55 Best Horror Movies Streaming [April 2024]

There's nothing like a well-written horror flick to offer the catharsis of a good scare. From complex psychological terror to good old-fashioned jump scares, there's something purely delightful about getting goosebumps over a movie monster. And with more than a century of horror films to choose from and dozens of subgenres from vampire horror to supernatural demonic thrillers, there's something for everyone. Whether you love a good slasher film or you prefer your horror more subdued, there are some fantastic frightening films available for your enjoyment. We're sharing the 55 best horror movies you can catch streaming right now so you don't miss out on a single chill.

Updated on April 1, 2024: Streamers like Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and Shudder make regular changes to their catalogs each month. We'll be updating this list regularly to reflect those changes, so be sure to check back each month for more great horror!

Set in 1987, "American Psycho" is a blacker-than-black comedy adapted from Bret Easton Ellis' satirical 1991 novel about Manhattan yuppie serial killer Patrick Bateman. Bateman prides himself on his outward appearance of affluence and utter normalcy, measuring his worth in the material details — like the quality of his facial routine — and salivating over the tastefulness of his colleagues' business card fonts. But Bateman's greed extends beyond the material as underneath his cool, blank expression lurks a sadistic murderer who delights in others' suffering, picking off strangers and colleagues alike.

• Starring: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto
• Director: Mary Harron
• Year: 2000
• Runtime: 103 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69%

"Annabelle" may not have been a favorite of critics, but don't let that scare you off of this prequel to the first Ed and Lorraine Warren "Conjuring" film. There's plenty of fun to be had in this cursed doll horror — enough that it warranted the creation of a prequel ("Annabelle: Creation") and a sequel ("Annabelle Comes Home"). Shortly after a man gifts his pregnant wife a lovely porcelain doll, members of a Satanic cult invade their home and activate it for evil with a dark incantation. And that's just the beginning of their troubles. Even if it's a bit formulaic and leans pretty hard into cheap scares, "Annabelle" is still one of the best entries into the cursed doll subgenre, and fans of "The Conjuring" universe won't want to miss it. 

• Starring: Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, Alfre Woodard
• Director: John R. Leonetti
• Year: 2014
• Runtime: 99 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 28%

When Denver child serial killer "the Grabber" kidnaps a bullied child named Finney, a supernaturally charged phone and his sister's psychic visions are the only things standing between him and the Grabber's dark plans. The film is adapted from a short story by Joe Hill and bears the influence of his horror master dad, Stephen King, in the storytelling craftsmanship. In an interview with Filmmaker Magazine, cinematographer Brett Jutkiewicz explained he used a limited but not desaturated color palette that adds a dark, nostalgic feel to the storytelling. It's a perfect fit for a rare presentation of the late 1970s not as the upbeat simpler time it's often portrayed as in film and television today but as the uncertain period when bullies ruled their schools and many American communities were plagued by rampant crime and an uptick in serial killers.

• Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Ethan Hawke
• Director: Scott Derrickson
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 103 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

A direct sequel to the 1992 slasher "Candyman," this supernatural horror film boasts a writing team that includes Jordan Peele and a cast that includes DC Universe's Black Manta, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, MCU's Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo of "Fear the Walking Dead," Vanessa Williams, and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett of "Misfits."

When a Chicago artist encounters the urban legend of Candyman that states anyone who says the word "Candyman" five times while looking in a mirror will summon the supernatural killer's evil spirit, he laughs it off, dismissively performing the ritual himself and then creating an art piece based on the tale. As he becomes increasingly obsessed with the Candyman, he physically and mentally undergoes a dramatic transformation as someone else plots to bring back — and weaponize — the Candyman's hive. The film is exceptional in its genre as one of the few horror films to have been up for Oscar consideration over its score, penned by composer and electronic musician Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe.

• Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett
• Director: Nia DaCosta
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 91 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%

Life as a teenager can be hard under the best of circumstances. But it's even harder when the teen in question is a horrifically abused telekinetic with a religious fanatic parent and whose only escape is a high school full of vicious bullies. In other words, sweet, homely Carrie White has got it pretty rough, and things only get worse on prom night ... much, much worse. Adapted from Stephen King's first published novel, "Carrie" is a terrifying and heartbreaking film that has just as much relevance today in the age of internet bullying and rampant spiritual abuse as it did in 1976.

• Starring: Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, Piper Laurie
• Director: Brian De Palma
• Year: 1976
• Runtime: 98 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Don't be fooled by the terrible Rotten Tomatoes rating — "Children of the Corn" falls under the horror film sub-category of "so bad it's good." Based on the 1977 Stephen King short story of the same name, "Children of the Corn" has a pretty terrifying premise: A town full of rural Nebraska kids have created a cult under the deity "He Who Walks Behind the Rows," and their religion involves a whole lot of human sacrifice that kicked off with the mass murder of every adult in their town. There's just something utterly chilling about the idea of feral children riled up under a cult of personality, even if the acting does get a bit corny at times. Pun intended. 

• Starring: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong
• Director: Fritz Kiersch
• Year: 1984
• Runtime: 93 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 36%

Loosely based on the experiences of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal investigators connected to the famous Amityville case, "The Conjuring" follow the Warrens as they investigate a Rhode Island farmhouse haunting where the creep factor runs amok at 3:07 each morning. With its atmospheric storytelling and paranormal themes, "The Conjuring" is a thrilling ghost story in the spirit of supernatural classics like "The Omen" and "The Amityville Horror." It's also the first film in the "Conjuring" universe, which is quite the franchise for fright fans.

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

Based on the 1979 Stephen King novel that would later be made into a TV series, "The Dead Zone" is about a schoolteacher who wakes up from a coma with brain damage and psychic visions. Needless to say, this doesn't lead to a happy life. Instead, he can see disasters and murders before they occur, and while that might be able to help him catch a serial killer, it won't do him any good if people won't heed his predictions ... or if his visions are so devastating that he doesn't know how to stop them. This is one of the best Stephen King adaptations thanks in large part to Christopher Walken's outstanding performance as the haunted psychic, Johnny Smith.

• Starring: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt
• Director: David Cronenberg
• Year: 1983
• Runtime: 103 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Psychological and body horror come together in the French-Italian "Eyes Without a Face." When Christiane is disfigured in a terrible car accident, her father goes full mad scientist and tries his hand at DIY facial transplant surgery. Haunting and understated, this film proves that some of the best horror can be executed without drenching the screen in gore.

• Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Édith Scob, Alida Valli
• Director: Georges Franju
• Year: 1960
• Runtime: 84 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

"Five Nights at Freddy's" is aimed squarely at fans of the game, particularly those younger folks who grew up obsessing over the plethora of fan music and merch that dominated its heyday. If you can put aside this film's fairly abysmal critical reception and frankly ridiculous premise and just let the insanity wash over you, it's a pretty fun ride — not to mention a rare opportunity for intergenerational bonding. It's not for nothing that the audience score is so much higher than the critical one.

Security guard Mike Schmidt picks up a new job keeping an eye on the now-disused Freddy Fazbear's Pizza while struggling to maintain legal custody of his younger sister. But he soon realizes there's something sinister going on with the pizza joint's animatronic mascots. Although the horror here is mostly jump scares and cutaways, folks with kids will find it an enjoyable "scare-fest lite" that can be shared. Moreover, Matthew Lillard is really fun to watch.

• Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, Matthew Lillard
• Director: Emma Tammi
• Year: 2023
• Runtime: 109 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 32%

After years of making a name for himself in comedy, Jordan Peele blew critics away with his directorial debut and first foray into horror, "Get Out." This film follows Chris Washington, a Black photographer visiting his white girlfriend's parents for the first time. He begins to feel increasingly uneasy about the strange behavior he encounters from everyone he meets. When Rose's father convinces him to try hypnotherapy for smoking cessation, Chris soon finds himself fighting for his life. Like much of Peele's comedy, this film is both entertaining and thought-provoking, dealing with nuanced racial and social themes. It does a particularly good job of skewering white America's self-congratulatory "post-racial" politics.

• Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford
• Director: Jordan Peele
• Year: 2017
• Runtime: 104 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

A fairly disturbing supernatural horror thriller, "Hellraiser" is film that gave the world Pinhead, the iconic, otherworldly demon. When sadomasochist Frank Cotton purchases a mysterious puzzle box in Morocco, he unlocks the portal to Hell where the Cenobites dwell. The Cenobites, who cannot differentiate between pleasure and pain, are part of a religious order that specializes in sadomasochism. And eventually, they cross paths with Frank's innocent niece, Kirsty, a poor young woman who also has to deal with Frank when he comes back from the dead. With its themes of torture and degradation, this film is one of the more controversial and divisive on the list.

• Starring: Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Andrew Robinson
• Director: Clive Barker
• Year: 1987
• Runtime: 93 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

A wonderfully eerie and brooding work of Irish supernatural horror, "The Hole in the Ground" finds Sarah and her young son Chris relocating to the countryside for a fresh start after the loss of their husband and father. But things quickly start to get weird when the pair meets a neighbor named Noreen who the locals say killed her own son after becoming convinced he wasn't her child. When Sarah finds Chris lurking around a creepy sinkhole near their home, she begins to obsess over his strange behavior — a tendency that is only amplified by Noreen's insistence that Chris isn't her son, either. Unsettling, dark, and surreal, "The Hole in the Ground" is like "The Babadook," seen through an Irish Gothic lens.

• Starring: Seána Kerslake, James Cosmo, Simone Kirby
• Director: Lee Cronin
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 90 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

Touching on themes of affluence and excess, "Infinity Pool" is a dystopian horror sci-fi that imagines a world where uber-rich murder convicts can simply pay for a clone to be executed in their place. Through layers of surrealism and body horror, the film explores the sinister implications of this reality while serving as an apt metaphor for sex tourism and the relationship between wealthy tourists and the local communities that serve them.

• Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Mia Goth, Cleopatra Coleman
• Director: Brandon Cronenberg
• Year: 2023
• Runtime: 118 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%

In a world of deepfakes and conspiracy theories, discerning the truth can be pretty difficult. A paranoiac funhouse mirror take on reality is central to "Knock at the Cabin" and its source material, Paul G. Tremblay's "Cabin at the End of the World." A family of three finds their cabin stay interrupted by four strangers, who claim the trio must sacrifice one of their own to avert the coming apocalypse. The news increasingly seems to reflect these end-times claims, leaving the family to grapple with whether they're party to mass hysteria or really have been chosen for the grim task. Like M. Night Shyamalan's series "Servant," which also stars Rupert Grint, "Knock at the Cabin" is a cerebral and ambiguously supernatural exploration of free will versus faith that asks as many questions as it answers.

• Starring: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge
• Director: M. Night Shyamalan
• Year: 2023
• Runtime: 100 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%

Adapted from a 2004 novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, "Let the Right One In" is one of the all-time vampire horror movies — a dark and disturbing romance horror set in Stockholm in the early 1980s. The film centers on a bullied 12-year-old-boy who develops a close bond with a young vampire. But as the two grow closer, our troubled protagonist finds himself being drawn deeper and deeper into the vampire's bloody world. But hey, at least he doesn't feel so alone anymore. The result is cinematically beautiful, visually frightening, and never pulls its punches.

• Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar
• Director: Tomas Alfredson
• Year: 2008
• Runtime: 114 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

"M3GAN" is a satirical science fiction horror film built for an age in which kids spend more time than ever glued to screens and A.I. inches ever closer to the technological singularity. Robotics engineer Gemma is charged with developing hot toys. After a devastating car accident, she also becomes responsible for raising her niece, Cady. Overwhelmed, Gemma finds a novel way to reduce Cady's emotional burdens and her own responsibilities: She pairs the child with M3GAN, an advanced robot with incredibly advanced A.I. Interweaving just enough over-the-top violence to qualify as a satisfying slasher film with plenty of deliciously silly one-liners, "M3GAN" explores the way technology impacts kids' psychological health. It's a must-see for fans of "Child's Play" and "Black Mirror" alike.

• Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng
• Director: Gerard Johnstone
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 102 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

"Midsommar" is a trippy, beautiful, folk horror freakshow of a film. Haunted by the death of her loved ones, Dani joins her not-so-great boyfriend and his buddies as they journey to rural Sweden to attend the communal midsummer festival. They end up shrooming with the locals and quickly realize they've stumbled into a violent pagan cult where human sacrifice is part of the summertime festivities. More gory than terrifying, "Midsommar" is a vivid, intelligent head trip through gorgeous Nordic scenery.

• Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper
• Director: Ari Aster
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 145 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

"A Nightmare on Elm Street" is a classic slasher film that everyone should see at some point, as it's responsible for giving the world one of its most iconic horror villains: Freddy Krueger. The blade-fingered vengeful spirit and psychopathic child-killer gets his kicks from trolling teenagers while they sleep, but the physical harm he does in their dreams is all too real. To escape his murderous urges, teens Nancy and Glen must outwit him in the dreamworld and the real one.

• Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, John Saxon
• Director: Wes Craven
• Year: 1984
• Runtime: 91 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

Written, directed, and co-produced by Jordan Peele, "Nope" is a beautifully filmed psychological sci-fi horror story that weaves the strange, surreal qualities of a David Lynch tale into a wild yarn with big Amblin energy. Filmed in the Agua Dulce desert, the 2022 horror film follows OJ Haywood Jr., a man who trains horses for Hollywood films. When his father is mysteriously killed, OJ believes a UFO might be to blame, so he teams up with his sister, Em, to film the craft and make a truckload of money to save their failing business. As you might expect, nothing goes according to plan. Funny, whimsical, and exactly the right amount of scary, "Nope" is a reminder that good horror doesn't have to be overly disturbing to pack a punch, and like everything Jordan Peele does, it's intelligent and layered without being didactic with its nuanced analysis of the relationship between audience and spectacle. 

• Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun
• Director: Jordan Peele
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 130 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%

A prequel to Ti West's "X," "Pearl," which is set in 1918, explores the backstory of its titular villain. The two movies were filmed back-to-back, with West and star Mia Goth co-writing "Pearl" during the pandemic. Something of a dark and demented take on "The Wizard of Oz," "Pearl" finds budding psychopath Pearl longing for a more glamorous life than what her family farm can offer. As her ambitions and sadism grow, so does her body count.

• Starring: Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright
• Director: Ti West
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 102 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

The long-awaited prequel to the "Predator" franchise, "Prey" depicts the early arrival of the Predator on Earth, where he comes into contact with a tribe of Comanches and a handful of French voyageurs. Set in 1719 in the North American Great Plains, the story is told from the perspective of Naru, a young healer who longs to become a hunter, surpassing contemporary Comanche gender roles. Released in English with a Comanche dub, the film is a stripped-down story featuring a strong female hero with a firm grounding in the "Predator" mythology. As David Fear of Rolling Stone put it, "It's something close to a B-movie masterpiece, a survivalist thriller-slash-proto-Western-slash-final-girl horror flick that, like both its iconic alien and its indigenous Ripley 2.0 heroine, is extremely good at what it sets out to do."

• Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Michelle Thrush
• Director: Dan Trachtenberg
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 100 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

A fresh Dracula story told from the perspective of the famed vamp's eponymous familiar, "Renfield" will resonate with anyone who's suffered a toxic work environment that gradually sapped their energy and self-worth until there was nothing left but total burnout. After more than a century of serving as Dracula's gofer, Renfield realizes he's in a bad relationship with his boss, and he wants out. While the film's ample supply of gruesome, action-packed sequences are hardly genre-shattering, Nicholas Hoult's charming performance and the wacky, comic book-style storytelling are what make "Renfield" worth screening.

• Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz
• Director: Chris McKay
• Year: 2023
• Runtime: 93 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 58%

Based on the 1967 Ira Levin novel, "Rosemary's Baby" is a slow-burn psychological terror trip that should be on every horror lover's must-see list. Plus, it's an excellent reminder that getting to know the neighbors isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Soon after Guy and Rosemary Woodhouse take up residence in a gorgeous historic Manhattan apartment, their eccentric elderly neighbors quickly become a little too familiar, taking an overzealous interest in the young bride's pregnancy. As Rosemary begins to suspect there's a Satanic conspiracy afoot, she learns just how truly hellish the price of New York housing can be. The wonderfully aesthetic film explores the relationship between gaslighting and paranoia in a chilling meditation on women's bodily autonomy.

• Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
• Director: Roman Polanski
• Year: 1968
• Runtime: 136 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

"Significant Other" is a sci-fi horror about a couple that chooses the worst possible time to add backpacking to their list of hobbies. While hiking somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, Harry and Ruth begin to encounter some strange and apparently extraterrestrial phenomena. Part survival story, part alien horror, "Significant Other" succeeds thanks to its unsettling narrative presentation, interesting twists, and exploration of anxiety disorder. Solid acting from the two leads helps elevate the storytelling even further.

• Starring: Maika Monroe, Jake Lacy, Matthew Yang King
• Director: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 84 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

The first film in the long-running franchise, "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" introduced the world to the human skin-wearing serial killer Leatherface. A fairly straightforward slasher film, albeit one that hits ridiculously hard, "Massacre" follows a group of teens who wind up crossing paths with a cannibalistic family. The film is pure terror through and through, and it exploits the frightening setting of the Texas woods at night while offering up plenty of blood, gore, and shocking levels of violence.

• Starring: Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Paul A. Partain
• Director: Tobe Hooper
• Year: 1974
• Runtime: 83 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

After a Puritan family is exiled from their community due to an unnamed theological dispute between their father and local leaders, they try to restart their lives on the edge of the wilderness. But soon, they're hindered by a mysterious and blood-thirsty witch. Filmed using only natural light and candlelight to add to the sense of period realism, and set to a dissonant and minimalist score, this chilling film evokes a sense of dark paranoia and family turmoil.

• Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie
• Director: Robert Eggers
• Year: 2015
• Runtime: 92 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%