If you are like us, you have as many streaming services as you can handle, and the sheer amount of choices at that point gets overwhelming. This October, if you are into streaming horror movies, we found the best of the best that each of the top streaming services had to offer. If you want all-time classics this spooky season, head to your favorite streamer for these top-notch choices.
Max: The Silence of the Lambs
If you are afraid or interested in serial killers, The Silence of the Lambs is the epitome of scariness for evil, murderous men, with the savagery and insanity of villains Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill at a cinematic pinnacle. While terrifying, The Silence of the Lambs falls more so under the thriller banner, save for a couple of particularly nasty scenes where the level of terror dips into the horrifying. At the center is a grounded performance with a career-best Jodie Foster, who humanizes an uncomfortable acquaintanceship with the imprisoned Dr. Lecter and obsesses over finding the other still-at-large killer.
While Foster and Ted Levine are very memorable in The Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Hopkins turns in his most iconic role here as the cannibalistic, impossibly brilliant doctor, whose every line, face, and movement is fraught with inhuman eeriness and danger. The fact that Hopkins can draw you past the character’s frightening exterior speaks to his expert acting abilities and the alluring, immortal design of Hannibal Lecter.
The Silence of the Lambs is streaming now on Max.
Hulu: Alien
The xenomorph of the Alien franchise was never more frightening than in the first entry. Director Ridley Scott’s atmosphere on the alien planet and the cargo freight Nostromo is palpable, making an iconic and ever-imitated look for all future science fiction horror films. The level of action in many future sci-fi movies comes up more through the sequel Aliens, but for outright horror for the genre, Alien has no peer.
Premiering a year after Halloween, Alien takes the form of a primitive slasher film, where the villain hides through most of the runtime while picking off the innocent one by one. The flashes and glimpses we get of the xenomorph generate much of the scares, knowing the creature could emerge at any second, and the first appearance of the alien (you know the scene) is unforgettable film history.
Alien is streaming now on Hulu.
Netflix: Jaws
Though Jaws seemed on its opening to be another cheesy monster movie for fun summer viewing, the promise of thrills shockingly became a phenomenon of realistic nightmares. The man-eating shark churned an entire generation of ocean-fearing adults, with cunning, gore, and invincibility causing water-weariness in even the most practical viewers. With an effectively over-the-top screenplay and acting, Jaws instantly latched onto our fear sensors and has never let go since.
Jaws is streaming now on Netflix.
Peacock: Psycho
In the eyes of many film historians, Psycho remains the preeminent horror film, occupying the perfect middle ground between thrills and scares, tension and unveiling, seriousness and ridiculousness, and simplicity and complexity. Psycho has it all, and its unusual structure perfectly drifts from standard plot logic into something more terrifying: the true insanity of a psychotic killer. When the infamous first kill is over, all bets for the plot are off, and the killer’s radiating evil has changed horror films forever.
Psycho is streaming now on Peacock.