15 best horror movies to watch on Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Hulu

October is the best month to watch horror. Whether it’s something gory and macabre, silly and irreverent, eerie and unsettling; the genre of horror is as rich and varied as the multitude of ghost, ghoulies, and homicidal maniacs that go bump in the night. We’ve had a blast this month recommending a diverse host of titles to stream and watch this month through our Halloween Advent Calendar this year.
But perhaps, maybe, you’re not looking for any one specific horror film to watch this Halloween season, but rather the best horror films available to stream on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, and Paramount Plus? No worries, we’ve got the good. We’ve combed through the libraries of each of the major streaming platforms to bring you a list of our most recommended horror movies. These are our top nine horror films to enjoy this Halloween season.
28 days later
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19908886/DB8E102C_40E1_4E3C_8AEF_5F156F8456F6_e1561390962980.jpeg)
Photo: Searchlight Pictures
Danny Boyle’s 2004 post-apocalyptic film gave life and hope to the dismal corpses of zombie horror. 28 days later. Four weeks later, an incurable, mysterious virus from a clandestine laboratory spreads across the UK. It transforms those who are infected into hungry man-eating beasts. A handful of survivors try to unite and seek refuge among the wreckage of society. Cillian Murphy, one of many notable actors in the film’s breakout role ().Inception), Naomie Harris (MoonlightChristopher Eccleston, (Doctor Who( 28 days later is a modern horror classic, and patient zero for zombie horror film’s second renaissance. —Toussaint Egan
28 days later It is streaming on HBO Max.
Annihilation
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10271301/annihilation_ANH_04023RAC_rgb.jpg)
Peter Mountain
Based on Jeff Vandermeer’s 2014 novel of the same name, Alex Garland’s Annihilation stars Natalie Portman as Lena, a biologist who alongside a team of four other women including physicist Josie (Tessa Thompson), paramedic Anya (Gina Rodriguez), Geomorphologist Cassie (Tuva Novotny), and the elusive psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) ventures into a bizarre region of United States code-named “Area X” that is separated by strange barrier that continues to expand with each passing day. Lena, driven by Kane’s death (Oscar Isaac), volunteers to go on the expedition. She discovers that Area X is a unique world and defies logic. Garland’s film is a taut, terse, and macabre ecological horror thriller, brimming with twisted creatures morphed by the anomalous forces which reign unimpeded over the terrain of Area X alongside deeper questions with answers too unsettling to fit within the shape of words. —TE
AnnihilationParamount Plus allows you to watch it live.
Blade
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3860814/blade.0.png)
Warner Home Video
10 years before Robert Downey Jr.’s debut as Tony Stark in 2008’s Iron ManMarvel’s first successful movie was made by Wesley Snipes, who played the pivotal role of Blade (a human-vampire vampire hunter). Forced to wage a war against an underground society of vampires led by Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), a megalomaniacal vampire with world-ending ambitions, Blade must at the same time work alongside his mentor Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) and hematologist Karen Jenson (N’Bushe Wright) to manage his own terrible, suppressed thirst for human blood. You’ll love the bloody action and the thrill of the chase. —TE
Blade It is streaming on HBO Max.
It’s possible to make your dreams come true
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22365705/Come_True_1.jpeg)
IFC Photo
It’s possible to make your dreams come true, writer-director-cinematographer Anthony Scott Burns (HolidaysParasomniac nightmare comes to an obvious home onscreen with ). Julia Sarah Stone is Sarah, a highschool student that runs away only to be afflicted by recurring episodes sleep paralysis. Enrolling in a paid sleep study seems like a win-win for a stray teen, but the experiments only seem to make the horrific images that clog Sarah’s dreams even more harrowing. There’s obviously something more going on — as there should be in any good horror film. To quote our review, “Essentially, it’s A Nightmare on Elm Street Burns feels a deep sense of fear instead of Freddy Krueger’s evil, gleeful grin. Burns is able to feel the vivid and clammy sensations of bad dreams. […] He also has a skilled navigator of those bad feelings in Stone, who makes Sarah’s opacity empathetic and compelling.” —Matt Patches
It’s possible to make your dreams come true Hulu allows you to stream it.
Crawl
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/18301893/Screen_Shot_2019_07_10_at_5.42.13_PM.png)
Image by Paramount Pictures
Alexandre Aja’s pulp thriller delivers on delightfully grandiose alligator action, while, somewhat surprisingly, conveying a suspenseful survival story full of tense moments and sharp surprises. The In Crawl, Haley (Kaya Scodelario) heeds news of a Category 5 hurricane and returns to her hometown of Coral Lake, Florida, when she can’t immediately contact her father (Barry Pepper). After finding his apartment missing, she journeys through the storm to her old family home and descends into the crawl space — finding bloody pipes and her trapped and wounded father, cowering from a giant alligator blocking the exit.
The alligators, the tight crawl space — a controversial topic amongst Floridians who thought it was a basement — and the hurricane all work separately, but together they create some claustrophobic, truly terrifying moments, taking Crawl From a basic creature film to a suspenseful disaster movie, this is a great example of how you can have chompingly good entertainment. —Petrana Radulovic
Crawl Hulu allows you to stream it.
Creep & Creep 2
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10847413/creep_2.jpg)
The Orchard
Mark Duplass (indie darling) and Patrick Brice (regular collaborator) should take care of it.The Overnight) to keep the found-footage horror movie kickin’ 15 years after Blair Witch Project In CreepJosef (Duplass), an amateur videographer from Craigslist, recruits Aaron (Brice) with the intent of shooting a farewell letter to his son. Josef is dying … at least, that’s how he convinces his new buddy Aaron to spend the night in the woods drinking whiskey with him. These batshit revelations should not be said. Creep 2Continue reading the story with For GirlsDesiree Akhavan is the hopeful YouTube star and actress. Creep This is the horror series that we deserve. —MP
Creep Creep 2 Netflix allows you to watch these videos online.
The Empty Man
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22437978/The_Empty_Man_1.jpg)
Photo: Ilze Kitshoff
Director David Prior’s feature debut is the scariest movie of 2020 and one of its best. The movie’s main story follows a man named James Lasombra (James Badge Dale) as he searches for a missing girl. While on the case, he hears about a legend of a shadowy figure called “the empty man” who stalks anyone who’s seen him for three days before he strikes. While this premise alone might be enough for a creepy-enough movie, Prior blows the concept up into something truly special, spanning the globe — in an outstanding 15 minute prologue — and finally bringing in a cult whose leader might actually have supernatural powers. Although none of the above make any sense on paper, Prior manages to blend them all into one coherent, frightening story. —Austen Goslin
The Empty ManYou can stream it on HBO Max.
The Evil Dead & Evil Dead 2
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22819741/evil_dead.png)
StudioCanal photo
Bruce Campbell stars in Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead in a career-defining role as Ash Williams, the loveable dunderhead-turned-maniacal chainsaw-wielding demon slayer. Original Evil Dead is a cult classic of the “cabin in the woods” subgenre of supernatural horror, filled with grotesque prosthetic makeup effects and impressive stop-motion animation courtesy of special effects maestro Tom Sullivan. The Evil DeadThe expertly balanced line of horror and camp is blurred, with terrifying kills mixed in with funny one-liners. The sequel. Evil Dead 2The original is improved upon in every respect. The Evil Dead Evil Dead 2Fantastic horror films are frightening and thrilling, as well as, according to Ash, totally terrifying. groovy —TE
The Evil Dead Evil Dead 2You can stream it on HBO Max.
Fog
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22932360/large_the_fog_blu_ray_12023.jpeg)
Shout! Factory
If you’ve already given Halloween (and 2018’s Halloween) a spin, it’s time to go back to John Carpenter and Debra Hill’s OtherJamie Lee Curtis collaborated. The tale of a thick fog sweeping over the California coast, and a gang of seafaring specters who drift along in it, the movie takes a radically different approach to scares than Carpenter’s foray into horror, but relies on his slow-and-steady hand to build atmospheric tension. The movie leans a bit schlockier in the jump-scare department, but with strong effects work and Curtis’ usual charisma, Fog This is an excellent horror film, but it’s been obscured by the fact that director and actor made a true classic together.
Fog It is now available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video
House
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22509404/maxresdefault.jpg)
Photo by Criterion Channel
Watching Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House It’s like watching live action cartoons. From the very first frame, the cult horror film is full of brilliant experimentalism and delightful surrealism. It never slows down. A group of schoolgirls from an eccentric high school travel to the country house of their aunts to find themselves in danger. As the house takes on its own life, they are surrounded by supernatural forces and apparitions. Oddball comedy meets architectural horror in what is likely to be one of the most hilarious and memorable movie experiences you’ll ever have. —TE
House It is streaming on HBO Max.
The House on Haunted Hill
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22917769/Oct_12_House_on_Haunted_Hill.jpg)
Shout Factory image
Gimmick-meister William Castle’s fun-forward horror flicks hold up just as well without spooky accoutrement. Vincent Price is the star of this cast. Haunted Hill HouseA macabre millionaire invites a host of money-hungry, unsuspecting guests to his rental haunted mansion. Anyone who can survive the night will be awarded $10,000. But it’s haunted! Oder is it? Castle’s funhouse tricky weaves its way into both plot and execution.
It’s all about the funny sight gags. You will see ghosts, bones, violent people with weapons and even a basement with an acid pit. Keep the funniest setups and old-fashioned chat-a-tat dialog alive Haunted Hill HouseAs silly and absurd as any straight-faced remake. BadIt is. It’s also a joy to see Price in action, reminding viewers with each scene why he’s one of the key voices of classic horror. Castle had to hustle to get butts in seats back in the day, but this one’s a no-brainer for any crowd with varying degrees of horror tolerance. —MP
The House on Haunted Hill It is now available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Hush
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22363647/Hush_2016.jpg)
Blumhouse Productions – Photo
Home invasion gets a new spin Haunting of Bly ManorCreator and Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan in Hush, a lean, mean feature that centers on a deaf-mute woman’s fight against a would-be killer. Maddie (Kate Siegel, who also co-wrote the film) lives on her own in the woods, and becomes the focus of a man (John Gallagher Jr.) after he chases and kills one of her friends, discovering through Maddie’s failure to notice that she cannot hear anything. It’s a terrific modern slasher, and even got the seal of approval from Stephen King. —MP
HushIt is streaming on Netflix.
Strangers
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22729073/tmp_yn6JXv_93b181ed1e6371d4_MCDSTRA_EC075.jpg)
Photo: Rogue Pictures
Byran Bertino’s 2008 film The Strangers is a lean and profoundly gripping horror movie that strips the home invasion subgenre down to its bare essential parts to drive home the intimate, primal terror of its premise. Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler star in the role of a couple that arrives at their remote vacation home after a night out and is terrorized and stalked by three serial killers. This raises the question, “Why?” You can’t imagine the answer, but it is clear and terrifying. —TE
StrangersIt is streaming on Netflix.
Wailing
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10847407/the_wailing_1200_1200_675_675_crop_000000.jpg)
Well Go USA Entertainment
In Hong-jin Na’s horror mystery WailingA small South Korean village is haunted by paranormal activity and demonic possession rumors. All clues and intuitives lead to Jong-Goo, a police officer (Kwak Do-won), who is called to investigate the rash of mysterious murders. Jong Goo (Kwak Do-won) and his partner uncover a horrifying horror that transcends all description, indelibly marking the lives of those who come across it. It’s a masterpiece of mood, and a 156 minutes, a parade of every horror trope imaginable. —TE
WailingAvailable to stream via Amazon Prime Video
#horrormovies#watch #Netflix#Amazon #HBO @Hulu