TAGGED AS: Horror, Netflix
(Photo by Netflix. Thumbnail: Dark Sky/courtesy Everett Collection)
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
Adjusted Score: 71143%
Critics Consensus: If you only watch one art-world satire with horror overtones this year -- or most others -- it should probably be Velvet Buzzsaw.
Synopsis: After paintings by an unknown artist are discovered, a supernatural force enacts revenge on those who have allowed their greed...
[More]
#42
Adjusted Score: 59656%
Critics Consensus: Jaws 2 never approaches the lingering thrills of its classic predecessor, but it's reasonably entertaining for a sequel that has no reason to exist.
Synopsis: Years after the shark attacks that left Amity Island reeling, Sheriff Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) finds new trouble lurking in...
[More]
#41
Adjusted Score: 70581%
Critics Consensus: Unfriended subverts found-footage horror clichés to deliver a surprisingly scary entry in the teen slasher genre with a technological twist.
Synopsis: One night, while teenagers Blaire, Mitch, Jess, Adam Ken and Val take part in an online group chat session, they...
[More]
#40
Adjusted Score: 73184%
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]
#39
Adjusted Score: 67850%
Critics Consensus: Beware this waking nightmare: Before I Wake isn't always lucid enough to escape its wobbly story, but crafts a neat horror landscape of grief.
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]
#38
Adjusted Score: 70808%
Critics Consensus: We Summon the Darkness makes the most of its rather pedestrian plot with palpable affection for genre formula, an appealing cast, and a sharp sense of humor.
Synopsis: Three friends cross paths with sadistic killers after they travel to a secluded country home to party....
[More]
#37
Adjusted Score: 74769%
Critics Consensus: Led by a pair of compelling performances, The Perfection is a smart, gripping thriller that barbs its wild twists with cutting wit.
Synopsis: A troubled musical prodigy and a new star pupil embark down a sinister path....
[More]
#36
Adjusted Score: 70591%
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]
#35
Adjusted Score: 75770%
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]
#34
Adjusted Score: 78541%
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]
#33
Adjusted Score: 82121%
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]
#32
Adjusted Score: 81533%
Critics Consensus: Old Dolls can learn new tricks: This little murderer with a facelift is sillier and better than ever thanks to Don Mancini's Cult of Chucky.
Synopsis: Chucky returns to terrorize his human victim, Nica, who is confined to an asylum for the criminally insane. Meanwhile, the...
[More]
#31
Adjusted Score: 85544%
Critics Consensus: While it may feel muddled at times, The Platform is an inventive and captivating dystopian thriller.
Synopsis: In the future, prisoners housed in vertical cells watch as inmates in the upper cells are fed while those below...
[More]
#30
Adjusted Score: 94507%
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]
#29
Adjusted Score: 91948%
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]
#28
Adjusted Score: 84239%
Critics Consensus: Smart, stylish, and well-acted, What Keeps You Alive proves it's still possible to spin an engrossing horror yarn without fundamentally altering established formula.
Synopsis: Jackie and Jules are a couple celebrating their first anniversary at a secluded cabin in the woods belonging to Jackie's...
[More]
#27
Adjusted Score: 81237%
Critics Consensus: A yuletide nightmare full of familial angst and slithering scares, Await Further Instructions is a genre treat that pretty much any horror fan will want in their stocking.
Synopsis: On Christmas Day, a family wakes up to find a mysterious black substance surrounding its house, and its TV screen...
[More]
#26
Adjusted Score: 89350%
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: A circle of teenage friends accidentally encounter the ancient evil responsible for a series of brutal murders that have plagued...
[More]
#25
Adjusted Score: 82072%
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]
#24
Adjusted Score: 96438%
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]
#23
Adjusted Score: 101030%
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]
#22
Adjusted Score: 88542%
Critics Consensus: Well-acted, genuinely unsettling, and occasionally even funny, #alive proves the crowded zombie genre still has fresh stories to tell.
Synopsis: A rapidly spreading infection leaves one survivor in the entire city....
[More]
#21
Adjusted Score: 88945%
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]
#20
Adjusted Score: 91362%
Critics Consensus: Cargo takes a refreshingly character-driven approach to the zombie genre that's further distinguished by its Australian setting and Martin Freeman's terrific lead performance.
Synopsis: Stranded in rural Australia in the aftermath of a violent pandemic, an infected father desperately seeks a new home for...
[More]
#19
Adjusted Score: 91887%
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]
#18
Adjusted Score: 92862%
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: Shadyside, 1978. School's out for summer and the activities at Camp Nightwing are about to begin. But when another Shadysider...
[More]
#17
Adjusted Score: 88789%
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]
#16
Adjusted Score: 91761%
Critics Consensus: A smart, oddball take on found-footage horror, Creep is clever and well-acted enough to keep viewers on the edges of their seats.
Synopsis: Aaron answers an online ad and drives to a stranger's house to film him for the day. The man wants...
[More]
#15
Adjusted Score: 94000%
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 starts to believe that his ex-wife and her new...
[More]
#14
Adjusted Score: 99466%
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]
#13
Adjusted Score: 93371%
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: The origins of Sarah Fier's curse are finally revealed as history comes full circle on a night that changes the...
[More]
#12
Adjusted Score: 91296%
Critics Consensus: In the sharp, socially conscious battle of Vampires vs. the Bronx, comedy and horror blend brilliantly -- and the audience is the winner.
Synopsis: A group of friends band together to save their neighborhood from vampires....
[More]
#11
Adjusted Score: 93830%
Critics Consensus: Thanks to director Zak Hilditch's patient storytelling and strong work from lead Thomas Jane, 1922 ranks among the more satisfying Stephen King adaptations.
Synopsis: A rancher conspires to murder his wife for financial gain and convinces his teenage son to participate....
[More]
#10
Adjusted Score: 94774%
Critics Consensus: Carla Gugino carries Gerald's Game's small-scale suspense with a career-defining performance.
Synopsis: A woman accidentally kills her husband during a kinky game. Handcuffed to her bed with no hope of rescue, she...
[More]
#9
Adjusted Score: 94209%
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]
#8
Adjusted Score: 98004%
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]
#7
Adjusted Score: 96240%
Critics Consensus: Carried by Kiersey Clemons' performance, Sweetheart balances smart subtext and social commentary against effective genre thrills.
Synopsis: A shipwreck survivor on an uninhabited island must fend off a malevolent force that surfaces each night....
[More]
#6
Adjusted Score: 105133%
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]
#5
Adjusted Score: 99171%
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]
#4
Adjusted Score: 114451%
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]
#3
Adjusted Score: 102727%
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]
#2
Adjusted Score: 100651%
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]
#1
Adjusted Score: 106803%
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]
Read More:
![]()
![]()
61%
56%
70%
