It’s horror season yet again! While some people might like to get scared year-round, most reserve the willies for October right before Halloween rolls around. Setting up decorations and going to a haunted house are hallowed traditions, but don’t forget to watch your favorite spooky flicks during a lazy Saturday night on the couch. There’s nothing like fall leaves and colder weather to put someone in the mood for a frightening story.
Netflix and Hulu have great movies for horror fans, but Max might top both of these streamers. The formerly titled HBO affiliation mixes a great variety of old and new classics in the genre. Zombies, dark lakes, creepy cabins, and so much more: It’s a great time to look in one place for all the best hits, and they’re covered here. These are the best horror movies on Max.
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Scream (1996)
112m
Genre
Crime, Horror, Mystery
Stars
David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox
Directed by
Wes Craven
Watch on max
Horror as a concept can be quite humorous. Scream understands this better than most films by employing a lot of risky dark humor, satirizing past horror tropes, and delivering some sincere scares when you least expect it. Courteney Cox takes a break from the confines her cozy Friends apartment to expand her acting range next to her eventual husband David Arquette. The film spawned several sequels (and a TV series) as recently as Scream VI in 2023.
Paranormal Activity (2007)
86m
Genre
Horror, Mystery
Stars
Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs
Directed by
Oren Peli
Watch on max
Paranormal Activity changed the game for horror in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Using a simple concept (fear of what happens while we’re asleep), the movie taps into human paranoia without relying on special effects or hours of work from a costume and makeup department to illicit scares. The return on investment of the film was famously high, and it led to sequels such as Paranormal Activity 2 and Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin.
Caddo Lake (2024)
100m
Genre
Mystery, Thriller
Stars
Dylan O'Brien, Eliza Scanlen, Lauren Ambrose
Directed by
Celine Held, Logan George
Watch on max
Caddo Lake is the most recently released film on this list, but that doesn’t mean it can’t already be given recognition for being a fun watch. With M. Night Shyamalan attached as a producer, horror fans know the story is worth giving a chance. The cast, headed by Dylan O’Brien and Lauren Ambrose, tries to cope with the mysteries and miseries inflicted by the titular body of water. Murder, intrigue, and all of the usual trappings of scary bingeworthy stories are present in this Max original.
Krampus (2015)
98m
Genre
Horror, Comedy, Fantasy
Stars
Emjay Anthony, Adam Scott, Toni Collette
Directed by
Michael Dougherty
Watch on max
Christmas and Halloween seem like natural juxtapositions, but they come together to bring holiday joy and terror in Krampus. The figure from ancient folklore wreaks havoc on a family belonging to a child who isn’t in the Christmas spirit. Krampus himself is menacing, but the idea of a monster ruining the most wonderful time of the year is even scarier. Big names like Adam Scott from Severance and Toni Collette from The Sixth Sense star here.
The Strangers (2008)
86m
Genre
Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Stars
Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward
Directed by
Bryan Bertino
Watch on max
Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman captivate in this drama about a couple who must face three masked psychopaths with nothing but each other’s strength. The Strangers excels when it leans into the corniness of hidden identity horror while creating a story that doesn’t try to do too much. It may feel repetitive to people who have watched a lot of burglar horror movies, but that’s also a comforting familiarity.
Pet Sematary (1989)
102m
Genre
Horror, Drama
Stars
Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Denise Crosby
Directed by
Mary Lambert
Watch on max
One of Stephen King’s most famous stories, Pet Semetary dives into supernatural horror and the fear of the undead. A family who moves to Maine isn’t ready for the repeated returns of deceased citizens in the area who are buried in a supposedly cursed site. King has a lot of control in this film, something that some people believe leads to the movie being inferior to something like Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (more on that film,, later).
Saw (2004)
103m
Genre
Horror, Mystery, Crime
Stars
Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover
Directed by
James Wan
Watch on max
Saw upped the violence and gore to another level than had previously been seen in horror movies of the 1990s. Two men trapped in the same room must grapple with how far they are willing to hurt each other to save themselves from the Jigsaw Killer. The horror in Saw revolves around mental fragility and psychological horror, and Cary Elwes and Danny Glover are two of the highlight performances from the cast.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
96m
Genre
Horror, Thriller
Stars
Judith O'Dea, Duane Jones, Marilyn Eastman
Directed by
George A. Romero
Watch on max
Night of the Living Dead is essential viewing not just for horror fans, but movie fans at large. The classic tale of a group of survivors trying to live through the night while zombies prey on their flesh set the standard for every zombie apocalypse movie and show that came out after it. The Walking Dead? It wouldn’t exist without this film. The Last of Us? Ditto. George A. Romero’s precise artistry and dedication to crafting a unique vision of what a zombie is shall never be forgotten. Also, the movie is still downright entertaining and shocking over 50 years later.
The Shining (1980)
144m
Genre
Horror, Thriller
Stars
Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
Directed by
Stanley Kubrick
Watch on max
We said we’d get back to The Shining. It’s another Stephen King adaptation that really gets elevated by the acting of Jack Nicholson and the directing of Stanley Kubrick. A mother and son must avoid the deadly turn of events that commence when family patriarch Jack Torrance becomes something unrecognizable after staying at the Overlook Hotel. Shelley Duval’s fear during the climax scene should be in the horror Hall of Fame.
