It is genuinely hard to make lists like this on Netflix, given that so many movies come and go, given licensing timelines with the service. For this Best Horror Movies list, I figured I would list one of my favorites, but guess what? It’s gone, as are a number of others I’ve seen in the past.
So, we work with what we have, and thankfully, we still have a number of great horror movies on the service, though I would argue less than we used to. Here they are, and there are at least a few Netflix originals on here that aren’t going to leave.
1) His House – 100% – I remember watching this when it was released in 2020, and it made a huge impression, as it did with the 125 critics that make up its perfect 100% score. It’s a fantastic film about how the past can haunt you, based around a Sudanese couple who escaped the horrors of that land. But something followed them.
2) Creep 2 – 100% – Creep 2 might be cheating a little with far fewer reviews in, but it’s one of the most unique entries on this list with an unsettling performance from Mark Duplass, who has created one of the most unexpected horror villains of our time between these movies and The Creep Tapes, a TV show.
3) Under the Shadow – 99% – I believe this is the only film on the list I haven’t seen, so I’m certainly going to check it out now. A woman believes that her house is cursed after it’s hit by a missile in the Iran-Iraq war, believing an evil spirit arrived with it to possess her daughter. What a concept.
4) Train to Busan – 95% – Simply put, this is the best zombie movie of all time, and I would argue nothing else is even close. Harrowing, gory and memorable, the claustrophobic film will stay with you. Or I suppose it has stayed with me because I’ve watched it about five times.
5) Talk to Me – 94% – One of the newest entries on this list, the teenage possession horror film is wholly unique in the genre and features some of the most memorable horror scenes and performances in the last decade. Those behind the film also just released Bring Her Back, which is still in theaters.
6) Cam – 93% – This is probably the most obscure English-language film and fair warning, this is one with a significantly lower audience score. But I still thought the film was neat, as a camgirl finds that a mysterious double has taken over her identity on the site.
7) Us – 93% – Jordan Peele’s horror stunner is on Netflix right now, even if his higher profile Get Out is not. Another film dealing with creepy doubles, it draws out an award-worthy performance from Lupita Nyong’o. I don’t think it’s Peele’s best film, lower than Get Out and Nope, but it’s fantastic in its own right.
8) Barbarian – 92% – Another recent, very horrifying film, this one from director Zach Cregger, who also has a new, bizarre looking horror film out this year, Weapons. Barbarian is a film that it’s best to know little about going in, as it has the most jarring moment I’ve ever seen in a movie like this.
9) 1922 – 92% – A murder drama that most may have missed, it stars Thomas Jane as a man who recruits his teenage son to help murder his mother for money. It’s based on a Stephen King novella, so that’s a great start right there.
10) Gerald’s Game – 91% – At this point, Mike Flanagan is more famous for his “Haunting of” Netflix shows, Midnight Mass and Hush than he is this film, but it’s a locked-in-place thriller starring the excellent Carla Gugino, who is handcuffed to her bed after her husband dies of a heart attack, and must escape. Another Stephen King adaptation, in fact.
I know a few have probably slipped through the cracks here, as it is hard to keep track of shifting Netflix films month to month, but I did my best. Enjoy them. For now.
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