Halloween is still over a month away, but there’s no sense in waiting for spooky season when the best horror movies are available to watch right now. With this list containing the most frightening sequences that decades of horror film history has to offer, you can start the journey into the darkest corners of each streaming service tonight.
Psycho
The original genre-defining slasher sequences in Psycho transfix the viewer with the same power today as in 1960. The score, editing, lighting, and camera angles of the infamous shower scene became the blueprint for all future horror scares, directly influencing the rest of the movies on this list.
Psycho is streaming now on Peacock.
The Exorcist
Hands down, there is no better film in the exorcism genre than The Exorcist. Linda Blair’s slow, vile transformation into the demon, Ellen Burstyn’s nuanced portrayal of the mother, and a welcome appearance from the eternal master actor Max von Sydow proved that no direct follow-up would be as good.
The Exorcist is streaming now on Max.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Over horror film history, boundary-pushing filmmakers decided scary movies were too neat and clean; Tobe Hooper’s directorial output sought to give nastiness in movies a new level. Light on story but heavy on blood, grit, and screams, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre predicted the upcoming trend of pure ugliness in scary movies.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is streaming now on Peacock, Tubi, Shudder, and Freevee.
The Shining
Stanley Kubrick liberally adapted Stephen King’s seminal horror novel The Shining for a 1980 release, putting his signature stamp on the haunted hotel story in a way that infuriated the author while generating a cult following. In present days, this movie is considered a horror masterpiece, unquestionably better than the painful but far more faithful 1997 miniseries version.
The Shining is streaming now on Prime Video with the AMC+ add-on.
The Thing (1982)
John Carpenter’s adaptation of The Thing has the simmering atmosphere and patient camera present in all his best movies. But this Kurt Russell-led monster movie is remembered for one thing only: insane special effects for the creature’s transformations. Still, there is some lasting fun to the “any one of us could be the monster” shtick that has further cemented this film’s legacy.
The Thing is streaming now on Peacock.
Ringu (The Ring)
Ringu started as a popular novel series in Japan and soon developed into a made-for-TV movie, but Hideo Nakata’s 1998 version was the more impactful take. The shift in the main character wisely spoke more to Western audiences, fitting perfectly alongside the female-led horror trend of the 1980s and 1990s but with an updated technology angle that made the film a successful product of its time.
Ringu is streaming now on Shudder and Tubi.
Audition
Controversial Japanese director Takashi Miike imbued Audition with an icky premise that relies on a slow burn to pay off, taking until the disturbing ending to bring everything into focus. Even considering the other scares on this list, Audition is particularly not for the squeamish.
Audition is streaming now on Tubi.
Train to Busan
Through the 21st century, the prominence of South Korean film increases with each passing year. Train to Busan is already one of the most popular films in the United States to come from this country, blending zombie horror with edge-of-your-seat thrills and action.
Train to Busan is streaming now on Prime Video, Peacock, Tubi, Shudder, and Freevee.
Hereditary
The New York City-based independent film distribution company A24 is associated with a modern horror renaissance that began with The Witch, and at the pinnacle of this indie horror revolution is Hereditary. The feature-length debut of auteur Ari Aster has atmospheric chills from start to finish, but one particular scene gave audiences weeks of nightmarish dread.
Hereditary is streaming now on Max.
