filled flick in the vein of The Evil Dead franchise. When her father mysteriously falls into a coma, Alfie and her step-family travel to his old villa for answers, uncovering a supernatural pact. When demonic forces come to collect, it’s up to Alfie to find a way to pay the debt without losing lives in the process. Tjahjanto wears his horror influences on his sleeves here, putting his characters through the splatter-fueled wringer by way of visceral occult violence.
No One Gets Out Alive
NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE. Cristina Rodlo as Ambar, in NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE. Cr. Teddy Cavendish/Netflix © 2021
Fans of David Bruckner’s The Ritual, also streaming on Netflix, shouldn’t skip this one. Santiago Menghini’s feature debut toys with haunted house tropes to deliver a thrilling subversion that builds into an unforgettable finale and leaves you begging for more from author Adam Nevill’s box of horror. Ambar (Cristina Rodlo) finds herself trapped in a nightmare when she discovers her boarding house is a literal house of horrors. What begins as a standard haunter shifts gears into an entirely different subgenre to an exhilarating degree.
The Perfection
This Netflix gem feels like a few different subgenres rolled into one twisty horror thriller, and that unpredictability makes for a wild ride. The setup is simple; former music prodigy Charlotte (Get Out’s Allison Williams) returns to her past school and befriends new star pupil Elizabeth (Logan Browning), sending both down a path of shocking destruction. A little bit Martyrs, Oldboy, and more, this pick is for those that like their horror on the more deliciously outlandish side.
The Platform
A grisly Netflix original that centers around a strange, vertical prison facility with one cell per floor and two inmates per cell. Every day, food is lowered through the levels via a platform, with the inmates only allowed to eat whatever is left on the platform for a fixed period. Every month, the inmates are randomly reassigned to a new floor. Those at the top level feast in luxury while those many floors down starve or worse. There’s no subtlety to this film’s overt metaphor, but that doesn’t make it less effective. Things get brutal and repulsive. With a sequel on the way, now’s a great time to watch.
The Ritual
Pictured: ‘The Ritual’
Director David Bruckner established his ability to instill unsettling dread and unspool imaginative mythology with Netflix’s The Ritual. Based on Adam Nevill’s novel, The Ritual follows a group of old friends embarking on a trek to honor a lost loved one. A series of bad luck and strange circumstances lead them further into the forest, where they soon find themselves stalked by a menacing presence. It’s gorgeous, eerie, and captivating.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
On Halloween 1968, Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti) and her two friends meet drifter Ramon (Michael Garza) while fleeing bullies. They invite Ramon to explore a local haunted house, where Stella discovers a mysterious book containing horror stories that seem to write themselves in real-time. Director André Øvredal brings the nightmarish illustrations by Stephen Gammell and stories by Alvin Schwartz to life. Harold the scarecrow, the Pale Lady, the Big Toe corpse (Javier Botet), and the Jangly Man (Troy James) terrorize Mill Valley’s teens in this recent Halloween treat.
Thanksgiving
After 16 years, Eli Roth finally expands his faux Grindhouse trailer into feature form. Instead of building his quintessential slasher around the grainy Grindhouse anesthetic, however, he brings the classic-style slasher into the modern world. Roth, along with co-writer Jeff Rendell, seeks to make a meal of the revenge slasher format with a holiday twist through humor and memorable kills. Each death brings pain and bloodletting in delightfully mean-spirited, suspenseful ways. It results in a holiday horror effort that captures the lean, mean, and gory spirit of early aughts horror but set in the present. It’s a solid, entertaining reminder that sometimes simplicity is best.
The Trip
Spouses Lisa (Noomi Rapace) and Lars (Aksel Hennie) head to a remote family cabin to reconnect, neither aware that the other is plotting murder. Just as their murder plans begin, a more significant threat arrives in the form of escaped convicts. It’s marriage counseling in its most violent, splatstick form, directed and co-written by Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow, Violent Night). Rapace is having a blast as the murderous wife who constantly outsmarts those around her. She takes as much of a beating as she doles out. In other words, The Trip is as mean as it is entertaining.
Under the Shadow
Babak Anvari’s feature debut gives a compelling spin on the Djinn. Set in a war-torn Tehran in the late ’80s, Under the Shadow follows Shideh (Narges Rashidi) as she attempts to raise her strong-willed daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) and restart her medical school education after her political activism got her banned. Anvari instills oppressive dread even before the supernatural entity latches on to Dorsa. Under the Shadow’s unique perspective, atmospheric horror and exquisite scare-crafting make this underseen gem a must-watch.
The Wailing
A mysterious stranger’s arrival creates suspicion among the residents of a rural village, which becomes full-blown paranoia when a sickness starts to spread. The illness seems to render the afflicted homicidal, without reason. The stakes get personal for the investigating officer when his daughter falls ill, too, and he looks to a shaman for answers. The tension builds gradually as it infuses several different horror tropes in this unique tale. Look for murder, exorcisms, and great evil to highlight its messaging.
