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The 8 best horror movies to stream on Netflix right now

From pastiches of horror classics to totally original work, Netflix has great horror movies for every taste

By
1922
Everett Collection, Inc. / Alamy

Loving horror movies is, for some movie-goers, almost entirely different from loving movies generally. Plenty of people love both, but deep horror fans know that there’s nothing better than going to a theater or dimming all the lights at home and being prepped to get scared out of your mind. It’s a totally unique thrill ride and can sometimes feel closer to riding a roller coaster than to anything you might get from other movie genres.

If you’re looking to replicate that thrill ride at home, then we’ve got you covered with some of the best horror movies on Netflix to choose from. Of course, Netflix also has awesome action movies and a great roster of shows to peruse, but for this list, we’ll be running down the best horror movies the service has to spook you.

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The Ritual (2017)

The Ritual
94m
Genre
Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Stars
Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier
Directed by
David Bruckner
Watch on Netflix
A genuinely scary movie about four friends who decide to go camping to commemorate the memory of their friend, The Ritual feels a bit like The Blair Witch Project without the documentary angle. Instead, this is just a genuinely terrifying movie that is unafraid of putting some really freaky stuff on screen. There are some obligatory excavations of trauma here, but the most crucial thing is that the movie is genuinely scary from beginning to end, while having enough style that you don’t feel like all the scares were done cheaply.
The Ritual | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix
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The Babadook (2014)

The Babadook
94m
Genre
Drama, Horror
Stars
Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Hayley McElhinney
Directed by
Jennifer Kent
Watch on Netflix
A genius movie about the perils of parenting, The Babadook follows a grieving mother whose young son becomes convinced that something sinister is lurking in the house. Directed by Jennifer Kent, part of the thrill of The Babadook is how much tension it wrings out of moments that might not seem all that supernatural. When things finally do start getting strange inside the house, you’d be forgiven for wondering whether the more horrific part of the film was actually the sequences where this woman was just trying to handle her very rambunctious son.
The Babadook Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Essie Davis Horror Movie HD

Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

Velvet Buzzsaw
61%
5.7/10
r
113m
Genre
Thriller, Mystery, Horror
Stars
Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Zawe Ashton
Directed by
Dan Gilroy
Watch on Netflix
Although it functions as a parody of both horror more generally and of the art world, Velvet Buzzsaw is also a gory romp of jump-scare antics and well-known celebrity cameos. For those who value the business of art over its quality, the recently discovered art of Ventril Dease, one of this movie’s central characters, might literally blow your mind, at least if Velvet Buzzsaw is to be believed.

1922 (2017)

1922
70%
6.2/10
tv-ma
Genre
Horror, Crime, Drama, History
Stars
Thomas Jane, Molly Parker, Dylan Schmid
Watch on Netflix
From the haunting novella by Stephen King, 1922 is a truly scary psychological thriller that features a career redefining performance from Thomas Jane. When a farmer’s wife threatens to leave him and his desolate farm for the city, Wilfred (Jane) convinces his son to be an accomplice to her murder, and they both pay the price.

Fear Street: 1994 (2021)

Fear Street: 1994
67%
6.2/10
107m
Genre
Horror, Mystery
Stars
Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr.
Directed by
Leigh Janiak
Watch on Netflix
All three movies in the Fear Street trilogy are worth watching, but that’s especially true of the first installment, Fear Street Part One: 1994. The film tells the story of a group of high school kids who are forced to deal with a generational curse that has transformed their town into a terrible place. In addition to being genuinely suspenseful and frightening, the Fear Street movies also work well as parodies of the kinds of horror movies that we’ve become so familiar with. The first installment is reminiscent of a 90s slasher, but it updates the formula enough to be plenty compelling in its own right.

Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020)

Vampires vs. the Bronx
76%
5.7/10
pg-13
86m
Genre
Comedy, Horror
Stars
Jaden Michael, Gerald W. Jones III, Gregory Diaz IV
Directed by
Oz Rodriguez
Watch on Netflix
With a surprisingly successful blend of comedy and horror, Vampires vs. the Bronx is in the mold of the social horror movies that have become more common in recent years. The movie features a group of teens who band together to save their neighborhood from the throes of poverty and crime, only to realize that bloodsucking vampires are causing the gentrification occurring in their neighborhood.

Cam (2018)

Cam
71%
5.9/10
tv-ma
Genre
Mystery, Thriller, Horror
Stars
Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters
Watch on Netflix
Highlighted by an excellent performance from Madeline Brewer and an original, new-age concept, Cam takes a psychological premise and turns it into a bloody, mind-twisting thriller that hits a little too close to home for some online content personalities. The film follows an ambitiously driven cam girl named Alice who responds well to her audience’s requests until a replica of herself takes over her account and begins to please the darkest corners of the internet.

His House (2020)

His House
72%
6.5/10
93m
Genre
Drama, Horror, Thriller
Stars
Sope Dirisu, Wunmi Mosaku, Matt Smith
Directed by
Remi Weekes
Watch on Netflix
His House is a psychological thriller that contains some truly unexpected twists. A couple flee their home in South Sudan barely escape death and are allowed to live in England as asylum-seekers, but required to live in a home of the government’s choosing that turns out to be haunted, reminding them of the dark journey they have already taken. In addition to being genuinely terrifying, His House also provides some trenchant commentary on the international refugee crisis and how countries have responded to it.

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Joe Allen
Joe Allen
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Joe Allen is a freelance culture writer based in upstate New York. His work has been published in The Washington Post, The…
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