horror movie review channel

7 YouTube Channels to Watch Scary Movies (Legally)

These YouTube channels have the best scary movies you can watch legally for free.

Whenever you get a craving for a horror movie, finding the right one can be a challenge. Of course, all the usual suspects come in handy, but their scary selections are often underwhelming.

So, where do you go if you've found yourself bored of Netflix's horror section, having already seen most flicks and having zero interest in seeing the rest?

Amazon Prime Video has a vast library, but most features can cost you and add up in price. So an excellent alternative is YouTube. The platform has many channels offering free and legal horror. Let's look at some of them.

1. Kings of Horror

Kings of Horror offers a glimpse into the world of independent horror. The channel fosters a community for filmmakers and hardened horror fans who enjoy visiting some of the scariest corners of the internet .

You can find a full roster of trailers and full-length movies on this YouTube channel. There are also often scheduled upcoming events for horror flicks, giving you something to wait around for and allowing you to turn it into a big thing. So you can have a movie premiere night, start a virtual watch party with friends and enjoy some indie horror together.

Kings of Horror presents fully legally licensed features, so you're free to enjoy the content guilt-free.

2. Popcornflix

Popcornflix is a pretty well-known movie channel on YouTube and beyond—it also offers a streaming platform and an app.

Though Popcornflix doesn't explicitly focus on horror flicks, you can certainly find some scary features browsing its roster. The YouTube channel has a wide selection of TV shows and full-length films under every genre you can imagine, and content gets uploaded frequently enough to keep the selection fresh.

Popcornflix's channel offers licensed content, making it one of the best YouTube channels for watching free movies and shows legally.

3. Horror Central

The Horror Central channel is one of the best places to watch horror movies online . It offers a ton of full-length features and uploads regularly, so you're unlikely to run out of horror flicks.

The playlist section is excellent and comes in pretty handy if you're feeling up to a binge and crave a specific trope or subgenre of horror. For example, there's a separate playlist called Shark Attacks.

Once you press play, you can relax and enjoy the list of movies where sharks are the big bad. It begins with Sharknado, of course—the campiest of camp horror, but a classic nonetheless. After all, what's wrong with visiting sites to get your dose of cheesy horror from time to time? Everything Horror Central lists is under legal license, so you're clear to consume its content scot-free.

4. Watch Movies Now!

Watch Movies Now! curates horror, thriller, and sci-fi movies for its roster. You can find features that range from half an hour to an hour and a half in length. And the videos are pretty prolific in their genre.

Watch Movies Now! showcases anything from your typical slasher flick to alien horror, found footage, ghostly terror, and more. The channel uploads different scary movies and videos pretty regularly, so you'll never run out of content to watch. Plus, everything you see on the YouTube channel is legal.

5. V Horror

V Horror offers a variety of horror flicks ranging in length. Most films are about an hour and a half but scattered throughout, but you will also find shorter content, too.

The channel's playlist section isn't the best, but it still offers a curated playlist of movies in 4k, as well as one that hosts all of the flicks you can watch in English, which will help you pitch what to watch next.

Everything featured on the V Horror YouTube channel is legal to view, so dive in and explore. Maybe you'll find your next favorite indie horror.

6. FilmIsNow Horror Movies

FilmIsNow Horror Movies provides a vast selection of horror in every style you can imagine, preferring to avoid the blockbuster movies in favor of the back-to-basics kind. The channel offers everything from long movies to short films, so you'll find something you will enjoy in a few clicks.

Going through the FilmIsNow Horror Movies, you can see a ton of ready-made playlists to browse. There are separate playlists to cater to all your moods. You can find Evil Toy, Anthologies, Clowns, Vampires, and Found Footage playlists—whatever your specific mood, you're likely to find a playlist to match it.

The YouTube channel uploads new content regularly, so it's doubtful you'll run out of new features to see.

7. Movie Central

Movie Central doesn't only stick to horror with its features but offers a wide array of movie genres. However, its playlist section is expertly curated, so if you feel like only watching horror flicks, you'll find them easily. Granted, you may not find as many scary movies here as you would on other channels, but it's still a solid option if you don't want to pay for horror streaming services like Shudder or Screambox .

The YouTube channel holds a Halloween playlist with over 200 films on it. And, if you prefer something more specific, you can check out virus outbreak or monster movies. There are also explicit Horror and Thriller playlists you can browse.

The channel's uploads are frequent, and movies tend to last about an hour and a half. Of course, everything on Movie Central is under legal license, so watch away.

Switch Up Your Horror From a Visual to an Auditory Experience

Horror flicks are sometimes just what the doctor ordered. However, if you're looking to switch up your horror routine and spice it up, why not try out a new spooky podcast? Instead of watching horror, why not listen to it?

Put on your headphones, set the atmosphere, and give into your imagination by hearing about of haunted places, paranormal events, and scary fiction inspired by real-life stories. Find the right podcast to feed your fears and give in to the eeriness.

Streaming services aren't going anywhere, so why not try something new and listen to a horror podcast next?

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Horror Movie & TV Reviews

* = short review

“The Boogeyman”

“Cobweb”

“Evil Dead Rise”

“The Exorcist: Believer”

“A Haunting in Venice”

“Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor”

“Infinity Pool”

“Insidious: The Red Door”

“Knock at the Cabin”

“The Last Voyage of the Demeter”

“Meg 2: The Trench”

“M3gan”

“No One Will Save You”

“The Nun II”

“The Pope’s Exorcist”

“Scream VI”

“Talk to Me”

“Thanksgiving”

“Totally Killer”

“When Evil Lurks”

“Barbarian”

“Beast”

“The Black Phone”

“Bodies Bodies Bodies”

“The Cellar”

“Firestarter”

“Fresh”

“Gone in the Night”

“Goodnight Mommy”

“Halloween Ends”

“Hellraiser”

“House of Darkness”

“Maneater”

“The Menu”

“Mr. Harrigan’s Phone”

“My Best Friend’s Exorcism”

“Nope”

“Orphan: First Kill”

“Pearl”

“The Reef: Stalked”

“Resurrection”

“The Retaliators”

“Scream 5”

“Smile”

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre”

“Watcher”

“Who Invited Them”

“X”

“Army of the Dead”

“Candyman”

“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It”

“Don’t Breathe 2”

“Fear Street Part One: 1994”

“Fear Street Part Two: 1978”

“Fear Street Part Three: 1666”

“Halloween Kills”

“Last Night in Soho”

“Malignant”

“The Night House”

“Old”

“A Quiet Place Part II”

“There’s Someone Inside Your House”

“Till Death”

“Becky”

“Black Water: Abyss”

“Brahms: The Boy II”

“Deep Blue Sea 3”

“Freaky”

“His House”

“The Hunt”

“The Invisible Man”

“The Lodge”

“The Turning”

“Underwater”

“47 Meters Down: Uncaged”

“Annabelle Comes Home”

“Black Christmas”

“Crawl”

“The Curse of La Llorona”

“Happy Death Day 2U”

“Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire”

“I See You”

“The Lighthouse”

“Midsommar”

“The Perfection”

“Ready or Not”

“Us”

“The Amityville Murders”

“Annihilation”

“Await Further Instructions”

“Bird Box”

“Cam”

“The Cloverfield Paradox”

“Deep Blue Sea 2”

“Demon House”

“Halloween”

“Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel”

“Hellraiser: Judgment”

“Hereditary”

“He’s Out There”

“Hold the Dark”

“Insidious: The Last Key”

“Malevolent”

“Marrowbone”

“The Meg”

“The Nun”

“A Quiet Place”

“The Ritual”

“The Strangers: Prey at Night”

“Summer of 84”

“Unfriended: Dark Web”

“Upgrade”

“Veronica”

“47 Meters Down”

“Alien: Covenant”

“Amityville: The Awakening”

“Anna and the Apocalypse”

“Annabelle: Creation”

“Better Watch Out”

“Gerald’s Game”*

“Get Out”

“Happy Death Day”

“It”

“It Comes at Night”

“Leatherface”

“Life”

“Mother!”

“Open Water 3”

“Rings”

“Split”

“Wish Upon”

“10 Cloverfield Lane”

“The Autopsy of Jane Doe”

“Before I Wake”*

“Bone Tomahawk”

“The Boy”

“Cabin Fever”

“The Conjuring 2”

“Hush”*

“The Monster”

“Ouija: Origin of Evil”*

“The Shallows”

“Train to Busan”

“The Witch”

“Yoga Hosers”

“The Devil’s Candy”

“Green Room”

“Hell House LLC”

“Insidious: Chapter 3”

“It Follows”

“Knock Knock”

“The Lazarus Effect”

“Maggie”

“Sinister 2”

“Unfriended”

“The Visit”

“Annabelle”

“The Taking of Deborah Logan”

“Tusk”

“What We Do in the Shadows”

“The Conjuring”

“Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th”

“Dark Skies”

“Evil Dead”

“Insidious: Chapter 2”

“Mama”

“Oculus”*

“Texas Chainsaw”

“V/H/S/2”

“Bait”

“Cabin in the Woods”

“Chernobyl Diaries”

“The Innkeepers”

“John Dies at the End”

“Paranormal Activity 4”

“Piranha 3DD”

“The Possession”

“Prometheus”

“Sinister”

“V/H/S”

“The Woman in Black”

“Absentia”*

“Final Destination 5”

“Hellraiser: Revelations”

“Insidious”

“Paranormal Activity 3”

“Red State”

“The Reef”

“Scream 4”

“Shark Night”

“The Thing”

“The Crazies”

“Daybreakers”*

“Devil”

“The Last Exorcism”

“A Nightmare on Elm Street”

“Paranormal Activity 2”

“Piranha 3D”

“Predators”

“Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale”

“Carriers”

“Drag Me to Hell”

“The Final Destination”

“Friday the 13th”

“The Grudge 3”

“Halloween II”

“The Haunting in Connecticut”

“The House of the Devil”

“Jennifer’s Body”

“Last House on the Left”

“Orphan”

“Pandorum”*

“Paranormal Activity”

“Possession”

“Survival of the Dead”

“Triangle”

“Zombieland”

“Day of the Dead”

“The Happening”

“Lake Mungo”

“The Ruins”

“28 Weeks Later”

“30 Days of Night”

“AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator — Requiem”

“Black Water”

“Diary of the Dead”

“Disturbia”

“Hannibal Rising”

“P2”

“The Poughkeepsie Tapes”

“Final Destination 3”

“The Grudge 2”

“The Hills Have Eyes”

“I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer”

“The Omen” (2006)

“The Return”

“Scary Movie 4”

“Slither”

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning”

“The Amityville Horror”

“Cursed”

“Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist”

“The Exorcism of Emily Rose”

“Hellraiser: Deader”

“Hellraiser: Hellworld”

“Land of the Dead”

“The Ring Two”

“The Skeleton Key”

“Urban Legends: Bloody Mary”

“AVP: Alien vs. Predator”

“Dawn of the Dead”

“Exorcist: The Beginning”

“The Grudge”

“Open Water”

“Shaun of the Dead”

“The Village”

“28 Days Later”

“Dead End”

“Final Destination 2”

“Freddy vs. Jason”

“Jeepers Creepers 2”

“Red Water”

“Scary Movie 3”

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”

“Carrie”

“Darkness”

“Frailty”*

“Hellraiser: Hellseeker”

“Jason X”

“The Mothman Prophecies”*

“Red Dragon”

“The Ring”

“Session 9″*

“Signs”

“Soul Survivors”*

“The Gift”

“Hannibal”

“Jeepers Creepers”

“Scary Movie 2”

“Valentine”

“Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2”

“Cherry Falls”*

“Final Destination”

“Hellraiser: Inferno”

“Lost Souls”

“Pitch Black”

“Scary Movie”

“Scream 3”

“Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13 th”

“Unbreakable”

“Urban Legends: Final Cut”

“The Watcher”

“What Lies Beneath”*

“The Blair Witch Project”*

“Candyman: Day of the Dead”

“Cube”

“Deep Blue Sea”

“The Haunting”*

“House on Haunted Hill”

“Idle Hands”*

“Lake Placid”*

“The Last Broadcast”

“The Rage: Carrie 2”

“The Sixth Sense”

“Stir of Echoes”

“Virus”

“Deep Rising”

“Disturbing Behavior”

“The Faculty”

“Halloween H20: 20 Years Later”

“I Still Know What You Did Last Summer”

“Nightwatch”

“Psycho”

“Urban Legend”

“Alien Resurrection”

“Event Horizon”

“I Know What You Did Last Summer”

“Jack Frost”

“The Relic”

“Scream 2”

“Amityville Dollhouse”

“Hellraiser: Bloodline”

“Scream”

“Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh”

“Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers”

“The Langoliers”*

“Piranha”

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation”

“New Nightmare”

“Amityville: A New Generation”

“Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday”

“Alien 3”

“Amityville 1992: It’s About Time”

“Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth”

“Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare”

“The Haunted”

“Omen IV: The Awakening”

“The Silence of the Lambs”

“The Amityville Curse”

“The Exorcist III”

“Gremlins 2: The New Batch”

“Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III”

“Night of the Living Dead”

“Predator 2”

“Psycho IV: The Beginning”

“Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes”

“Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan”

“Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers”

“Leviathan”

“A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child”

“Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland”

“Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood”

“Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers”

“Hellbound: Hellraiser II”

“A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master”

“Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers”

“They Live”

“Jaws: The Revenge”

“The Monster Squad”

“A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors”

“Predator”

“A Return to Salem’s Lot”

“Aliens”

“Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives”

“Manhunter”

“Psycho III”

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”

“Friday the 13th: A New Beginning”

“A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge”

“Return of the Living Dead”

“Firestarter”

“Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter”

“Gremlins”

“Amityville 3-D”

“The Dead Zone”

“Jaws 3”

“Psycho II”

“Sleepaway Camp”

“Amityville II: The Possession”

“Friday the 13th: Part III”

“Halloween III: Season of the Witch”

“Poltergeist”

“Slumber Party Massacre”

“The Final Conflict”

“Friday the 13th: Part 2”

“Piranha II: The Spawning”

“New Year’s Evil”

“Alien”

“Damien: Omen II”

“Jaws 2”

“Exorcist II: The Heretic”

“Carrie”  

“The Omen”

“Jaws”

“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”

“Don’t Look Now”

“The Exorcist”

“The Wicker Man”

“Endless Night”

Season and episode reviews

“American Horror Story” first episode

“American Horror Story: 1984” first episode

“American Horror Story: Asylum” first episode

“Bates Motel” first episode

“Blood Drive” first episode

“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” Season 1, Part 1  (2018)

“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” Season 1, Part 2 (2019)

“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” Part 3  (2020)

“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” Part 4  (2020)

“Clarice” first episode

“Damien” (2016)

“Dead of Summer” first episode

“Devil in Ohio” (2022)

“Evil” first episode

“Evil” Season 2 (2021)

“The Exorcist” first episode

“The Fall of the House of Usher” (2023)

“Fear the Walking Dead” first episode

“Fear the Walking Dead” Season 4  (2018)

“Firestarter: Rekindled” (2002)

“FreakyLinks”  (2000-01)

“Ghosts” first episode

“Grimm” first episode

“Hannibal” first episode

“The Haunting of Bly Manor” (2020)

“The Haunting of Hill House”  (2018)

“I Know What You Did Last Summer” first episode

“Kolchak: The Night Stalker” (and the TV movies)  (1972-75)

“The Midnight Club” (2022)

“Midnight Mass” (2021)

“Miracles”  (2003)

“The Mist” first episode

“Monsterland” first episode

“Night Stalker”  (2005)

“Point Pleasant”  (2005)

“Salem’s Lot” miniseries (1979)

“Scream: The TV Series” first episode

“Scream: The TV Series” Season 2 first episode

“Scream: The TV Series” Season 3 first episode

“Scream Queens” first episode

“Servant” Season 1 (2019-20)

“Servant” Season 2 (2021)

“Slasher” Season 1  (2016)

“Slasher” Season 2  (2017)

“Slasher” Season 3  (2019)

“Slasher” Season 4 first episode

“Slasher” Season 5 first episode

“The Strain” first episode

“Stranger Things” Season 1  (2016)

“Supernatural” Season 1  (2005-06)*

“Teen Wolf” first episode

“The Terror” first episode

“The Terror: Infamy” first episode

“True Blood” Season 1  (2008)

“The Twilight Zone” (2019) first episode

“The Walking Dead” first episode

“The Walking Dead” Season 2 first episode

“The Walking Dead” Season 3 first episode

“What We Do in the Shadows” Season 1  (2019)

“Yellowjackets” first episode

Categories of interest

• Horror Movies
• “Aliens”/ “Predator”
• “American Horror Story”
• “Bates Motel”/ “Psycho”
• “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”/ “Angel”
• “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”
• “The Exorcist”
• “Halloween”
• “The Haunting of Hill House”
• Stephen King
• “The Terror”
• “The Walking Dead”/ “Fear the Walking Dead”
• “The X-Files”/ “Millennium”

Lists and rankings

• 11 bizarre oddities in the ‘Halloween’ saga
• Mike Flanagan’s horror films and TV miniseries, ranked
• “Halloween” films, ranked
• “Friday the 13th” films, ranked
• “A Nightmare on Elm Street” films, ranked
• “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” films, ranked
• “Scream” films and TV seasons, ranked
• “Aliens/Predator” Universe films, ranked
• Top 10 shark horror movies
• “Conjuring” Universe films, ranked
• “The Exorcist” films, TV seasons and books, ranked
• Primary “Amityville Horror” films, ranked
• “Hellraiser” films, ranked

Arrow in the Head   — A branch of the movie site JoBlo, AITH focuses on the horror genre, offering news and reviews.

Bloody Disgusting   — This is one of the leading sites for horror movie and TV news and reviews.

Cody Leach (YouTube channel) — Leach reviews music, games and regular movies, but the highlight of his channel is his collection of horror reviews, including many videos on “Halloween,” “Friday the 13th” and “Child’s Play.”

Possessed by Horror (YouTube channel) — Sarah does reviews, tiers and rankings, top 10 lists and Letterboxd recaps of horror films.

Rotted Reviews (YouTube channel) — Michael Stone gives thoughtful reviews of old and new horror films, including many that are off the beaten path.

Spooky Astronauts (YouTube channel) — Emma from Australia reviews and sometimes gives deeper analyses of horror and thriller movies.

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Best Horror Movies

To make it easier for all you horror fans, when you want to find the best horror movies and series, we’ve created a guide sorted by our reviews. Enjoy! 

Obviously, we want to highlight the best horror movies and series. However, sometimes you’ve seen them all or you want something more laid-back.

Here’s how to find your next movie or show based on Heaven of Horror’s reviews:

5 or 4 stars review (or rather, blood spatters) is a  definite  recommendation to watch.

3 stars usually mean it’s very entertaining, but once is probably enough. It’s a safe bet if you want to be entertained and need nothing more.

2 stars are for titles that show definite potential and have some winning qualities, which should suit some viewers but might not be for everyone.

1 star isn’t something we recommend*.

Click on the number of stars below  and find out which horror movie or series to watch…

Best Horror Titles:

Decent horror titles:, worst horror titles:.

*We do have to admit that any movie or series receiving just 1 star  might be worth watching. But for different reasons. As in; You will not enjoy this as a horror title, but you’ll be inspired that they managed to even make a movie or show. You might even be left wondering if you shouldn’t make your own movie.

Who knows, maybe you’ll end up making one of the best horror movies and find it here on our list.

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The best horror movies you can watch right now

From Netflix to Hulu to Max, the eeriest, scariest, and best horror to watch at home... or else

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Whether it’s something gory and macabre, silly and irreverent, or eerie and unsettling, the genre of horror is as rich and varied as the multitude of ghosts, ghoulies, and homicidal maniacs that go bump in the night.

Looking for the best horror films available to stream on Netflix, Hulu , Max , and Paramount Plus ? No worries, we’ve got the goods. We’ve combed through the libraries of each of the major streaming platforms to bring you a list of our most recommended horror movies. Here are the best horror movies you can stream right now, from old classics to new hits. Our latest update added Blair Witch.

Editor’s pick: Blair Witch

Director: Adam Wingard Cast: James Allan McCune, Callie Hernandez, Brandon Scott Where to watch: Max

Sequels to The Blair Witch Project are very dicey propositions. After Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was greeted as a disaster immediately after release, the franchise stalled out and the idea of returning to the black forest faded from the minds of aspiring horror filmmakers. But in 2016, writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard, the duo behind the excellent You’re Next , went back into the woods for a new Blair Witch sequel. And it’s actually pretty great.

The movie follows James Donahue, the brother of Heather from the first movie, as he sets out to investigate what happened to his sister. James and some friends, including film student Lisa, set out on an adventure through the Maryland woods and, of course, run into some very creepy activity when they get there.

Blair Witch isn’t interested in trying to recapture the formal magic of the first movie, exactly. There’s no mistaking this one for a documentary, and there’s clearly a lot more going on production-wise than a few kids in the woods with a video camera. It’s decidedly a studio version of found footage, but that isn’t a bad thing; it means the movie is full of delicately framed shots that really capture and amplify the terror of this new group of kids stuck in the woods. And when things really start to pop off in the second half, it means that we get careful, tantalizing, terrifying glimpses of whatever lurks in the darkness, but never too much to ruin the scare. —Austen Goslin

Annihilation

Director : Alex Garland Cast : Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez Where to watch: Netflix

Annihilation might be the creepiest movie about plants ever made (with all due respect to The Ruins .)

Annihilation follows a group of scientists (played by a phenomenal group of actors) investigating an area struck by a meteor. The area that was hit has slowly spread and grown into what’s now known as The Shimmer, an area where nature seems to be taking over everything around it, but it’s a different kind of nature; strange, unnaturally green plants grow over everything, and creatures (animals and humans) slowly merge with the vegetation around them. At the center of all of this is a lighthouse the group must reach. Annihilation helps realize this strange Earth-but-not incredibly well, with beautiful and haunting production design and a finale as memorable as any horror movie on this list. — Austen Goslin

Director : Gaspar Noé Cast : Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub Where to watch: Showtime

Climax isn’t for the faint-of-heart — and we’re saying that in the context of a horror movies list. The movie is set at an all-night dance party inside a gymnasium, which turns sour after someone spikes the sangria with a little too much LSD. Climax is told in beautifully disorienting long takes that go from dozens of minutes of uninterrupted and propulsive dance sequences to hazy walks through hallways as the camera mimics the dizzy stumbling of the movie’s characters. As the psychedelics kick in, so too do some of the attendees’ long-held feuds, leading to disastrous and horrifying consequences. It’s rare that a movie truly defies description, but if you’ve got a strong stomach and a will to see something you haven’t before, Climax is the perfect movie for you. — AG

Crimes of the Future

Director: David Cronenberg Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart Where to watch: Hulu

Microplastics: They’re everywhere !

They’re in our lungs , our blood , our food and drinking water ; even the air we breathe . What the fuck is it doing to our bodies? We don’t really know, but David Cronenberg’s 2022 body horror drama sure has an idea of what it might mean for our children. Crimes of the Future imagines a world where humans have lost the ability to feel pain. In addition to that, several people have developed a disturbing disorder which causes their bodies to spontaneously spawn new organs.

This new reality has spawned a trend: Live surgery, wherein performance artists plagued with this condition tear into their own bodies in an effort to shape meaning out of this strange new biological fact. Viggo Mortensen stars as Saul Tenser, a world-renowned performance artist who, alongside his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), stands on the cutting edge — both literally and figuratively — of this cultural phenomenon. When Saul’s activities catch the attention of a mysterious group of evolutionary activists, as well as the lascivious eye of a government employee named Timlin (Kristen Stewart), he’s forced to confront what he — and everyone else around him — is changing into, and whether what that is can even be considered “human” anymore.

As macabre as it is moving, grotesque as it is sensuous; Crimes of the Future is an exquisite work of science fiction horror where surgery is the new sex and our very bodies have rebelled against us for the incalculable destruction we have inflicted on the planet. It’s a film that exists in intimate conversation with the anxieties of our present, as well as one that represents a stunning return to form for one of cinema’s most forward-thinking directors. Howard Shore’s growling, guttural score is engrossing, while the leading trio of performances by Mortensen, Seydoux, and Stewart are a virtual match made in heaven in bringing to life this speculative slice of post-human hell on Earth. In short: It’s a great film and highly recommended, but whatever you do, don’t see it on a full stomach. Trust me. —Toussaint Egan

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa Cast: Kōji Yakusho, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa Where to watch: Criterion Channel

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 1997 horror masterpiece Cure follows Kenichi Takabe (Kōji Yakusho), a Japanese detective frustrated by an inexplicable rash of seemingly unconnected murders that nevertheless all appear to be connected, despite none of the perpetrators having known each other or having any recollection as to what possessed them to do it. When Takabe’s investigation leads him to a suspect, a student of psychology and mesmerism known as Mamiya (Masato Hagiwara), he finds himself plunged into a conspiracy that threatens to engulf anyone who gets too close.

In Cure , violence is less an act of premeditation or passion as it is a virus, coursing its way through the bloodstream of society, corrupting innocent bystanders not unlike aberrant cancer cells attacking from within without ever understanding why they did so in the first place. How do you confront a horror like that, much less stop it? The answer is as simple as it is terrifying: You can’t. —TE

Encounters of the Spooky Kind

Director: Sammo Hung Cast: Sammo Hung, Chung Fat, Dick Wei Where to watch: Criterion Channel

This Halloween , I had one goal: Finally watch Sammo Hung’s jiangshi ( Chinese hopping vampire ) martial arts comedy Encounters of the Spooky Kind. It was finally added to streaming via the Criterion Channel earlier this fall after years of being unavailable digitally. And reader, my priorities were correct, because this movie is an absolute blast.

Best known for his collaborations with childhood friends Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao, Sammo’s excellence as a director, choreographer, and performer are on full display in what is frequently a one-man show.

Sammo directed the movie, co-wrote it, choreographed the action, and stars as Bold Cheung, a pedicab driver and skilled martial artist who’s also kind of a dolt. He is dared to spend the night in a haunted house with a hopping vampire — a dare he accepts, because he is “Bold” Cheung, after all. What follows is a Looney Tunes-style slapstick action horror movie with legitimate scares (the vampire makeup is terrific: gray with a gross texture, like a wet papier-mâché mask), dazzling rhythmic martial arts choreography, and perfectly placed dashes of comedy (there’s even an extended Duck Soup homage).

Sammo is truly one of the greatest directors to ever do it, but he doesn’t get the proper credit globally because of the genres (and nation) he’s primarily worked in. The jaw-dropping choreography and onslaught of funny bits are outstanding, but it’s his skill with the camera that has always separated Sammo from his counterparts.

Bringing it back to his old friend Yuen Biao for a second — Biao co-stars as the silent vampire, and does a terrific job selling the undead creature’s fight sequences with stiff limbs and startling hops. This movie is colorful, funny, scary, tense, and an incredibly fun time. If you like the Evil Dead movies, this is one you must check out; Sam Raimi basically directly ripped one of Spooky Kind ’s fight sequences for Evil Dead II . — Pete Volk

Eyes Without a Face

Director: Georges Franju Cast: Pierre Brasseur, Édith Scob, Alida Valli Where to watch: Max, The Criterion Channel

Georges Franju’s influential 1960 film is a master class in supernatural fantasy horror. An unsettling tale about a plastic surgeon (played by Pierre Brasseur) who kidnaps young women and performs surgery on them to try and find a face replacement for his daughter (Édith Scob), Eyes Without a Face is equal parts haunting and beautiful. Scob’s iconic face mask in the movie was later referenced in her role in the also-excellent Holy Motors many decades later. — PV

Director: Clive Barker Cast: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence Where to watch: Prime Video, AMC+, Shudder, Tubi, Pluto, Hoopla

Clive Barker’s 1987 directorial debut adapts his 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart to tell the story of Larry (Andrew Robinson) and Julia Cotton (Clare Higgins). The Cottons are a married couple who move into the home of Larry’s recently deceased brother, Frank (Sean Chapman), with whom Julia had a previous affair. After inadvertently being resurrected by a drop of blood spilled by Larry on the floor of the house’s attic, Frank seduces Julia into luring new men to the house so that he can drain their life force and fully regain his mortal form. Surrounding this core narrative is the the story of the Lament Configuration, a puzzle box Frank acquired before his untimely death. When solved, it conjures hellish beings known as Cenobites to the mortal plane of existence, which indulge in hellish exercises of sadomasochistic mutilation. Easily the best and most enduring of the Hellraiser movie series, Barker’s 1987 original is a must-watch for horror fans. —TE

Director: Ari Aster Cast: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro Where to watch: Max

Hereditary is a victim of its own success. The poster child for the misguided term “elevated horror,” and the subject of more than a few memes (particularly around telephone poles), the thing that often gets lost about Hereditary is that it’s actually really fucking good. And it’s damn scary too.

The movie follows Annie Graham, a difficult mother of two, who just lost her mom. During the funeral service, Annie notices quite a few people are here to mourn the mother she thought had no friends. She eventually learns this group of old people all belonged to the same bizarre semi-cult her mother did. And that’s where the witchy stuff starts.

From there everything descends into a complicated mishmash of tightly coiled family drama, supernatural plotting, and years-old resentments, and it’s absolutely excellent. Who’s to say which is scarier in this movie, the verbal immolation or the literal one?

Even if you’ve seen it already, you probably owe this movie a rewatch. You definitely remember that it’s good, but you probably don’t remember just how great it really is. Hereditary is elegantly creepy, right up until the point that it becomes terrifying. You can’t really ask any more from a horror movie than that. — Austen Goslin

Director: Bong Joon-ho Cast: Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-bong, Park Hae-il Where to watch: Max, Roku Channel, Hoopla, Kanopy

The Host was Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up to the smash success serial killer drama Memories of Murder . A critical and commercial success, it was the highest-grossing South Korean film ever after its release and won Best Film at the Asian Film Awards and the Blue Dragon Film Awards.

Years after chemicals are dumped into the Han River, a huge mutated fish monster emerges and kidnaps a young girl. Her father (Song Kang-ho) sets out to find and rescue her, before being kidnapped by the American scientists responsible for its existence. A fun monster thriller that doubles as insightful commentary on U.S. intervention, ecological disasters, and much more, The Host is a high mark in Bong’s impressive filmography. — PV

Director : Nobuhiko Obayashi Cast : Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Kumiko Ohba Where to watch: Max, Criterion Channel

Few movies are as weird and excellent as Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House .

The bizarre ghost story follows a group of school girls who take a vacation to a haunted mansion in the countryside of Japan. Everything starts off well enough, but before long the kids are being attacked by demonic gates, getting eaten by pianos, or opening portals to hell — all with visually an inventive silliness few movies have ever matched. House isn’t all that scary, but it is weird in all the best ways, and nothing else looks or feels like it. — AG

In the Mouth of Madness

Director : John Carpenter Cast : Sam Neill, Julie Carmen, Jurgen Prochnow Where to watch: YouTube

Among the wildest movies John Carpenter has ever made (and that’s saying something), In the Mouth of Madness follows insurance investigator John Trent (Sam Neill), who is hired to find a missing fame horror novelist. Things become increasingly unhinged as the plots of the author’s books and the various monsters seem to invade the real world. Neill, a staple of this list, is absolutely fantastic responding to the horrors of hell, slowly becoming exactly as off-kilter as they are. By the time the movie makes it to the third act, the door to hell is halfway open and Trent is ready to dive headfirst into the void, which is honestly how every movie’s third act should go.

This is also the third in Carpenter’s apocalypse trilogy, which also includes two other stone-cold classics, The Thing and Prince of Darkness . They aren’t on this list, but you should watch them anyway. — AG

Let the Right One In

Director: Tomas Alfredson Cast: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar Where to watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Roku Channel, Crackle, Hoopla, Kanopy

A 12-year-old Swedish boy finds a friend in a vampire who looks roughly his age, but is actually an old vampire permanently trapped in the body of a young child. The film is kaleidoscopic, each viewing revealing something different than the last. The first time I saw the film, I was a pessimistic college student, and I read the central relationship as a warning about the parasitic nature of love. After college, the children’s bond reminded me of the impermanence of youth, and why growing up is a mixed blessing. This past year, I was far more focused on the girl’s relationship with her caretaker, an older man who sacrifices everything for her existence.

The film was adapted from John Ajvide Lindqvist’s 2004 novel of the same name, which inspired not just this Swedish film, but a 2010 American adaptation, a comic-book prequel, and two stage plays. The latter has its own legacy — it was adapted by the magnificent National Theater of Scotland, and it eventually had a run at St. Ann’s Warehouse in 2015. Few books inspire so much additional great art. So I suppose I’m recommending the book just as much as the film. — Chris Plante

Director: James Wan Cast: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young Where to watch: Max

There was just no way to see it coming. After the Conjuring and Insidious franchises, plus blockbuster turns with Furious 7 and Aquaman , James Wan could have cashed in chips to make another moody franchise-starter to stretch his jump-scare muscles. Instead, he made Malignant , a high-emotion giallo stuffed into dingy ’90s direct-to-video pastiche like some kind of horror-movie turducken. Wan pulls back the layers in an almost tedious fashion: The pregnant Madison (Annabelle Wallis) is first the victim of domestic abuse, then she encounters another killer, and then she starts dealing with psychotic episodes tied to her childhood imaginary friend Gabriel, and theeeeen it’s revealed… Well, please go behold it.

Strung together with a melodramatic cover of The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind,” reveling in horror tropes to the point of parody, the final twists of Malignant are some of the most gratifying lunacy of the year, and the acrobatic actor Marina Mazepa brings it all home in a display of gruesome ballet. I won’t explain anything more out of fear of spoilers — just get on the Malignant train. Wan put his dream (nightmare?) on screen for us all to enjoy. — Matt Patches

Director: Frank Darabont Cast: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden Where to watch: Digital rental/purchase

Any fan of Stephen King worth their salt knows that the so-called king of horror has a lot of movie adaptations of his work . Few films have managed to eclipse, let alone successfully adapt, King’s capacity for horror storytelling, with the exception of (a) Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and (b) Frank Darabont’s The Mist .

Darabont’s third adaptation of a Stephen King story, the film stars Thomas Jane ( The Expanse ) as a Hollywood poster artist living in Maine who, along with his wife and son and the rest of his neighbors, takes shelter in a supermarket in the wake of a mysterious storm that covers the town in a deadly mist.

Supernatural, otherworldly horrors abound throughout The Mist , but the greatest horror of all is — you guessed it — humanity itself, as seen in the way the townspeople succumb to the temptation to scapegoat those among themselves under the influence of a local religious fanatic. The ending is a gut-punch and sincerely one of the most chilling in any mainstream horror film of its time. If you’ve managed to go unspoiled until now, I won’t ruin the surprise, but needless to say, it’s worth it. —TE

Night of the Living Dead

Director: George A. Romero Cast: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Marilyn Eastman Where to watch: Max, Peacock, MGM Plus, Paramount Plus, Roku Channel

The movie that launched the modern zombie film in the United States, George A. Romero’s debut feature was written, directed, photographed, and edited by the nascent zombie film master on a shoestring budget, which only adds to the eerie atmosphere and grounded terror. In this film, a group of survivors hide out in an abandoned house in western Pennsylvania at the start of a zombie apocalypse. Led by the level-headed Ben (Duane Jones), the group not only has to deal with the conflict of zombies trying to break in, but internal conflicts stemming from disagreements on how to handle their precarious predicament.

Night of the Living Dead is the first example of Romero’s typical blend of jaw-dropping (and stomach-churning) practical effects and astute social commentary. Fun fact: This movie came out a month before the MPAA film rating system, which meant a heaping amount of controversy when children were able to see the quite graphic movie in theaters. And another fun fact: Night of the Living Dead was never copyrighted and is in the public domain because of an error by the original theatrical distributor. — PV

Director: Andrzej Żuławski Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Heinz Bennent Where to watch: Shudder, AMC Plus, Metrograph

Outside of the most ardent of cinephile circles, Andrzej Żuławski isn’t a name that inspires enthusiastic recognition in the United States. Known for his transgressive brand of arthouse cinema, Żuławski’s career was stymied by Communist authorities in his homeland of Poland, with many of his early films being either heavily censored, banned, or, in one instance, nearly destroyed upon release. It also doesn’t help that the few films of his that have been released in the States have since gone out of print — though that appears to be changing soon .

If you do know Żuławski’s name, it’s likely for his 1981 psychological horror film Possession , a film whose cult status among horror connoisseurs has only been amplified in the decades since its release by its difficulty to obtain on physical media or to view online. Fortunately for everyone, that’s no longer the case.

Set in Cold War-era West Berlin, Żuławski’s film stars Jurassic Park ’s Sam Neill as Mark, a Russian spy who returns home to find that his wife, Anna (Isabelle Adjani), has left him and wants a divorce. When Anna refuses to divulge why, only saying that she has not left him for someone else, Mark grows suspicious and has her tailed. What he eventually discovers is a horrifying secret beyond his comprehension, one which awakens a long-dormant wellspring of anxiety, resentment, and despair between the two that threatens to tear apart not only their small family, but their very sanity as well.

Inspired by Żuławski’s own tumultuous divorce in 1976 and his subsequent struggles with suicidal ideation, Possession blurs the line between the autobiographical and the phantasmagorical, with hysterical performances by Neill and Adjani that vacillate between disturbing, comical, and disquietingly sympathetic. An inspiration for everything from Ari Aster’s Midsommar to the 2016 music video for Massive Attack’s “ Voodoo in My Blood ,” Possession is an essential watch for any serious horror fan. —TE

Directors : Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza Cast : Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Martha Carbonell Where to watch: Prime Video

One of the best and most disturbing found-footage movies ever, [REC] follows a TV reporter and camera person who follow emergency workers into an apartment building, only to discover the dark truth inside: Some of the residents are turning into monsters. Set squarely in the zombie-craze of the mid-2000s, [REC] ’s undead creatures owe quite a bit to the raving cannibal infected of 28 Days Later , but the Spanish movie’s flesh-eaters are quite a bit creepier and more disturbed than their predecessors. While many found-footage movies obscure their scariest moments, [REC] uses the format to enhance its creeping dread and drag out the character’s slow careful exploration of the apartment building, ramping the tension up to 11 just in time for the downright terrifying finale. — AG

Director: Egor Abramenko Cast: Oksana Akinshina, Fedor Bondarchuk, Pyotr Fyodorov Where to watch: Hulu

If you’re hungry for a great piece of contemporary Russian sci-fi horror (i.e., something not directed by either Andrei Tarkovsky or Yakov Protazanov), then Egor Abramenko’s 2020 directorial debut is just the film you’re looking for.

Set during 1983 at the height of Cold War tensions, Sputnik (which for your information is Russian for “fellow traveler”) centers on Tatyana (Oskana Akinshina), an uncompromising young psychiatrist with a staunch attitude with regard to the ends justifying the means. Tatyana is recruited by the Soviet military to treat Konstantin (Pyotr Fyodorov), a wounded cosmonaut and the lone survivor of a mysterious satellite crash. Only upon arriving at the remote hospital facility housing the patient and interacting with him does Tatyana come to realize the horrifying truth: Konstantin did not in fact return from space alone; rather, his body has now become the unwitting host to an organism unlike anything seen on Earth. Caught between her duty to study the creature and her desire to save Konstantin from further harm, Tatyana must make a hard decision upon which the very survival of all humanity may rest.

What makes Abramenko’s debut so compelling is how it takes the basic premise of the “trolley problem” thought experiment and twists it repeatedly (and successfully) to dramatic emotional effect. Akinshina ( The Bourne Supremacy ) delivers a convincing and compelling performance as Tatyana, a woman forced to confront and overcome the uncompromising attitude that had once assured her success but now threatens to endanger not only another man’s life, but potentially the lives of everyone on the planet along with her own soul. Fyodorov, for his own part, delivers a sympathetically complex (and on occasion, implicitly sinister) performance as Konstantin, a Russian “hero” torn between his perceived duty to his country and his emotional obligation to a loved one he all but abandoned before embarking on his most recent mission. The creature design in this movie is terrific, as is the cinematography and the film’s score.

Having previously been slated for a world premiere at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and subsequently dumped on video-on-demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sputnik is exactly the kind of horror movie this list was intended to spotlight: a kind of rare gem of intellectually and viscerally stimulating horror that otherwise goes unappreciated if not given the opportunity to shine. —TE

Director : Dario Argento Cast : Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci Where to watch: Tubi, Kanopy

One of the best-looking movies of all time with one of the best soundtracks of all time. What’s better than that?

Dario Argento’s Suspiria tells the story of Suzy Bannion, an American dancer who moves to Germany to study at the prestigious Tanz Akademie. It just so happens that the academy is run by witches. As the facade of the school unravels, Suzy’s fellow students slowly start going missing or dropping dead in increasingly bizarre and horrible ways.

While the plot for Suspiria is interesting, what really makes the movie great is how it looks and how it sounds. Everything about the production design, the costumes, and the colors is eccentric in ways no other horror movie has ever matched. Couple all that with the incredible and haunting soundtrack from European rock band Goblin, and Suspiria becomes an unforgettable horror classic that everyone should see at least once. — AG

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Director: Tobe Hooper Cast: Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Allen Danziger Where to watch: Peacock, Shudder, AMC Plus, Tubi, Freevee

Another shoestring production gone huge, Tobe Hooper’s 1974 masterpiece made over $30 million at the box office on a budget of around $140,000. The movie follows a group of friends who find themselves hunted by a family of cannibals in the middle of Texas, and is a chilling, violent fever dream that permanently lodges itself in the minds of those who watch it.

Eight films have followed, including a Netflix version in 2022, but the original stands out as an unhinged encapsulation of pure chaos and terror. At a tight 83 minutes, the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre is well worth the small time investment to catch up on one of the most influential horror movies ever made. — PV

Director: John Carpenter Cast: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David Where to watch: Peacock

John Carpenter’s postmodern creature feature takes the idea of alien monsters and makes them simultaneously more recognizable and more gross and unworldly than in any other movie in history. The Thing , the second adaptation of the excellent novella Who Goes There? , remains thrilling, terrifying, and absolutely disgusting more than 40 years after its release.

The Thing follows a group of researchers working at an Antarctic base. Suddenly, a dog from a local Norwegian camp rushes into their base, with Norwegian men hot on its heels, trying to kill it by any means necessary. However, once the American crew takes the dog in and shelters it, they discover it’s an alien that can transform into any living creature, mimicking it perfectly — and that makes every one of them a suspect.

It’s one of the great paranoid thriller premises of all time, but it just so happens to also be filled with gross and fantastic alien gore. There’s nothing quite like The Thing . — AG

The Unfriended movies

Director: Levan “Leo” Gabriadze ( Unfriended ); Stephen Susco ( Unfriended: Dark Web ) Cast: Shelley Hennig, Moses Storm, Renee Olstead ( Unfriended ); Colin Woodell, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Betty Gabriel ( Unfriended: Dark Web ) Where to watch: Criterion Channel ( Unfriended ); Digital rental/purchase (Both movies)

As many people have learned over the past few years, there aren’t that many things scarier than a video call you can’t leave.

A masterfully contained horror movie that makes full use of its (at the time) groundbreaking gimmick, Unfriended is a tense teen horror movie that takes place entirely on a character’s laptop screen. Definitely watch it on a laptop if you can, and check out the very good sequel Unfriended: Dark Web if you dug this one. — PV

From our list of the best horror movies on Netflix :

Levan Gabriadze’s Unfriended pulls the audiences through the screen — almost literally. Viewed entirely from the perspective of a computer desktop, 2014 supernatural horror film centers around a Skype call between a group of high school students who are joined by an unknown presence known only as “billie227.” What at first appears to be a prank swiftly morphs into something much more horrific, as the mysterious stranger begins to reveal terrifying secrets about each of the friends before killing them off one by one. Unfriended is thoroughly gripping extrapolation of our always-online world, a world where vengeful poltergeists and doxxing exist side by side and no secret or offense goes undiscovered or unpunished. —TE

Director: Jordan Peele Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss Where to watch : Netflix

Jordan Peele’s already a horror master just three movies into his career, but Us probably still doesn’t have the reputation it deserves. His 2019 psychological slasher had the unfortunate fate of following up the cultural phenomenon of Get Out , so it had a hard time breaking through, in the way that sophomore projects often do. But taken on its own terms, Us is a fantastic little horror movie with tons of atmosphere and an underground society’s worth of great scares.

The movie follows the Wilson family, whose vacation is interrupted by the arrival of a group of doppelgängers who match up with each member of the family perfectly. The clones, it turns out, are called Tethered, and where they come from is very complicated. But before any kind of explanation of the Tethered, what we see is a parade of violent attacks, home invasions, and some very tense encounters between Lupita Nyong’o and herself.

Us may not be Peele’s best movie, but it is a fascinating mix of slasher thrills and world- building, supported by a fantastic cast all operating at their A games. While the entire cast is great, Elizabeth Moss is a particular standout for her extremely brief but extraordinarily loathsome role as one of the family’s friends. Her performance gives this movie so much of its weird off-kilter vibe, and leads to some of its most unstintingly and gleefully over-the-top violence. Alongside the terrifying tone, Peele manages to build an entire second world underneath our own, and will give you a very unhealthy fear of what you’re really seeing when you look in the mirror. — AG

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Best Horror Movies of 2024 Ranked – New Scary Movies to Watch

Welcome to the best horror movies of 2024, ranking every dark and dreary delight coming out this year by Tomatometer! We start the list with Certified Fresh films (these movies have maintained a high Tomatometer score after enough critics reviews), followed by the pulp-pounding Fresh movies (these are rated at least 60%), and then concluding with the morbidly Rotten.

March additions: Larry Fessenden’s back with his werewolf-take Blackout . Night Shift . Imaginary (see Blumhouse horror productions ranked ). Indian Hindi-language Shaitaan. Late Night with the Devil .  Sydney Sweeney’s  Immaculate . You’ll Never Find Me . Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 .

In February , terror reared its head in the stop-motion animation medium (don’t forget about Phil Tippett’s Mad God in 2021) with the literal titled  Stopmotion . 

In 2023 , horror kicked off in a big way with M3GAN . There wasn’t a breakout hit in January 2024, with the major genre releases being the COVID-shot Paleolithic thriller Out of Darkness , and the Diablo Cody-penned Lisa Frankenstein , set in the same world as her cult comedy Jennifer’s Body .

New horror movies for 2024 on the horizon include They Follow (sequel to It Follows , with Maika Monroe and writer/director David Robert Mitchell returning), MaXXXine (Ti West’s closing his trilogy after X and Pearl ), Terrifier 3 (Art the Clown expands his spree into Christmas ), Nosferatu (from director Robert Eggers), Alien: Romulus (due in August), A Quiet Place: Day One (June), Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (September), Return to Silent Hill (original director Christophe Gans returns as well), The Conjuring: Last Rites (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprise their Warren roles).

Late Night with the Devil (2023) 97%

Stopmotion (2023) 90%

Out of Darkness (2022) 86%

You'll Never Find Me (2023) 79%

The First Omen (2024) 80%

T-Blockers (2023) 100%

Double Blind (2023) 100%

Summoners (2022) 100%

Midnight Peepshow (2022) 100%

Somewhere Quiet (2023) 92%

I Saw the TV Glow (2024) 91%

Lovely, Dark, and Deep (2023) 89%

Here for Blood (2022) 88%

Blackout (2023) 80%

Cuckoo (2024) 77%

Immaculate (2024) 70%

Departing Seniors (2023) 61%

The Seeding (2023) 57%

Lisa Frankenstein (2024) 51%

Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 (2024) 52%

Founders Day (2023) 47%

Shaitaan (2024) 43%

The Prank (2022) 38%

Amelia's Children (2023) 46%

Night Shift (2023) 40%

Imaginary (2024) 25%

Night Swim (2024) 21%

Camp Pleasant Lake (2024) 11%

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• Best Horror Film Streaming Services of 2024

If you're into horror movies, there's never been a better time to watch them. The Best Horror Film Streaming Services of 2024, including Max at No. 1, have all the scares you can handle. But which one should you choose? Read our rating to find out.

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• Compare the Best Horror Film Streaming Services
• Rating Details

How To Find the Right Horror Streaming Service for You

A big advantage of on-demand streaming is the ability to find a specific genre and binge to your heart’s content. With our top-ranked streaming services for horror films, horror fans can geek out on classic scary films and shows or brand-new ones. Both Max and Amazon Prime Video own vast libraries of creepy content that are rotated periodically to make sure you get your goosebumps.

Our Horror Film Streaming Services Rating

• Amazon Prime Video

Compare the Best Horror Film Streaming Services of 2024

An in-depth look at our best horror film streaming services of 2024, max ».

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Amazon Prime Video »

When choosing a horror movie streaming services, consider these factors:

• Price : On-demand services like Max and Amazon Prime Video give you more bang for the buck than live-TV services like YouTube TV and Fubo. Max includes an ad-supported tier that saves money if you don’t mind commercials. Amazon’s video is included if you are already a Prime subscriber, and does not include ads. But some content will cost extra.
• Simultaneous streams : One advantage of on-demand service is the ability to stream from multiple devices and locations, so different household members can choose what to watch. Max allows two to four simultaneous streams depending on your plan. Amazon allows three simultaneous streams with up to two watching the same content.
• Multiple user accounts : Max allows you to create up to five user profiles on a single account to help each household member organize their favorites. Amazon enables six for either adults or children. See below for more.
• Parental controls : Most on-demand services allow you to set filters to limit content for children such as violence and nudity. Max enables you to select from six different rating categories. Amazon offers similar controls by rating and allows you to block specific titles as well.
• Content lineup : The big question for most viewers is content, and you should research each platform to learn about each catalog, especially if there are specific titles you want to access. Both Max and Amazon have deep content libraries for horror and also develop new shows.
• Subbed or dubbed content : Both Max and Amazon allow you to use subtitles for foreign-language content and in some cases change the audio.

Horror Film Streaming Services FAQ

Max’s ad-supported plan costs $9.99 per month, or you can pay $99.99 for the year. Upgrading to the ad-free plan is $15.99 monthly or $149.99 annually, giving you 30 downloads to watch on the go. The Ultimate ad-free plan is $19.99 or $199.99 for the year, giving you ultra HD video, 100 downloads, and four simultaneous streams (compared with two on the other plans).

Amazon Prime Video is included for Amazon Prime subscribers, and a standalone subscription is $8.99 per month. There are no ads on Prime Video but some content must be purchased separately.

Even hard-core horror movie fans need a break from scary content, and both Max and Amazon Prime Video have vast libraries to allow for a change.

Max has an estimated 2,200 movies and 2,000 TV shows in a range of genres from classic films like “Casablanca” to the new hit series “White Lotus.” It has taken control of content previously offered to other services like the hit shows “Friends” and “Sex and the City.”

Amazon Prime Video has one of the largest catalogs, with an estimated 26,000 films and 2,700 TV shows for all ages and categories. Just be aware that some of these are available on a pay-per-view or for purchase.

Each of these services allows you to create user profiles – five for Max, six for Amazon Prime Video – with parental controls if you choose. Max allows two simultaneous streams for its ad-supported and ad-free plans and four for its Ultimate plan while Amazon allows three.

If you're looking for live content such as sports and news you will need a separate service such as YouTube TV or Fubo, although Amazon does stream NFL Thursday Night Football.

Note that plenty of other services in our rating of the Best On-Demand Streaming Services of 2024 feature horror movies and shows, including Netflix and Hulu .

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Rob Lever is a veteran journalist based in Washington, D.C. with significant expertise in technology and tech policy. He spent nearly 10 years as the technology and media correspondent for Agence-France Presse, covering digital lifestyles, consumer electronics, Big Tech, cybersecurity, privacy, social media, and misinformation. He previously worked as a reporter and editor for economics and general news at AFP.

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• Calculating the Z-Score: The Z-Score represents a data point's relation to the mean measurement of the data set. The Z-Score is negative when the data point is below the mean and positive when it's above the mean; a Z-Score of 0 means it's equal to the mean. To determine the Z-Score for each third-party rating of a streaming service, we calculated the mean of the ratings across all streaming services evaluated by that third-party source. We then subtracted the mean from the streaming service’s rating and divided it by the standard deviation to produce the Z-Score.
• Calculating the T-Score: We used a T-Score calculation to convert the Z-Score to a 0-100 scale by multiplying the Z-Score by 10. To ensure that the mean was equal across all data points, we added our desired scoring mean (between 0 and 10) to the T-Score to create an adjusted T-Score.
• Calculating the common-scale rating: We divided the adjusted T-Score, which is on a 100-point scale, by 20 to convert the third-party rating to a common 0-5 point system.

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'Arcadian' Review — Nicolas Cage’s Dystopian Horror Absolutely Rips

• Arcadian is a great Nicolas Cage movie with a solid horror story that takes itself seriously.
• It captures a unique post-apocalyptic world where monsters lurk in the darkness
• Cage delivers a grounded performance, showcasing real emotional depth before letting loose in the end.

This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival.

We love a great Nicolas Cage movie, don’t we folks? No, I’m not talking about the ones that try to ironically play off of the stature that he has accumulated in Hollywood. I’m talking about the ones that are actually damn good movies that prove Cage is not just one of the most versatile, charismatic chameleons of an actor, but the ones that also happen to be effective works in their own right. Not only is director Benjamin Brewer ’s Arcadian a good Nicolas Cage movie, but it’s one of the most fun cinematic experiences that he has been a part of in recent memory. It's a work of horror worth taking seriously even as things go gloriously off the rails. While great to see Cage fighting post-apocalyptic demons , it is all built around a sturdy story that never undercuts itself by winking to the camera as some others have struggled to do in the past . In a script written by Michael Nilon , Cage is able to genuinely explore a world alongside his co-stars Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins as a family unit facing down the end of everything as we've known it. While there is an awareness of Cage’s persona and quite a lot of fun to be had when this is utilized, the movie also takes itself seriously, making every second of the buildup count before it explodes outwards in glorious fashion. It may not reinvent the wheel, but man is it great to see this movie set it spinning forward at full speed.

Arcadian (2024)

A father and his twin teenage sons fight to survive in a remote farmhouse at the end of the end of the world.

Release Date April 12, 2024

Director Benjamin Brewer

Cast Daire McMahon, Joe Dixon, Joel Gillman, Samantha Coughlan, Sadie Soverall, Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins

Runtime 92 Minutes

Genres Thriller, Action, Horror

What Is 'Arcadian' About?

This all begins with Paul (Cage) as he travels through the ruins of the old world that is now crumbling to scavenge what he can. Echoing something like Alfonso Cuarón ’s Children of Men in how it relies on an unbroken handheld shot, which is how the majority of the movie is shot, this is a less dynamic opening than anything in that while remaining effective at capturing what it sets out to do. Without Cage saying a word, we are given a proper introduction to who Paul is and what he is facing . We see him having to hurry where he can while also proceeding carefully through what seems to be a city that has been overrun by something. At one point, the camera stops while he continues, and we are given a hint of what seems like it could be a fight against something terrifying playing out just out of sight.

The film then cuts to a striking locked-down shot of this world as Paul looks out on it, as if saying goodbye, before he returns to a place where he has hidden away his two young boys who are only babies. He comforts them but seems overwhelmed by the road ahead. We then cut to fifteen years in the future as Joseph (Martell) and Thomas (Jenkins) are both surviving with their father at a remote home. They each hurry to get indoors, with Paul waiting for both to make it back before going inside himself, as it is soon clear that to stay outside at night is a death sentence. Banging on the fortified door indicates that whatever is out there is testing the defenses of the people who are still left alive, trying to find a way in. Though we'll get plenty of good looks at these well-designed creatures later in the film, even just hearing them carries with it a sense of dread . The sounds they make will only get more unsettling.

'Arcadian' Is a Horror Movie That Charts Its Own Course

While this sounds like it could be a cross between a movie like A Quiet Place and the series From , Arcadian quickly carves out its own rules that set it apart . Namely, there aren’t really any rules. In one scene that serves to establish the pain facing its young characters just as it does how little they know about what happened, Thomas plays a game with his crush Charlotte ( Sadie Soverall ) who lives in a nearby community. They try to quickly explain what caused the end of the world, offering wild stories that are more playful than they are productive in terms of what they tell us about the truth. The characters are kept in the dark and this is where oh so many of them will die. Even as the film holds back a little bit when it comes to gore, the sequences where the monsters come out to play are no less creepy.

'Oddity' Review: This Supernatural Horror Film Will Tear You To Pieces | SXSW 2024

One standout involves things slowing way down as a hand emerges from a hole in a door, getting longer and longer before it seems like it will be able to grab the character that has fallen asleep while standing guard. It not only looks good in terms of its visual effects, but the way it is constructed is where it also works. There are plenty of more chaotic scenes the longer it goes on, but there is something special to just seeing something gradually get closer to having you in its grasp that is worth appreciating as well. The film is not just relying on the monsters to drive things as it finds ways to ratchet up the terror when you least expect it. When Thomas is returning home one day and stumbles into a dark pit, the way the shot just holds ensures that you feel the fall even as you didn’t see him make an impact . This is the inciting incident that then sees Paul go out to find him while Joseph must stay back at home all by himself until the sun comes up. There is more to the story than that, but the rest of the film is best experienced knowing little more. What can be said is the remaining humans will soon find the fragile tranquility they’ve fought to build for themselves may be dragged to hell.

While Not the Main Character, Cage Kills It in 'Arcadian'

The one other thing that should be noted, while remaining quite coy about the particulars surrounding it, is that Cage is taken out of commission for a significant part of the film . Don’t fret though as when he’s in action, he’s as good as he’s ever been. There are moments where he plays Paul with a more grounded seriousness, almost feeling like his magnificent work in the nearly perfect movie that is Michael Sarnoski ’s Pig , and where we really develop an emotional connection to him as he tries to protect his family when that is getting increasingly impossible to do. While there are certainly many a meme (bleh) that have been about how Cage can go wild on screen, this film is refreshingly not one that tries to cheaply cash in on that. Instead, you fully believe every second of his performance. It serves as another reminder that Cage is a great actor who can make the most of even the simplest of scenes. One line he gets towards the end is this in action as all the attention turns to him and it seems like we are gearing up for some sort of delivery of a catchphrase. Instead, Cage plays it straight, making the impact of even a single word more effective precisely because of how earnest it is. Even when he fades into the background a bit, rather than feel like something is lost as a result, it opens up a lot of interesting opportunities to find new moments of horror and heart.

What this all entails involves showing how the brothers, while different in many ways and prone to butting heads, are also some of the only people left in the world who care about the other . Their relationship is natural and believable as we can see the men they are growing into becoming. While Arcadian is not some sort of rich character study where we get to see them develop over several years, instead keeping things mostly confined to a handful of days, the emotional beats all work. A scene where Paul is attempting to teach Joseph how to drive is silly though oddly sweet as we see a normal ritual of life continuing on even as everything else has fallen apart. It is moments like this that then gives everything that kicks off real stakes as we’ve come to care about the characters and their relationships. Even Charlotte, while perhaps a little underwritten at times, is given a lot through Soverall’s performance. Though her motivations are more broadly sketched, she never misses a step while wielding a shotgun.

Similarly, both Martell and Jenkins also do a great job. While the former is no stranger to horror, having starred in the recent It series, this feels like something that gives him more room to help carry a movie all on his own. When the characters then take part in a climactic battle for their futures, with Cage getting an all-timer of a scene that feels earned after everything else was more reserved, you’re with them every step of the way. Though its world has fallen into darkness, Arcadian carries the horror torch forward to become a solid monster movie. Best watch your step, A Quiet Place, as there may be something lurking beneath you.

Arcadian is a must-see horror film with well-designed monsters that shows Nicolas Cage remains a great actor.

• Nicolas Cage gives a performance that is more understated at times, making the moment where he lets loose in the end all the more earned.
• The character relationships, while confined to only a couple of days, give the eventual chaos of the conclusion real stakes.
• The monsters are creepy both when we don't see them and when we get plenty of good looks at them.
• The film does hold back a little bit when it comes to gore.

Arcadian comes to theaters in the U.S. on April 12. Click below for showtimes.

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Chilling horror movie with 100% Rotten Tomatoes score is coming soon to Netflix – and it's being called Nightcrawler with witch doctors

Disappear Completely has received some high praise

A new horror movie with great reviews is heading to UK Netflix very soon. Mexican horror Disappear Completely is directed by Luis Javier Henaine and features a chilling premise.

It follows a tabloid photographer who makes his money profiting off death. After visiting a particularly creepy crime scene, he falls prey to a mysterious disease that makes him lose his five senses one by one.

Per  Digital Spy , the film is arriving on Netflix on April 12, two years after it premiered at Fantastic Fest back in 2022. And the reviews it has so far are pretty impressive, leaving the movie with a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Leonardo Garcia Tsao from  La Jornada  writes that its "adherence to contemporary horror conventions and its open, pessimistic ending certainly places Disappear Completely among the most valid and interesting recent contributions to the genre".

Meanwhile,  Father Son Holy Gore ’s C.H. Newell writes: "Disappear Completely is an unnerving supernatural horror story that brings the morality of our everyday world into question when it comes to the pop culture obsession with true crime."

One of the most intriguing reviews comes from  The Hollywood News ’ Kat Hughes who calls it "a fusion of Nightcrawler with witch doctors," adding that "Disappear Completely straddles both the old and new world".

Nightcrawler is the Dan Gilroy-directed thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a photojournalist selling violent stories around Los Angeles. Based on the subject matter, it’s easy to see where the similarities come from, but it’s an impressive comparison nonetheless.

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For more of what to stream, here’s our guide to the best Netflix horror movies and the best Netflix movies .

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.

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The 10 best horror movie remakes of all time, ranked

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Though this has been the case for many horror movie remakes, some have defied expectations and reinvented films for the better. There are even films that have surpassed the versions that came before them.

10. Dawn of the Dead (2004)

9. the ring (2002), 8. let me in (2010), 7. nosferatu the vampyre (1979), 6. cape fear (1991), 5. the fly (1986), 4. the invisible man (2020), 3. invasion of the body snatchers (1978), 2. it (2017), 1. the thing (1982).

Since the trend of cinematic remakes is here, filmmakers should take cues from these 10 horror films that lived up to the source material.

When zombies start popping up around the world, a handful of survivors fight for their lives as they take shelter inside a shopping mall. This remake by Zack Snyder and James Gunn injects new life into the zombie apocalypse with its distinctive brand of gory, frenetic action.

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George A. Romero’s original movie may have taken its time with its terror and social satire, but this newer version captures the unbridled chaos in its premise, immersing the audiences in a horrific war against the undead.

Based on the Japanese film Ringu , this modern classic tells the story of a woman (Naomi Watts) who investigates a mysterious videotape that kills anyone seven days after they watch it.

Unnerving and spine-tingling, The Ring had a new generation of horror fans watch the screen through their fingers. The success of this movie also brought greater attention to Asian horror films, leading to similar remakes from American studios.

Based on the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In , this Matt Reeves-directed film follows a 12-year-old boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who befriends a little girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) who turns out to be a decades-old vampire.

In a beautiful marriage of gothic horror and childhood angst, this chilling remake captures the magic of the original film while forging its own identity by exploring the darkness buried in Reagan’s America.

Long before Robert Eggers thought of remaking Nosferatu , director Werner Herzog did so with Klaus Kinski ( Aguirre, the Wrath of God ) starring as the titular vampire alongside Isabelle Adjani ( Possession ) and Bruno Ganz ( The Manchurian Candidate ).

While it is somewhat more faithful to Bram Stoker’s novel, this film builds upon it by exploring the lonely and tragic nature of Dracula’s cursed character. And with its extraordinary visuals and a chilling score, Nosferatu the Vampyre truly stands the test of time.

Directed by Martin Scorsese , this film shows a violent rapist (Robert de Niro) who leaves prison seeking vengeance against his former lawyer (Nick Nolte) for knowingly sabotaging his defense. In this nightmarish spiral into hell, Scorsese invokes a classical cinematic style while unleashing his unique brand of dread and violence.

Combined with de Niro’s Oscar-worthy performance and Bernard Hermann’s still-effective reused score, this remake sent the 1962 original down the river by being a terrific film from a legendary director who added depth and terror to the source material.

When audiences think of The Fly , they now likely think of the ’80s remake starring Jeff Goldblum. Director David Cronenberg ‘s film captures the bizarre terror of Seth Brundle’s experiment gone wrong as it blends quirky humor with horrific tragedy.

The film’s grotesque practical effects also make the horror all the more realistic, getting under the audience’s skin with Brundle’s jaw-dropping transformation into the titular monster.

In this ingenious retelling of the 1933 monster movie of the same name, Cecilia ( Mad Men ‘s Elisabeth Moss) finds herself tormented by her abusive ex-boyfriend ( Surface ‘s Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who stalks her in an advanced invisibility suit.

Adapting this tale for the modern age, The Invisible Man tackles domestic violence and the trauma that lingers even after a person like Cecilia escapes from their abuser. And with its clever scares and suspenseful thrills, this remake took an iconic character and created a horror classic in its own right.

When alien plants begin sprouting up on Earth, a group of friends find themselves targeted by emotionless duplicates of the people around them in a full-scale invasion of San Francisco.

Like Cronenberg’s The Fly , this movie reinvigorates a ’50s horror classic for a new age, transforming a Cold War allegory into a cautionary tale about conformity. Such sheer hopelessness grabs audiences by the heart as the heroes get picked off one by one until the infamous final scene, ultimately implanting itself into the viewers’ minds forever.

Despite its flaws, the 1990 version of Stephen King’s It holds a special place in many fans’ hearts. And when considering Tim Curry’s iconic performance as Pennywise the Clown, the 2017 remake had a lot to live up to.

However, this modern interpretation usurped the original on many fronts, with Bill Skarsgård elevating the shapeshifting clown to a new level of terror. Unsurprisingly, It won over critics and audiences alike, becoming the highest-grossing horror movie of all time.

Though it is a remake of 1951’s The Thing From Another World , John Carpenter’s masterpiece is the most loyal to the novel both films adapt. The shapeshifting creature’s designs and effects alone top what was seen in the original movie.

However, the overwhelming sense of dread and paranoia that permeates the film makes this a harrowing tale of people turning against each other in the face of an unknowable and unstoppable threat.

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Death continues to be a core aspect of the horror genre, as it has long been among humanity's greatest fears. But in the many cinematic battles against unspeakable terrors, there have been heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defeat their enemies and protect their loved ones.

So in honor of these fallen heroes, here is the list of the seven most valiant deaths in horror movies. Of course, there are major spoilers below, so read at your own risk! Helen Lyle in Candyman (1992)

Cinema has experienced a rising trend of what audiences call "social" horror/thriller movies, which use terror and suspense to discuss important issues of race, gender, politics, etc. This isn't to say horror movies aren't socially conscious, as many films of the genre have addressed important issues and ideas about society since cinema's early days.

Calling a horror/thriller film "social" or "elevated" may seem elitist, but it has brought greater attention to the true potential that movies like these ten have displayed by making such commentaries. 10. The Stepford Wives (1975)

Some cinema snobs are openly rooting for the wave of superhero cinema to go the way of the Western. Well, we say, “Keep waiting!” The superhero movie trend has been running strong for over two decades now, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. If anything, Marvel and DC are only pumping out more movies than ever. And that’s not even counting the independent superhero flicks like Hellboy. It would take a long string of flops to make superhero movies go away. But we prefer quality, so this list is focused on the best superhero movies of all time. It’s hard to go wrong with these heroes.

More interested in TV series? How about our picks for the best superhero TV shows of all time? Or, if it's just superheroes that aren't your thing, we've got lists of the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime, and the best movies on Disney+.

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‘In Flames’ Review: A Patriarchy Horror Story

Set in Pakistan, the story of a young woman and her family, hemmed in by men, shifts from realism to genre, with heart-pumping consequences.

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By Alissa Wilkinson

It takes about an hour for “In Flames” to reveal itself as proper genre horror, but trepidation lurks from the start. In Karachi, Pakistan, the 20-something Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) lives with her widowed mother, Fariha (Bakhtawar Mazhar), and her younger brother, Bilal (Jibran Khan), who’s mostly glued to his video games. The family has been financially dependent on Fariha’s father-in-law, but as the film opens, he has just died — and Fariha’s brother-in-law, Uncle Nasir (Adnan Shah Tipu), is suddenly very interested in the relatives he had been neglecting.

Fariha teaches at an elementary school, and Mariam is studying for exams that will qualify her to be a doctor. They’re smart, capable women who are less concerned with dismantling established social orders than they are with keeping their home and family intact. Yet their lives are hemmed in by the men around them, with a constriction that’s suffocating. For one, there is Uncle Nasir, who has offered to pay the family’s outstanding debts if Fariha signs some documents, which Mariam pleads with her to avoid doing. But there’s also the man who throws a brick through the car window when Mariam is driving to the library, calling her a whore. Or the man who lurks outside her window, masturbating. Or even the nice young man from the library, Asad (Omar Javaid), who won’t leave Mariam alone.

As the women scramble to save their home, the walls close in on them, and that’s the point: “In Flames,” a confident feature debut written and directed by Zarrar Kahn, is one of several recent films from around the world that frame patriarchy as a nightmare. The most recent may be “ Shayda ,” set in Iran, but even movies like “Poor Things” and “Promising Young Woman” play with the same idea, albeit with a lighter touch. This one is set in Pakistan, in the midst of debates about religious fundamentalism and gender roles, but the outlines are familiar even to audiences in very different circumstances. Men commit obvious, blatant offenses, confident the system is stacked in their favor. But even the “good guys” are locked in a culture that rewards them for refusing to listen to the women who, it’s made clear, are holding the country together.

That means the horror extends to the male perpetrators, who couldn’t find their way out of the maze of unjust systems if they tried. But there’s no question the women bear the brunt of it, whether the perpetrator is abusive, or greedy, or just clueless. To seek help is fruitless, and dangerous; being in debt to yet one more man is another way to put yourself at risk.

Kahn manages to assemble the story in a way that escapes feeling like a series of object lessons. He centers the story on Mariam, giving Nawal’s expressive eyes plenty of time to convey emotions she dares not speak aloud. Mariam’s environment signals her inner life. Sometimes the character is in claustrophobic interiors, where she can’t escape others’ prying eyes; sometimes she’s blessedly alone; and sometimes she’s experiencing brief moments of respite in expansive, beautiful scenery. She feels a pull between the freedom she craves and the responsibility she feels to her family. Technically, Mariam is a plucky heroine. But she isn’t rebellious, or even defiant. She’s just trying to survive.

Wisely, Kahn creates a world in which Mariam and Fariha cannot help but be pulled apart, ruptured by the patriarchy’s force. The only way for each to endure is to depend on yet another man to help them, which has profoundly middling results, and an element of always-present danger. When the film finally gives way to full horror, the pace picks up, and we see what the movie’s been doing all along. Oppression isn’t always blatant, and it isn’t the work of individuals acting alone. It comes like night terrors, paralyzing both oppressor and oppressed — and escape can require drastic action.

In Flames Not rated. In Urdu, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 38 minutes. In theaters.

Alissa Wilkinson is a Times movie critic. She’s been writing about movies since 2005. More about Alissa Wilkinson

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‘Festival of the Living Dead’ Review – The Soska Sisters Channel George A. Romero in Tubi’s Sequel

From Children of the Living Dead to Zombi 2 , the infamous copyright blunder that immediately placed Night of the Living Dead in the public domain means that unauthorized sequels to George A. Romero’s classic are a dime a dozen. However, despite these flicks usually being dismissed as cash-grabs attempting to ride the coattails of a better filmmaker, the fact is that every modern zombie movie is an inherent follow-up to the 1968 original in one way or another– the homemade sequels are simply more honest about it.

This is exactly why I was so interested in checking out Tubi’s low-budget love-letter to Romero, Festival of the Living Dead , as the film’s trailer revealed that the story wouldn’t be wasting time on re-introducing familiar zombie tropes and instead assumes that everyone (including the main characters) are aware of the events that went down on that fateful night back in ‘68. Plus, the film is helmed by the Twisted Twins themselves, Jen and Sylvia Soska , with that alone making the flick worth a watch in my book.

If you haven’t seen the trailer for yourself, Festival of the Living Dead follows Ashley Moore as Ash, the teenage granddaughter of Duane Jones’ character from NotLD , as she joins her jock boyfriend and his drug-addled buddies on a trip to a zombie-inspired music festival. Unfortunately, a crashed meteorite soon revives the undead infection of the original film, transforming what was meant to be a weekend of fun into a (not-so) living nightmare.

On paper, this sounds like a fun enough undead romp along the lines of Return of the Living Dead or even Gregg Bishop’s underrated Dance of the Dead , where a familiar Romero-inspired premise is relocated to a new setting with a unique cast of characters to keep things fresh. In practice, however, Festival ends up being a well-intentioned collection of clever ideas marred by a woefully inadequate budget and a clumsy narrative.

A spooky music festival becoming overrun by flesh-eating ghouls seems like a perfectly cheesy setup to a fun B-movie, but when the titular festival feels more like a backyard camp-out with a handful of your high school buddies (with the filmmakers even resorting to laughable CGI stand-ins as a way of padding out the wide shots), it becomes clear that the project lacks the resources necessary to tell a story on this scale.

Even the presentation is affected by the low production value, with some legitimately gnarly zombie makeup being sabotaged by lifeless photography and a (mostly) generic score. In fact, many of the flick’s establishing shots often feel suspiciously like stock footage, and that’s not even mentioning how the film’s connections to NotLD end up highlighting how Festival of the Living Dead refuses to engage with Romero’s evocative takes on race, mob mentality and consumerism – which is especially egregious when you consider that the movie takes place at an event that could easily incorporate these elements into the story.

The film flirts with some interesting ideas here and there, like how the events of Romero’s original are remembered as national tragedy (with the music festival actually having been established to honor victims of the infection), but the screenplay seems uninterested in exploring these story-beats in any meaningful way. From underdeveloped plot points about the impact of social media on teenage relationships to how some of the characters can’t afford tickets to such a gentrified event, there’s a frustrating amount of unfulfilled potential here.

I actually get the feeling that the original idea for Festival of the Living Dead was a much larger and more cohesive experience that ended up being painfully downsized due to the harsh realities of indie film production, with the end product being an undead husk of what was once a legitimately entertaining story.

Thankfully, the cast is surprisingly charming despite some shallow dialogue, with their rapport feeling quite natural throughout most of the film. There’s even a believable dose of tragedy when members of the group get inevitably eaten by zombies, an impressive feat considering that many of these characters are bona fide assholes. And while Moore makes for a likable lead, Camren Bicondova, Christian Rose and Shiloh O’Reilly are the real standouts here, and I wish that this unconventional trio had been the focus of the story instead of Ash’s new friend group.

Of course, a larger cast means that there are plenty of gruesome kills to go around, and I applaud the film’s use of practical gore effects even if the end result isn’t exactly comparable to something made by Greg Nicotero. Curiously enough, there’s a wide variety of zombie designs and behaviors here, with the movie featuring everything from freshly turned runners to Frankenstein-like creatures that ominously shamble around in search of victims.

And while this isn’t among their best work, the Soska Sisters do a stellar job of bringing energy to the screen here despite the project’s obvious limitations. I particularly appreciate their use of classic horror imagery (like undead hands clawing against windows while characters talk to each other) as well as the signature underground style present in both the film’s costume and set designs. Ultimately, I think there’s enough quality here to prove that the Canadian duo just needs a bigger budget in order to wow audiences with their patented brand of schlocky thrills.

If you can temper your expectations and avoid comparing it to other similar films, Festival of the Living Dead can make for an enjoyable 90 minutes – especially during the bonkers final act. It’s just a shame that the film couldn’t quite live up to it own lofty expectations; though I’d argue that not every zombie film needs to escape the shadow of Romero’s undead legacy.

Festival of the Living Dead is now streaming on Tubi.

Born Brazilian, raised Canadian, Luiz is a writer and Film student that spends most of his time watching movies and subsequently complaining about them.

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‘In Flames’ – Exclusive Clip from Pakistani Psychological Thriller Has Visions of the Dead

Described as a ghostly parable about Pakistan’s insidious patriarchal order, Game Theory Films brings In Flames to theaters on Friday, April 12, and we’ve got an exclusive clip for you today.

Written and Directed by Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Zarrar Kahn ,  In Flames was the first Pakistani film to play in Cannes Director’s Fortnight in nearly half a century.

The cast for Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames includes Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Mohammad Ali Hashmi and Jibran Khan .

In the thriller, “Mariam lives with her younger brother and their mother, Fariha, in a tiny apartment in Karachi. When Mariam’s maternal grandfather passes, his brother tries to manipulate them into signing over their apartment to him, a common occurrence in Pakistan, where women’s property rights are fragile.

Mariam’s mother, grieving and isolated, is easy to influence. Mariam, distraught by her mother’s foolishness, finds solace in a secret romance with a fellow student, Asad. When their relationship takes an unexpected turn, Mariam becomes consumed by nightmares.

Meanwhile, her mother, caught between her coercive Uncle and a murky legal system, is oblivious to her daughter’s deteriorating mental state. Mariam’s nightmares begin to bleed into reality. Mother and daughter must come together if they hope to overcome the real and phantasmal forces that threaten to engulf them.”

Watch an exclusive clip for a sneak peek and find the film’s official trailer below. The film premieres in select theaters tomorrow. Get tickets now!

Zarrar Kahn is an award-winning Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker whose film In Flames premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival as part of the Director’s Fortnight.

His works have been screened and awarded in over 100+ film festivals, including TIFF, Locarno, and BFI London. In Flames , his feature directorial debut, has garnered critical acclaim and prizes worldwide – including the Golden Yusr for Best Picture at Red Sea FF and the Grand Prize – International Newcomer Award at Mannheim-Heidelberg FF.

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Baby Reindeer review – features the most chilling TV episode of the entire year

Scottish comedian Richard Gadd’s borderline horror about a female stalker is brilliantly eerie. It’s tense, creepily filmed television that will stay with you for a long time to come

N ever have the words “sent from my iPhone” been so chilling. Baby Reindeer is an adaptation of Richard Gadd’s acclaimed one-man play, which hammered out the horrifying story of his experience of being stalked by a middle-aged woman named Martha, who he meets at the pub where he works. She gets hold of his email address, and starts to message him, incessantly, sometimes coherently, sometimes not, all through the night, every night. The emails end with, “sent from my iPhone”. In the show, Gadd’s alter ego, Donny Dunn, has a realisation: Martha doesn’t have an iPhone. At first, Baby Reindeer is chilling in small instances like this. But as Martha’s behaviour becomes more obsessive, and Donny’s more self-destructive, the two become locked in a terrible downward spiral. This is a self-loathing horror that is relentlessly bleak.

It is a true story, it tells us at the outset, very Netflixishly. Gadd first took Baby Reindeer to the Edinburgh fringe in 2019 as an hour-long play, crunching the story down into its harrowing essentials. Martha existed only as an empty bar-stool, and Gadd used multimedia and recordings of messages she had left him and people close to him, in order to flesh it out. I saw it that year, and was left stunned by the palpable fear it left in its wake. The ending was devastating. You can only pity the people who might have heard of Gadd as a standup and popped in to see if he was going to make them laugh.

Television is not theatre, however, and this is not Gadd addressing an empty bar-stool. Over seven episodes, it has to do more. Gadd takes bits of his previous work to allow the story to sprawl out over bigger and more ambitious spaces. He’s not quite playing himself: Donny is a struggling comedian and writer, desperate for success, who enters competitions with surreal prop-based comedy that is more miss than hit. Martha is rendered real, with a knockout performance from Jessica Gunning, who manages to convey everything from pity to heartbreak to vicious and violent malice, often with a barely perceptible adjustment of her expression. It is not an easy role and she is truly fantastic in it.

When Martha walks into Donny’s pub one day, in tears, he offers her a cup of tea. It is the first of many terrible decisions that leads him into a world of suffering, though for reasons that later become clear, the question of vulnerability is uneasy and multilayered. Donny is flattered that Martha takes an interest in him, and he pays her a sort of attention in return. But Martha turns out to be a serial stalker who is, as the police later tell him, a “serious” person, and once she fixates on the man she nicknames her “baby reindeer”, she inveigles her way into every corner of his life.

Baby Reindeer is shot remarkably well. It looks like a horror film. There are uncomfortable closeups; unsettling, just-tilted angles; a disorientating creepiness built in to the aesthetic of it. It is frightening at times, horrifying at others. The pressure builds and builds. Gadd has not flattened out the moral complexity of the play for television. If anything, he has gone deeper into the grey areas. Of its many challenging themes, it deals with shame, cruelty, self-loathing, banter, ego, pity, mental illness, culpability, loneliness, the policing of stalking, desire, hard drugs, hope and despair. Gadd asks impossible, unnerving questions and pegs them to the mast of trauma. Is he engaging with Martha when he knows he should not because he feels sorry for her, or is he doing it because he sees the situation as potential material? When Martha first appears at one of his comedy gigs, they spar with each other, and the audience laps it up. Next time, their interaction is not so audience-friendly. Who, in this situation, is the cruel one?

Inevitably, Baby Reindeer makes for stressful and often distressing viewing; in describing it as “still piercingly funny”, the marketing bods at Netflix are the only ones having a laugh. Over the series, the sheer onslaught of pain is difficult to endure, and what it gains in scope, it loses in focus. “Surely it couldn’t get any worse from here,” says Donny, at one point. Reader, it does. Eventually, this makes for frustrating viewing. Yet at the same time, it is original, compelling, and unforgettable. Episode four, in which we find out more about Donny’s state of mind, is one of the most disturbing and upsetting episodes of television I have seen in a long time. I suspect it is also extremely important that what it depicts is depicted, and examined and explored, on screen. Come forewarned and expect to be rattled.

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‘All You Need Is Death’ Is an Irish Folk Horror Masterpiece

AURAL ANARCHY

Filmmaker Paul Duane’s feature debut delves into the haunting power of song—in this case, ferociously haunting.

Nick Schager

Entertainment Critic

A song is a vessel that houses dreams and desires that are both dead and everlastingly alive, and in All You Need Is Death it’s also a curse about the most dangerous of all emotions: love. A tale of primeval retribution and eternal damnation, writer/director Paul Duane’s feature debut is saturated in sin and fury, both of which are almost as consuming as the amour that devours its protagonists. Knowing just how much to say aloud and how much to suggest through visual and aural means, this superb Irish fable feels at once modern and ancient, and hums with mystery and malice.

Like the most evocative sort of forlorn ballad, All You Need Is Death, in theaters and on VOD April 11, provides enough details to convey its point without spelling everything out in literal fashion. From pub to pub and home to home, Anna (Simone Collins) and her foreigner boyfriend Aleks (Charlie Maher) travel around the Irish countryside playing in a band as well as, more importantly, searching for individuals who know rare folk songs. They’re both historians and hoarders, and there’s something devious about their trade, given that—via a wire cagily wrapped around Anna’s left arm—they surreptitiously record these old tunes. As indicated by a nighttime transaction in a parking lot with a collector, their end goal is cash, which is why they feel compelled to steal these songs without informing their performers. And as with all businesses, there’s considerable market competition for their goods, as a subsequent gathering elucidates.

Following an incident at a bar that’s conveyed through a mixture of real-time action, surveillance camera footage, and police-interview testimonials, All You Need Is Death follows Anna and Aleks to a get-together organized and led by Agnes (Catherine Siggins), an enigmatic woman who encourages people like them to locate and stockpile these coveted compositions. Agnes’ true intentions are deliberately opaque, and yet All You Need is Death nonetheless implies that there’s something malevolently amiss about her and this mission. “Treasure lies in the past. We find beauty where others have overlooked it,” states Agnes, who claims that by turning yesterday into a tomorrow for themselves, they accomplish “a miracle. Modern alchemy.” To conjure such magic, she says to her flock, one must detect where “a rose springs up from the corpse of time’s past."

As (bad) luck would have it, Anna and Aleks discover just such a spot. During a session with an older gentleman and his greedy daughter, they hear about a woman named Rita Concannon (Olwen Fouéré) who, like her mother, is a famed singer who may have a song that only a select few have ever heard. This naturally piques the interest of the duo, who learn from a young local named Ron (Barry McKiernan) that Rita no longer does much crooning; most of her time these days is spent getting drunk and railing against her adult son Breezeblock (Nigel O’Neill), whose creepy puppets—which he uses to entertain ungrateful children—decorate her house. Upon arriving at Rita’s remote residence, they’re surprised to be greeted by Agnes, who had previously downplayed this very opportunity. Once inside, native Irishwoman Anna’s presence entices the wary Rita to emerge from her hiding spot inside a large dresser, at which point she gives them what they seek.

A film still from All You Need Is Death

With long scraggly hair and a bottle perpetually in hand, and her ramshackle abode filled with all sorts of assorted and weathered debris, Rita resembles a witch, and as she describes it, her song is “an evil spirit on the world.” In an unknown language that predates recorded history, it tells of a king, the woman who betrayed him, and the terrible punishment he doled out against her, her lover, and their child—snippets of which we see in haunting flashbacks. Since its inception, it’s been passed down from woman to woman, never written down and never performed in earshot of a man. Despite having no official name, if it did, it would be “love is a knife with a blade for a handle.” Rita’s ensuing recital resounds with dark, anguished foreboding, and while Anna heeds the elderly woman’s wishes to not record it (instead, she commits some of it to memory), Agnes does. In the aftermath of this meeting, she sets about transcribing it with the aid of Aleks, who soon falls dangerously under its spell and, consequently, breaks off all contact with Anna.

All You Need Is Death operates in a realm between the real and the unreal, and it carries viewers along its hypnotic wavelength, unfettered by nitpicky concerns about logic and lucidity. Duane strikes an eerily nightmarish tone that gets under one’s skin, and after setting his ominous scene, he ratchets up the unholy insanity in a latter half of spectral forces and horrific mutation that speaks to Rita’s earlier comment that, in Irish, you don’t say “I love you” but, rather, “the love for you is on me.” Forming an unlikely partnership in order to identify the strange forces that are preying upon them, Anna and Breezeblock embark on a quest to locate Aleks and Agnes, who have shacked up in an abandoned office building where the latter continues to carry out her song-hunting work and the former is now bedridden. What they find is something beyond their imagination, and which the first-time writer/director shrewdly refuses to explicate until the film’s final moments, when revelation arrives via monstrous ingestion, assimilation, and transformation.

Duane’s expert framing and equally adept sense of pace and mood help cast a chilling spell, as does Fouéré’s unnerving turn as the last in a long line of keepers of secrets. All You Need Is Death steeps itself in the mysteries of art, love, and bygone tragedies, all of which reverberate through the ages. It’s about music’s capacity to beguile and corrupt, about male rage and female vengeance, and about jealousy and treachery and a hunger that brings people inextricably together while simultaneously tearing them apart. Think of it as the most sinister folk song ever sung, although in its bleak and harrowing conclusion, it also howls with the madness and ferocity of the finest heavy metal.

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