40 Best Horror Movies On HBO Max

Video rental stores may have gone the way of the dinosaur, but you can still capture that giddy sense of rifling through garish VHS covers when you flip through your local streaming service. Ah, the agony of choice — the horror fan's dilemma. Do you settle in for a sin-filled slasher or something more heady and psychological? Do you opt for the cynical self-awareness of the 1990s or the ghostly stuttering of silent cinema? There's oodles and oodles of horror fare to choose from on HBO Max. And we're here to make that sometimes stress-inducing decision-making process a little easier.

We've combed through HBO Max's library and identified the best of the spine-tingling best for your viewing pleasure. Below you'll find 40 excellent horror titles currently streaming on the service, each with the power to titillate and terrify. From heavy Hollywood hitters to international gems, there's something spooky for everyone. So have a look and see if anything in particular catches your eye. Who knows? Maybe a devious double bill is in order.

Updated on December 29, 2021: HBO Max is constantly updating its selection with new, scary titles that'll have you gasping in fright. So please note that this article is updated monthly to reflect changes to HBO Max's streaming availability.

Frank is in the throes of a messy divorce from his mentally unwell wife, Nola, a permanent resident of the Somafree Institute. Disturbed to find bruises and scratches on their five-year-old daughter's body, Frank desperately attempts to gain sole custody. But the institute's strict visitation policy and the stubborn head psychotherapist prevent Frank from settling the matter quickly. During his attempts to invalidate Somafree's methods and protect his daughter, Frank uncovers the dark, fleshy truth behind the institute and its effect on his estranged wife — a truth that could only come from the mind of director David Cronenberg.

• Starring: Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle
• Director: David Cronenberg
• Year: 1979
• Runtime: 92 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

The year is 1971. Husband and wife duo Ed and Lorraine Warren are faced with the most dangerous case of their careers as seasoned paranormal investigators. The Perrons and their five daughters recent move to a remote farmhouse has been plagued with supernatural occurrences, that while benign at first, have become increasingly violent. Tasked with discovering the root cause of the terrifying spectral encounter, the Warrens must find a way to lift the curse before its too late, resulting in some of the scariest scenes in modern-day horror.

• Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor
• Director: James Wan
• Year: 2013
• Runtime: 111 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

A unique spin on the vampire mythos, Guillermo del Toro's feature film debut is as touching as it is tragic. An elderly antiques dealer happens across a strange golden machine concealed within a statue. Created four centuries ago by an alchemist hoping to crack the code to eternal youth, the "Cronos device" grants its user everlasting life ... at a price. When the kindly grandpa begins to use the insect-like machine to turn back the clock, he's initially overjoyed at his newfound energy and good looks. But finding himself increasingly dependent on a device turning him into a monster, the old man must fight temptation in order to cling to what's left of his humanity.

• Starring: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook
• Director: Guillermo del Toro
• Year: 1993
• Runtime: 92 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

A local girl is missing. And a retired cop named James is looking into it. But what he finds defies explanation — an apparent plague of teen suicides, a terrifying local legend, and hushed tones of a cult attempting to manifest a sinister entity. Part Lovecraft, park J-horror, part '70s paranoia thriller, "The Empty Man" was done dirty by its mid-pandemic release, and has mercifully found its audience as a modern cult classic. 

• Starring: James Badge Dale, Owen Teague, Marin Ireland
• Director: David Prior
• Year: 2020
• Runtime: 136
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 63%

The cabin in the woods that started it all, "The Evil Dead" was the gore-coated door kick that introduced audiences to the ooey-gooey talents of director Sam Raimi. Far more aligned with a grindhouse sensibility than the campy "Three Stooges" shenanigans that would later color the rest of the franchise, "The Evil Dead" plays its hand devastatingly straight. Brimming with the unmistakable passion of a fresh new genre filmmaker, "The Evil Dead" tells of a gaggle of hapless teens who wanted a remote romantic getaway, but instead, they get possessed by an ancient evil force after goofing around with an ominous book bound in human skin. Let this be a lesson, dear reader, leave the books to the nerds!

• Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker
• Director: Sam Raimi
• Year: 1981
• Runtime: 85 minutes
• Rating: NC-17
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

William Friedkin's 1973 film tells the story of 12-year-old Regan MacNeil, an all-American girl who inexplicably adopts a profane, violent, and volatile new personality. As her mother runs out of rational explanations, she turns to her last hope: an exorcism. An undeniable classic brimming with heartache and slow-burn spectacle, it's no secret "The Exorcist" is still regarded as one of the scariest movies ever made. A masterpiece through and through, if this film has yet to cross your path, this is your opportunity to right that wrong.

• Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller
• Director: William Friedkin
• Year: 1973
• Runtime: 122 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

Hoping to procure a unique gift for his son, Billy, a gadget salesman purchases an odd, intriguing animal from a shopkeeper in Chinatown. Known as a "mogwai," the creature comes with a laundry list of mysterious rules — no bright light, no water, and no food after midnight. Despite his best efforts, Billy inadvertently breaks all three rules, unleashing a devious and wildly violent horde of gremlins upon his town on Christmas Eve and giving us an '80s holiday-horror classic.

• Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton
• Director: Joe Dante
• Year: 1984
• Runtime: 106 minutes
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Sure, you've heard people call movies "trippy" before. But "House" is in a league of its own. Part arthouse horror-comedy, part bananapants fever dream, "House" tells of Gorgeous, a young girl who takes a trip to the country to visit her aunt at their ancestral home. Joined by six equally ridiculously named friends, Gorgeous soon discovers that the titular house has a mind of its own. An absolutely wild ride from start to finish, "House" is like "Evil Dead II" on acid — a joy-filled and utterly surreal viewing experience with no parallel.

• Starring: Kimiko Ikegami, Ai Matsubara, Miki Jinbo
• Director: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi
• Year: 1977
• Runtime: 87 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

It's Halloween 1962, and bullies have locked 9-year-old Frankie in his classroom coatroom. Trapped at night, Frankie witnesses the apparition of a young girl being murdered. While her assailant is invisible, Frankie soon has a violent run-in with a suspicious man who may well be the guy who murdered the young girl. But after he recovers from the ordeal, Frankie is stalked by the killer who he gradually suspects may be someone close to him. Boasting incredible set design and a fog-drenched atmosphere, "Lady in White" is a charming chiller with a strong stylistic gait. 

• Starring: Lukas Haas, Len Cariou, Alex Rocco
• Director: Frank LaLoggia
• Year: 1988
• Runtime: 113 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69%

A murderer is on the loose — Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, and his crimes trigger an unprecedented police manhunt. Children stay home from school, and the cries of distraught mothers fill the streets. An atmosphere of fear and anxious vigilance disrupts normal city life not just for normal citizens but for the denizens of the seedy underworld, who find themselves equally horrified by Beckert's repellent compulsions. Realizing he's being pursued by cops and outlaws alike, the cornered killer panics. Relying not on buckets of blood but nerve-shattering pacing and a powerhouse performance by Peter Lorre, even at nearly 100 years old, "M" is sure to get under your skin.

• Starring: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut
• Director: Fritz Lang
• Year: 1931
• Runtime: 109 minutes
• Rating: TV-14
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

Plucked from a Cairo prison to assist in the excavation of the lost city of Hamunaptra, swashbuckling legionnaire Rick O'Connell reluctantly leads his fellow explorers to the supposedly cursed city. Indeed, entombed beneath the sand is the disgraced high priest Imhotep, who suffered a fate worse than death for his affair with the Pharaoh's mistress. Naturally, the party unwittingly resurrect the rightfully pissed-off mummy using the Book of the Dead, and Imhotep sets about his reign of terror as he reconstitutes his withered body, resulting in a movie that's "Indiana Jones" meets Universal monster.

• Starring: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah
• Director: Stephen Sommers
• Year: 1999
• Runtime: 124 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 61%

While her son fights in a far away war, a woman and her daughter-in-law make a living by killing samurai who wander into their bog and selling their valuables. Upon learning that the son has died, the daughter-in-law begins an affair with Hachi, their neighbor. Disapproving of the romance and unable to woo Hachi herself, the mother attempts to frighten her daughter-in-law with a terrifying mask stolen from a deceased samurai. Needless to say, this does not end well.

• Starring: Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Satô
• Director: Kaneto Shindô
• Year: 1964
• Runtime: 102 minutes
• Rating: TV-MA
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

The dead have risen, and they are ready to party, baby. When a bumbling pair of employees at top-secret military supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the noxious vapors have the unexpected side effect of raising the dead. As they crawl back into the land of the living, the zombies have one thing and one thing only on their minds: brains. One of the most assured directorial debuts of all time, "The Return of the Living Dead" is one of the rare horror comedies that's genuinely horrifying.

• Starring: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa
• Director: Dan O'Bannon
• Year: 1995
• Runtime: 90 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

An antisocial derelict named Cameron Vale is recruited off the streets by the mysterious ConSec research agency. Under sedation, Cameron learns that he's a "scanner," an individual born with remarkable and potentially deadly telepathic and psychokinetic abilities. Tasked with eliminating a sadistic, power-hungry scanner named Darryl Revok, Cameron steadily uncovers the truth about his mental abilities and ConSec's own ominous involvement in the "scanner" phenomena. On top of that impressive plot, "Scanners" features one of the greatest gore moments ever put on film.

• Starring: Stephen Lack, Jennifer O'Neill, Michael Ironside
• Director: David Cronenberg
• Year: 1981
• Runtime: 103 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

A group of hapless coworkers from the sales department of the Palisade Defense Corporation arrive in Eastern Europe for a team-building exercise. Unfortunately, the hell of an HR-mandated work retreat is the least of their worries. A fallen tree blocks the route to their destination, forcing the co-workers to hike on foot ... straight through the woods harboring a psychotic killer. No amount of workplace morale boosting is worth losing a limb. "Severance" is what you get when you put "The Office" and "Friday the 13th" in a blender — a gruesome and entertaining debut from future "Triangle" director Christopher Smith.

• Starring: Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny
• Director: Christopher Smith
• Year: 2006
• Runtime: 95 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 66%

Obsessed with the prestige of a potential Pulitzer Prize, investigative reporter Johnny Barrett is willing to do anything to set himself apart from his peers to win the cherished award. When Johnny learns of an open homicide committed at a local psychiatric hospital, he plots a scheme to crack the case himself. Admitted into the institution after coercing his girlfriend and a psychiatrist, Johnny begins his investigation ... only to steadily lose his grip on reality.

• Starring: Peter Breck, Constance Towers, Gene Evans
• Director: Samuel Fuller
• Year: 1963
• Runtime: 101 minutes
• Rating: TV-14
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

When India Stoker's father dies in a car accident, she sinks into a deep depression. The sudden arrival of Charlie, a charming uncle she never knew existed, only adds to her emotional turmoil. When Charlie moves in with India and her increasingly unstable mother, India begins to suspect her "uncle" has ulterior motives. To her surprise, India finds herself drawn further and further in to Charlie's orbit, infatuated with a darkness she begins to recognize within herself.

• Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Nicole Kidman
• Director: Park Chan-wook
• Year: 2013
• Runtime: 98 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

A group of university students set off to make a documentary about a suspected bear poacher named Hans. When Hans rebuffs their request for an interview, they follow him into the woods one night in hopes of catching him in the bear-slaying act. Instead, they learn the truth about Hans' prey (psst: the hint is in the film's title). "Troll Hunter" is what you would get if "The Blair Witch Project" got in a car accident with a Christopher Guest documentary. It's humorous, sly, and has atmosphere to spare. 

• Starring: Otto Jespersen, Glenn Erland Tosterud, Johanna Mørck
• Director: André Øvredal
• Year: 2010
• Runtime: 103 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%

Darkly funny with a fiendish sense of the macabre, this modern horror anthology unravels four interlocking stories that take place on Halloween night. We've got a high school principal with a double life as a serial killer, a virginal college girl searching for the man of her dreams, a group of malicious teenagers on the wrong end of a mean-spirited prank, and a bitter recluse who's visited by an uninvited, pint-sized guest. It all adds up for good, ghoulish, gory fun.

• Starring: Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker
• Director: Michael Dougherty
• Year: 2007
• Runtime: 82 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%