Now that summer is out of the way, we can all agree that the time for superhero movies, brilliant marketing tactics, and a bunch of men just talking for three hours is over, and the real season of cinema is here: horror movie season. You can get your fair share of horror movies in the subsection of random streaming services, but if you want the real deal, you must go to the best source: Shudder.
The streamer exclusively has horror content, so it’s hard to weed out the good (Evil Dead II) from the bad (the live-action Chucky series!!). Of course, there are so many subgenres that can be explored. Do you want demons? Blood? Nic Cage in a chainsaw match? There’s something for everyone, here. Here are the best 30 horror movies on the service so you can really live up Halloween season. Then we can finally start watching Krampus for the holidays.
Color Out of Space
Year: 2020
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Madeleine Arthur, Joely Richardson
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 110 minutes
Director: Richard Stanley
Trailer: Watch here
Based on the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name, a small family begins to experience a major vibe shift when a meteorite lands in the front yard and begins to omit a strange color. Soon, everything becomes dreamlike, and everyone is confused. There is a classic Nic Cage freakout, a Tommy Chong cameo, some extremely colorful moments, and then it gets even weirder.
Bad Things
Year: 2023
Cast: Gayle Rankin, Hari Nef, Molly Ringwald
Rating: NR
Runtime: 87 minutes
Director: Stewart Thorndike
Trailer: Watch here
If you’ve ever watched The Shining and thought, “This is good, but it would be better if they were all gay,” then this is the movie for you! A group of friends spend a weekend in an abandoned and haunted hotel where nothing could possibly go wrong! Soon, the group becomes consumed by various figures in the hotel before turning on one another. Plus, Molly Ringwald.
Possession
Year: 1983
Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 124 minutes
Director: Andrzej Zulawski
Trailer:Watch here
Mark, portrayed by Sam Neill, comes home from work to find that his wife Anna is acting peculiarly and wants a divorce. Soon, Anna’s weirdness descends into pure madness and Mark starts to lose himself, and the two out-weird each other. It’s a movie so outlandish it was originally banned from theaters after its initial release in 1981, and now you can watch is on Shudder. Isn’t the internet amazing?
Tammy and the T-Rex
Year: 1994
Cast: Denise Richards, Paul Walker
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: 90 minutes
Director: Stewart Raffill
Trailer:Watch here
This is definitely not a movie that many would consider “good,” although it is quite a bizarre experience that makes you feel like a different person after watching it. Denise Richards, in her first starring role, plays Tammy, whose new boyfriend Michael, played by Paul Walker, suffers a fatal accident. Luckily for her, they can still hook up his brain to an animatronic T-rex so they can still hang out. This movie was only made because a man had an animatronic T-rex and offered it to director Stewart Raffill, who then wrote the story in one week. It definitely shows.
Mad God
Year: 2022
Cast: Alex Cox, Niketa Roman
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 85 minutes
Director: Phil Tippett
Trailer: Watch here
There is no cohesive way to describe this movie, so here is how it was made. Director Phil Tippett, a visual effects supervisor who worked on Jurassic Park, Return of the Jedi, and Robocop, began making a stop-motion animated nightmare about traveling through the underworld sometime in the year 1990. Whilst making the film, Tippett suffered from a “huge mental breakdown” and he was subsequently hospitalized. It was finally released in 2022 for your viewing pleasure, so after all this trouble, you might as well just watch it.
Prisoners of the Ghostland
Year: 2021
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Bill Moseley
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 105 minutes
Director: Sion Soto
Trailer: Watch here
Once again, Nic Cage proves that he is meant to be covered in blood splatters in a horror movie. Cage plays a rugged bank robber who is tasked with a mission to find the governor’s granddaughter who has run away. If he doesn’t find her in five days, his specially-made suit will self-destruct. It’s just weird enough to work.
Who Invited Them
Year: 2022
Cast: Ryan Hansen, Melissa Tang
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 80 minutes
Director: Duncan Birmingham
Trailer: Watch here
An extremely weird couple shows up to a housewarming party, but the owners are too polite to make them leave, and chaos ensues. It’s a little wacky, very silly, and will make you rethink hanging out with your new neighbors.
Evil Dead II
Year: 1987
Cast: Bruce Campbell
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 84 minutes
Director: Sam Raimi
Trailer: Watch here
Before Sam Raimi was creating multiverses and superhero backstories, he was just a man with a sick dream: to terrify audiences with a creepy little book. While The Evil Dead was a masterpiece in its own right, its sequel retools the original and expands on the weirdness of Ash (Bruce Campbell) who keeps finding himself in painful/sometimes hilarious supernatural experiences. Plus he’s a bit of a goof!
The Babadook
Year: 2014
Cast: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 93 minutes
Director: Jennifer Kent
Trailer: Watch here
If you can put aside your pre-conceived notions about Mr. Babadook aside, he is a very frightening figure (before he was a meme). The creature shows up in Amelia’s house after the death of her husband, all thanks to a chilling kids’ book that taunts her and her son.
The Invitation
Year: 2016
Cast: Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 100 minutes
Director: Karyn Kusama
Trailer: Watch here
At a slow-burning housewarming party, Will reunites with his ex, Eden, who seems to be acting strangely. Over the course of the night, Will becomes increasingly skeptical that Eden might be a part of something larger and potentially harmful, but everyone else thinks it’s all in his head. Who turns out to be right? There’s a lot more here than it seems.
Mandy
Year: 2018
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 121 minutes
Director: Panos Cosmatos
Trailer: Watch here
Once again, this movie highlights Cage’s ability to slowly descend into horrific madness while covered in blood. This time, Cage goes on a murderous rampage after a vicious cult targets his wife, Mandy. Through some vibrant imagery and an intense musical score, Cage must find the men who took Mandy. No spoilers here, but just imagine what it would look like if Nic Cage was coming at you with a chainsaw! That’s what this movie feels like. Only it just gets weirder and weirder.
Resurrection
Year: 2022
Cast: Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 104 minutes
Director: Andrew Semans
Trailer:Watch here
This extremely unsettling psychological thriller might trigger a panic attack, but you’ll also be able to experience Rebecca Hall’s superb acting, so there is a good give and take. A woman is stalked by a figure from her past who begins to taunt her with memories of their former life together… but things get even more deranged when she begins to let him in again.
The Seed
Year: 2022
Cast: Chelsea Edge, Lucy Martin
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 91 minutes
Director: Sam Walker
Trailer: Watch here
This is a silly one for sure, but there’s a weirdo little alien who is also kinda cute so it makes it worth it. A group of influencer friends spend a weekend away in a remote house, but a strange creature shows up and begins to complicate things. It’s campy and weird and will be one of those movies that all the teens are raving about in about 30 years when influencers become a relic of the 2020s.
Q – The Winged Serpent
Year: 1982
Cast: Michael Moriarty, David Carradine
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 93 minutes
Director: Larry Cohen
Trailer: Watch here
If monster movies are up your alley, this one will be your go-to. For centuries a giant dragon named Q has lived in the upper deck of the Chrysler Building, and he is undisturbed until one man stumbles across his nest and subsequently and unintentionally lets Q lose on the demonic world of New York City. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll never look at the NYC skyline the same way.
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs: Exorcist III
Year: 2019
Cast: Joe Bob Briggs
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 183 minutes
Trailer: Watch here
Okay, so you’ve probably seen The Exorcist III (the best of the series), but have you watched it with an old man from Texas who gives his own out-of-pocket commentary? That’s the beauty of The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs. During every “commercial break,” Briggs breaks down the movie and gives intel on what makes the film so iconic, while lamenting the creepiness of it all. The best part about watching horror movies is watching with your friends anyway. Joe Bob is your friend now.
Gwen
Year: 2019
Cast: Eleanor Worthington-Cox, Richard Harrington
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: 84 minutes
Director: William McGregor
Trailer: Watch here
For fans of The Witch and people who just love anxiety. Gwen is a young girl who must care for her sick mother while also dealing with some mysterious and unsettling forces that are plaguing the town and Gwen’s suffering family. It’s disturbing but the acting and cinematography makes for a perfectly unsettling feature.
Spirit Halloween
Year: 2022
Cast: Donovan Colan, Jaiden J. Smith, Christopher Lloyd
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: 81 minutes
Director: David Poag
Trailer: Watch here
Not every horror movie needs to bring up some deep-rooted trauma! Sometimes, it’s enough to just watch a bunch of pre-teens learn the wonders of Halloween by locking themselves into a Spirit Halloween overnight. It’s not that deep, but it’s a perfect movie to have on in the background while you’re carving pumpkins and snacking on Kit-Kats because you’re an adult!
Attachment
Year: 2022
Cast: Josephine Park, Ellie Kendrick
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 105 minutes
Director: Garbiel Bier Gislason
Trailer:Watch here
Attachment follows a young couple, Maja and Leah, who move in with Leah’s overbearing and cold mother who watches over them like a hawk. While attempting to learn about Leah’s family and culture, Maja accidentally uncovers some hidden secrets and potentially dangerous spirits that are living in the shadows of their home.
Tenebrae
Year: 1982
Cast: Anthony Franciosa, Giuliano Gemma
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 110 minutes
Director: Dario Argento
Trailer: Watch here
The master of horror himself Dario Argento based this film on a real-life fan who was a little too obsessed with Argento’s horror films. The movie follows a novelist named Peter Neal who learns that a serial killer has been inspired by his novels, Neal sets out to try and solve the next one before it happens again.
Summer Of ’84
Year: 2022
Cast: Josephine Park, Ellie Kendrick
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 105 minutes
Director: Garbiel Bier Gislason
Trailer:Watch here
Major Stranger Things vibes with this one, but it works for a reason! A group of teens set out to uncover the truth behind a series of missing boys in their hometown and begin to suspect that the police are in on it.
Skinamarink
Year: 2023
Cast: Lucas Paul, Dali Rose Tetreault,
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: 100 minutes
Director: Kyle Edward Ball
Trailer: Watch here
This polarizing movie might creep you out or put you to sleep, depending on what you’re going for. Two siblings wake up in the middle of the night to learn that their father is missing and all of the windows and doors in their house are mysteriously gone. In normal little kid fashion, the two then camp out in the living room, but something else might be lurking in the house watching them. It feels like a bad dream that you can’t wake up from.
In Their Skin
Year: 2012
Cast: Lucas Paul, Dali Rose Tetreault,
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: 100 minutes
Director: Kyle Edward Ball
Trailer:Watch here
A classic home invasion thriller takes a unique turn when a small family (Selma Blair and James D’arcy) is targeted by a murderous group who intends to steal their lives, identity AND their vacation house.
Perfect Blue
Year: 1997
Cast: Junko Iwao, Rika Matsumoto,
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 81 minutes
Director: Satoshi Kon
Trailer:Watch here
In this animated thriller, beloved pop star Mima decides to pursue acting and lands a role in a popular TV series. As Mima gets more famous, people close to her end up mysteriously dying and Mima’s reality and fictional life begin to blend together into some beautifully horrific visions that have her questioning her surroundings.
Halloween
Year: 1978
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence,
Rating: NR
Runtime: 90 minutes
Director: John Carpenter
Trailer:Watch here
You’ve probably seen this classic horror film (or at least heard the iconic score before) but now is the time to check in on the humble beginnings of Michael Myers. After murdering his sister as a child, Myers was sent to prison for 15 years, only to be released on Halloween night when all hell starts to breaks loose.
Phenomena
Year: 1985
Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Donald Pleasence
Rating: NR
Runtime: 110 minutes
Director: Dario Argento
Trailer:Watch here
A young woman named Jennifer gets sent to a boarding school and accidentally witnesses a horrible murder while sleepwalking. Combining the three scariest things (sleepwalking, murder, and Italian directors) Jennifer is haunted by visions of the murder and learns that she might have a psychic ability that could help her catch the killer.
Watcher
Year: 2022
Cast: Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman,
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 91 minutes
Director: Chloe Okuno
Trailer:Watch here
Maika Monroe starred in 2014’s It Follows, so you might go into this film feeling unsettled at the sight of her anyway. It’s a great way to set the tone! A young actress moves to a new city with her boyfriend and begins to notice a mysterious man watching her, but others around her believe it’s all in her head. This is why wall-sized windows are never a good idea!
Prom Night
Year: 1980
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie Nielsen
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 92 minutes
Director: Paul Lynch
Trailer:Watch here
Prom night is the best night of the worst years of your life (high school) so it only makes sense to have a horror movie take place on that coveted evening. A group of friends is taunted by a violent killer who vows to get revenge… just before the prom king and queen are announced. Plus you have the original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, so it has all of the elements of a perfect slasher.
Deadstream
Year: 2022
Cast: Joseph Winter
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 89 minutes
Director: Joseph Winter
Trailer:Watch here
A washed-up influencer takes a solo trip to a haunted house in order to get back some followers in this “found footage” comedy-horror. What’s scarier, a haunted house or a man asking you to “like, comment, and subscribe” to his antics? You decide.
The Visitor
Year: 1979
Cast: Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, John Huston
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 104 minutes
Director: Guilio Paradisi
Trailer:Watch here
This dazzling yet bizarre sci-fi horror was long out of print until a decade ago when it was re-released and restored for modern audiences. The Visitorcenters on a young girl who might seem like an innocent pre-teen, but she actually is the incarnation of an evil spirit and must be stopped. This is also what it feels like to be a pre-teen, so the horrors are very real.
Hounds of Love
Year: 2017
Cast: Emma Booth, Ashleigh Cummings
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 108 minutes
Director: Ben Young
Trailer:Watch here
This is a disturbing retelling of the real-life Moorhouse Murders that took place in Perth in 1986. A young couple kidnaps a teenager named Vicki Maloney, and Vicki quickly learns that the only way she has a chance at survival is by driving a wedge in between the married couple and turn them against each other.