If you’re like me, then everything changes on October 1: it’s time to watch horror movies. It’s the only genre I’ve watched so far this month, and it won’t stop until November rolls around. For any other weirdos like me, Netflix has served as a great resource for this compulsion over the years, and the streamer’s current horror line up is no exception. From atmospheric mysteries to classic serial killers to slow-burn thrillers, I put together a list of ten great movies that any fan of horror who owns a Netflix account should consider this Halloween season. So without further ado, let’s get into my picks.
The 10 Best Horror Movies On Netflix
It Follows (2014)
There are few up-and-coming directors that excite me more than David Robert Mitchell, who came out of the gate swinging with his coming-0f-age ensemble comedy The Myth of the American Sleepover. Since, he’s dabbled in just about every genre, from the neo-noir mystery Under the Silver Lake to the upcoming sci-fi film Flowervale Street. But his best effort was undoubtedly made in the horror space with one of creepiest movies in years: It Follows. The movie centers on Jay (Maika Monroe), a carefree college student who finds herself cursed by a mysterious, deadly force after an innocent sexual encounter with her date. This ghostly entity takes the form of any random person and slowly walking towards its victim until it catches them, which means Jay, with the help of her friends, must run and try to figure out how to best the unstoppable monster. The eerie scares of It Follows greatly benefit from a minimalist, slow-burn approach. Its deliberate pacing sets the mood for the movie’s haunting atmosphere, and its collection of long, unbroken takes vibrate with dreamlike intensity. This gorgeous retro setting Mitchell dreamed up produces a timeless, uncanny atmosphere that feels both foreign and frightening familiar.
Ouija (2014)
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Ouija captures the excruciating desire to communicate with those you have lost—to, for one last time, establish contact with a loved one who left this mortal coil. The story centers on Laine (Olivia Cooke) and her group of friends who try to communicate with their friend Debbie (Shelley Hennig) after her sudden, tragic death—and, as expected with any good horror flick, things quickly spiral out of control into terrifying territory after they unknowingly awaken a dark, vengeful spirit. As Laine and her friends fight for their lives, they uncover disturbing secrets about the board’s past and the evil entity they summoned. While many modern horror films feel the need to color outside the lines and go for too much stylistically, Stiles White’s Ouija wins for its embracement of a traditional horror style, relying heavily on dark, shadowy visuals and eerie set pieces to build tension, as well as classical haunted house imagery, from creaky floors to hidden rooms to unsettling portraits. This film checks all the right boxes for any lover of horror.
Under the Shadow (2016)
I’m now realizing that isolation and claustrophobia are common themes on this list, and few of the movies capture that energy better than Babak Anvari’s Under the Shadow, a psychologically trying piece of horror set in post-revolution Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war. The story follows Shideh (Narges Rashidi), a medical student who decides to stay in the city with her young daughter, Dorsa (Avin Manshadi), as the war intensifies. While her husband, Iraj (Bobby Naderi), is away on military service, a missile strikes their home, and Dorsa begins to act erratically, insisting that their home has become haunted. The neighbors, including a mute boy, warn of djinns—supernatural beings that can possess humans and steal their most valued belongings. As Shideh psychologically grapples with the evils that exist both inside and just outside her home, Under the Shadow serves as a terrifying commentary on savage war and societal repression in post-revolution Iran: the “djinn” doesn’t just represent domestic, personal fear, but also the larger political and cultural forces that suppress people like Shideh’s autonomy.
Psycho (1960)
It feels wrong to make a list of the best horror movies on Netflix and not include Psycho, what might have well been Alfred Hitchcock’s pinnacle achievement. This two-part movie has one of the most alluring structures ever, with the first part of the movie tracking Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a secretary who impulsively steals $40,000 from her employer and flees the city. While running away, Marion books a room at the mysterious Bates Motel, which is run by a polite but nervous Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). From there...well, I don’t want to spoil anything for those lucky enough to have never seen one of cinema’s best horror films, but things take a sharp turn in the movie’s second half as people begin to investigate Bates Motel and what’s actually going on inside the twisted head of its owner. Norman’s famous line, “We all go a little mad sometimes,” couldn’t be more apt for this subversive film that shocked audiences back in 1960. To this day, Psycho holds up, from its stark black-and-white cinematography to its tight, suspenseful editing to its iconic musical score.
Pearl (2022)
Few movie-related things have made me happier in the past few years than the return of Ti West, who gave us one of the best modern commentaries on Hollywood and the pursuit of stardom in years with his epic horror trilogy: X, Pearl and MaXXXine. For this list, we’re going to highlight that middle movie, which is really a prequel for the entire series. This gem of psychological horror centers on the titular character, a young woman named Pearl (Mia Goth) who lives on a remote 1918 Texas farm. An aspiring performer, Pearl feels trapped by her remote lifestyle, where she’s forced to care for her paralyzed father (Matthew Sunderland) by her strict, harsh mother, Ruth (Tandi Wright), while her husband, Howard (David Corenswet), serves in World War I. So when Pearl hears about an upcoming audition, she jumps at the chance, forming a romance with a local projectionist (David Corenswet) along the way. The containment and captivity starts to tear at Pearl’s psyche as she slowly spirals out of control, leading to a series of violent confrontations that speak to how blind ambition and the yearning for stardom can drive out the worst in us.
As Above, So Below (2014)
It wouldn’t be a “scariest movies list” without a found footage movie, right? So why not highlight one of the genre’s best of the past decade: As Above, So Below. Directed by John Erick Dowdle, this dimly lit horror-thriller follows Scarlett (Perdita Weeks), a scholar who is determined to discover the legendary treasure that grants eternal life, the philosopher’s stone. After discovering a clue in Iran, she enlists the help of her ex-boyfriend, George (Ben Feldman), and her cameraman, Benji (Edwin Hodge), to descend into the forbidden catacombs beneath Paris—where, well, all hell breaks loose. One of the more claustrophobic and disorienting found footage films of recent years, this labyrinthine plunge into the depths of the earth delivers a full-on sensory experience to make the catacombs as frightening as possible, with that setting serving as a metaphor for the characters' journey through their and guilt and regrets. These characters’ thirst for knowledge, their desire to cheat death ultimately becomes their downfall.
The Wailing (2016)
Of all the movies on this list, The Wailing is the one I fought the longest. I used to believe the movie was too long, too unfocused, too light on the thrills and kills. But after years of contemplation, discussion and rewatches, I’ve come to respect The Wailing as one of the finest South Korean horror movies. The film tells the story of a small South Korean village where a strange, violent illness begins to spread that causes its victims to violently lash out at their own families. Our protagonist, bumbling policeman Jong-goo (Kwak Do-won), becomes invested in stopping the outbreak when his daughter, Hyo-jin (Kim Hwan-hee), suddenly becomes possessed. Jong-goo suspects a mysterious Japanese man (Jun Kunimura) who recently moved to the area, and must decide between whether to trust a mysterious woman in white (Chun Woo-hee) or a shaman named Il-gwang (Hwang Jung-min) in his quest to save his daughter. The Wailing is scary sheerly for its incredible atmosphere, it’s ability to build a sense of horror through mystery and lack of understanding.
Alone (2020)
A lot of the best modern horror movies go unnoticed because they’re so minimalist. This cat-and-mouse thriller, in particular, musters all of its pure horror from remaining visually restrained, by placing an emphasis on both physical and psychological isolation. Directed by Jon Hyams, Alone follows Jessica (Jules Willcox), a woman grieving over the recent loss of her husband. In order to collect herself and start fresh, she takes a road trip, and while traveling along a remote mountainous highway, she comes across a menacing man (Marc Menchaca) in a Jeep who tries to run her off the road (à la Steven Spielberg’s Duel). Despite her attempts to escape him, their paths continue to cross throughout this taut depiction of overwhelming isolation, which uses the inescapable presence of death to visualize the grieving process. This stripped-down, super-efficient tale of terror allows its tension to build slowly, prioritizes atmosphere and suspense over anything needlessly complex.
The Perfection (2018)
No joke: The Perfection is a movie I think about quite often. Like, maybe once a month? Simply because I don’t think there’s another movie like it. Directed by Richard Shephard, this psychological horror-thriller centers on Charlotte (Allison Williams), a music prodigy who abruptly stops playing the cello to care for her sick mother. Years later, she reconnects with her prestigious academy and quickly forms a romance with Lizzie (Logan Browning), the school's new star cellist. But when those two embark on a trip through rural China...well, things take a turn. In what I believe to be the best body horror film of the past decade, The Perfection uses disturbing, visceral imagery to convey the psychological (and, as you’ll see, physical) toll of trauma and manipulation, to showcase how powerful figures use manipulation and control to exhibit their oppressive power. The final sequence of this magnificent horror flick is one of my favorite endings in years.
Backcountry (2014)
I’ll use the final slot in this list for a survival thriller that I believe doesn’t get as much love as it should. Directed by Adam MacDonald, Backcountry follows a young couple, Alex (Jeff Roop) and Jenn (Missy Peregrym), a couple that takes a camping trip in a remote Canadian forest, only to find themselves being stalked and chased by a deadly black bear. This isn’t a found footage movie, but it wins by capturing that genre’s raw, unflinching realism in its depiction of the unforgiving wilderness. The film doesn’t romanticize nature, but instead presents it as indifferent—the mark of many great horror villains, like Michael Myers—where even a simple mistake, like leaving a map behind, can lead to deadly consequences. The sudden, brutal, pure-force-of-nature bear attacks in this movie are just as scary as anything the genre’s classic killers would dream up.
