Sick Flix: 10 of the Best Horror Movies on Netflix

Netflix isn’t our go-to streaming service for horror movies (we think Tubi and Hulu offer way more scary choices)—but that doesn’t mean Netflix doesn’t have some good stuff in its 200-movie horror section.

We’ve blurbed 10 of the best horror movies on Netflix below. There’s something for every horror fan—icky body horror, dead witches, devilish babysitters, man-eating sharks, sinister slashers, vampire dictators, and more. And if you zoom through the initial 10 recommendations, we’ve included a list of 40 more Netflix horror movies that are worth watching. Fire up the big red ‘N’ and let’s get to streaming and screaming!

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André Øvredal’s followup to the found-footage creature feature Trollhunter (2010) finds a Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch as a father-son team of medical examiners working overnight to determine what killed an unidentified woman. Cutting up an unidentified dead body in the wee hours is already a freaky proposition—and Øvredal’s film delivers more than the implied intangible chills, plus bonus palpable yuckiness. Pro tip: For maximum spooks, watch it alone at night. —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

Not to be confused with The Babysitters Club, The Babysitter is a dark teen horror-comedy about suburban kid Cole (Judah Lewis) learning that his babysitter Bee (Samara Weaving) is the leader of a Satanic cult. Director McG injects The Babysitter with his trademark flash and flair, and the cast (which also includes Bella Thorne, Ken Marino, and Leslie Bibb) is down for all the insanity he throws at them. The 2020 sequel, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, is almost as good. —Bill Frost, Senior Staff Writer

Forget everything you know about fascist Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Actually, don’t, ‘cause it’ll help you understand this horror-black comedy that reimagines Pinochet as a 250-year-old vampire who’s ready to die. As Pinochet prepares to distribute his estate and peace out, his butler Fyodor (who’s also a vampire thanks to his boss/friend) and Pinochet’s kids plot to destroy him once and for all—but they forget who they’re up against. Pablo Larrain (Spencer, Neruda) directs. —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise breathes new life into the elements that made the original The Evil Dead (1981) a thrilling, relentless, and truly terrifying cinematic experience. Elements like those wild, zooming first-person shots from the Deadites’ perspective, demonic whispers, and copious, chunky carnage. What new stuff did Cronin add, though? He raised the tension by fleshing out the characters’ emotional stories, making their fates hit harder, and mostly dialed down the humor for enhanced terror. —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

Based on the book series by R.L Stine, the Fear Street three-parter is a supernatural murder mystery, jumping time periods within the “cursed” town of Shadyside (Part One is set in 1994; Part Two, 1978; Part Three, 1666). Parents take notice: Fear Street is more adult, bloody, and scary than most Stine works, with more in common with American Horror Story than Goosebumps. Part Three, set at a summer camp (classic slasher territory), is particularly intense. —Bill Frost, Senior Staff Writer

Steven Spielberg’s original summer blockbuster about a big-ass shark with brains and attitude still hits hard today. That’s because sharks are still pure nightmare fuel, unstoppable killing machines lurking in the deep water so many of us like to play in. So, watching the film is to recall that sharks still exist, attacks still happen, and the 25-foot animatronic shark from the film is only about 3–5 feet longer than the largest great white shark recorded. (And someday, someone’s gonna need a bigger bigger boat.) And some of the best scary movies are the ones that have real-world plausibility. Remember that when Jaws enjoys some Quint tartare in the movie (you’ll see, if you haven’t already). —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

Kristen Ritter (Jessica Jones) stars as a fashion-forward witch with a fantastical Brooklyn apartment in Nightbooks, a horror-lite movie based on the novel by J.A. White. Said apartment lures and traps children from the building, but only those of use to the witch get to remain alive. Fortunately, new capture Alex (Winslow Fegley) writes scary stories. The witch demands a new tale from the boy every evening, resulting in whimsical stories within the Nightbooks story. —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

Holiday horror is hit-or-miss; Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving is a hit with us—and it doesn’t have to be turkey season to enjoy watching a pilgrim called John Carver carve people up (or any Thanksgiving horror movie, for that matter). It’s also satisfying to see one of the few remaining “fake” trailers from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse double feature (with Death Proof and Planet Terror) become a full-length feature. So order a turkey sandwich with extra cranberry sauce from DoorDash and celebrate out of season with this messy bloodfest. —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

Unfriended, which is essentially a Skype slasher flick, takes on a little more meaning after a year of working and existing almost strictly online. A group of high school friends find their video chat has been infiltrated by a stranger they can’t delete, and they each begin dying in bizarre fashions (Unfriended might be the first movie to depict a death by curling iron).

You might want to close out of your social media accounts before watching. —Bill Frost, Senior Staff Writer

Director Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing packs a lot into the film: body horror, infectious disease, demonic presences, spectral beings, and zombies. That could result in a messy, disjointed movie—but The Wailing is ultimately as captivating and original as it is disturbing.

In the village of Gokseong, cop Jong-goo (Kwak Do-won) faces a surreal outbreak that plummets the townsfolk into madness and vicious killings. Suspicion lands on a reclusive Japanese man who recently settled in the area with his large black dog. Is he a genuine threat, or merely the scapegoat for the locals’ growing anti-Japanese sentiment? Jong-goo must race to uncover the truth before the mysterious epidemic claims his daughter. —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

• 1922 (2017)
• #Alive (2020)
• Apostle (2018)
• Army of the Dead (2021)
• The Babadook (2014)
• Backcountry (2014)
• Bird Box (2018)
• Blood Red Sky (2021)
• Bone Tomahawk (2015)
• Bride of Chucky (1998)
• Cam (2018)
• Cargo (2020)
• Child’s Play 2 (1990)
• Child’s Play 3 (1991)

• Creep (2014)
• Creep 2 (2017)
• Cult of Chucky (2017)
• Curse of Chucky (2013)
• Gerald’s Game (2017)
• Halloween (2018)
• He Never Died (2015)
• His House (2020)
• Incantation (2022)
• It: Chapter Two (2019)
• May the Devil Take You (2018)
• The Old Ways (2020)
• Old People (2022)
• Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

• Pearl (2022)
• The Perfection (2019)
• The Ritual (2018)
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
• Seed of Chucky (2004)
• The Sentinel (1977)
• There’s Something in the Barn (2023)
• Under the Shadow (2016)
• Veronica (2017)
• World War Z (2013)
• You’re Next (2011)
• Zombieland (2009)