Halloween has arrived once more, and people are looking to enjoy a scary movie or two to celebrate. As always, they can count on Netflix to provide a wide variety of horror films to binge-watch this season.
From thrilling slashers like Psycho and Scream to supernatural stories like The Babadook and Evil Dead Rise, there is virtually no shortage of exciting films for fans to scare themselves with this Halloween. Understandably, it may be hard to decide which films to watch, so here’s a list of the best horror movies that audiences can stream on Netflix for the holiday.
We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
The Babadook (2014)
This Australian film follows a widowed mother (Essie Davis) and her obnoxious son (Noah Wiseman) as they become tormented by an entity summoned by a mysterious pop-up book.
The Babadook stands out from many other horror movies, as it relies less on jump scares and more on building terror and suspense by barely showing the titular monster on-screen. Exploring motherhood and grief in a dysfunctional family, this intelligent film helped set the stage for the indie horror craze of the 2010s.
Evil Dead Rise (2023)
The Evil Dead reboot Evil Dead Rise brings the Deadites to an LA apartment building, where a young woman (Lily Sullivan) must protect her sister’s (Alyssa Sutherland) children after the sister is possessed by the demon of the Necronomicon.
Harking back to Evil Dead films of yore with hints of The Shining, this film hooks the audience with its jaw-dropping intro and immerses them in a fiendish nightmare with undead terrors that come one after the other.
Pearl (2022)
This A24 hit from director Ti West shows the origins of the titular killer from X (new scream queen Mia Goth) as a farmgirl in 1918 Texas. While the latter was a somewhat traditional slasher film, this prequel presents an intriguing Joker-esque character study of a woman whose dark impulses come to light as she aspires to escape her lonely, repressive farm life.
One can’t help but sympathize with Pearl, especially due to Goth’s poignant performance, making her one of the greatest slasher villains in modern horror.
The Wailing (2016)
This film shows a humble South Korean village thrown into chaos when a mysterious plague spreads among its citizens, causing them to kill their families. All the signs say that a Japanese stranger (Jun Kunimura) is the culprit, but this supernatural mystery throws so much at the audience that it keeps them on the edge of their seats.
Featuring ghosts, demons, zombies, possessions, and exorcisms, The Wailing is a wild and unrelenting depiction of a town’s descent into Hell, and it can turn anyone’s movie night into a horrifying roller coaster.
Thanksgiving (2023)
It’s not too early to celebrate Thanksgiving. This film, appropriately titled Thanksgiving, from director Eli Roth depicts a town terrorized by a killer dressed like a pilgrim following a series of tragic deaths on Black Friday.
This holiday horror film stands as a thrilling, self-aware homage to the slasher genre from a filmmaker passionate about horror. Roth also displays his mastery of the genre with a meticulously planned story that features some clever, well-crafted scares.
Scream (2022)
This Scream reboot features the return of Ghostface, who terrorizes the people close to a young woman (Melissa Barrera) revealed to be the daughter of one of the franchise’s original killers: Billy Loomis.
Since this film came out in the era of horror sequels, reboots, and remakes, Scream reinvigorates its franchise by poking fun at the new rules and tropes of the genre. At the same time, the film goes above and beyond these tropes to create a fresh follow-up to the previous Scream films while still honoring them.
A Quiet Place: Part II (2020)
This sequel to A Quiet Place shows the Abbott Family as they search for other survivors in a postapocalyptic world ravaged by blind, but destructive aliens. Part II expands the world and themes of the franchise as the heroes separate in the hope of rescuing a world crawling with monsters, both human and alien.
Though John Krasinski’s character is unfortunately absent for most of this film, Oppenheimer‘s Cillian Murphy acts as a terrific replacement as the disillusioned survivor Emmett.
The Birds (1963)
This classic from director Alfred Hitchcock follows a group of people as they try to survive after birds start attacking and killing for seemingly no reason.
By taking an everyday creature and turning it into the source of nightmares, The Birds captures the chaos of nature as a seaside village falls victim to an avian attack of biblical proportions. It also features an incredible blend of practical and special effects that were groundbreaking for their time, and that continue to hold up as the gold standard for horror movies.
Psycho (1960)
In Alfred Hitchcock‘s magnum opus, a woman (Janet Leigh) goes on the lam after stealing $40,000 from her boss and disappears after staying at a motel run by an awkward man (Anthony Perkins) and his mother.
Cementing itself in viewers’ nightmares with the infamous shower scenes, this film jump-started the slasher genre while pushing the boundaries of sex and violence in media. For better or worse, cinema as the world knows it today wouldn’t be what it is without Psycho, making it an essential watch for any Halloween binge.
Jaws (1975)
Many people still fear swimming in the ocean after watching this shocking blockbuster from director Steven Spielberg. Nearly 50 years after Jaws premiered, audiences still get terrified watching the film’s great white shark terrorize the citizens of Amity Island to the tune of composer John Williams’s chilling score.
Summer may now be over, but it’s always a good time to join Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) and his gang in this suspenseful, high-seas adventure.
