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Kansas Eiffel
The 100 best horror films of all time.
The 100 best vampire movies of all time.
The 50 best zombie movies of all time.
The 50 best movies about serial killers.
The 50 best slasher movies of all time
The 50 best ghost movies of all time.
The best horror movies streaming on Amazon Prime.
The best horror movies streaming on Hulu.
The best horror movies streaming on Shudder.
Everyone loves watching scary movies in October, of course. But true fright fans know no calendar. For real aficionados of the dark cinematic arts, any month, any day is a good time for horror, and Netflix is a proverbial graveyard full of terrifying delights waiting to be streamed.
A key film in the new wave of smash-hit mainstream horror (see also Sinister, The Conjuring), Insidious is the one with the creepy kid, the astral plane and the demon hiding behind the Big Red Door. Watch it alone, and completely scare your own pants off.
In a rare example of Hollywood sci-fi-horror thoughtfulness, Annihilation has grand concepts in mind, ideas about self-destruction and rebirth. The film follows cellular biologist Lena (Portman) as she ventures to The Shimmer, an anomalous electromagnetic field, to discover the truth about what happened to her husband Kane (Isaac), who visited The Shimmer and returned in poor health and his memory missing. Spooky stuff.
In this devilish subversion of the typical body-swap comedy, Vince Vaughn is an ageing serial killer who wishes upon a cursed dagger and ends up trading consciousness with a bullied teenage girl (Kathryn Newton). Genius, right? Okay, so that premise could easily flop. But director Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day) finds the ideal balance between knowing humour and serious gore. The only way to improve it would be to make Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan the leads.
Mike Flanagan had already built a reputation as a rock-steady horror filmmaker by 2016, but the sense of "holy crap, this guy can do anything" became set in stone once he took on a prequel to a critically-derided movie about an evil ouija board and made one of the scariest movies of the last decade. Ouija: Origin of Evil takes us to the 1970s, where fake psychic Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser) and her two daughters, Lina (Annalise Basso) and Doris (Lulu Wilson), perform seances for paying customers in the wake of Alice's husband dying. Doris, the youngest, spices up the act with the introduction of a ouija board, but the cursed item makes things all too real when it not only sends a dark spirit into the girl's body but exposes the deep-seated evil ingrained in the Zander's house. There is, to be very clear, absolutely no reason for Ouija: Origin of Evil to be good at all, so it's a downright shock that it's this horrifying and effective. And, because it's Flanagan we're talking about here, there's also a potent dramatic heart beating underneath all those bumps in the night. --Vinnie Mancuso
It's a common trope: a little kid has a crush on their sexy teenage babysitter. But Netflix's original flick The Babysitter turns that on its head, by making the hot babysitter also happen to be part of a Satanic cult. The cult - who has brought their ceremony into young Cole's house - will stop at nothing to prevent Cole from spreading their secret. It's not really a "scary" horror film; it's more goofy, super gory, and a kind of throwback to the campy horror of the 1980s. - Alyse Wax
The first installment of Netflix's Fear Street trilogy of films is an absolute blast from start to finish. Very much drawing influence from Scream, this R-rated slasher takes place in the town of Shadyville, where people going back decades have a habit of going on violent killing sprees. Rumors swirl that it's all to do with a witch's curse from the 1600s (which is covered in the third movie), and in this 1994-set film a group of teenagers find themselves the target of a bevy of masked killers as the try to figure out what's going on and how to survive it. At the center of the story is a queer romance that sets this apart from many other slashers of its ilk, and there's enough comedic relief to keep this from being bogged down as a horror film of the self-serious type. Again the Scream comparisons are apt, so if you're in for a spooky good time that also sets up a mythology that is concluded in the next two Fear Street movies, give Fear Street Part One: 1994 a whirl. - Adam Chitwood
It's tempting to loop all of the Fear Street films into one entry because they're such a satisfying (you might even say limited series-like) whole, but they're also so stylistically distinct and uniquely effective, they're worth singling out on their own. As for the second installment, 1978 takes audiences back to another Shadyside massacre, this time inspired by the summer camp horror trend of the 70s and 80s. Anchored around the story of two estranged sisters finding their way back to each other despite their differences, 1978 unleashes the Nightwing killer scene in the first film while investigating the story behind how he became a cursed mass murderer and deepening the established mythology and character work in the process.
I wouldn't recommend watching them out of order on your first watch but if you're looking to head back into fear Street and don't have time to watch the whole trilogy, 1978 is easily the most self-contained of all three, but good luck not immediately hitting play on the next one. - Haleigh Foutch
The final film in the trilogy, Fear Street Part Three: 1666 brings it all together by traveling to the origins of the curse, so if you're looking for a bit of period horror with a big action payoff, this is your best bet. It's stunning how writer-director Leigh Janiak created a distinct language for each installment, not just cinematically, but in the horror traditions she employs. In keeping, 1666 is the darkest of the three, delving into the rotted core of society behind the Shadyside curse. But Janiak keeps a tight tonal command, never fully abandoning the fun spirit that makes her trilogy such a treat.
While there's no official start to the spooky season, once October rolls around, all of the tell-tale signs appear. Pumpkin spice is suddenly everywhere and social media is flooded with horror-themed watchlists. Yes, it's every horror fan's favorite time of year.
This is when the best streaming services ramp up their genre output by offering a roster of classic library titles along with a raft of brand new movies to keep sleep at bay. This year is no different; we're spoiled for choice when it comes to what to watch.
The Empty Man dropped in 2020 as a delightful surprise. A big-budget studio horror this weird? Everything surrounding David Prior's directorial debut feels out of the ordinary. In spite of low scores from test audiences, when it finally reached genre fans, they lapped up its strangeness. What appears on the surface to be a simple urban legend yarn turns into something much more extravagant. James Badge Dale leads the flick as a cop investigating a missing girl but eventually discovers, well, you'll have to find out for yourself. Luxuriating in its 137-minute runtime, The Empty Man is a beautiful oddity that warrants repeat viewings.
Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep from 2019 does triple duty as a sequel to both Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, and to Stephen King's original tome, and an adaptation of the author's follow-up novel. Carrying the weight of so many existing, beloved works might hamper a less experienced filmmaker, but Flanagan's love of the story and handle on craft beautifully melds these somewhat disparate tales. The film follows Danny Torrance, all grown up and looking like Ewan McGregor, as he and a young girl named Abra fend off a traveling troupe of energy vampires called the True Knot. Led by Rebecca Ferguson's sumptuous villain Rose the Hat, their brand of terror is truly one of King's most devious inventions. Flanagan never shies away from the brutality of their evil.
Following in the wake of their success with A Quiet Place (and the lesser-seen but highly recommended Haunt), writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods grapple with the master of horror for this adaptation. The duo reworked a short story from Stephen King's Night Shift collection, and transformed it into a full-length feature for Host director Rob Savage to bring to life. The story follows sisters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) who are reeling over the loss of their mother while trying to connect with their therapist father, Will (Chris Messina). Yellowjackets fans will recognise Thatcher and her performance and Blair's carry the movie, as the pair become stalked by an otherworldly being. While it varies drastically from the original tale, this 2023 movie has plenty to say about trauma without feeling tired.
Back to the Future gets name-dropped early on in this trailer, hinting at the level of self-awareness we should all prepare ourselves for. Based on everything in the trailer for this Amazon Prime Original, Totally Killer looks to be a nostalgic slasher in the vein of The Final Girls. Sabrina's Kiernan Shipka leads the 2023 movie as a high schooler who travels back in time and teams up with her teenage mom in order to stop a serial killer. If you dig the likes of Happy Death Day and Freaky, both of which also hail from Blumhouse, add this to your watchlist.
The V/H/S franchise continues on from last year's V/H/S/99 with this new mash of found-footage vignettes each helmed by a different filmmaker. This anthology series remains a must-see horror event and 2023's V/H/S/85 has already garnered a slew of positive early word. Its roster of directors includes Scott Derrickson (The Black Phone), David Bruckner (The Night House), Gigi Saul Guerrero (Bingo Hell). This instalment explores the seedy side of the 1980s, with burgeoning tech acting as the vessel for most of the tales. Expect a high level of grot and grue along with some genuinely frightening moments.
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