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The Best Horror Movies on Netflix

Looking for the best scary movies on Netflix? After a guided map of the most terrifying dingy dungeons, creaky manors, home-invaded houses, and deeply dark woods you can find on the streaming service? Then your search has led you to your glorious streaming doom: The Best Horror Movies on Netflix!

Not only does Netflix have a strong rotating library of scary movies, they sit along their horror original efforts, like Gerald’s Game, Fear Street, and Bird Box.

How did we whittle down our list of horror? We took every last scary movie on Netflix that had at least 20 reviews. What emerges is a portrait of which films unnerved and spooked out critics, have the potential to get audiences’ heart racing, and maybe even broke new ground and bones for the genre. So enough delaying the inevitable: Here are the best Netflix horror movies to stream and scream right now!

#43

Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
61%

#43

Adjusted Score: 72537%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: ... [More]

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Billy Magnussen, John Malkovich, Toni Collette

Directed By: Dan Gilroy

#42

Jaws 2 (1978)
61%

#42

Adjusted Score: 60540%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Years after the shark attacks that left Amity Island reeling, Sheriff Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) finds new trouble lurking in... [More]

Starring: Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Joseph Mascolo

Directed By: Jeannot Szwarc

#41

Unfriended (2014)
62%

#41

Adjusted Score: 68253%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: One night, while teenagers Blaire, Mitch, Jess, Adam Ken and Val take part in an online group chat session, they... [More]

Starring: Shelley Hennig, Moses Storm, Renee Olstead, Will Peltz

Directed By: Leo Gabriadze

#40

Bird Box (2018)
64%

#40

Adjusted Score: 72774%

Critics Consensus: Bird Box never quite reaches its intriguing potential, but strong acting and an effectively chilly mood offer intermittently creepy compensation.

Synopsis: When a mysterious force decimates the population, only one thing is certain -- if you see it, you die. The... [More]

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver, Rosa Salazar

Directed By: Susanne Bier

#39

Before I Wake (2016)
66%

#39

Adjusted Score: 66711%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Foster parents Mark and Jessie welcome 8-year-old Cody into their home. The boy tells Jessie that he's terrified to fall... [More]

Starring: Kate Bosworth, Thomas Jane, Annabeth Gish, Dash Mihok

Directed By: Mike Flanagan

#38

We Summon the Darkness (2019)
69%

#38

Adjusted Score: 73159%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Three best friends cross paths with sadistic killers after they travel to a secluded country home to party.... [More]

Starring: Alexandra Daddario, Keean Johnson, Johnny Knoxville, Logan Miller

Directed By: Marc Meyers

#37

The Perfection (2018)
71%

#37

Adjusted Score: 75413%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A troubled musical prodigy and a new star pupil embark down a sinister path.... [More]

Starring: Allison Williams, Logan Browning, Steven Weber, Alaina Huffman

Directed By: Richard Shepard

#36

The Babysitter (2017)
72%

#36

Adjusted Score: 73246%

Critics Consensus: Enjoyable if not particularly original, The Babysitter makes the most of its familiar genre ingredients with energetic direction and a killer cast.

Synopsis: When Cole stays up past his bedtime, he discovers that his hot baby sitter belongs to a satanic cult that... [More]

Starring: Bella Thorne, Judah Lewis, Hana Mae Lee, Robbie Amell

Directed By: McG

#35

Piercing (2018)
72%

#35

Adjusted Score: 77544%

Critics Consensus: Stylish with a sadistic streak, Piercing pairs gripping lead performances with a smartly macabre story that delivers unpredictable thrills.

Synopsis: After kissing his wife and baby goodbye for a seemingly normal business trip, Reed checks himself into a hotel room... [More]

Starring: Christopher Abbott, Mia Wasikowska, Laia Costa, Marin Ireland

Directed By: Nicolas Pesce

#34

The Ritual (2017)
74%

#34

Adjusted Score: 79431%

Critics Consensus: Director David Bruckner makes evocative use of the Scandinavian setting and a dedicated cast to deliver a handsome -- if familiar -- horror story.

Synopsis: Reuniting after the tragic death of their friend, four college pals set out to hike through the Scandinavian wilderness. A... [More]

Starring: Rafe Spall, Robert James-Collier, Arsher Ali, Sam Troughton

Directed By: David Bruckner

#33

Apostle (2018)
79%

#33

Adjusted Score: 81497%

Critics Consensus: Apostle resists easy scares in favor of a steady, slow-building descent into dread led by a commanding central performance from Dan Stevens.

Synopsis: London, 1905. Prodigal son Thomas Richardson has returned home, only to learn that his sister is being held for ransom... [More]

Starring: Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Michael Sheen, Kristine Froseth

Directed By: Gareth Evans

#32

Cult of Chucky (2017)
79%

#32

Adjusted Score: 79858%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Chucky returns to terrorize his human victim, Nica, who is confined to an asylum for the criminally insane. Meanwhile, the... [More]

Starring: Fiona Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, Alex Vincent

Directed By: Don Mancini

#31

The Platform (2019)
79%

#31

Adjusted Score: 83911%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In the future, prisoners housed in vertical cells watch as inmates in the upper cells are fed while those below... [More]

Starring: Emilio Buale, Zorion Eguileor, Alexandra Masangkay, Ivan Massagué

Directed By: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

#30

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
80%

#30

Adjusted Score: 99603%

Critics Consensus: The Killing of a Sacred Deer continues director Yorgos Lanthimos' stubbornly idiosyncratic streak -- and demonstrates again that his is a talent not to be ignored.

Synopsis: Dr. Steven Murphy is a renowned cardiovascular surgeon who presides over a spotless household with his wife and two children.... [More]

Starring: Bill Camp, Raffey Cassidy, Denise Dal Vera, Colin Farrell

Directed By: Yorgos Lanthimos

#29

The Conjuring 2 (2016)
80%

#29

Adjusted Score: 94721%

Critics Consensus: The Conjuring 2 can't help but lose a bit of its predecessor's chilly sting through familiarity, but what remains is still a superior ghost story told with spine-tingling skill.

Synopsis: In 1977, paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren come out of a self-imposed sabbatical to travel to Enfield,... [More]

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Madison Wolfe, Frances O'Connor

Directed By: James Wan

#28

What Keeps You Alive (2018)
80%

#28

Adjusted Score: 81427%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Jackie and Jules are a couple celebrating their first anniversary at a secluded cabin in the woods belonging to Jackie's... [More]

Starring: Hannah Emily Anderson, Brittany Allen, Martha MacIsaac, Joey Klein

Directed By: Colin Minihan

#27

Await Further Instructions (2018)
81%

#27

Adjusted Score: 80331%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: On Christmas Day, a family wakes up to find a mysterious black substance surrounding its house, and its TV screen... [More]

Starring: David Bradley, Abigail Cruttenden, Holly Weston, Sam Gittins

Directed By: Johnny Kevorkian

#26

Fear Street Part One: 1994 (2021)
83%

#26

Adjusted Score: 88679%

Critics Consensus: Fear Street Part One: 1994 kicks off the trilogy in promising fashion, honoring the source material with plenty of retro slasher appeal.

Synopsis: After a series of brutal slayings, a teen and her friends take on an evil force that's plagued their notorious... [More]

Starring: Kiana Madeira, Olivia Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., Julia Rehwald

Directed By: Leigh Janiak

#25

Girl on the Third Floor (2019)
84%

#25

Adjusted Score: 85459%

Critics Consensus: Girl on the Third Floor proves a good old-fashioned haunted house story can still be entertaining -- and put a fresh spin on established genre formula.

Synopsis: A man tries to renovate a dilapidated house for his growing family, only to learn that the house has other... [More]

Starring: CM Punk, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Sarah Brooks, Elissa Dowling

Directed By: Travis Stevens

#24

The Conjuring (2013)
86%

#24

Adjusted Score: 93943%

Critics Consensus: Well-crafted and gleefully creepy, The Conjuring ratchets up dread through a series of effective old-school scares.

Synopsis: In 1970, paranormal investigators and demonologists Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed (Patrick Wilson) Warren are summoned to the home of... [More]

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston

Directed By: James Wan

#23

It Comes at Night (2017)
87%

#23

Adjusted Score: 105822%

Critics Consensus: It Comes at Night makes lethally effective use of its bare-bones trappings while proving once again that what's left unseen can be just as horrifying as anything on the screen.

Synopsis: After a mysterious apocalypse leaves the world with few survivors, two families are forced to share a home in an... [More]

Starring: Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo, Riley Keough

Directed By: Trey Edward Shults

#22

#Alive (2020)
88%

#22

Adjusted Score: 87743%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A rapidly spreading infection leaves one survivor in the entire city.... [More]

Starring: Yoo Ah-in, Park Shin-hye, Jeon Bae-soo, Lee Hyun-wook

Directed By: Il Cho

#21

The Ravenous (2017)
88%

#21

Adjusted Score: 88090%

Critics Consensus: Uncommonly restrained for a movie about a flesh-eating menace, Ravenous offers a satisfyingly nuanced entry in the crowded zombie apocalypse subgenre.

Synopsis: A village in Quebec is terrorized by a flesh-eating plague.... [More]

Starring: Marc-André Grondin, Monia Chokri, Charlotte St-Martin, Micheline Lanctôt

Directed By: Robin Aubert

#20

Cargo (2017)
88%

#20

Adjusted Score: 91820%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Stranded in rural Australia in the aftermath of a violent pandemic, an infected father desperately searches for a new home... [More]

Starring: Martin Freeman, Anthony Hayes, Susie Porter, Simone Landers

Directed By: Ben Howling, Yolanda Ramke

#19

Freaks (2018)
88%

#19

Adjusted Score: 92442%

Critics Consensus: Stocked with solid performances, Freaks is a clever sci-fi/horror hybrid that suggests a bright future for co-writers/co-directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein.

Synopsis: Kept locked inside the house by her father, 7-year-old Chloe lives in fear and fascination of the outside world. It's... [More]

Starring: Emile Hirsch, Bruce Dern, Lexy Kolker, Amanda Crew

Directed By: Adam Stein, Zach Lipovsky

#18

Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021)
88%

#18

Adjusted Score: 92647%

Critics Consensus: A smart and subversive twist on slasher horror, Fear Street Part II: 1978 shows that summer camp has never been scarier thanks to stellar performances from Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, and Ryan Simpkins.

Synopsis: A summer of fun turns into a gruesome fight for survival as a killer terrorizes Camp Nightwing in the cursed... [More]

Starring: Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, Ryan Simpkins, McCabe Slye

Directed By: Leigh Janiak

#17

Emelie (2015)
89%

#17

Adjusted Score: 89295%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A young boy (Joshua Rush) tries to protect his two siblings when their new baby sitter (Sarah Bolger) starts to... [More]

Starring: Sarah Bolger, Joshua Rush, Carly Adams, Thomas Bair

Directed By: Michael Thelin

#16

Creep (2014)
90%

#16

Adjusted Score: 89287%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Aaron answers an online ad and drives to a stranger's house to film him for the day. The man wants... [More]

Starring: Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice

Directed By: Patrick Brice

#15

The Invitation (2015)
89%

#15

Adjusted Score: 94147%

Critics Consensus: The Invitation makes brilliant use of its tension-rich premise to deliver a uniquely effective -- and surprisingly clever -- slow-building thriller.

Synopsis: While attending a dinner party at his former house, a man (Logan Marshall-Green) starts to believe that his ex-wife (Tammy... [More]

Starring: Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, Michiel Huisman, Emayatzy Corinealdi

Directed By: Karyn Kusama

#14

Zombieland (2009)
89%

#14

Adjusted Score: 99680%

Critics Consensus: Wickedly funny and featuring plenty of gore, Zombieland is proof that the zombie subgenre is far from dead.

Synopsis: After a virus turns most people into zombies, the world's surviving humans remain locked in an ongoing battle against the... [More]

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin

Directed By: Ruben Fleischer

#13

Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (2021)
90%

#13

Adjusted Score: 94020%

Critics Consensus: Fear Street Part Three: 1666 sends the slasher series back in time for a trilogy-concluding installment that caps things off on a screaming high note.

Synopsis: In 1666, a colonial town is gripped by a witch hunt that has deadly consequences for centuries to come, while... [More]

Starring: Kiana Madeira, Ashley Zukerman, Gillian Jacobs, Olivia Welch

Directed By: Leigh Janiak

#12

Vampires vs. The Bronx (2019)
90%

#12

Adjusted Score: 91978%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A group of friends band together to save their neighborhood from vampires.... [More]

Starring: Jaden Michael, Gregory Diaz IV, Sarah Gadon, Shea Whigham

Directed By: Osmany Rodriguez

#11

1922 (2017)
91%

#11

Adjusted Score: 92406%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A rancher conspires to murder his wife for financial gain and convinces his teenage son to participate.... [More]

Starring: Thomas Jane, Neal McDonough, Molly Parker, Brian d'Arcy James

Directed By: Zak Hilditch

#10

Gerald's Game (2017)
91%

#10

Adjusted Score: 96121%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A woman accidentally kills her husband during a kinky game. Handcuffed to her bed with no hope of rescue, she... [More]

Starring: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Henry Thomas, Carel Struycken

Directed By: Mike Flanagan

#9

Hush (2016)
93%

#9

Adjusted Score: 94822%

Critics Consensus: Hush navigates the bloody waters of home invasion thrillers and incisive slashers for a contemporary horror puree.

Synopsis: A deaf woman is stalked by a killer in her home.... [More]

Starring: John Gallagher Jr., Kate Siegel, Michael Trucco, Samantha Sloyan

Directed By: Mike Flanagan

#8

Cam (2018)
93%

#8

Adjusted Score: 98461%

Critics Consensus: Smart and suspenseful, CAM is a techno-thriller that's far more than the sum of its salacious parts -- and an outstanding showcase for Madeline Brewer in the leading role.

Synopsis: A camgirl has her principles, until a mysterious woman who looks just like her takes over her channel.... [More]

Starring: Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters, Devin Druid

Directed By: Daniel Goldhaber

#7

Sweetheart (2019)
95%

#7

Adjusted Score: 95533%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A shipwreck survivor on an uninhabited island must fend off a malevolent force that surfaces each night.... [More]

Starring: Emory Cohen, Kiersey Clemons, Hanna Mangan Lawrence

Directed By: J.D. Dillard

#6

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
95%

#6

Adjusted Score: 103500%

Critics Consensus: Pan's Labyrinth is Alice in Wonderland for grown-ups, with the horrors of both reality and fantasy blended together into an extraordinary, spellbinding fable.

Synopsis: In 1944 Spain young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her ailing mother (Ariadna Gil) arrive at the post of her mother's... [More]

Starring: Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Ivana Baquero, Álex Angulo

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro

#5

The Old Ways (2021)
97%

#5

Adjusted Score: 97324%

Critics Consensus: A demonic possession movie with impressive depth, The Old Ways uses familiar genre ingredients to cast a uniquely gripping spell.

Synopsis: Deep in the Veracruz jungles, Mexican American journalist Cristina Lopez is held captive by a mysterious bruja, or witch doctor... [More]

Starring: Brigitte Kali Canales, Andrea Cortes, Julia Vera, Sal Lopez

Directed By: Christopher Alender

#4

Jaws (1975)
98%

#4

Adjusted Score: 106290%

Critics Consensus: Compelling, well-crafted storytelling and a judicious sense of terror ensure Steven Spielberg's Jaws has remained a benchmark in the art of delivering modern blockbuster thrills.

Synopsis: When a young woman is killed by a shark while skinny-dipping near the New England tourist town of Amity Island,... [More]

Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

#3

Under the Shadow (2016)
99%

#3

Adjusted Score: 104201%

Critics Consensus: Under the Shadow deftly blends seemingly disparate genres to deliver an effective chiller with timely themes and thought-provoking social subtext.

Synopsis: After Shideh's building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, a superstitious neighbor suggests that the missile was... [More]

Starring: Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi, Ray Haratian

Directed By: Babak Anvari

#2

Creep 2 (2017)
100%

#2

Adjusted Score: 101013%

Critics Consensus: Creep 2 has everything that made the original work and more -- more laughs, more awkwardness, more unsettling terror.

Synopsis: A video artist quickly realizes she has made a mistake when she meets a serial killer in a cabin.... [More]

Starring: Mark Duplass, Karan Soni, Patrick Brice, Desiree Akhavan

Directed By: Patrick Brice

#1

His House (2020)
100%

#1

Adjusted Score: 107715%

Critics Consensus: Featuring genuine scares through every corridor, His House is a terrifying look at the specters of the refugee experience and a stunning feature debut for Remi Weekes.

Synopsis: A refugee couple makes a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, but then they struggle to adjust to their new... [More]

Starring: Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu, Matt Smith, Cornell John

Directed By: Remi Weekes

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