The 25 best horror movies on Max that'll give you nightmares
HBOh NO!!
Put on some flip flops, leave your cellphone at home, and wander alone into a dangerous place the town weirdo definitely warned you about, because it's time to get scared!
Right now on Max, the horror category is an embarrassment of terrifying riches with top-shelf selections available from every decade of horror history. You've got 2000s tank top horror next to 1980s slashers next to 1950s camp and more. It's rad.
There's so much great stuff to choose from, but we've somehow managed to narrow it down to these 20 horror movies. Honestly, you can't go wrong.
1. Night of the Living Dead
Visionary of the zombie apocalypse George A. Romero tops this list with his most iconic film: Night of the Living Dead. This 1968 classic makes for a great watch — not only as a standard-setting staple of cinema, but also as a vehicle for terror that gets under your skin and festers there. Expertly executed from start to finish, this bleak tale of strangers versus an army of the undead needles at you in a way that's still tough to shake more than 50 years later.* — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: Night of the Living Dead is now streaming on Max.
2. Eraserhead
God, Henry is just so fucked. The directorial debut of walking-talking id David Lynch, Eraserhead follows the poor guy, played by Jack Nance, as he wanders through a surrealist blend of horror and humor, featuring an alien baby, sperm monsters, a lady with big ol' cheeks, and more bizarre characters. The plot has been interpreted as a representation of Lynch's own fear of being a parent, with Henry serving as a kind of placeholder for Lynch himself. It's fascinating, freaky, and really fun. — A.F.
How to watch: Eraserhead is now streaming on Max.
3. Cronos
Guillermo del Toro's first film carries with it all the hallmarks of the Mexican auteur's career-to-come – gross monster mayhem with delightful creature design, religious and political settings and symbolism, the innocence of children as a contrast to all adult awfulness. This time around it's the story of an elderly antique dealer named Jesús (Federico Luppi, who also had roles in The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth) and the 500-year-old golden scarab he finds tucked away inside the base of a statue.
Winding it up the scarab suddenly springs to life and injects the old man with a mysterious substance, and before you know it Jesús' youth is being restored to him… alongside a newfound taste for blood. When a tough guy named Angel (Ron Perlman) shows up to find the device, the film turns into a showdown between Jesús and Angel for eternal life. Not particularly subtle there, Guillermo! But Cronos is a blast anyway, and the perfect introduction to one of modern horror's reigning kings. — Jason Adams, Contributing Writer
How to watch: Cronos is now streaming on Max.
4. Trick ‘r Treat
Be warned: this horror anthology is so deliciously spooky that you’re gonna wanna make it an annual tradition. Written and directed by Michael Dougherty, Trick ‘r Treat tears a page from Creepshow, unfurling a collection of horror shorts with comic book-style panache. In the mix are vengeance-seeking ghosts, trouble-making trick-or-treaters, werewolves on the prowl, and a cryptic critter, who is a deadly enforcer for the rules of Halloween. Splashed with gore, rich in lore, and studded with familiar faces, this terror-laced film is a terrific treat. — Kristy Puchko, Film Editor
How to Watch: Trick 'r Treat is now streaming on Max.
5. The Blob
Mark my words, anyone who reduces director Irvin Yeaworth's iconic The Blob to "just a B-movie" hasn't actually seen it. An astounding feat of filmmaking for the time, that maintains a surprisingly watchable flow 63 years later, The Blob is a solid selection for anyone seeking that classic scary movie vibe. Stand by helplessly as intergalactic goo terrorizes the citizens of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Then, be genuinely impressed by how the '50s townspeople manage to corral the thing through smart, sensible sci-fi means. Nice job, humans! — A.F.
How to watch: The Blob is now streaming on Max.
6. House
Reader, cue up House and avail yourself of one of the weirdest and most wonderful viewing experiences out there.
Sometimes listed as Hausu, director Nobuhiko Obayashi's surreal 1977 horror comedy is a whirlwind of spectacular and bizarre images unlike any other title on this, or frankly any, list. Running just under an hour and a half, it's a breezy jolt of strange beauty and intense dread that uses dreamlike images to tell the story of six girls as they're eaten by a house. Yeah, it's something. — A.F.
How to watch: House is now streaming on Max.
7. Anaconda
Anaconda might be a horror movie about the very real threat of a very real and very enormous snake that actually exists in the world — I have seen way too many videos on the internet of people finding these things in their plumbing to ever truly relax on this. But director Luis Llosa knows we've come to have fun, so he never skimps on the laughs. After all, the 1998 movie is infamous for its scene of Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight getting regurgitated right onto Jennifer Lopez. (Voight, covered in snake slobber, then winks at her.)
And so Anaconda remains all these years on a massively entertaining 89 minutes of animal attack nonsense set in the scenic Amazon, with a game cast (also including Ice Cube and Owen Wilson) getting gobbled up one by one as the big snake's buffet. They could honestly put out a new one of these movies with a brand new cast every year, and I wouldn't be angry at it. More, more, more barfed-up actors, please! Just no more internet videos. — J.A.
How to watch: Anaconda is now streaming on Max.
8. Scanners
Get your mind blown by Scanners. (See what I did there? 'Cause it's about people's heads exploding?) In writer-director David Cronenberg's super goopy sci-fi nightmare, Earth must contend with a super-powered group of people capable of telepathy and psychokinesis — and the bad dudes who want to use that power for evil. It's no The Fly, The Dead Zone, or even Shivers. But it's the best body horror on Max right now. — A.F.
How to watch: Scanners is now streaming on Max.
9. Carnival of Souls
The definition of slow burn, writer/director and lead ghoul Herk Harvey's 1962 classic horror film Carnival of Souls is basically all vibes — and it probably had to be, given the nothing budget he was working with. But he rode that empty wallet straight to heavenly cinematic gold, giving us a steady stream of unforgettable visuals shot in the eeriest black-and-white. If you can get yourself onto Carnival of Souls' wavelength, you will be rewarded with spooky nightmares for life.
Candace Hilligoss plays Mary, a good girl who gets caught up in a road race that flies out of control in the film's opening scene. Recovering in its aftermath, Mary begins experiencing visions of an odd haunted theme park on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. Her isolating job as a church organist, along with constant harassment from an aggressive next door neighbor, only further dissociates her from those around her, until she can no longer tell what's real and what's not, with it all leading to one of the all-time great twist endings. Carnival of Souls is probably the closest thing we'll ever get to a Twilight Zone episode directed by Ingmar Bergman. — J.A.
How to watch: Carnival of Souls is now streaming on Max.
10. Kwaidan
Just a couple of years after delivering his three-part WWII masterpiece The Human Condition, writer/director Masaki Kobayashi gathered together four old Japanese folk tales to make Kwaidan. This horror anthology takes us all the way to Hell, but it must've felt like a relief to make after the atrocities he put on-screen in those epic war films. Visually magnificent, there are enormous images in Kwaidan that will sear themselves into your brain forever after. But it mostly revels in the small betrayals that haunt its protagonists and their relationships forever after — the sorts of awful human conditions that echo across every culture. — J.A.
How to watch: Kwaidan is now streaming on Max.
11. The Brood
With all-time greats like The Fly and The Dead Zone available, The Brood rarely makes horror fans' short lists for David Cronenberg recommendations. But if you're looking for a uniquely weird psychological thriller with an amazing gross-out finale, this 1979 romp just can't be beat.
Oliver Reed stars as Dr. Hal Raglan, a clinical psychologist experimenting with what he calls "psychoplasmics" — a process by which chemically-induced physical ailments, designed to alleviate long-standing emotional trauma, are administered to vulnerable patients. But when Nola, a patient played by Samatha Eggar, is hospitalized by Raglan, her estranged husband Frank, played by Art Hindle, decides to investigate. — A.F.
How to watch: The Brood is now streaming on Max.
12. Midsommar
Being afraid of the dark and the things lurking within it is a totally normal human reaction, and so the horror movies that can make broad daylight work in their favor are rare birds indeed. Among this elite group, Ari Aster's Midsommar might just be the greatest example of unblinkingly bright horror. The 2019 film is about a young woman named Dani (Florence Pugh) who tags along with her passive-aggressive boyfriend (Jack Reynor) and his college pals as they visit a reclusive commune in rural Sweden. The Swedes' friendliness feels immediately surreal and sinister, and Aster turns the unyielding sunshine (and the cult members' smiles) into his greatest weapon. There is nowhere for any of these dumb American kids to run or hide; there are no shadows. All they can do is just stare in disbelief as the story surrounding them turns too terrible and dark to imagine. — J.A.
How to watch: Midsommar is now streaming on Max.
13. Pulse
The greatest of the turn-of-the-millennium J-horror films, period. In 2001, writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa distilled the previous best of the genre, like Ringu and Ju-On, down to their most disturbing essence with Pulse. The gist is basically that the internet has become a door to the afterlife, so the ghosts in the machines have begun literally tumbling out into the real world. When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will download! But Kurosawa tells this story with unfailing restraint and an overwhelming sense of mounting dread; he's able to make you crawl over the back of your seat just by showing a woman walking down a hallway. But he'll go big when he needs to, and Pulse's unforgettable final scenes must be seen to be believed. — J.A.
How to watch: Pulse is now streaming on Max.
14. Scream
Scream is one of those landmark moments in horror history that can be used to define everything that came before and after it. Directed by A Nightmare on Elm Street's Wes Craven, the story of scream queen Sidney Prescott, played by Neve Campbell, teeing off with masked murderer Ghostface is full of tense turns, sensational kills, and the best jokes about horror movies ever made.
Supporting performances from Courteney Cox, Rose McGowan, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, and more offer a solid throwback viewing that doesn't compromise on quality. This is a genuinely good movie, even if the self-referential comedy from Craven can get a little exhausting. — A.F.
How to watch: Scream is now streaming on Max.
15. The Lure
The Lure has been described as a lesbian mermaid horror musical, but somehow even that doesn't come close to capturing what this audacious Polish film is. Agnieszka Smoczyńska's debut feature is the darkest retelling of The Little Mermaid you could imagine, incorporating grisly violence and the sex work industry into that classic fairytale.* — Oliver Whitney, Freelance Contributor
How to watch: The Lure is now streaming on Max.
16. The Witch
Writer/director Robert Eggers's haunting folk horror flick follows an isolated family living in 1630 New England as paranoia and religious fervor brew after an infant goes missing. Rebellious teen Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) bears the brunt of the blame from her Puritan parents, but her eerie twin siblings (is there any other kind?) and their friendship with a goat they've nicknamed Black Phillip lets the viewer know something far stranger is afoot.
"What really sets this movie apart from its horror peers [...] is its sheer beauty," wrote Yohana Desta in her review for Mashable. "Every scene is meticulously styled. The costumes have a quiet beauty. Every frame could be a painting, or a macabre Vogue editorial. The score (and scenes with lack thereof) is a perfect accompaniment, rattling and haunting."* — Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor
How to watch: The Witch is now streaming on Max.
17. Sisters
It's probably pretty important to note upfront that his 1972 shocker Sisters is very much of its time, although you could say this about pretty much every movie that Brian De Palma has ever made (ahem, Dressed to Kill). Which is to say, don't go in expecting a modern read on mental health issues in this story about formerly conjoined twins turned fashion models who go on a murder spree. But as dated as some of its psychological concepts are, not to mention its emphasis on Hitchcock's Psycho, Sisters remains a magnificently crafted thriller that will have you jumping out of your seat more than once. And Margot Kidder's having a terrific time with the soapiness of ping-ponging between good and evil twins. The movie that somehow made birthday cake terrifying! — J.A.
How to watch: Sisters is now streaming on Max.
18. The Fury
Another Brian De Palma movie! But can you blame us? The man made his name by updating Hitchcock's obsessions with cinematic sleaze and brutality, bringing them into the modern era, and he has given us more classics that you'll want to take a shower after than most directors could dream of. With a script by best-selling author John Farris based on his own novel, The Fury is basically the sexier version of Cronenberg's head-exploding extravaganza Scanners (which came out the following year). Amy Irving plays a college student named Gillian whose psychic powers are proving more than she can handle, so Gillian gets sent off to a research institute where it turns out they're up to no good. It all leads up to legendary actor John Cassavetes exploding from about twenty different angles, and if that's not reason enough to watch a movie I don't know what is. Plus, it feels like an extension of sorts to De Palma's Carrie, which came out two years before and also co-starred Irving as good girl Sue Snell. — J.A.
How to watch: The Fury is now streaming on Max.
19. The Shining
All work and no play makes Uncle Stevie a dull boy! Stephen King might not like what Stanley Kubrick did with his book, but Stephen King has been known to be wrong now and then. And so the rest of us who can see the forest for the trees can see the 1980 film for what it is: a masterpiece.
As the story of Jack (Jack Nicholson), Wendy (Shelley Duvall, RIP queen), and little Danny (Danny Lloyd) Torrance, who all three descend into their own variations of madness during a winter season trapped in a possibly haunted hotel, The Shining cleaves right down to your bones. It's a metaphor for abuse, it's an ice-cold descent into madness, it's the anxiety of watching the ash end of Shelley Duvall's cigarette get longer and longer and longer until you can barely stand the tension anymore. — J.A.
How to watch: The Shining is now streaming on Max.
20. Urban Legend
When it comes to the slasher boom that followed in the wake of 1996's Scream, nobody is going to mistake director Jamie Blanks' Urban Legend from 1998 to be its pinnacle. Starring Alicia Witt, Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart, Joshua Jackson, and Tara Reid, it's fairly standard stuff: A killer in a hooded parka stalks a bunch of college students, with the twist being the murders are staged like infamous urban legends (the hook hand on the door handle at lover's lane, etc).
And yet there's something a little bit extra unhinged about Urban Legend that keeps it always on the level of great fun, whether it's Loretta Devine's hysterical performance as campus security or whatever it is that Gayheart is doing. This is knowingly goofy entertainment that plays great with a mountain of popcorn and candy; just don't mix any Pop Rocks with your soda, or else! — J.A.
How to watch: Urban Legend is now streaming on Max.
21. The Craft
Millions of goth girls and boys have now had three decades to revel in the demonic wonder that is Fairuza Balk in The Craft, and we're all the fiercer for it. She plays Nancy Downs, the deliciously unhinged leader of a coven of four teenage high school girls (Neve Campbell, Rachel True, and Robin Tunney as goody-two-shoes Sarah) who find themselves getting in over their heads with their revenge-fueled witchery and bitchery toward the popular kids who torment them. As ever with such monkey's paws, the good stuff sours quick, and small supernatural pranks quickly escalate to a life-and-death battle for their souls. And Fairuza tears the screen to magical little shreds as Nancy steamrolls over everybody, may Manon bless her. — J.A.
How to watch: The Craft is now streaming on Max.
22. I Saw the TV Glow
Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow is such a mood, especially if you're someone who came of age in the late '90s/early aughts with any of the teen-centric television shows that aired on the WB. Starring Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine as Owen and Maddie, two outcasts who bond over their love of the Buffy-esque program The Pink Opaque, Schoenbrun, a trans filmmaker, is explicitly exploring the places where our obsessions fracture our identities, and vice versa — how we build ourselves in the image of fiction.
The movie casts an eerie spell with its bizarre overlapping realities that make the shifting dynamics of a Christopher Nolan movie seem pat and hollow. And there might be no more unsettling monster this year than the moon-faced Mr. Melancholy, whose discount-budget cheapness gives way to a true chasm of uncanniness. — J.A.
How to watch: I Saw the TV Glow is now streaming on Max.
23. The Strangers
While there are pieces here and there to recommend from the sequels, the horrific strength of writer/director Bryan Bertino's 2008 The Strangers comes from the simplicity of its conceit and execution (pun definitely intended). A fracturing couple (Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler) find their home besieged by three terrifying visitors in masks one night and… Well, that's it. It's just a game of cat and cat and cat and mouse and mouse for 85 brief minutes, where chaos is the only reason given.
The film's heft is aided tremendously by the two heartbreaking turns from Speedman and Tyler, who get to play fleshed-out people already on edge when they suddenly find themselves staring down a faceless horror. Bertino does stellar work mapping out the space of their home and its environs, so when the masks start silently appearing in its background, you're already ready to crawl out of your own skin, long before a single drop of blood is spilled. — J.A.
How to watch: The Strangers is now streaming on Max.
24. Evil Dead Rise
More than four decades after we first rendezvoused with Sam Raimi's demon troupe of Deadites, Evil Dead Rise proved there's still plenty of juice — not to mention a myriad of other less savory liquids — left in the franchise. And it did so by simply shifting location; who needs a creepy cabin in the woods when we've got a run-down apartment building isolated from the outside world by a power outage during a big storm?
It also benefits from a big shift in character dynamics. Rather than a group of sexy young people (hubba hubba, Bruce Campbell) tearing each other to shreds after reading from the Book of the Dead, writer/director Lee Cronin gave us a single mom and her young kids all battling to save and/or swallow each other's souls. While the nasty, bloody business stays the same, it sure hits different when it's your possessed mommy (an outstandingly acrobatic Alyssa Sutherland) trying to carve you up like Christmas dinner. — J.A.
How to watch: Evil Dead Rise is now streaming on Max.
25. Fright Night
If you're the only child to a single mom, then there's never been anything more relatable put on screen than the quest of the teenager Charley (William Ragsdale) to convince his mom (Amanda Bearse) that the next-door neighbor that she's just begun dating (Chris Sarandon) is really an evil vampire from hell in the 1985 film Fright Night. Charley enlists everyone from his best friend to a cheesy vampire hunter TV host (Roddy McDowall) to stake this home invader before anybody can have any of his Mom's time but him, darn it. It's a perfect metaphor.
Writer/director Tom Holland went on to direct the first Child's Play movie, which, funny enough, is also about the miscommunication between a single mom and her son being brought to monstrous life. In both movies, Holland threads the needle between comedy and horror seamlessly. This movie is often deeply goofy, and it is 100% a time capsule of its moment; there actually might not be a more 1985 movie in all of existence. It feels created in a lab for vegging out with sugary snacks, and McDowall's turn gives us a true camp horror icon. — J.A.
How to watch: Fright Night is now streaming on Max.
Asterisks (*) indicate the entry comes from a previous Mashable list.
UPDATE: Sep. 12, 2024, 2:33 p.m. EDT This story was first published on April 23, 2021. It has since been updated to reflect the current streaming options.
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