Halloween may be behind us, but horror movies have no limit on enjoyment. As one of the most prolific and profitable subgenres in cinema, audiences are always in the mood for some spooky scaries.
Fortunately, thanks to the accessibility of streaming services, places like Netflix are home to a plethora of chilling choices. Between original offerings and licensed titles, there’s a horror movie for anyone and everyone.
To get you started, we’ve tracked down some of the must-see horror titles currently available to stream on Netflix.
list of Horror Movies
1. Back Country (2014)
Adam MacDonald’s Back Country does for hiking what Jaws does for beaches. The film is loosely based on the true story of a 2005 bear attack, which only makes MacDonald’s recreation that much more horrifying.
Jeff roop and Missy peregrym play an “urban couple” who go camping in the wilderness, bicker about directions, and a man-eating bear ruins their trip. MacDonald keeps it simple and executes with precision, delivering an animal attack film that’s impossibly intense. Back Country requires so little to make you fear the great outdoors, featuring one of the gnarliest bear encounters put to screen.
2. Circle (2015)
Clever indie filmmakers can make something out of nothing. Aaron Hann and Mario Miscione’s Circle is an excellent representation of that idea, about 50 people who wake up in a dark room arranged in a circular formation. The premise is simple: someone has to die every two minutes.
That’s it. Hann and Miscione turn social experimentation into a thriller about characters arguing their point about why they should be the one who lives another round, relying on dialogue to sell the existential dread at the script’s core.
Minimalism is the film’s secret ingredient: getting straight to the point and keeping a quick pace in a way that never loses our attention.
3. The Wailing (2016)
The Wailing is a three-headed South Korean horror beast that requires patience but pays off big time. The film follows a police officer who investigates deaths and sicknesses in the remote mountain village of Gokseong.
What starts as a skeptical police procedural becomes a more clouded thriller until a full-on possession arc dominates the third act. Filmmaker Na Hong-jin proves a master of tonal command as the story transforms multiple times until the policeman’s daughter finds her life in danger.
It’s creepy, suspenseful, and goes full-throttle to close things out — exactly what we like to see in horror movies.
4. 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)
I won’t lie and say the 47 Meters Down sequel is better than 47 Meters Down. The original nails the basics of shark cinema like the best have in the past, which this sequel doesn’t try to match.
Uncaged instead leans into the more B-Movie nature of fin flicks, turning the movie into an underwater slasher riff where the sharks are the killer.
It’s the moment where a Great White sneaks up on a diver like Jason Voorhees lurking behind a counselor that won me over, so if you’re into a campier brand of aquatic horror, Unchanged should be on your list.
5. Thanksgiving (2023)
If I’m being honest, part of me thought we’d never see a feature-length version of Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving. Kudos to the slasher filmmaker for pressing studios to make Thanksgiving until Spyglass Media Group finally caved, rewarding patient fans with a Massachusetts massacre that carves with the best of ‘em.
Roth sells every delicious Thanksgiving detail and indulges holiday horror accents, utilizing everything from pilgrim costumes to corn cob holders to parade floats at ramming speed.
It’s a hybrid slasher that updates the subgenre for modern tastes while remaining dedicated to the splattery golden age of horror violence, finding that sweet spot between storytelling and grotesqueries. I’ll be in line for seconds, thirds, and more if allowed.
