Celebrate Halloween with the 25 best horror films available on streaming

Sure, the story is a rip-off of Dracula — with Max Schreck playing Count Orlok, a Transylvanian vampire — but, in fairness, “Nosferatu” was actually one of the first vampire films ever made, and it's also one of the only early adaptations to survive. Plus, director F. W. Murnau deserves credit for his early filmmaking techniques and style, including his atmospherics, haunting settings and ability to startle viewers without the use of jump-scares and other modern gimmicks. Due to the aforementioned copyright issues, all copies of “Nosferatu” were to be destroyed, but in true vampire style, a few copies of the critically acclaimed horror classic thankfully managed to survive the extermination.

Directed by horror legend George A. Romero? Check. Created a national controversy for its gore and terrifying content upon its release in 1968? Check. Origin of the modern-day zombie genre? Check. If by some twist of fate you haven’t seen this scary staple, check it out on Amazon and see what 50 years of praise has been all about.

Steven Spielberg was the master behind the monster masterpiece “Jaws,” which is already a good reason to include it in this list. Add in some great performances by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw, as well as the fact that most of “Jaws” could actually happen (sort of), and you’ve got one scary shark epic. Don’t forget, not only did it earn more than $470 million against a budget of $9 million and win three Oscars, but “Jaws” single-handedly invented the summer blockbuster.

“Carrie” isn’t just a scary story from the mind of Stephen King, a career-launching film for both Sissy Spacek and John Travolta, and an acclaimed piece of cinema worthy of two Academy Award nominations, it was also a box-office success and just one of many directorial gems that came courtesy of Brian De Palma. Oh, and it’s pretty darn freaky, too.

You know the drill in this classic horror film: Stanley Kubrick, Jack Nicholson, ghost twins, blood-filled elevators, room 237 and lots of redrum. Show it to someone for the first time, re-watch it for the thousandth time...just make sure you visit “The Shining” on Netflix sometime this month.

We’re not ashamed to admit it: We’re huge fans of pretty much every over-the-top, gory and gratuitous low-budget splatter horror film ever released by Troma Entertainment — especially ones helmed by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz. So, of course, we have a soft spot for 1984’s “The Toxic Avenger,” the epic tale of a puny nerd who fell into nuclear waste and became the eponymous superhero. We also love its three sequels, animated spin-off and stage adaptations, but who’s counting?

“Hellraiser” was banned in Canada for featuring an excessive amount of “brutal, graphic violence with blood-letting throughout, horror, degradation and torture.” And this is the same government that funded some of David Cronenberg's horror films! If that’s not reason enough to check out this classic horror franchise’s original installment, just do it for our pal Pinhead. Don’t be fooled by the mediocre reviews from mainstream critics; “Hellraiser” is one of the best horror films of all time.

Remember back when movie camera shots were all steady and non-nauseating? We don’t either, because in 1999, “The Blair Witch Project” changed the game by introducing the world to shaky, found-footage films. We might have been exaggerating things a bit, but the witch hunt that claims to be based on a true story (even though it isn’t) had a serious impact on the genre upon its overwhelmingly successful box-office release of nearly $250 million against a budget of just $60,000. Producers of the “The Blair Witch Project” also capitalized on its unknown cast by marketing the actors as actual missing persons, which worked like a charm.

You probably already know the ending, but that doesn’t mean “The Sixth Sense” is any less of a horror masterpiece or any less worthy of a watch this Halloween season. (It was nominated for six Academy Awards after all, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay.) Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment are a hauntingly perfect pair in the lead roles, and as we can all probably agree, this is M. Night Shyamalan's best film.

“The Blair Witch Project” popularized the found-footage genre, but “Paranormal Activity” took it to another level by using mostly faux home security cameras for the big scares as well as some handheld footage. In his first feature film, Oren Peli wrote, directed, edited and co-produced, and he hired relative unknowns Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston to star as the tormented couple. Although its budget was just $15,000, “Paranormal Activity” ended up raking in nearly $200 million, earning praise from critics and spawning five sequels.

Who says all horror movies have to be scary? “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil” asks the question: What if a bunch of college kids in a cabin in the woods get murdered...by accident? Featuring the hilarious duo of Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as the titular characters — two dimwitted and misunderstood hillbillies —“Tucker & Dale” is a gory but hysterical take on the horror genre that won the Audience Award at SXSW as well as numerous other honors.

If the idea of a kid's party clown dying during a gig and coming back to haunt those who laughed at him sounds a bit silly, then “Stitches” is the perfect film for you. The 2012 horror film is actually quite comedic, with Stitches the Clown (Ross Noble) disposing of his victims in almost cartoony fashion, with plenty of gore to boot. “Stitches” is side-splittingly hilarious, while also providing some fun frights along the way.

When it comes to recent horror movies, it doesn’t get much better than “The Conjuring.” The 2013 film centers on the Warrens, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga), two real-life paranormal investigators, as they work on a case with the Perron family of Rhode Island. “The Conjuring” also starred Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston and earned both critical acclaim, a Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and $320 million against a budget of just $20 million. It produced a sequel and three spinoffs, with a second sequel, “The Conjuring 3,” due out in 2019.

Ba-ba-dook-dook-dook...If you’ve seen the 2014 film “The Babadook,” these words alone should give you the chills. (Hey, it works on our friends!) After all, the Australian poltergeist picture is seriously scary, as writer/director Jennifer Kent hit her directorial debut out of the park in this adaptation of “Monster,” a 2005 short film also made by Kent. The movie slayed at Sundance, was acclaimed by critics and featured strong performances by Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman, a mother and young son tormented by the pop-up storybook spirit.

If you think indie film darling Mark Duplass is likable or really funny on “The League,” prepare to question everything you know. In “Creep,” Josef (Duplass) hires a videographer named Aaron (Patrick Brice), while claiming to be a terminally ill father who wants to leave some mementos for his family. Then things get...well...creepy. One minute it seems like Josef wants to seduce Aaron, and the next you’re convinced the latter is about to get murdered. Duplass and Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum penned the screenplay for this disturbing found-footage thriller, which received overwhelmingly positive reviews and inspired a 2017 sequel.

The plot is simple enough: A rookie cop (Juliana Harkavy) working her first shift has to watch over an old police station during its last shift before being permanently closed. A routine job turns into anything but a normal night for Officer Loren, who begins to witness paranormal occurrences that shake her confidence, dig up her dark past and scare her along with the audience. Although it never received a theatrical release (instead going straight from FrightFest to Netflix) and has only been reviewed by a handful of critics, “Last Shift” holds a perfect 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

“The Witch” isn’t a typical horror film, in that it’s a period piece set in the 1630s and has a slow burn, rather than packing in a lot of gore and cheap scares. Nevertheless, audiences and critics both fell under its spell, with “The Witch” debuting at Sundance in 2015, where it won a Best Director honor for Robert Eggers and a Grand Jury Prize nomination, in addition to numerous other nods and wins.

“The Invitation” is one of those films that makes its viewers constantly question the plot’s direction and second-guess whether their hunches are correct. Sure, it starts simply enough as a dinner party between friends and acquaintances, but things get sinister quite quickly. This is a horror film after all. It also happens to be a horror film with an 88 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so be sure to add “The Invitation” to your Netflix queue.

Five years after a haunted house disaster mysteriously left 15 attendees and staffers dead, a small film crew decides to return to the scene of the slaughter and investigate. The only surviving staff member provides the group with tapes from the fateful night, and “Hell House LLC” unfolds from there in all its gory glory. The 2015 found footage film is available on Amazon and inspired a sequel, “Hell House LLC 2: The Abaddon Hotel,” which was released in September 2018.

You’ve probably never heard of “The Devil’s Candy,” but don’t let that dissuade you, as it actually holds a 90 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The 2015 horror film stars Ethan Embry and Shiri Appleby as Jesse and Astrid Hellman, parents of Zooey (Kiara Glasco), and the new homeowners of a house with a murderous and satanic past. Critics praised “The Devil’s Candy” for its non-cliche scares and truly sinister elements, and we love that it also features some killer metal riffs. 

Critics liked 2015’s “It Follows.” In fact, we’re honestly baffled by the overwhelming critical response to the teen horror film written and directed by David Robert Mitchell. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a seriously spooky film, even though it also doubles as a 100-minutelong elaborate PSA for abstinence. It’s just that we, as horror fans, are still divided on whether or not it’s worthy of its 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Every year, millions of tourists flock to Holland to see its famous windmills, and this annoyance was probably the inspiration behind the Dutch horror film “The Windmill,” also known as “The Windmill Massacre.” OK, maybe not, but the movie does feature a busload of foreign tourists who are tormented by a murderous demon as well as their own dark pasts. Critical reviews were mixed and audiences weren’t especially impressed, but we thoroughly enjoyed the guessing game attached to this dark, bloody, modern-day slasher.

Greta (Lauren Cohan), a young woman from Montana, accepts a nanny position in the United Kingdom and upon arriving, discovers the boy she is supposed to watch is actually a porcelain doll named Brahms. It’s just as eerie as it sounds and not nearly as simple, as strange events tied to the doll begin occurring after the doll’s “parents” leave Greta alone with him for an extended vacation. Don’t pay attention to the mixed critical reviews; “The Boy” is worth seeing, even if it’s just to check out the creepiest doll since Chucky of “Child’s Play.”

We'll admit it: The plot of “Hush” is very similar to “The Strangers.” But there are a few important differences. Instead of three home invaders, there’s only one. Instead of a couple being victimized, it’s just one woman. It’s a true stranger-on-stranger battle, but in an added twist, the protagonist (Kate Siegel) is deaf. This makes it more challenging for her to detect her intruder as well as much more gripping for the audience, who must helplessly watch her avoid a sadistic death for 81 chilling minutes.

After hosting an open house, a mother (Piercey Dalton) and her teenage son (Dylan Minnette) begin to suspect not all of the guests actually left. And trust us, things only get more freaky from here. If you’re looking for a film to watch when you’re alone, this is not the one for you...unless you’re prepared to check every inch of your home before bed. Don’t pay attention to the low rating on Rotten Tomatoes; “The Open House” is one of the most underrated horror films of 2018.